New and improved

Late this afternoon — no one should be shot! — Felix Collins and Kathy Blunderdale issued a press release to correct some stuff:

Minister Dunderdale also pointed out that she announced that the Provincial Government inadvertently expropriated the mill and property in a news release on February 5, 2010. Recent media reports have been suggesting that the Provincial Government’s ownership of the mill itself only came to light last week during questioning in the House of Assembly.

"This is totally erroneous," said Minister Dunderdale. "We announced the fact that we now have legal ownership over the mill and property, Grand Falls House and the former mill manager’s house in early February when Abitibi informed us they were officially handing over the buildings to us. To suggest this information is coming to light as a result of questioning by the Opposition in the House is ludicrous. The information is publicly out there for anyone to see. On top of that, I did media interviews at the time providing additional details as to how this situation transpired."

For some reason, Minister Blunderdale omits to mention a salient point which did come out during Question Period in the Bow-Wow Parliament today:

MS DUNDERDALE: The second piece is it was not just revealed last week due to her questioning in the House of Assembly. We pay attention to the news releases they put out; I suggest they do the same with ours.

I announced this on February 5, and as a matter of fact, there was quite a bit of news coverage right across the Province on the fact that I announced that we had inadvertently expropriated the mill in Grand Falls-Windsor. This came to our attention at the end of May in 2009. It came as a result of work that was being done by a company called Enda Searching. Part of the $8 million you have been asking about was paid to this firm for the land registry consolidation. They found the error, Mr. Speaker, and reported it to us.

Kinda important, dontcha think?

But anyway, when you're hunting deer, you shouldn't get distracted by bunny tracks. And the whole point of powering up the intertubes and posting this post was to remedy the sharp decline in WilliamsGovernmentiness that has been exhibited so far this month. And yes, it's a post-budget month, so the amount of WilliamsGovernmenty goodness is expected to decline anyway. But still — today's press release was heavy on the "the Provincial Government" phraseology, so this corner thought it only fit to try a search-and-replace.

How does this read?

Justice
Natural Resources

April 27, 2010

Williams Government Corrects Misinformation Regarding Abitibi

The Honourable Felix Collins, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and the Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Minister of Natural Resources, today corrected misinformation pertaining to the responsibilities of Abitibi in relation to environmental clean up as well as the Williams Government’s communication of the matter. Minister Collins indicated that Abitibi has legislative responsibilities for any contamination.

"The Environmental Protection Act ensures that Abitibi, as owner of the site when contamination occurred, is responsible even though the Williams Government now owns the site," said Minister Collins. "As well, the Abitibi-Consolidated Rights and Assets Act, specifically section 13, indicates that Abitibi-Consolidated remains responsible for all undertakings made by it in relation to environmental remediation at any of its former sites. We expect Abitibi to meet these obligations."

Sections 2 (x) (ix) and 2 (x) (v) of the Environmental Protection Act state that the "person responsible" at the time a contaminant is released into the environment is responsible for the clean up of the site. A "person responsible" includes a former owner. As well, section 13 of the Abitibi-Consolidated Rights and Assets Act specifically states that "nothing in this act affects the liability of Abitibi-Consolidated related to undertakings made by it in relation to environmental remediation."

Currently Abitibi is under creditor protection pursuant to the federal Companies’ Creditor Arrangement Act. It is seeking to have its environmental responsibilities significantly reduced by this process. The Williams Government is legally challenging that position, arguing that Newfoundland and Labrador environmental protection laws cannot be disregarded.

"The Leader of the Opposition continues to provide the people of our province with inaccurate information on the Abitibi file," said Minister Dunderdale. "When she states that the assets of Abitibi will cost the province $500 million she is using the unsubstantiated figure of Abitibi in its statement of claim under NAFTA. Just because Abitibi says that is the value of the assets does not make it so. The Williams Government is unclear as to how this dollar amount is derived."

Minister Dunderdale also pointed out that she announced that the Williams Government inadvertently expropriated the mill and property in a news release on February 5, 2010. Recent media reports have been suggesting that the Williams Government’s ownership of the mill itself only came to light last week during questioning in the House of Assembly.

"This is totally erroneous," said Minister Dunderdale. "We announced the fact that we now have legal ownership over the mill and property, Grand Falls House and the former mill manager’s house in early February when Abitibi informed us they were officially handing over the buildings to us. To suggest this information is coming to light as a result of questioning by the Opposition in the House is ludicrous. The information is publicly out there for anyone to see. On top of that, I did media interviews at the time providing additional details as to how this situation transpired."

The release clearly states: "When drafting Bill 75, we erred on the side of caution to ensure that the hydroelectric facility attached to the mill was included in the expropriation. By not including descriptive language to specifically exempt these other properties, the province assumed legal ownership of them."

The news release indicates that the Williams Government has no plans for the properties at this time while legal processes associated with Abitibi’s assets and responsibilities in this province are ongoing. It also states that, "Our taking custody and management of these buildings at this time no way reduces, eliminates or mitigates any responsibilities Abitibi may have in respect to remediation or environmental liabilities."