Further to the story from Wednesday via the Taxpayers Federation, (that the Saskatchewan NDP dumped $15 million into the Meadow Lake pulp mill while it was filing court documents seeking protection from its creditors) – Documentation is up on the net for you to peruse for yourself.
Has anybody… or better question yet, is anybody able to research what kind of donations the Provincial NDP Party has received from Millar Western Meadow Lake Mill in the past? If there are any, how is taxpayer bail-out money intended for a de-facto bankrupt corporation any different from a kickback?
Millar Western Meadow Lake Mill = AdScam West…
You people don’t really have any idea what DIP financing is, do you? Once the business is ordered into CCAA – which happened 28 Dec 2005 – operational credit becomes a bit of a problem. DIP financing provides a way of providing operating funds so that the business doesn’t have to shut down asap. Any funds advanced under the facility stand ahead of all existing obligations.
So Saskatchewan (ISI) promises $15 million to keep the mill going, but they also have first dibs on anything and everything going forward. It’s not insane and it’s not evidence that anything corrupt or untoward is going on.
The real question is what in god’s name they were thinking advancing $800 million to this operation in years past.
It may be more helpful to simply explain what DIP financing is, than to act like you can’t believe we didn’t know.
We do have a good idea of what we got for our $800.000.000. and we know how many votes we can cast against the people that gave it up to this group.
as it says on the front of Kates page, “In all that time they never once asked”…. (what we think of giving 800 big ones for pulp workers employment.)
that’s quite a chunk ‘o change.
Saskatchewan is just about rid of Milgard. Now we have Millgate.
Reminiscing the good ol’ days:
Oct 15 2004 Saskatchewan Party News Release
“SPUDCO is the NDP government’s ad scam. In fact, when compared to the size of our province and our provincial treasury, the SPUDCO scandal is bigger than the federal ad scandal.”
($34.4 million)
This is not surprising. I have been researching the history of the CCF/NDP in Saskatchewan and there have been several multi-million dollar scandals involving the CCF/NDP going back to the 1930’s. The book, “Douglas in Saskatchewan” is a good one. You should be able to find it in the local library. You will be shocked and awed at the history of corruption detailed in this book. Devine scandals pale in comparison to those of Tommy Douglas and the Saskatchewan CCF.
The only reason a good number NDP politicians aren’t doing time is that they have the good fortune to be in power most of the last 50 years.
In all fairness, this mill really was the creation of the Grant Devine administration, and not of the current administration.
Interesting that Investment Saskatchewan was the only organization that came forward to provide DIP financing. Usually, if a business is perceived as being rescuable, lots of private sector institutions are more than thrilled to provide DIP financing. With competitors like Weyerhauser declaring record losses recently, however, it is somewhat likely that the mill has little or no value — ie: it isn’t even valuable if given away for free.
Quite frankly, its disturbing that Investment Saskatchewan can make such a large investment (ie: being a DIP financer) without the explicit approval of the Legislative Assembly. Just another reason why management decisions and policy need to be set by legislators, and not by faceless managers deep in the bowels of government.
Might I add, before I get torn up about my last comment — that at least politicians can be voted out every 4 years.
Managers in the civil service, it seems, are almost impossible to get rid of, and politicians do a notoriously poor job of selecting them in the first place. One Saskatchewan Crown, for instance, had a man who was barely literate, uneducated, and quite clearly incompetent in a senior VP position for over 10 years before he was recently fired — only reason he got the job was his connections to Romanow.
If this bail-out isn’t dirty, it certainly smells.
The private owner of the mill, which also owns other mills, is making political contributions to the NDP with money he has garnered from his overall corporate success, shouldn’t the slight of hand push of $15 million to a virtually dead business be questioned?
Shouldn’t we, as taxpayers, be concerned that more than a quarter billion dollars has been lost in the past 16 years, yet the funnel of public funds continues?
No, there may not be anything illegal taking place with the Meadow Lake Pulp Mill, but does this make the NDP’s welfare policy right?
I don’t think so.
Devine left office over fifteen years ago. As I recall, this business came into being with an entirely different objective than the current one, we must protect the jobs at all costs. I think they were trying to encourage a business that would be stand alone and not be dependent on the government slop trough.
The NDP are incompetent and stupid for letting this situation continue. There is only one thing worse than making a mistake, that’s sticking with it.
I hope the same fate awaits them as the federal fiberals.
Caught a headline in the Star Pheonix today questioning this thing but did not read it. If you’ve had a hand in bringing this to the open Kate, good on you. What a contrast. Two hours down the road, the oilsands are paying the living dead $50/hr to turn wrenches but Saskatchewan is hoarding a few good union jobs in a money losing proposition. The guy who determined the border between us two must have been a practical joker. And an Albertan.
Hey Lorne I dare you to read this blog, this is what the real Saskatchewanians KNOW ! not some mistruths you hide behind thinking that if you politely lie then it is not a lie, shame on you Lorne, preacher or no preacher …