Post by IAMCAPER on Sept 9, 2004 23:22:01 GMT -4
As promised, here is part 2 of the 3 part article which was run in the Toronto Sun back in 1999:
Part 2 - A Bloody Mess
The feds earlier this year put the boots to Cape Breton coal miners. Heartless as it may sound, many praised the government, adding that the knockout punch should have come years earlier.
Editorials, like the one that ran in The Ottawa Citizen, lauded the feds for abandoning DEVCO (the Crown corporation that operates Cape Breton coal mines), and in the same breath slammed DEVCO for its "dreadful performance -- both the quality of the coal produced and the quality of the bottom line." These editorials have only provoked miners and their families.
The Citizen editorial, although harsh, was not as sinister as the outcome of the recent provincial election in Nova Scotia. The Conservatives were successful in winning a majority by pitting the mainlanders against the Islanders.
The PCs pointed to Cape Breton as the roadblock to provincial prosperity.
Although down for the standing count, the crusty bunch of Islanders are still game for a rematch.
'INACCURATE INFORMATION'
In the last seating of the House, MP Michelle Dockrill accused the federal government of "convoluted and inaccurate information" in its action towards the miners.
The NDP member from Bras d'Or-Cape Breton charged that although $1 billion of federal money was given to DEVCO over a 30-year period, $5 billion has come out. "A five-to-one return on the public's investment."
Considering that whole communities (Sydney, Sydney Mines, Glace Bay, to name a few) along with New Waterford are at risk of dying, Dockrill had also demanded a forensic audit of DEVCO.
To further complicate the government's decision to get out of the coal business, DEVCO this week -- for safety reasons -- prematurely closed New Waterford's Phalen mine, one of the two operating mines left on the Island.
Dockrill, from her constituency office in Glace Bay, said she wasn't surprised that the Phalen mine closed, since it had been on "life support" for a while. But she was astonished that DEVCO chairman Joe Shannon wouldn't confirm that the mine was truly unsafe, instead hinting that it was possible that a private concern could mine it.
She went on to compare the Islanders with the recent offshore Chinese refugees. "Cape Bretoners have been made economic refugees by the hand of the federal government. There's never been the political will to make it (Cape Breton) economically viable."
There's a government report "out there" dated Feb. 14, 1996, and ear-marked "secret" that outlined several scenarios of selling off DEVCO.
Part 2 - A Bloody Mess
The feds earlier this year put the boots to Cape Breton coal miners. Heartless as it may sound, many praised the government, adding that the knockout punch should have come years earlier.
Editorials, like the one that ran in The Ottawa Citizen, lauded the feds for abandoning DEVCO (the Crown corporation that operates Cape Breton coal mines), and in the same breath slammed DEVCO for its "dreadful performance -- both the quality of the coal produced and the quality of the bottom line." These editorials have only provoked miners and their families.
The Citizen editorial, although harsh, was not as sinister as the outcome of the recent provincial election in Nova Scotia. The Conservatives were successful in winning a majority by pitting the mainlanders against the Islanders.
The PCs pointed to Cape Breton as the roadblock to provincial prosperity.
Although down for the standing count, the crusty bunch of Islanders are still game for a rematch.
'INACCURATE INFORMATION'
In the last seating of the House, MP Michelle Dockrill accused the federal government of "convoluted and inaccurate information" in its action towards the miners.
The NDP member from Bras d'Or-Cape Breton charged that although $1 billion of federal money was given to DEVCO over a 30-year period, $5 billion has come out. "A five-to-one return on the public's investment."
Considering that whole communities (Sydney, Sydney Mines, Glace Bay, to name a few) along with New Waterford are at risk of dying, Dockrill had also demanded a forensic audit of DEVCO.
To further complicate the government's decision to get out of the coal business, DEVCO this week -- for safety reasons -- prematurely closed New Waterford's Phalen mine, one of the two operating mines left on the Island.
Dockrill, from her constituency office in Glace Bay, said she wasn't surprised that the Phalen mine closed, since it had been on "life support" for a while. But she was astonished that DEVCO chairman Joe Shannon wouldn't confirm that the mine was truly unsafe, instead hinting that it was possible that a private concern could mine it.
She went on to compare the Islanders with the recent offshore Chinese refugees. "Cape Bretoners have been made economic refugees by the hand of the federal government. There's never been the political will to make it (Cape Breton) economically viable."
There's a government report "out there" dated Feb. 14, 1996, and ear-marked "secret" that outlined several scenarios of selling off DEVCO.