Government announcement that the most profitable section of AECL will be sold to private firm is deja vu all over again. They are either stupid or corrupt in helping the private firm. This is like the Mulroney medical isotope fiasco all over again. Mulroney gave a lopsided contract award to MDS Nordion to profit from medical isotope produced by AECL. AECL aside from having to provide the capital and produce the isotope end up gaining nothing which lead to the current medical isotope crisis. Now the only profitable section of AECL will be sold off again to a private firm at a time of nuclear renaissance where China have been in talk with AECL to work on CANDU that uses Thorium, something China have more of than Uranium. But guess where the profit from China’s tens of new reactor will go to once CANDU have been privatized. To the lucky private firm Harper decide to award the sale to of course.
Are they really this short sighted and stupid or simply corrupt? One excuse being used was it will save the taxpayer money. That’s full of stinky S__T! The isotope and research division of AECL still have to be shouldered by taxpayer. But now the profitable division is taken away which means they’ll be solely relying on taxpayers money now with no possible source of income.
Thanks Harper for giving CANDU to a private firm. Worse than Mulroney who gave medical isotope profit to MDS Nordion and the privatization of Petro Canada. As the nuclear power sale is set to skyrocket and enormous profit to be made due to pressure on government worldwide to cut pollutant and greenhouse emission. We then rush to sale a promising technology to a private firm. China already have CANDU (built on time and on budget) and with their joint research with AECL, it won’t be surprising if they chose CANDU for the bulk of their new Nuclear plant. I find it hard to believe that Harper can’t see something that is already at work. China have signed agreement with AECL. Are they really stupid or just corrupt?
The big story today seems to be a leaked document that was going to be passed as the new climate change treaty. The document was alleged to have been put together by a few rich nation including host country Denmark and seems to reduce the emission cut obligations of the rich nations. It also hands power for future negotiation to the rich countries (ABC News Australia reported). Poor countries are threatening to walk out.
The noise generated by pro and anti Climate change advocate is a bit tiring. As far as I am concern, oil are controlled by few Texan and Middle Eastern Royalty cartel artificially making it expensive. In some countries, price fixing is illegal. Then why is oil cartel tolerated? It is also a pollutant. No question about it. Not even taking into account the global warming equation, it’s a no brainer that we should move toward renewable energy. Hong Kong already have electric car. And China are actively investing in infrastructure and research to help promote electric car (China’s BYD cheap electric car beat GM, Nissan and Toyota -CNN). Unfortunately the one spearheading this new technology is not the usual developed countries but developing country like China. It is not a question of science, the facts and technology is there, it is a question of commitment by the rich countries. Unfortunately, a lot of the rich countries have stake in oil and would keep on dragging their feet as long as they can. The wave of change is coming, either we get on board or get left behind.
It saddens me to see so many journalist, would be political candidate and their relatives killed in the Philippines as they accompany a convoy traveling to file an application to run for governor in a local provincial election. Women were reportedly raped also. Election violence have been a staples of Philippine democracy. Since the world renown People Power overthrew the Marcos dictatorship, Philippine’s road to democracy have been a tumultuous one. It has been mired in corruption, warlordism, election fraud and political killings – some of the same ingredients that lead to the failure of democracy in China, giving way to rise of Communism in that country.
The fact that this massacre is garnering international condemnation would help shone a spotlight on the violent political culture that exist in that country. Maintaining Democracy is hard work. Unfortunately Philippine have a long way to go to overcome all the hurdles a young democracy faces. International condemnation would help pressure the Philippine government to do something and not treat this as business as usual.
News Source and Related Article : Christian Science Monitor Global News Blog
Associated press have a more graphic detail account of the massacre.
ABC’s new V series is drawing controversy on its depiction of Alien promoting Hope, change and Universal Health Care and drawing brainwashed supporter caught in “Visitor” (V) mania. Blogs on the web are drawing parallel between the new series and Obama mania. But I am sure the series is not trying to suggest Obama is actually a Lizard bound on destroying humans. Because that would be so unoriginal and stealing a page from Fox News talking point.
The government’s argument for privatizing AECL does not add up. They claimed they are trying to save Canada’s nuclear industry but refuse to put in a condition that the buyer, who could be AECL’s competitor, can’t decide to get rid of CANDU after buying it. They claim Canada is not competitive internationally while contracts are being signed in China, who is expected to be one of the world’s largest market for new reactor build. China already uses CANDU technology and was happy with the on time and on budget completion of the projects. This weekend, international news is talking about deal being work out by AECL and India’s 3 utilities. So imagine all this expected influx of profit in the near future from new nuclear plant going to foreign companies or whichever private firms buy AECL. A likely scenario is Areva or its major competitors buy it just to get rid of the competitor.
An AECL scientist said:
“Historically, whenever you sell a technology to a foreign country, you lose it,”
The government want to sell off the only division at AECL that has large potential to see huge profit in the near future (the Nuclear plant division) while retaining the research division. But that’s not the end of it. The research division will be contracted out. Based on past contract related scandal, contracting out the research division open up huge potential for corruption. Haliburton, Sponsorship Scandal, the “billion dollar with nothing to show for it” Ontario’s Health Contract are just few of the latest and most prominent scandal. Contracting out work especially when it involves research just does not make sense unless you are a lobbyist of contracting firm.
AECL would do better if they are left alone without constant political interference and constantly changing executive officials made up of political appointee of which ever political party happens to be ruling at that time. We can have the brightest scientist and engineers but if the upper management who are indebted to politicians, who are in turn indebted to their campaign contributor, is constantly reorganizing and restructuring the company, then it won’t matter. Politicians who constantly sell profitable or soon to be profitable division (like Mulroney selling off medical isotope division profit to Nordion) to private firms, then public funds will just continue to be wasted.
Harper’s government claim AECL need to be commercialized. But with Canada’s energy future at stake, can we just simply dumb down the value of scientific research to how much profit we can make right now? What’s more troubling is there’s enough evidence that the expected and inevitable nuclear renaissance, and the foothold AECL’s CANDU already have in China and India – two potentially biggest market in the near future, are about to provide AECL with influx of rich revenue. But the government is now rushing to privatize them? This same division is also where AECL get most of its profit right now with the continuous contract in refurbishment of Canada’s nuclear plant fleet.
Privatize the revenue generating division and contract out research division? Make sense for private company looking to make profit but does not make sense if you care about Canadian interest and its future international reputation in research and technology. So taxpayer would be left with a totally profitless crown corporation and paying more to contracting firm.
For now, Harper is keeping a tight lid on the privatization plan for AECL.
