German U-boat Coverup in Canada

On May 9, 2016, I filed an access to information request with the federal government (specifically Transport Canada). The purpose of that request was to assist in research on the two U-boat wrecks discovered near Muskrat Falls in Labrador. It seemed straightforward enough. It's been 71 years since those u-boats made their way up the Churchill River. However, my first sign of trouble came when I received their first response. You can read it below:

The federal government wanted some serious time to prepare a fairly simple request. Well, I thought, perhaps they will do a very thorough job and we can get some answers to this deep mystery resting on the bottom of the Churchill River. Wrong again. On October 16, 2016, some six months later, I received a bunch of blacked out media emails, and generally just garbage. The release was of no value whatsoever - with one exception. Curiously it wasn't information that was released that caused any interest, but the official reasoning for not releasing the information I know they have that caught my attention. It reads like this:

"Mr. Cabana, you will note that certain information has been withheld from disclosure pursuant to:

15. (1) INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE

15. (1) The head of a government institution may refuse to disclose any record requested under this Act that contains information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to be injurious to the conduct of international affairs, the defence of Canada or any state allied or associated with Canada or the detection, prevention or suppression of subversive or hostile activities, including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, any such information."

Wow, that was a mouthful. So, in other words, the federal government cannot release any information on two sunken U-boats near Muskrat Falls, even after 71 years, because it could hurt our allies. That in itself is a huge red flag. Seriously, there are u-boats sunk all over the world. They are dived on, and in some cases they have been raised. So why are the two U-boats at Muskrat Falls so top secret?

My theory on this is quite simple. I cannot speak to the one U-boat because the diver has not shared any of his pictures or sonars of it, and the provincial government blacked out the images they had on their files of it. In other words, I can't confirm that wreck is a U-boat - although some of the provincial government emails indicated it was. However, the other U-boat I can guarantee is a "black boat" U-boat, either U-180 or U-851. I previously presented the evidence on that find in this post . If you haven't read it, then take a moment and give it a look. Furthermore, all available intelligence on these U-boats is their last missions both occurred toward early fall of 1944.

At that time, August of 1944 to be exact, Martin Bormann met with the major corporations of Nazi Germany, advised them the war was over, and instructed them to create international offshoots to hide money and resources before the Reich collapsed. Simultaneously, he was involved in secret talks with Allen Dulles, head of the US OSS (now CIA) which on it's face involves the recruitment of German scientists to the US after the war. However, and it's a big however, it seems they may have been discussing more than just post war employment for German scientists. My theory is the most pressing thing they were negotiating was uranium. Uranium the US did not have, and uranium the US needed to develop an atomic bomb before Japan and/or Russia did.

Bottom-line to my theory, and it is a theory, is the U-boats laying near Muskrat Falls secretly transported uranium to the US via its base in Goose Bay, Labrador. After delivering their load at the dock on the base they then proceeded up the Churchill River during the dark and scuttled their U-boats once there. There is really no other reason for a German U-boat to be that far inland. If the crew simply wanted to be out of the war, as folk lore has it, they would have scuttled their boat right on the Labrador coast where they could be sheltered by the Moravian communities, and where almost no allied presence to speak of was available. It would make no sense militarily to take the risk of crossing Lake Melville, and traversing the Churchill River, right next to the largest allied air transit base in North America during WW II. In fact, it would have been fool hardy.

My theory goes one step further. Why would the Germans be sending uranium to help the US build an atomic bomb while still fighting the Americans in Europe - albeit in Germany at that point? Logically they were striking a not so conditional surrender - secretly of course. The quid pro quo was uranium, technology and scientists for post war protection of German corporations assets and Nazi brass - including more than likely Hitler. A deal with the devil no question, but a deal that suited several purposes. The Americans got their nuclear and technology resources that place them well for after the war. The German elite got a promise of essentially exile in South America - free of foreign intelligence interference. In coming to this agreement they both became allies in one thing - fighting the Soviet Union. The Germans realized the Soviets were about to militarily dominate them, and the Americans didn't want post war competition in shaping the world. Getting the US to nuclear status first suited everyone's interests.   

Both u-180 and u-851 were carrying secret cargos to Japan: in u-180's case it was uranium; and in U-851's case the payload remains unconfirmed as to whether it was uranium or mercury. Both U-boats are the only ones left in their class that remain unaccounted for. Both disappeared in late summer and early fall of 1944 in the Atlantic. U-180 maintained radio silence the moment it left its French base in mid August. U-234, the U-boat that deliberately surrendered to the US and not Canada at the war's end (also carrying uranium) maintained radio silence its entire voyage across the Atlantic. There is an excellent documentary on U-234 called "Hitler's Last U-boat" which is available on You Tube.

In any case, as with most mysteries, some questions can be answered by a process of elimination. The official records say U-180 left with three other U-boats - all destined to Japan with uranium and technology. The other two U-boats maintained contact with Germany. The escorts that took them all  through the Bay of Biscay maintained the U-boats all made it through the mine fields as they were at the appropriate depth. There were no explosions from underwater mines detonating, nor any debris field from a stricken U-boat. The French government has never attempted to locate and raise or contain a U-boat wreck right off its shore that was full of uranium. Why not would be a good question. The Norwegian government had a similar situation with the sunken u-864 which had the dubious honour of being the only submarine sunk by another submarine in World War Two. It was also full of mercury. The story is here . Yet, no word of France looking for a similar situation off its coast... It's as if France knows U-180 is not sitting on the bottom of its coast leaching uranium into its waters.

Sometimes words say something. Sometimes the lack of words say something. It's for all of us to decide what is the truth that lays below the waves of the Churchill River near Muskrat Falls, and the secret role they played that altered the course of World war II and the post war era.

  

Trump - Back to the Future

The year was 1987, and then US President Reagan put the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement before the US Congress for ratification - almost 30 years ago now. It was an agreement that didn't involve Mexico and the ramifications for the US were minimal at best. If anything, it would be and was the Canadian economy that had to rationalize itself to the mightier economy down south. However, on Jan 1, 1994 the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect, or as Donald Trump would say: "the worst trade agreement in the history of the world." Truth is that NAFTA was only the worst trade agreement for the US, because it involved a more "productive" economy in Mexico. The US then found itself rationalizing its economy to Mexico's. Specifically, the auto industry fled to Mexico along with its jobs. China added to the misery with its mass importation of goods to the US, which made the corporate masters at the New York stock exchange happy, but further crucified the US internal economy.

Fast forward to today, and Trump has just been elected by the ghosts of NAFTA - the people who were "rationalized" out of a way of life they had bragged to the world about, but could no longer enjoy. While the "globalists" were continuing their march toward the TPP and other trade agreements, the American people in the "rust belt" were waiting for their moment of revenge. The globalists didn't see it coming, because the American people held it close to their chests until the time was right. The old "Don't fire til you see the whites of their eyes" cry from the US's War of 1812 with Britain. When they did fire Trump won over 300 seats in the US Electoral College which makes him now President-Elect. The big question is whether or not he can keep his agenda, or, frankly, whether he ever intended to.

Trump's big boast was an election win for him was "Brexit plus, plus, plus". The first foreign politician to visit him after his election was Nigel Farage who was the leader of the Brexit movement, and who actually stumped for Trump during the campaign. The truth is that of all the promises made by Trump, renegotiating NAFTA is his easiest politically. Americans are notorious for being inward looking - even when their survival dictates they shouldn't be. However, times have changed and so has the US. In the global sense, the US has had its economy completely rationalized to the international economy. It is no longer the industrialized country it was when Reagan became President. Its role in the world now is the consumer economy, and not the producer economy. Essentially, Trump's plan is to turn back the clock, and recreate the producer economy the US once was.

However, that time has come and gone to be honest. The reason the US entered all these trade agreements was to gain unfettered access to the rest of the world so it could grow its economy. If you recall, the US was going through recessions and inflationary pressures even before Reagan became President in 1980. Factories in the US were already closing. Unemployment was much higher than it is today. The globalists saw the necessity to increase trade to create growth and they did. Now the world's finance system, including stock markets and central banks, have all recreated themselves to foster that growth with massive debts and minimal if not negative interest rates. Of course that involved printing money without anything to back that value other than economic performance, so the cycle just kept repeating itself. In the process China, India, and places like Mexico took over the industrial needs of the world.

Trump now plans to put an end to that system. His plan is to return the US to a protected economy status and rebuild its industrial base. He argues the resulting growth created within the US by returning to protected status will create massive employment and tax revenues and  that will allow him to cut everyone's taxes. A very simplistic, and fairly naïve concept.

Firstly, the US is a debtor country now, where in 1980 it wasn't. The Chinese for example hold enough US debt and currency to bring down the American economy by themselves if they chose to. Nobody was in that position in 1980. The US gross debt is expected to reach the magic $20 trillion mark this year, so it is country that has mortgaged itself to maintain its way of life - somewhat maintain it that is. Secondly, and relatively speaking, Russia and other arch enemies of the US are not in the terrible financial position they were in during the 1980's and 90's. Thirdly, and most importantly, the BRICS and Eurasia have the potential to shut off access to their markets now as well, and they are currently on that path - whether they choose to admit that or not at this time.

Furthermore, if Trump were to "renegotiate" NAFTA and other agreements he would be destroying the financial plans of almost every American multi-national corporation in the world today. All these companies have built their revenues, and more importantly debt, based on certain economic models. Those models are going to be thrown out by Trump, because the countries that are being "renegotiated" with will also be protecting their economies in kind. The bottom line is Trump's plan requires that he teleport the US back to 1980 when the US's commitments, including debts, are firmly in the 21rst century - meaning it is no longer possible without a complete breakdown the world economy, including stock markets and currencies.

Frankly, the US, or at least half of it, has collectively entered the Twilight Zone with Mr. Trump. I liked the anti-establishment message Trump put out there during the campaign, but
there are ominous signs that he may not be the true anti-establishment guy he painted himself to be.
The role of his family is becoming particularly troubling. The fact he cannot clearly see that allowing his children to sit on his transition team is not a statesman-like move is bewildering. His children will be having a direct voice on appointments and at the same time will  be running his companies. The innuendo is that such a situation allows for an exchange of favours and IOU's. That why it's called a "perceived conflict of interest". In a private company it may not be applicable, but when dealing with the public purse it most definitely is.  This alone raises some serious judgement issues.

There are other signs as well that Trump may not be as big of an anti-establishment guy as he lets on. So far the biggest hint are the people he is rumored to be thinking about for posts. They are all Wall Street-type folks, and all very much "establishment" - without question. Another curious thing was the comment that Trump made during his celebration speech that he intended to be around as president "for, two, or three or four years, maybe even eight." I found the comment strange, because the thought he may not be in for a full four year term is on his mind before he's even sworn in. Curious to say the least. One final thing. Trump needs to ditch the whole family thing. The American people voted him in - not The Apprentice. The interview he conducted in the opulent  surroundings of his home, gilded in gold as it is, and surrounds by every member of his immediate family gives the feeling of some kind of team effort. That or the feeling of some kind of American royal family. Either way it's bizarre and almost offensive. It wreaks of the same kind of arrogance that he roundly, and justly criticized the establishment of.

Trump - Back to the Future

The year was 1987, and then US President Reagan put the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement before the US Congress for ratification - almost 30 years ago now. It was an agreement that didn't involve Mexico and the ramifications for the US were minimal at best. If anything, it would be and was the Canadian economy that had to rationalize itself to the mightier economy down south. However, on Jan 1, 1994 the North American Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect, or as Donald Trump would say: "the worst trade agreement in the history of the world." Truth is that NAFTA was only the worst trade agreement for the US, because it involved a more "productive" economy in Mexico. The US then found itself rationalizing its economy to Mexico's. Specifically, the auto industry fled to Mexico along with its jobs. China added to the misery with its mass importation of goods to the US, which made the corporate masters at the New York stock exchange happy, but further crucified the US internal economy.

Fast forward to today, and Trump has just been elected by the ghosts of NAFTA - the people who were "rationalized" out of a way of life they had bragged to the world about, but could no longer enjoy. While the "globalists" were continuing their march toward the TPP and other trade agreements, the American people in the "rust belt" were waiting for their moment of revenge. The globalists didn't see it coming, because the American people held it close to their chests until the time was right. The old "Don't fire til you see the whites of their eyes" cry from the US's War of 1812 with Britain. When they did fire Trump won over 300 seats in the US Electoral College which makes him now President-Elect. The big question is whether or not he can keep his agenda, or, frankly, whether he ever intended to.

Trump's big boast was an election win for him was "Brexit plus, plus, plus". The first foreign politician to visit him after his election was Nigel Farage who was the leader of the Brexit movement, and who actually stumped for Trump during the campaign. The truth is that of all the promises made by Trump, renegotiating NAFTA is his easiest politically. Americans are notorious for being inward looking - even when their survival dictates they shouldn't be. However, times have changed and so has the US. In the global sense, the US has had its economy completely rationalized to the international economy. It is no longer the industrialized country it was when Reagan became President. Its role in the world now is the consumer economy, and not the producer economy. Essentially, Trump's plan is to turn back the clock, and recreate the producer economy the US once was.

However, that time has come and gone to be honest. The reason the US entered all these trade agreements was to gain unfettered access to the rest of the world so it could grow its economy. If you recall, the US was going through recessions and inflationary pressures even before Reagan became President in 1980. Factories in the US were already closing. Unemployment was much higher than it is today. The globalists saw the necessity to increase trade to create growth and they did. Now the world's fiancé system, including stock markets and central banks, have all recreated themselves to foster that growth with massive debts and minimal if not negative interest rates. Of course that involved printing money without anything to back that value other than economic performance, so the cycle just kept repeating itself. In the process China, India, and places like Mexico took over the industrial needs of the world.

Now, in main stream, Trump's plan is to put an end to that system. His plan is to return the US to a protected economy status and rebuild its industrial base. He argues the resulting growth created within the US by returning to protected status will create massive employment and tax revenues and  that will allow him to cut everyone's taxes. A very simplistic, and fairly naïve concept.

Firstly, the US is a debtor country now, where in 1980 it wasn't. The Chinese for example hold enough US debt and currency to bring down the American economy by themselves if they chose to. Nobody was in that position in 1980. The US gross debt is expected to reach the magic $20 trillion mark this year, so it is country that has mortgaged itself to maintain its way of life - somewhat maintain it that is. Secondly, and relatively speaking, Russia and other arch enemies of the US are not in the terrible financial position they were in during the 1980's and 90's. Thirdly, and most importantly, the BRICS and Eurasia have the potential to shut off access to their markets now as well, and they are currently on that path - whether they choose to admit that or not at this time.

Furthermore, if Trump were to "renegotiate" NAFTA and other agreements he would be destroying the financial plans of almost every American multi-national corporation in the world today. All these companies have built their revenues, and more importantly debt, based on certain economic models. Those models are going to be thrown out by Trump, because the countries that are being "renegotiated" with will also be protecting their economies in kind. The bottom line is Trump's plan requires that he teleport the US back to 1980 when the US's commitments, including debts, are firmly in the 21rst century - meaning it is no longer possible without a complete breakdown the world economy, including stock markets and currencies.

Frankly, the US, or at least half of it, has collectively entered the Twilight Zone with Mr. Trump. I liked the anti-establishment message Trump put out there during the campaign, but
there are ominous signs that he may not be the true anti-establishment guy he painted himself to be.
The role of his family is becoming particularly troubling. The fact he cannot clearly see that allowing his children to sit on his transition team is not a statesman-like move is bewildering. His children will be having a direct voice on appointments and at the same time will  be running his companies. The innuendo is that such a situation allows for an exchange of favours and IOU's. That why it's called a "perceived conflict of interest". In a private company it may not be applicable, but when dealing with the public purse it most definitely is.  This alone raises some serious judgement issues.

There are other signs as well that Trump may not be as big of an anti-establishment guy as he lets on. So far the biggest hint are the people he is rumored to be thinking about for posts. They are all Wall Street-type folks, and all very much "establishment" - without question. Another curious thing was the comment that Trump made during his celebration speech that he intended to be around as president "for, two, or three or four years, maybe even eight." I found the comment strange, because the thought he may not be in for a full four year term is on his mind before he's even sworn in. Curious to say the least. One final thing. Trump needs to ditch the whole family thing. The American people voted him in - not The Apprentice. The interview he conducted in the opulent  surroundings of his home, gilded in gold as it is, and surrounds by every member of his immediate family gives the feeling of some kind of team effort. That or the feeling of some kind of American royal family. Either way it's bizarre and almost offensive. It wreaks of the same kind of arrogance that he roundly, and justly criticized the establishment of.  

Danger Close For Trump

Donald Trump won the US election handily early this morning. He rode a wave that he didn't create, but was wise enough to see - the disaffected. The people in the US that feel their country was lost due to trade agreements, and foreign trade to Asia, that effectively stripped the United States of its industrial might - and the jobs that went with it. The people who have become war weary after 13 years of straight war in never ending guerilla wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Syria. The constant state of war that George Orwell noted in his book 1984.

The US people rejected their establishment. Both the political and to some extent the financial establishment. They are deeply angered as they watch their country slip from a model to the world (in their eyes) to a wreck on the way to the bottom. In other words they acted out. They lashed out. They made a statement. Contrary to some of the ludicrous mass media analysis that framed the vote as racist (white men acting racist) and/or sexist, the Trump election was the result of his "movement" coming together to throw out the US political establishment - Republican and Democrat. It was an easily foreseeable result given the explosive tension in the US, the anti-establishment movement enveloping the Western world, and the establishment's "let them eat cake" approach to a twenty first century educated populace. The Clintons obvious ties to the odious and dark political "elite" made Hillary Clinton the wrong woman, at the wrong time, to become the first female President of the United States. Not rocket science.

That brings us to today, and the next six weeks or so before Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. If you believe that there is a political establishment that crosses party lines and looks after its own, then you must believe they aren't happy at the possibility of losing control of the country to a man they consider a "loose cannon". Of course, by loose cannon they mean they can't control him. For them that is a big problem, and that means the next six weeks may be dangerous for the world.

Trump on the face of it appears to be a pragmatic person looking for pragmatic results. It seems obvious to me that as a family man, with a large collection of kids and grandkids, that Trump's motivation for seeking the office of President at the age of 70 is his concern for the future those family members may face in the US. That's my own take, my gut feeling on him. He has made it clear he wants to mend fences with countries like Russia, although perhaps not so much for Iran (which is potentially dangerous in itself), and there has been a concerted effort by powerful elements within the US establishment and government to promote hostilities with Russia and China. The question is this: Will those forces attempt to use Obama's last six weeks in office to start a conflict that Trump will have no choice but to continue when he is sworn in?

A conflict that derails his agenda for a pragmatic world peace. An amicable agreement on spheres of influence, etc. For example, an American strike on  Syrian forces that sees the Russian military shoot down one or more US fighter aircraft. Of course there are many other such scenarios that could green light an American conflict and leave Trump powerless to produce peaceful pragmatism. Furthermore, such a conflict would derail Trump's plans for cancelling trade agreements as the US and those same countries would be allies in any large conflict, and the feasibility of cutting off a fighting ally would be almost nil.

My point is that the next six weeks are "danger close". They are vulnerable to manipulation of international events to maintain a global agenda of successive free trade agreements that marginalize the sovereignty of nations and lay the path for continuing the New World Order of the Bush era. They won't sit back idly while Trump undoes their work, and they won't be able to realistically attack him directly right now as his "movement" has the political capital of a big agenda in the making. Some people believe that Mike Pence somehow represents a modern day Lyndon Johnson scenario. I doubt that as the public is not the relatively naïve public of the 60's.

No, what Trump and his people need to be watchful for is suddenly aggressive escalation of American military actions in either the Middle East, Ukraine or China. Personally, if such a move is made to derail Trump's agenda before he hits office, I believe that Syria holds that distinct potential. It's a place where American and Russian military hardware is operational in close proximity. It's also a place where the US has already painted Russia as the bogeyman in the siege of Aleppo. That despite attempting to do the almost identical thing with their Iraqi allies in Mosul, Iraq. My point is this: Things are dangerous right now in the political vacuum of the exchange of power in the US. There are very powerful forces that don't want to see any peace with Russia or China. My estimate is they will act to make sure that doesn't happen, and they only have six precious weeks to instigate against it. That's why things are danger close for President-Elect Trump right now. 

Newfoundland and Labrador is Irredeemable

"There's a reason our people left there". That strange little thought crept into my mind as the family and I traversed the Rocky Mountains on the way to a new life in Newfoundland and Labrador. That was March, 2010. Returning to the home of my Grandmother (or Nan as they say here). We were excited, but yet that little thought, perhaps little message, always stuck with me.

It wasn't long after we arrived that I engaged with the local PC's as I had been with the Conservatives since 1991. Danny Williams was premier, and the place was unabashedly nationalistic (which I could've done without). However, he suddenly resigned as soon as he'd pushed through Muskrat Falls, and the party was calling for contenders - although in reality it was fulfilling a backroom deal to put Kathy Dunderdale in place (not so affectionately referred to as "Danny Williams' flack jacket - meaning she was to take all the "bullets" from his actions). I put my name up to run because I was convinced Williams' Lower Churchill scheme was the financial death nail for the province. For my trouble I was roundly accused of being an uppity "come from away" and/or "mainlander". And still am.

I realized quickly that corruption was rampant throughout the PC party, and tried to warn people. They would not listen. In fact, Paddy Daley, a local radio "shock-jock" host even stated that Ministers demanding pay back donations was "just the way it is". The same host would later refer to me as "a dangerous zealot" for opposing the Muskrat Falls development. Curiously, he now advocates for donation free politics and puts across many of my views from our discussions on Muskrat Falls without much acknowledgement they were never his. In any case, the point is that the political culture of the province was so rampant with corruption that people never took it as such. It was just "the way it's always been".

Once the people of the province started getting the idea that they shouldn't go along with corruption, and they became concerned about Muskrat Falls, they turfed the PCs out and elected the Liberals. The Liberals promised the moon and the stars to people, and the people ate it up. Less the half a year later the province was in open revolt because the Liberals broke every promise they made - blaming the PCs for ruining the province and that the provinces economic position was something "nobody could have seen coming". This a typical saying here. Nobody could see it coming. The reality is anyone with half a brain could see it coming from a thousand miles away let alone one. It was that obvious right from the very beginning, but people just refused to see it. They refused to educate themselves on it. They said we trust the government. We trust the "experts" the government paid and paraded. It was so obvious what was happening yet apparently too difficult to believe by most.

Then, while the fight over finances and the Muskrat Falls project raged, the government, media, and people in general went after the "known Critics" (as the government labelled those of us in opposition to their plans). It got personal. It became an effort to debase those that stood in their place for the truth, and the actual real issues of the direction the province was headed in were tossed to the wind. The best way I can describe it is from a scene in a children's movie called Ice Age. It's the part where the small group of animals desperately try and stop the DoDo birds from going "lemming mode" until they are all extinct. It's this part:

It may not be the most serious way to put it, but you get the point. A small group of people who could clearly see what the government was doing, and the peoples complicit agreement with it, were ignored and marginalized as everyone around them took a flying leap.

You would think that eventually people would catch on - preferably before it's too late, however, that never happened. In fact it is still going on. The most recent case of the protests in Labrador. Just days before the Aboriginal leaders met with the new Liberal government to "try and stop" the flooding of the reservoir, and thereby avoid methylmercury poisoning of their people, the Nunatsiavut Government (Inuit) President said this:

"Unless all vegetation and soil is removed the threat to our health, culture and way of life remains. Nalcor should also be directed to delay plans to begin initial flooding...to allow for the removal of trees, vegetation and topsoil. Initial flooding is expected to take place within days, and once you flood the land the damage has been done. There is no turning back".

That was October 20, 2016. You can read the release here

And a week before that statement the Nunatsiavut President said this: (you can find the press release here

"The concerns over methylmercury contamination is rea, and to proceed with flooding without fully clearing will clearly violate of human and indigenous rights. This project has to be stopped now before it's too late."

After meeting with the Premier for eight hours or so, the Nunatsiavut Government position became:

"As part of their response to the review of the engineering reports, the three leaders reiterated the principles that were committed to during the October 25 meeting, namely: that the protection of human health and well-being would be paramount in decision-making related to the Muskrat Falls project; and – with respect to first-phase impoundment – water levels would be raised to the minimum acceptable level if such impoundment was deemed necessary, and drawn back down to normal levels as soon as the risk of ice damage had passed...

The leaders also insisted that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador actively communicate with them on Nalcor’s management of this issue, including regular and timely information on all facets of initial flooding, to demonstrate that concrete actions are being taken to minimize impacts to human health." (you can read it here)

As you can see, the Aboriginal leaders completely capitulated, even at the risk of their own people being poisoned further with methylmercury. The claim that the government would "actively communicate" with them prior to flooding was proven totally laughable when the news release was put out after flooding of the reservoir was actually taking place. By the time the release was published flooding of the reservoir had already caused water levels to increase by 7 feet. It's just another example of the hundreds of examples I've witnessed here in the last six years of this province's political establishment, including Aboriginal, selling people a bill of goods that is so obviously flawed that they can't even keep a short term story straight.

What does all this lead to. Well, there is the issue of the province's finances. The death nail if you will. The collective gross debt of the government, including Nalcor's debt, is in the $29 billion range. The governing Liberals came out yesterday and said the province would be back to surplus by 2023-24. What that means is they will be borrowing for another six or seven years, and that is if you take them at their word - which hasn't turned out well in the past. Nevertheless, an additional 6 years of borrowing to fund the government's operations and its capital budget will see about another $12 billion added to the province's gross debt for a grand total of $41 billion dollars - not including any further cost over runs with Muskrat Falls.

As astounding as that number is for 510,000 souls to carry it doesn't end there. You will find on this blog any number of posts that refer to this province's "demographic time bomb". The truth is that not only does the province have the highest gas prices in the western hemisphere (North and South America), but it has the fast aging population in the Western World. As it is today, only 30% of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians make enough money each year that they must pay taxes. The cumulative effect of all these different factors means that this province financially is a "dead man walking". There is no way out. There is no plan. There is only accountability for a lost decade of spending left, and that accountability will rest on a very small percentage of the province's population. In other words, anyone with half a brain that earns a decent income, and can transfer that expertise outside the province will.

So, bottom line, this province is politically and economically irredeemable. In other words, it can not be fixed. Politically the people refuse to do more than complain incessantly. They do not rise up in a way that would force the political establishment to reform itself. They seek simply to get whatever crumbs they can out of it. It is that simple. That sums up the political culture here, and that is why people of actual integrity are viewed with suspicion and tagged with innuendo. Ditto financially. The various boards of trade swooned over the previous governments, and the current one, to get their hands on that oil money that flowed freely from the government's coffers. They rewarded first the Pc and now Liberal party with generous donations to get their feet in the door. They set up and financed PR campaigns to promote the Muskrat Falls project and marginalize those that wisely opposed it. And now? Now they are crying so loudly it is almost laughable. Cut civil servants, and spending on programs and what ever you can they scream, but don't cut our little bit of the gravy...ok? This is Newfoundland and Labrador in the nut shell.

No doubt, and I can hear it now: "You are so negative"; "If you don't like it get out"; and "Mainlanders trying to tell us what to do." That's the culture of unaccountability that pervades society here. Whether it's something as large as Muskrat Falls or something as small as blaming a neighbor for all your troubles. It is everywhere here. And that is the great undoing of this place. The refusal to learn from past mistakes. The refusal to be held accountable for past mistakes. The refusal to be responsible. It is inescapable, and it is everywhere in this province. It is the fatal flaw of Shakespearean lore. The province eagerly awaits its next pied piper. It's next saviour. That is what truly makes Newfoundland and Labrador irredeemable. This will be my last post on Newfoundland and Labrador politics, economics, or anything of the sort. It is futile to waste the energy God gave you in a lost cause.