Last week, the Harper government announced that it is putting Ridley Terminals Inc. (RTI), a relatively small federal Crown corporation, up for sale.
RTI is one of those many state-owned enterprises that serves no useful public policy purpose, and really never has. It was built on a wish and a prayer, much like the Mirabel airport boondoggle was in the same era. The head-scratching logic probably made sense to the mandarins that came up with the scheme.
In the last early 1980s, the Trudeau government spent $250 million to build this coal terminal in the hope that coal mines would magically appear. Well, they didn't, and RTI has been a taxpayer-funded sick hole ever since.
It paid its employees extremely well, and offered cabinet appointed board members — most of whom wouldn't know a balance sheet if their lives depended on it, but where strong supporters of the governing Liberals — the "prestige" of being on the board of a Crown corporation.
Throughout the Mulroney and Chretien years, it was business as usual for RTI. But when Paul Martin became prime minister, Ottawa decided to sell RTI for a grand total of $3 million in cash. Once elected, Stephen Harper put a stop to that sale.
A year later, cabinet appointed Dan Veniez, a tough businessman and entrepreneur, as chairman of RTI. He reluctantly took the assignment on three conditions: A credible board would be appointed; RTI would be run on a commercially sensible basis; and it would be free of political interference.
Together with a new board that he pressed us very hard to appoint, Veniez fixed the core problems he called the "low-hanging fruit" and went to work on a fundamental reshaping of RTI's business model for the long-term. Senior management was replaced. Board oversight, management information systems, customer service, employee relations, productivity, and overall rigor of analysis were all dramatically improved. He actively engaged the auditor general of Canada, Sheila Fraser.
The work RTI's new board was doing caught the attention of many. Some of it was good. They had a loud cheering section within government — including me — who believed that RTI would become a test case for how bloated and lazy Crown Corporations could be led and managed professionally and create value for the taxpayer.
Although markets were poor, Veniez and the team he had assembled knew that wouldn't last. They injected urgency to the transformation project so that RTI would be ready when markets rebounded. He also introduced a series of changes in operations including the immediate focus on increasing operational efficiency, cutting costs, and securing long-term relationships with customers.
That included the painful process of turning an entitled culture into a commercial one. RTI's board insisted that Ridley's users should no longer enjoy a free ride on the back of taxpayers. The business should not only pay for itself but also build value for all stakeholders.
This new approach upset powerful vested interests that had come to believe that RTI was there to serve them. After all, it is government-owned and operated. Why else would the taxpayer pay for something like this and compete with private sector operators if it wasn't to serve their interests?
Veniez and his board had changed the rules and communicated them clearly to users. It was to be expected that they wouldn't like having to pay fair market rates for RTI's services. That was a big change, but one that made sense. Why should taxpayers continue to subsidize profitable multinationals?
Today, Ottawa takes credit for everything that they fiercely resisted. Everything the board put in place — the strategy, people, business model, and culture — remains in place.
RTI will fetch hundreds of millions of dollars. It will be in spite of years of government neglect and political interference.
Joseph Soares is an entrepreneur, a former advisor to the prime minister of Canada (2008-2009) and to the minister of transport, infrastructure and communities (2006-2008). Visit his Facebook page.
Follow Joseph Soares on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JosephSoares
Indeed, yeah,......you worked for the PMO huh? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL......
Perhaps the strangest candidate to join the Conservative nomination contest is Quebec political advisor and Ottawa-area resident Joe Soares – who describes himself as “Calgary Joe.” It is not known whether Mr. Soares has spent any significant amount of time in Calgary or has any connection to the city or the province of Alberta.
The messaging on Mr. Soares’ website is a textbook case of negative partisanship, taking aim at New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair, who he accuses of wanting to destroy Alberta’s economy. The political insider also takes aim at the perceived frontrunner Ms. Crockatt, who he accuses of defending former Ontario Conservative MP Belinda Stronach when she crossed the floor to the Liberal Party in 2005 (which I imagine is a top of mind issue for Conservative Party members in Calgary-Centre).
http://daveberta.ca/2012/08/calgary-centre-by-election-strange/
Clearly somebody was providing a lot of money for Stephen Harper and the NCC to fight the government agency tooth and nail.
When trying to uncover the truth, it helps to know their MO. First they choose a cause, usually on behalf of some industry, who no doubt provide a lot of the funding, (though it doesn't stop the NCC from soliciting contributions. In fact they are still milking it today), then start up 'grassroots' groups to simultaneously launch their own campaigns, which are also professionally run and well funded. These groups then back up the Conservative/Reform/Alliance, who naturally take the side of the 'little guy'.
We've seen this recently with Ridley Terminals Inc. and the 'grassroots' groups that sprang up overnight, all represented by the same lobby group, to maintain the heavily government subsidized operation, on behalf of the coal industry. In fact a staffer immediately left John Baird's office to lobby for the largest beneficiary of the subsidies.
3. If you're a poor corporation down on your luck at a time when Canadians are out of work and down on theirs, you can be sure that your 25 million dollar revenue is safe with these guys:
What we do know, when we see it, is big time corporate subsidy seeking, backroom politics, scheming lobbyists and cabinet ministers throwing their weight around to satisfy the big time corporate interests. In this case, the corporate interests include the B. C. and Alberta coal industries, whose coal production flows through Ridley Terminals. The political players include two Conservative cabinet ministers, House Leader Jay Hill and Transport Minister Rob Merrifield.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=af5be560-383c-4014-af12-6b3408310fff
One of the best tests for Newton's Theory in Canada, relates to Ridley Terminals in B.C.
The first action was to clean up the books of the federally owned terminals, and determine whether or not they could be made profitable. The first reaction was the hiring of Dan Veniez, to do a bit of house cleaning.
The next action was Veniez' s recommendation that they sell the terminals, since they would always be a cash cow. The reaction was John Baird's, who immediately flapped his way to Vancouver, to fire the highly competent Veniez. This was in response to the American Coal industry, who needed those terminals to remain subsidized.
When Veniez went public with the reasons why taxpayers were being bilked, the AstroTurf groups started kicking up divots. Said Terrance Corcoran in the Financial Post:
In the great scheme of Canada’s economy, Ridley Terminals Inc. is no big deal. With annual revenue of just under $25-million, the Crown corporation operates a bulk-commodity handling facility off Ridley Island in Prince Rupert, B.C., 1,000 kilometres north of Vancouver. FP Comment’s editorial team has never been to Ridley Terminals, and wouldn’t know a bulk handling facility from the Coney Island Cyclone Ride. What we do know, when we see it, is big time corporate subsidy seeking, backroom politics, scheming lobbyists and cabinet ministers throwing their weight around to satisfy the big time corporate interests.
He nailed it.
The Conservatives are constantly moving their staff into lobbying positions and then allowing them to represent special interests with the minister they had just worked for.
The unearthing of this latest scheme was revealed to me when I was researching a different government corruption story..: coal companies and Ridley Terminals.
How the story has unfolded so far:
1. 2005 and the government plans to sell the crown corporation, Ridley Terminals Inc., because it is a money pit.
2. 2006 election campaign, Stephen Harper is lobbied by coal industry to retain government subsidies to the terminals. (Most represent American firms)
3. Harper wins election and appoints Dan Veniez to selvage RTI
4. Mr. Veniez is successful, but tells Harper that RTI should be sold since it will require hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade. He even has a buyer.
5. Professional media blitz spear headed by quasi grassroots group.
6. Rob Merrifield and Jay Hill cozy up to coal industry and snub the Canadian taxpayer.
7. Merrifield fires Dan Veniez.
However, so far, that is only part of the story. On June 29, 2009; John Baird announced (right after the firing of Dan Veniez); "... the appointment of Mr. Stuart Douglas Boland (Bud) Smith as Interim Chairperson of the Ridley Terminals Inc. (RTI) Board of Directors."
"coal mines" which never appeared......? is that Trudeau's fault, or was he listening to industry about building infrastructure to help with their creation? The anti-Trudeau spin here is so blatant it's comical, and as if it were a bad decision, unlike so many other bad decisions by ALL governments, including Clark's and that of the criminal Brian Mulroney. Crown corps aren't lazy, the right-wing ideology says they are, but it's not like there's not mismanagement in the private sector......this is just a media hatchet job advancing privatization, which is really the divestment of public assets over to private, partisan hands....
I doubt Emily Dee is anti-Trudeau ... as she writes :I love Canada and promote our history and culture through my website www.victoriancanada.com a kind of tongue in cheek look of our social narrative.
https://profiles.google.com/pushedleft
http://www.yasni.ca/emily+dee/check+people
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see # 8
Dan Veniez and Ridley Terminals
When Paul Martin was prime minister, he had plans to sell British Columbia's Ridley Terminals, after cost analyses proved them to be too expensive to remain in the public domain. He had a buyer willing to pay 20 million dollars, with 3 million down, while we took back the first mortgage. The price tag may sound low but it was the misuse of tax dollars that concerned Mr. Martin more. Canadian taxpayers had already sunk 400 million dollars into the project.
This move should have fit into the neoconservative plans of privatization. However, the Americans were concerned that if the terminals went private they would have to start paying market prices for their use. So a group got together and sent a letter to Stephen Harper asking him to keep the terminals going with tax dollars from all Canadians, to benefit a few.
Stephen Harper then hired Dan Veniez to work his magic and make them profitable. This he did. But he also recommended that they be sold, since they were too much of a drain on the public purse. This put Mr. Veniez at odds with the Harper government, who had already sided with Big Business.
As the debate heats up over whether or not to sell Ridley Terminals in B.C., a well organized protest group has emerged, that as Terrence Corcoran of the National Post points out, is a little too well organized.
Their campaign to keep the facility public has more to do with helping the coal-industry, and less to do with helping the grassroots, who will be paying for it.
Mr. Corcoran believes that they are being financed by the coal-lobby, who play a large role in the political debate, with all levels of government, especially the federal Conservatives.
Two prominent cabinet ministers have weighed in, Jay Hill and Rob Merrifield, each with a personal agenda. You can also be sure that Stephen Harper is listening ...to them ... not us. I(Jay Hill was one of the Tory MPs complicit in the 'In and Out' scandal and has recently turned his back on the forestry workers)
Following are stories from both side of the debate.