| NEXEN and other Crown Asset Sales - who's the bonehead responsible for selling off all the good stuff - so cheap? |
| Robert Ede <robertede@gmail.com> | Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 8:39 AM |
To: macleans <letters@macleans.ca>
Cc: "elizabeth.may" <Elizabeth.May@parl.gc.ca>
|
Dear Ms Lunau & Editors,
Our Great Red Hope (lots of Money) but ... no Change
Your article points out the 3 "interests" in these leased Crown-owned lands:
1) the interests of the Shareholders of the company that leases the land and operates the extraction business;
2) the interests of the Government-of-the-Day that (takes care of it's own electoral future and) is entrusted with day-to-day Operations of the Canadian Crown's Assets and Treasury;
and
re: NEXEN Shareholders - As outlined in Ms Lunau's article the self-interest of Nexen shareholders receiving a 61% premium to the (languishing and troubled) stock price is not questioned by anyone. The fact that CNOOC is offering $15 Billion for Nexen's world wide assets plus buying their lease and existing operations at Long Lake, shows the company has value .... and as far as the Oil Sands assets, Nexen just doesn't have the capital to bring the expensive Long Lake development to fruition ... Nexen's stock was languishing and CNOOC had already purchased it's 35% partner in Long Lake from near-bankruptcy for $2.1 Billion
I hope that good ol' "Firewall around Alberta" ( 9 lines from end on 2nd page) Steve pays some pan-Canadian attention to some of the criticisms of this mammoth investment by sovereign wealth funds (NB one with not-exactly unstated intentions of taking over the world) "s/be a two way street"; "we don't want my way or the highway operators" and even hesitations based on the reality that " Foreign acquisition pledges have a short (18-36 months) shelf life" before instructing his minions to sign-off on this Nexen deal - that he helped set up on the last couple of mission-trips to the "Great Red Hope (Money, but no Change)"
re: The Canadian CROWN - The self-interest of the Crown has no champion, no one demanding a reasonable return on investment from the land in question and the other thousands of billions of dollars worth of Canadian Crown " tangible assets".
IMHO someone must defend the interest of All Canadians' in our Crown Assets and Treasury in this NEXEN deal and generally. There is a great need to fill the "power vacuum" created by the withdrawal/elimination of the Executive Power of our Constitution from "active duty" -as a check on the (otherwise) unlimited power of a 37%-mandated PM controlling (as little as) 50%+1 of the Lower House.
Despite the reluctance of Her Majesty's (4th paragraph) or Her 'local' Representative's (para 3) to directly or indirectly intervene in / be consulted about / give advice/ give encouragement/ give warning about the day-to-day "stewardship" of Canada, someone must step up to "Just Say No" to the (only merged in 1940) seemingly-unstoppable, Executive+Legislative (wholly anti-BNA) hybrid, command and control centre we call the PMO/PCO - on the Nexen deal, the Omnibus Bill, the 2 Prorogations, the 2008 Dissolution etc etc
I hear no person/Office/Department presenting the case for the silent majority - the Taxpaying-Resident-Citizens (TCR's) who pay the freight for boneheaded, short-term all-political decisions made with THEIR assets-in-trust. Collectively, we're like the blinding trusting "widows, orphans and little guys/gals" who left their/our savings in mutual funds as the stock market swooned (on several occasions recently), detachedly watching the value of their/our RRSP's dwindle, while continuing to pay the 1%-4% management fee to their sworn-to-know-your-client advisor-who-never-phones.
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For Perspective: Who owns the Canadian Crown Assets?
- Let's say as an illustration, that the Crown's assets in Canada are "owned" by the Monarch "in Trust" for the collective advantage of the taxpaying, resident citizens of Canada -we CAN say that ...even if it's not legally true ... only to ask the question .... should not the Assets of Canada BE "owned in trust for all Canadians" and operated/stewarded/husbanded on behalf of the TRC's?
Sadly by the official rule book of Canada -the BNA/Constitution of Canada, the Crown's assets ARE NOT held in trust for the taxpaying, resident citizens. Nope, the Crown "owns" these Trillions of $ of assets and neither the Monarch nor Her Vice Regal Representative pays any attention to the prudent/imprudent/ wasteful or shrewd administration of these assets by Her Majesty's Stewards/ Trustees/ Authorized Managers.
What can we do about it?
Forget amending the Constitution ... the real solution is simply an attitude thing - if the Assets of the Crown are not operated in/for/by the best interests of the TRC of Canada de jure, then lets make it that way de facto by simply declaring a "Deemed Disposition" of the Monarch's Canadian assets into the collective hand of our TRC's ... and then by simply suggesting to the Taxpaying, Resident Citizens that they smarten up before everything is sold-off or encumbered by debt.
We must exhort the TRC's of Canada TO START ACTING AS PROPRIETORS not tenant-farmers... it IS an attitude thing.
If we (the TRC's) own the country ... then why aren't we in the "consultation equation" or in the "decision-making loop" when something BIG happens?
No point complaining after the fact ... some things CANNOT BE REVERSED ONCE APPROVED
Again .... in your opinion, Who should be the owner of the Canadian Crown Assets?
For further undiscussed aspects
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