LARK HARBOUR THE YORK HARBOUR BLOW·ME·DOWNER ABOUT THE OUTER BAY OF ISLANDS, NEWFOUNDLAND ISSUE 98 : 2016-03-04 NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR 2016 March 04 Friday Editor: Stuart L Harvey P.O. Box 17, Lark Harbour, NL, Canada, A0L 1H0 Tel: 709-681-2256 Email: [email protected] Web Page: www.blowmedowner.webs.com Aug 18th Thur ( Full Moon COMMUNITY CALENDAR Sep 5th Mon Labour Day 16th Fri ( Full Moon LH=Lark Harbour YH=York Harbour JB=John’s Beach 22nd Thu Autumn begins (Autumnal Equinox) HC=Holy Communion MP=Morning Prayer EP=Evening Prayer Oct 10th Mon Thanksgiving Day P&P=Prayer & Praise HB=Baptism MHS=Mem Hymn Sing 16th Sun ( Full Moon ( Full Moon 24th Mon United Nations Day 2016 MARCH 2016 31st Mon Hallowe’en Nov 6th Sun Back to Standard Time, clocks back 1hr nd 2 Wed LH, 7:00pm, Lenten Service 11th Fri Remembrance Day th 6 Sun Lent 4 - LH, 11:00am, MP; JB, 7:00pm, HC 14th Mon ( Full Moon th 9 Wed LH, 7:00pm, Lenten Service; JB, 7:00pm, Lenten Svc 20th Sun International Children’s Day (UN) th 13 Sun Lent 5 - Daylight Saving Time begins, adv clocks 1hr Dec 13th Tue ( Full Moon LH, 3:00pm - Joint P&P with St Mary’s Parish, Curling 21st Wed Winter begins (Winter Solstice) th 16 Wed LH, 7:00pm, Lenten Service 25th Sun Christmas Day 20th Sun Palm Sunday - LH, 7:00pm, HC; JB, 10:30am, HC Spring begins (Vernal Equinox) 21st Mon JB, 7:00pm, Holy Week Service BUSINESS & ORGANISATION DIRECTORY 22nd Tues LH, 7:00pm, Holy Week Service, HC A list of local businesses and organisations. No charge. rd 23 Wed ( Full Moon Published also on our Website: www.blowmedowner.webs.com JB, 7:00pm, Holy Week Service, HC Email: [email protected] or Phone 681-2256 24th Thur Maundy Thursday - LH, 7:00pm, HC, Instructed Eucharist/Washing of Feet/Stripping of Altar/Parish Service ! ! ! Please support local enterprises ! ! ! 25th Fri Good Friday - LH, 2:00pm; JB, 10:30am 26th Sat Great Easter Vigil (Parish Service) - JB, 7:30pm, HC Several local businesses supported the BLOW·ME·DOWNER 27th Sun Easter Sunday - LH, 9:00am Easter Breakfast in the past. Their inclusion here is a recognition of that support. 10:30am HC Other local businesses will be included at their request. Listed alphabetically :- 2016 APRIL 2 016 ! Byrne’s Store, Main Street. York Harbour nd 22 Fri Earth Day ( Full Moon groceries, hardware, gas & diesel, souvenirs 681-2040 2016 M AY 2016 ! Captain Cook B&B & Cottages, York Harbour 8th Sun Mother’s Day Email: [email protected] 681-2906; 1-877-681-2906 21st Sat ( Full Moon 23rd Mon Victoria Day ! Curling ONE Stop Service Station, Corner Brook automotive repairs, servicing, fuel 785-2619 2016 ADVANCE DATES 2 016 rd ! Drop In Lounge, 23 Main Street, Lark Harbour 23 Mon Victoria Day entertainment, food, licenced 681-2103 Jun 19th Sun Father’s Day th 20 Mon Summer begins (Summer Solstice) ! Eddie Joyce, MHA, Bay of Islands, Corner Brook ( Full Moon Member, House of Assembly. 634-7883 24th Fri St Jean-Baptiste - Fête Nationale du Québec st Jul 1 Fri CANADA DAY ! Sheppard’s Clover Farm Store, Lark Harbour th 19 Tue ( Full Moon groceries, hardware, gas, Sears agency, marine 681-2160 Page 2 The BLOW•ME•DOWNER Issue 98 2016 March 04 Friday OIL EXPLORATION IN diligent than its BC counterpart appears to have been in the oversight NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR of well abandonment. Such abandonment is a serious topic for the West Coast of the THE ROLE OF THE Island of Newfoundland, since we have many attractive scenic CANADA-NEWFOUNDLAND LABRADOR locations, and one of these in particular— Bottle Cove, in the Outer OFFSHORE PETROLEUM BOARD Bay of Islands — could, and very likely would, be seriously damaged by any significant industrial activity. The same is true of the Port-au- WHY IS THERE NO MEMBER OF THE C-NLOPB Port Peninsula, the area around Gros Morne Park, and numerous FROM WESTERN NEWFOUNDLAND ? other areas where local people are working to develop the Tourism Industry as it becomes a significant part of their local economy. No doubt the lull in discussion and activity revolving around oil and What tourists would want to visit a small community whose major gas exploration in Newfoundland & Labrador is the result of the huge industry is oil production? drop in oil prices over the last year - as of last Friday 2016 February 12 oil closed below US$29.00/bbl, compared with US$55 about a The Constitution of the Board provides for seven members: three year ago and over US$100 about 2 years ago. Consequently it is no appointed by the Federal, three by the Provincial, and a Chairperson surprise to find that an industry enjoyed such profitability over the and Vice-Chairperson appointed jointly by both governments. There past few decades, is being more than cautious about how it spends its is presently one vacant seat open for provincial appointment, but no vastly reduced revenues now. Imagine if your income fell 70% from information on when or by whom that seat may be filled. what it was two years ago. Appointments are for a six-year period and reappointments are possible. As someone not personally involved in the hydrocarbons industry, you might be tempted to say, “So what? It’s their problem, not mine. Given that the information on the C-NLOPB website about Board They will do all right anyway.” This is no doubt true of the giants like Members provides no specific indication of their regional base, it Exxon, Mobil, and Shell, who have inestimable resources at their must be assumed that, with one possible exception, none of them command. But what of the smaller ones, like those interested in reside far from St John’s. That one exception may be Ms Lidija starting exploration and fracking in N&L? They are doing very little Cicnjak-Chubbs who has had clear connections for some time with in this Province now, but be aware that the consortium interested in Labrador, specifically Happy Valley-Goose Bay. But representation drilling in the Bay of Islands has recently renewed an exploration by people from other regions of the Province appears to be lacking. licence covering conventional drilling in this area of the West Coast, It seems reasonable therefore that to provide wider input the including Bottle Cove, no doubt in readiness for the return of higher Provincial appointees might be chosen to be representative of prices of oil once this recession is over. regions outside of the eastern half of the Island of Newfoundland. This is to be expected, of course. And conventional drilling is not In this connection, a review of the members of the C-NLOPB so risk-prone as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), but if it occurs, would be in order. Click on the links below for some details about these communities will never be the same. After all, who will want to background and previous occupation and a picture of each member. visit here when the know the pristine scenery has been marred by oil wells and the infrastructure needed to support them? Scott Tessier, Chair & CEO Joint Appointment 2013 Feb 25. Born in St John’s, NL, and educated at MUN. Prior to his But this is not the worst. If oil is not discovered in sufficient appointment with C-NLOPB, Mr Tessier was Senior Advisor for quantities to satisfy the investors, the wells will be abandoned. Of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs with Chevron Canada in Calgary, course, there will be regulations and requirements governing such and has previously held senior positions in Ottawa with several abandonment, but all the rules in the world are useless if not enforced. federal government departments, including Fisheries & Oceans, and Read on and learn of what has been happening in British Columbia Health. and perhaps other parts of North America too. Edward Williams, Vice-Chair Joint Appointment 2013 Feb 25. A report in the Vancouver Sun, dated 2016 February 15, (Oil, gas Educated at MUN. Prior to his appointment with C-NLOPB, sites abandoned in B.C. 'like walking in a ghost town': survey), by Bob Mr Williams was Director of Human Resources at Aurora Energy Weber of the Canadian Press, draws attention to the way in which Resources Inc., a UK company based in Aberdeen, Scotland; has disused oil wells and discarded gear have been left littering the extensive experience in Human Resources and Administration. countryside when they have ceased to be useful to their owners. Last year a British Columbia environmental group surveyed part of the BC Conrad Sullivan Federal Appointment - 2010 June 18. back country and found that of 35 abandoned oil wells only 2 Has owned various fish processing plants in Newfoundland and appeared to have been cleaned up at all. The rest were found in Labrador and now owns Southern Holdings Limited, a company various stages of decay and neglect. involved in commercial and residential land development. Mr Sullivan’s past activities include serving as Chairman of the Such requirements as the clean-up of abandoned or “moth-balled” Fisheries Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, Director of the well sites are regulated by the British Columbia Oil and Gas Fisheries Council of Canada; and member of the Seafood Advisory Commission, the provincial regulating body, but it appears that they Council on International Trade during the Canada/USA Free Trade have been less than diligent in their work. They are the BC equivalent negotiations. of the C-NLOPB, the Canada-Newfoundland Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board which has similar responsibility in our Province.