Not content to leave you twisting in the wind while the insurance companies fleece you to insure your cars and houses, John Hamm's government is also going to leave you to the mercy (?) of Nova Scotia Power, soon.

Most of you probably don't know the history of this rip off so, we thought we would clue you in to another example of how business in Nova Scotia uses the public purse to finance capital expansions with the aid of the politicians of the PC and Liberal parties that ("you") they put into power.

Early 60's: Gerald Regan,Liberal, takes over Nova Scotia Light & Power with much fanfare and trumpets that our power rates will be under our ( as in "us", the people, was the implication here ) control.

Then John Buchanan, who pissed away millions of taxpayer dollars on things like $750 toilet seats, runs Nova Scotia and the power utility into the ground through planned mis-management. When it gets too hot, Buchanan bails out and gets a cushy appointment from his buddy, Brian Mulroney, to the Senate in Ottawa @ a salary of $75,000 a year to do what he does best ~ nothing !

"Farmer Donnie", the arrogant, unelected Donald Cameron comes out of nowhere and fills the hole left by Buchanan's departure. You must remember Donald Cameron ~ he's the guy who gave us Westray for which twenty -six Nova Scotians gave their lives simply because they needed a job. Nova Scotia Power is , by now, easily on the verge of becoming profitable ~ after having the use of taxpayer dollars to get it there,of course. Cameron, now acting on behalf of the establishment that runs Nova Scotia for its own gain, then gives away( for pennies on the dollar ) the purposely-burdened utility to one of the partners of one of the largest law firms in Nova Scotia. Cox Downie's David Mann, who, today, is now the CEO of the company which has evolved into EMERA and to whom you will soon have to give your lifeblood if you have grown up with a dependence on electricity.

A news story dated April 25,2003 currently making the rounds through the media says that shareholders of EMERA, the parent (holding) company of Nova Scotia Power took a strip off the company's CEO, David Mann, because they ain't makin' as much as they would like to from their shares in the company.
Mann, who gave himself a bonus of over 300,000 has assured the disgruntled that N.S. Power's bottom line will be bigger next time 'round.
In order for the power company's profits to be bigger and Mann's bonus to be better, YOU are about to be shafted with 2 rate increases. Of course, they won't come into effect until after you dummies give John Hamm's Tory clowns a majority government. THEN you'll get both barrels. Just another example of THEM screwing US when you support a political party.

YOU DON'T see anyone coming out with an election platform of loans or grants or tax credits to enable homeowners to keep the Christmas lights on with their own solar or wind-powered generators,do you?

That would cut into what THEY want to take for THEMSELVES.

AND YOU HELP THEM DO IT !!!

HERE'S ANOTHER ONE TO FOLLOW ... IF YOU CAN ~ because, again, company names will be changed to keep you from following the money trail ~ YOUR money that you had entrusted to the Hamm government ( in this instance ) to provide you with health care, education for your kids, good roads ~ all the things, in fact, that you are being told by this government ( that supposedly works for YOU ) that it can't afford to provide because of the province's debt load. Again, we ask the question ~ who else but politicians from the Tory and Liberal parties have put us all in this position?

$600,000 loan looks like a loss
Province ponders collection after biomedical firm closes its doors
By Murray Brewster / The Canadian Press

A Nova Scotia biomedical company, mired in controversy for much of its five-year life, has gone out of business with a $600,000 government loan in arrears, prompting critics to ask why the province failed to recover the loan sooner.

Actipharm Inc., which started life as Atlantic Biochemical Research Inc., closed its doors a few weeks ago but has yet to be declared insolvent, says the provincial government's lending agency, Nova Scotia Business Inc.

At one time, the company also went by the name of Pharmatech and had originally located in Debert, with the promise of creating 30 jobs.

Sixteen employees lost their jobs when the company quietly folded in Kentville. In addition to the loan, Nova Scotia's former Liberal government gave the company's initial owner, German businessman Heinz Freyn, a $600,000 startup grant in 1998.

The province's lending agency says it's weighing its options when it comes to collecting the partially secured loan.

"Certainly, we hope to recover part of it," said Joe Gillis, a spokesman for Nova Scotia Business Inc.

At one time, Atlantic Biomedical and Freyn were the targets of a lawsuit from TD Bank over a $250,000 small-business loan. It also secured a $300,000 grant from the federal government's Transition Jobs Fund.

Another company owned by Freyn - Planta Dei Pharma in Nackawic, N.B. - also went bankrupt and was the subject of a three-year RCMP investigation.

Opposition New Democrats say, given the company's troubled past, they can't understand why the current Tory government didn't make more of an effort to recover the province's investment before Actipharm folded.

"There are a lot of questions here that need answers," said John MacDonnell, the NDP's economic development critic.

Gillis said the company was restructured twice with new investors and that gave officials hope the venture would succeed.

In the late 1990s, the former Liberal government funnelled millions of dollars to economic development projects in Debert. Almost all of them have failed.

"The question I think Nova Scotians want answered is whether (the Liberals) knew these were dogs before they invested in them," said MacDonnell. "Some of these appear so stupid, it goes beyond incompetent."

In addition to Actipharm, the province last week announced it will write off $2 million invested in a failed aircraft engine-making program, Orenda Recip.

In 1999, the MacTimber sawmill folded within weeks of receiving a $500,000 provincial loan.

The investment in Freyn's company was part of the Liberal government's effort to develop the biotech sector and capitalize on the herbal medicine craze of the 1990s.

We are wondering what you're doing without right now because of "loans" like these?

What have YOU given away because you supported the political party that gave their OK to this ... your kid's music classes? , new school ?, fixing the pot holes in your road?, special education for your kids?, school bus service?, 24 hour emergency rooms ?, new highways?, fire protection ? ... YOU can think of more.

WAS IT WORTH IT ?

This, and a lot of promises and lies , is all you will get as long as you let this political party or that control what is supposed to be YOUR government.