Sad Day For British Columbia

Part of this was so that the lands on which BC Rail presently sits would be freed up for commercial or residential development. Remember, Campbell was a land developer with Marathon, prior to entering politics, he is just salivating over the possibility. Part of the deal with CN is that they can "force" the sale of discontinued trackage onto CN for $1, citing cleanup costs as were the case in the takeover of former CPR trackage down by the waterfront (Canada Place, etc.). But, it is not required they sell, they may develop these lands thru BCR Real Estate. Remember this letter, in years to come. One of the silent little things, not getting much media play, is the Alaska connector. Bill Clinton signed an act, authorizing an expenditure of $6M US, over a 3-year time span, to do a feasibility study on connecting Alaska Railroad with the mainland railroads. This was conditional that Canada reciprocate with an identical $6M US and jointly proceed with the study. Nothing happened for some 3 years (He signed the Act in Dec. 2000), but when it became apparent that Paul Martin would win the leadership of the Federal Liberal Party, and become Prime Minister, renewed interest was kindled. Colin Kinsley, Mayor of Prince George and a card carrying BC Liberal was in attendance in Juneau Alaska when further talks were held. After the meeting the Premier of the Yukon flew to Ottawa to meet with the newly sworn in Prime Minister, who agreed to fund the study, with Federal money. That's not the whole of the deal though. BC Rail is the logical connection to make, as we're already up in the north, and the favored route would tie in at Ft. Nelson. But, sadly for the American interests, BC Rail was Provincially owned and operated, and, heaven forbid, subject to the whims of the government of the day. That could include the Socialist NDP party, who could win another one, some day. Best scenario would be to have this railroad owned and controlled by American interests, if the connector were to go thru. So, Gordo reciprocates to his American friends, tenders the sale to whoever, but favors CNR, now an 85% American owned railroad, whose President is one E. Hunter Harrison, a redneck of merit. There is absolutely no reason why these things could not happen, with BC Rail still owned by the Province. The trackage presently owned could be utilized in the same manner as proposed by the Provincial Premiers and E. Hunter, bring your goods to our tracks at Dawson Creek and interchange them to us, we'll bring them down to Prince George and give them back at the interchange. The goods carried to and from Alaska, same deal, either down to North Vancouver and interchange with BNSF or thru Dawson Creek again, to CNR. BC Rail was the ONLY 100% Canadian owned Railroad left, now it's going to the Americans, same as the transmission end of BC Hydro. The container port will be run by American interests, not Canadian. This country is being sold off, piece by piece, to foreign interests. American interests own all our gas pipelines, the bulk of our forestry companies are American controlled, mining, you name it; And why, for political expediency, pure and simple. I'm 57 years old, and I expect before I die that we'll see a common currency in North America, similar to the Euro, and that is a prelude to eventually merging Canada into the States, maybe even Mexico. That's not a real concern, as their labor isn't cheap enough, American interests like the automakers are now building huge plants in Communist China, where the labor force is cheap and the government secure. I'm really disappointed in the lack of fair and impartial reporting that the media, in general, are giving to this sale. This sale should never have been contemplated, Campbell's government is lying about the Railroad's debt, blaming management of being incompetent and that they need financial support, are a burden on the taxpayer. Hardly true, the Railroad has not received one dime in a multitude of years, and have been profitable since before I hired on, in 1987. When Mac Norris retired, in 1991-92, the debt was just under $100M, the new President, McElligott, was directed by the Socreds, and allowed to continue by the NDP, to diversify the Railroad’s asset base. He went on a shopping spree, with borrowed money, backed by the Government, and acquired many different businesses, Vancouver Wharves, Casco Stevedoring, Finlay Transportation, created Westel, developed large commercial real estate ventures, etc., etc. The Liberals come to power, now Gordo has the opportunity to do what he said he'd do, some 10 years earlier, sell the Railroad, citing this debt. As the assets are being sold off, so is our debtload diminishing. Gordo promised BC Rail management if they could get the operating ratio down to that of CNR, show a greater profit by the end of 2004, he wouldn't sell BC Rail, if you can't, it's gone. Not expecting that it could be done, Gordo was taken aback when they posted a $76M profit for 2002, he said it was an "anomaly", couldn't be repeated. 2003 profits - $96M, operating ratio, the lowest in North America, the most efficient Railroad, period. There is far more going on, behind the scenes, than the public will ever know about. The sale has been totally secret, still to this day. The Competition Review Board was supposed to release their findings two months ago, now it looks like it won't be till the 3rd week in June, maybe later. I predicted that it won't be released until after the Federal Election is over, so that when they say that the concerns of the First Nation have no standing before them, and they've ignored other issues equally offensive, it will be too late to make any difference, at the polls. The Competition Review Board released their report on July 2. The Gordo Government and Canadian National will sign this deal Wed. July 13, and CNR will assume ownership and control at 0001 July 14, 2004. Sad Day For British Columbia.