Friday, June 16, 2006

Canada Conservative Gets Aggressive With Big Oil - NYT Story

I do have a whole lot of respect for the New York Times (especially since my oldest brother has been shooting stuff for them for years). But if you look at this story, Canada Conservative Gets Aggressive With Big Oil, about Premier Williams and the Hebron negotiations you can see how a reporter from the US might get things a little askew sometimes.

The real problem is that the reporter confuses the Conservative Party with the American meaning of the concept of conservative. Never mind that the provincial Progressive Conservative Party is more interventionist in business than almost all branches of the US Democratic Party. When you realize that fact then the largest part of the premise for the story evaporates and the hook is gone.

The rest of it is pretty good on the facts (although Hebron has been moved to offshore Labrador - has anyone told Chevron?) but sort of skimpy on the critical analysis. For a more detailed piece covering those things, check out the upcoming issue of Atlantic Business Magazine featuring my story outlining some of the issues around the Hebron negotiations, government actions and their impacts on the province.

After it hits the streets, I'll be publishing it here in sections.

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