The Stel Salaried
Pensioners Organization wishes to thank The Hamilton Spectator for permission
to post the following article by Reporter Eric McGuinness published in the June
17, 2006 edition
By Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jun 17, 2006)
The Conservative federal government is balking at giving
Stelco $30 million promised by the outgoing Liberals as part of a last-minute
deal to save the struggling steelmaker last fall.
A company vice-president said early yesterday officials were
in Ottawa trying to get the money, but Environment Minister Rona Ambrose's
press secretary later said her department was unlikely to cough up the cash.
Ryan Sparrow, the minister's associate director of
communications, called the Stelco pledge one of many pie-in-the-sky Liberal
election promises. He said the money was to come from a fund scrapped by Prime
Minister Stephen Harper's Tory cabinet.
"The Partnership Fund no longer exists. If they have
not received the money, it probably will not be coming from Environment
Canada."
Sparrow said he's been receiving calls "from across the
country, all about money promised at the end of November, all under the
Partnership Fund that was set up by the old government.
"It was all pie in the sky. The money wasn't even
there. I don't want to call it a scheme, but that's what it was, a pot they
would divvy up for political projects."
In reply, Pat Breton, director of communications for
Official Opposition Leader Bill Graham, said: "The money was there. The
program was there. To say it didn't exist is stretching it. The current
government's just made an ideological decision not to go forward with anything
earmarked vaguely Kyoto" -- a reference to global treaty to curb emissions
of greenhouse gases.
Stelco officials were unavailable late yesterday to comment
on Sparrow's statement or on what will happen if the money isn't paid.
The money was promised to end an impasse between bondholders
and the company in November. The Ontario government pledged to add $50-million
to a $100-million loan to help cover a pension-fund shortfall and Ottawa said
it would contribute $30 million to subsidize power generation projects in
Hamilton and Nanticoke.
Those promises were described at the time as key to the restructuring
deal that allowed Stelco to emerge from bankruptcy protection earlier this
year.
The federal money was to be paid out in the first quarter of
this year from Environment Canada's Technology Partnership Fund to help turn
steam into electricity.
Stelco is proceeding with plans for the first phase. An
application for a certificate of approval for air emissions is posted on the
Environmental Bill of Rights Registry for public comment until June 30, but
vice-president Colin Osborne said that deadline may be extended when the
company files results of new emissions data modeling.
emcguinness@thespec.com
905-526-4650