NL-Outsidethebox [confederation]

After reading NL-Expatriates comments, I feel that somebody should clarify some of the myths he perpetuates and correct some of the errors he passes off as facts. NL-Expatriates comments are within quotation marks; my comments are not.

“The federal government has proposed a name change for Happy Valley Goose Bay to Unhappy. This name change goes along with their lack of action at trying to either keep our allies allied with us and at 5 Wing Goose Bay or proposing a new use for the infrastructure at 5 Wing Goose Bay.”

The lack of success in marketing 5 Wing internationally or finding a domestic use for it can no way be attributed to any level of government or agency. The base is in the unenviable position of having outlived its usefulness due to the change in the world’s geopolitical situation and because of advances in technology, which led to changes in air force doctrine and tactics. The handwriting was on the wall for the base when the Americans, who originally identified the strategic importance of Goose Bay, decided to pull out. When the United Socialist Soviet Republic split up and the Iron Curtain finally fell, Canada’s strategic thinkers should have been formulating a closure plan for Goose Bay. Then, if the tactical lessons of the first Gulf War did not provide sufficient indication that the type of flying offered in Labrador’s isolation was rapidly becoming irrelevant, those of the Balkan conflict and the second Gulf War certainly should have removed all doubt. Militaries train in the manner and conditions in which they expect to fight. The Goose Bay flying area is a good approximation of much of the terrain in the former USSR, but the Cold War ended and Russia is no longer the enemy. There is no longer the need to be able to dash at low level under the radar coverage of Soviet surface to air missiles (SAMs) across largely uninhabited terrain covered by arboreal forest to put weapons on target. The requirement of the present and foreseeable future is to fight the “three block war,” which means being able to identify friend from foe in a built up area and deliver a precision guided weapon precisely on target to avoid, or at least minimize, collateral damage. To be able to do this, fighter pilots and the agencies that provide them control must train in conjunction with their army and navy compatriots in areas that replicate the conditions they expect to encounter in battle. This means similarterrain with lots of cultural infrastructure such as roads, bridges, railway lines, hydro lines, towns, cities, etc. Labrador’s near pristine wilderness provides the complete opposite types of target sets to those required for military training. Although Lake Melville is navigable, it is completely unsuitable to any form of naval manoeuvring and it is only free of ice approximately six months of the year. Furthermore, Goose Bay has no land ranges available for army training. It is true that given unlimited funding and a lot of tolerance on the part of those who protect the environment, targets could be constructed and army ranges could be developed, however, the CF already has a surplus of flying areas and army ranges that already meet the requirements and that need no extra infusion of funds from the already cash-strapped CF. The CF needs to maximize the bang it receives for the buck it spends; continuing to carry 5 Wing at a cost approaching one hundred million dollars annually is not supportable.

”Maybe there was nothing they could do? It may have just been a sign of the changing times with the end of the cold war? If that is the case they could have at least looked for other options and uses for the infrastructure or 5 Wing Goose Bay.”

To even hint that government officials and other agencies have not been looking for alternate uses for 5 Wing is ludicrous. The amount of effort expended trying to find some sustainable and viable activity for 5 Wing has been staggering. Unfortunately, there are just so many things that are practical in an isolated community with no railway, and maritime access only about half of the year. While there is hope that the gravel road that connects Goose Bay to Quebec may eventually be paved, it will still be marginally serviced and the number of snow closures will remain unchanged. Realistically, the only thing paving the road will accomplish is to permit people to travel faster, which will reduce the chance of surviving the inevitable crashes. There are reasons why General Motors does not have a factory on Baffin Island and why Boeing does not assemble aircraft on the shores of Great Slave Lake. Operating in isolated locations is expensive. Getting sufficient numbers of the right people to uproot their families and establish them in an isolated community with limited services, monopolistic sales practices and rudimentary medical care is always going to be difficult, if not impossible.

Does NL-Expatriate really think that the ideas he is proposing have not been thought of and investigated by all of those involved in the efforts to keep a military base in Goose Bay or to use the existing infrastructure for some other purpose? The townspeople, the military and every level of government have been wrestling with the issue for years. Every one of the options that NL-Expatriate offers have been considered and discarded because of various reasons, most of them to do with being impractical or cost prohibitive. Just to make sure that there is no confusion, I will address each of the “options” raised by NL-Expatriate.

1. “Cold weather climate training area base.”

Unfortunately, the temperatures normal for a Goose Bay winter are not sufficiently low enough to permit cold weather training or testing. Imagine a country spending millions of dollars designing a test program for equipment or transporting a battalion of soldiers and all of the required support equipment to Goose Bay for cold weather training only to be met with temperatures not sufficiently low to permit the required training or testing. This actually happened when one of the allies tried to run cold weather testing on military pattern motorcycles in Goose Bay one February a few years ago. The weather was so mild that the riders wore lightweight windbreakers. Needless to say, the test was a bust and all of the money invested in it was wasted. This led the same nation to support cold weather testing of one of it helicopter types in Nunavut a few years later. As a rule of thumb, anyone requiring cold weather testing or training needs ambient temperatures (not wind chill temperatures) below minus twenty-five degrees Celsius for a two-week period.

2. “American training base if they want it?”

The Americans are currently running a second round of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program, and they plan to close over 100 military bases and stations. They pulled out of Goose Bay because they no longer needed it; the odds of them re-establishing a presence there is extremely unlikely since the political pressure to keep jobs and money in the towns that will be affected by BRAC within the USA is already enormous. Consider how much pressure the Canadian government is under to keep 5 Wing open, when the Canadian Forces (CF) has never used it operationally and when the CF has made it quite clear that it has no need for it.

3. “Voisey’s Bay nickel refining complex.”

For any form of industry to be successful, it must have easy access to energy, raw materials, skilled labour and markets. It must also be competitive. Although Goose Bay currently has no surplus energy, this could be resolved by bringing in another set of hydro lines from Churchill Falls, developing the Lower Churchill or by introducing wind powered generators. Skilled labour will usually become available if wages and benefits are sufficiently lucrative to offset any dislikes regarding location. However, paying higher salaries and providing lucrative benefits directly impacts a company’s competitiveness. One thing that Goose Bay does not have is easy access to raw materials or markets. Even though the Voisey’s Bay mine is in Labrador, getting nickel ore to Goose Bay would be difficult. Voisey’s has a year round dock facility; Goose Bay’s is only open about six months a year because of ice on the inlet from the Atlantic Ocean to the community. A quick study was done a few years ago to investigate the possibility of using icebreakers to keep a channel open to Goose Bay year round. As I recall, the study determined that a fleet of three nuclear-powered icebreakers would be required, with acquisition costs of several billion dollars and annual operating costs in the hundreds of millions. In addition to the environmental concerns of running nuclear-powered ships in an inland body of water, issues regarding impact upon marine species would have to be addressed. Additionally, how would the people that live along the inlet feel about not being able to cross it in the winter on their snowmobiles? Supposing it was possible to stockpile, over the six months a year the port is open, sufficient ore to process over the winter, the refined product would have to be either warehoused until the docks were accessible or shipped out over a treacherous gravel road to markets. Warehousing is expensive. Transporting product by road is inefficient and, therefore, much more expensive than by rail or sea. All of these factors make basing industries in isolated communities impractical due to cost. This is why refineries are usually built at a transhipment point and close their markets.

It should also be made very clear that the existing infrastructure at 5 Wing was not purpose built for anything other than supporting an air base and that most of the buildings are old enough that they require significant annual maintenance, which increases their operating costs and decreases any possible users’ competitiveness. At most, the buildings would provide accommodations, office space and some storage capabilities. Manufacturing facilities would have to be constructed and warehouse space would likely need to be greatly expanded.

4. “Wildlife and tourism hostel.”

The town of Happy Valley – Goose Bay already has surplus visitors accommodations. Adding more would only take away business from those who have already invested their money in providing this service. Who would fund such a hostel? Would some level of government be expected to pay for it? If so, what would be the justification for providing a taxpayer funded service already available from the private sector? If there is a requirement for what are, in effect, tourist accommodations, then the private sector should be given the opportunity to earn the possible profits. If the requirement for such accommodations ever develops, there appears to be no reason that somebody in the private sector could not purchase unused facilities on 5 Wing.

5. “Refinery.”

See response to #3.

6. “Steel mill.”

See response to #3.

7. “Government retreat.”

Does any level of government need another retreat? Is any taxpayer willing to pay to establish yet another perk for politicians that creates yet another symbol of privilege for a group of average Canadians who are different only in that they hold elected office? If there were this sort of requirement, why would it not be provided by the public sector, particularly in Happy Valley-Goose Bay where there is a surplus of guest accommodations?

8. “Global Conference centre.”

Are there not already sufficient conference facilities around the world? Is there a requirement to create this type of facility in an isolated community? Would it be cost-effective and competitive? If such a centre was required and could be competitive, it would be the role of the private sector to provide the service. There appears to be no reason that somebody in the private sector could not purchase unused 5 Wing facilities and use them for a commercial purpose.

9. “Leadership college.”

Is there a need for a leadership college? The CF already has such facilities and they are centrally located to take advantage of the principle of accessibility. Universities already run similar courses as does the private sector. Transporting the required guest speakers to an isolated community would be prohibitively expensive, a problem that the centrally located schools do not have.

10. “United Nations democracy, Government, police training centre.”

See response to #7, 8 and 9.

11. “Cold weather testing site for cars, planes etc.”

See response to #1

12. “Canadian space training base.”

Canada already has a facility that meets all of its needs and is centrally located. Additionally, the scientists and staff required to run such a facility are highly specialized. It is impractical to assume that a sufficient number these highly marketable people would want to leave their existing centrally located communities that provide every conceivable service and activity for themselves and their families to relocate to an isolated small town. A Space training facility needs access to very specialized support services, which only exist in very large centres.

13. “Snowmobile, cross-country skiing warfare school.”

Although Goose Bay’s weather is not sufficiently cold for it to be practical as a cold weather test or training facility, it certainly receives enough snow to make it a viable winter training or test venue. However, a large part of Canada also receives sufficient snow to be able to conduct winter training and testing. Existing bases do not need to send their personnel elsewhere to receive winter training. Existing bases already have the advantage of having all of the required land ranges to conduct the required training. It should not be forgotten that Goose Bay was an airbase and has very little land and no army ranges. To be viable as any sort of army base, tens of thousands of acres around Goose Bay would have to be developed as army ranges to permit the movement of troops and equipment. Considering the effort that went into gaining agreement to permit flying training over the land and the restrictions that had to be imposed, are all of the local stakeholders willing to permit huge tracts of land to be used as army training ranges?

14. “Move the Stephenville Pulp and Paper mill to where the wood is Happy Valley Goose Bay.”

This appears to be very practical, and it is something that politicians and businessmen from Goose Bay have been advocating for years. Once again, the power issue would have to be resolved, but it is well within the realm of the doable. However, this would not be a huge operation. The base could be used as a source of accommodation, office and maintenance space, however, a mill would likely have to be constructed on the shore of Lake Melville to be practical. This appears to be a NL government issue and I would assume it must consider the greater good of all of the Province’s people after looking at the needs of communities in Labrador and on the Island.

15. “Put it up for auction on EBay to any interested parties.”

Do the people of Goose Bay really want an Internet bidder controlling their future? Any potential use of the base by a “purchaser” would still have to be approved by all levels of government.

16. “Canadian government Call center.”

Is there a requirement for another call centre? If there was such a requirement, does a small isolated community make the most sense for its location? Would a call centre provide much work or require much infrastructure? Even large call centres are rarely so big that they require more than a small office building.

17. “Little late now Gun registry. Should be abolished anyway. Forget I mention this one.”

No matter what happens to the gun registry, it is little more than a computer database with staff to manage the input and retrieval of information. Most registries are centrally located for accessibility. Placing any registry in an isolated community would seem to defeat the purpose of having a central registry.

18. “Army training base for allies.”

See response to #13. Even if the locals were willing to accept mass destruction of their pristine wilderness to create army ranges, the area is going to be arboreal forest and bog. Militaries must train as they expect to fight and this includes practicing war fighting on terrain that matches their anticipated battlefields. Currently, the world’s collective military intelligence agencies anticipate that the battlefields of the near and distant future are going to be in the middle east, Africa and numerous sections of the globe that are located in or adjacent to tropical areas. Goose Bay’s flying training area was a good replication of the terrain that would have been anticipated in a conflict that may have occurred during the Cold War. However, Goose Bay does not provide the terrain or flora and fauna currently required for military training ranges. Additionally, all of the world’s military’s already have training facilities. This does not stop governments from shopping around but, to be competitive, a possible training venue must be more cost effective than an existing venue, i.e. it must either provide better training for the same cost or it must provide the same level of training for a lower cost. As an isolated community, Goose Bay is already at a disadvantage because things cost more – they have to be transported a long way to get to the town and somebody has to pay for this extra shipping expense. It should be noted that the reasons Goose Bay is not a practical training venue for foreign militaries also apply to the CF.

19. “College for native heritage and lifestyles.”

Is there sufficient requirement or support for another native college? If there is this type of requirement and support, how big would it be and would Goose Bay be the most practical location. An accredited college is going to need access to the appropriate staff and sufficient numbers of students to ensure viability. 5 Wing has been proposed as the site for an assortment of different higher learning establishments, including a native college and a campus for an existing university that would specialize in environmental concerns and responding to environmental hazards / emergencies. In all cases, the infrastructure was deemed to be too old, too spread out, too large or too inefficient. All of these issues could be addressed by spending money to convert or refurbish and existing infrastructure and construct some new, however, it was deemed more practical to introduce purpose built facilities at existing campuses. A large part of this decision was based upon the requirement for appropriate and accredited teaching staff, who, because of the nature of their expertise, were not available in other than larger, more centrally located communities.

20. “Winter warfare training base.”

See response to #13

21. “Infrastructure base camp for building roads in Labrador by military engineers.”

What roads do Labrador need constructed and why does it need them constructed? If forest companies require roads, it is up to them to build them. Likewise, if some level of government, a developer, or a private citizen needs a road constructed, it is up to them to arrange and fund any required construction, which would be done by somebody in the private sector. The military is not permitted to compete with the private sector; it cannot provide a service that can be provided by the private sector unless it charges the same amount that the private sector would charge. If large tracts of Labrador were to be developed as army training ranges, it would be well within the scope of military engineer training to construct roads and bridges on the ranges; however, access roads would still most likely be contracted to the private sector. Also, see response to #18.

22. “Refugee camp for United Nations and countries with conflicts or disasters similar to what they did in Gagetown at the cadet camp in 2000 for Bosnian refugees.”

Goose Bay is an isolated community with little or no excess capacity with regards to providing medical or humanitarian support on anything other than a small scale for a short amount of time. Gagetown is a very large army base near a city and easily accessible. Considering how difficult it is for Goose Bay to acquire and keep a sufficient number of doctors to meet its current requirements, it is not reasonable to expect the large number of medical staff that would be required to support a permanent refugee centre to locate there. Additionally, such a centre would also require sufficient numbers of social workers, bureaucrats, translators, etc. to guarantee adequate response. Normally, these people are only readily accessible near large urban centres. Furthermore, although it may have made sense to locate a limited number of Eastern Europeans in a place with a climate similar to their homeland, is it practical to expect refugees from diverse regions to adjust to Goose Bay’s climate or isolation?

23. “Combined forces training area.”

See response to #18

24. “Combined countries training.”

See response to #18

25. “United nations training base.”

See response to #18

26. “Artic tourist retreat.”

This suggestion would seem more appropriate to a community actually located within the Arctic. Additionally, see response to #4.

27. “Global warming college study group.”

See response to #4, 7, 8, 9, and 12.

28. “Think Tank.”

See response to #4, 7, 8, 9, and 12.

29. “Prison.”

There is already a prison located in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Constructing another prison, perhaps a federal facility, would be counterproductive to the primary reason for such correctional facilities, i.e. modifying a prisoner’s behaviour to the point where he or she can be reintegrated to society as a productive member. Locking people away in an isolated community where they do not have ready access to family support, psychological treatment, legal representation, etc., makes it difficult to argue that society is making an honest effort to provide rehabilitation. Conversely, making the required support available by paying the associated transportation costs is prohibitively expensive.

30. “Rehabilitation centre drugs, gambling, abuse, etc.”

See response to #29.

31. “War surplus stockpile. Canadian or United Nations.”

Do the people of Goose Bay, or for that matter of Canada, really want to see any part of our nation used as a dumping ground for excess munitions? Would the people of Goose Bay be comfortable having dangerous goods routinely transported through their town? Would they sleep well at night knowing that a huge stockpile of weapons, which would make the town a target for terrorists, was their neighbour? While the isolation of the community would seem to make it suitable from a security point of view, in the situation where the stockpile was required, the isolated location would make it relatively inaccessible. Munitions stockpiles should be located someplace where they are readily accessible by sea, land and air and where security can be assured. The long and poorly maintained road to Goose Bay and the lack of year-round maritime access make Goose Bay unsuitable as a weapons storage facility.

32. “Base camp for United Nations quick reaction force.”

See response to #18. Additionally, a quick reaction force, whether it belonged to the United Nations, the CF or any other military would require the ability to rapidly respond. The isolated location of Goose Bay means that it really cannot be rapidly responded from; any rapid reaction force will need to be relatively centrally located.

33. “Rent base.”

To whom would the base be rented? All of the reasons that make it impractical for the suggested endeavours apply whether it is owned or rented. Additionally, see response to #15.

34. “Garbage recycling centre.”

Recycling is a very competitive private sector industry with a very narrow profit margin. Like any industry, it must have easy access to energy, raw materials, skilled labour and markets. Although energy and labour could be readily available, sufficient quantities of raw materials and access to markets would require unsupportable transportation costs. To eke out an existence, recycling facilities have to be near large urban / industrial areas.

35. “Used tire recycling centre.”

See response to # 34.

”Just off the top of my head never having been to Happy Valley Goose Bay. I'm only guessing that the infrastructure is there to accomplish any of these suggestions.”

Unfortunately, anytime somebody who has never been to Goose Bay and knows nothing about the history of the area or the limitations of its location puts forth a series of suggestions, he or she invariably seems to think that their ideas are novel or that nobody else is trying to find a solution to the problem. Nothing could be further from the truth. All levels of government, community action groups and CF think tanks, tiger teams and marketing groups have expended, and are continuously expending, an enormous amount of effort to end the town’s reliance upon a single industry that can no longer be supported.
 

I appreciate your rationalization response. I feel like I just read an OPIDOPIE.

With reference to all of your justification with reference to centralization it just confirms further the reasons why NL should go it alone because we aren't considered an intregal part of this country.

I suppose Cold lake with it's ast tracks of muskeg is a good substitute for the deserts of the world where the next wars are expected to take place. No army is stationed at Cold Lake either. Cold Lake doesn't have any rail roads running across the muskeg nor infrastucture to target.

Lets just get rid of the F18's and buy support vehicles for the army like heavy lift helicopters and attack helicopters since these are the vehicles needed to provide support to our troops on peace keeping missions with out killing our own. But that would mean the Zoomies would have to admit that they are only support and not the end all to be all.

As for multi force training including Army Navy and Airforce I suppose the fleet stationed at Cold lake or Baggotville allow for this rationalization. Sarcasm in case you didn't recognise it.

If you are any indication of the people in charge of trying to find a fix or use for 5 wing it's no wonder nothing has been done or found you don't want to live in isolation according to you.

No raw materials? Where do you think all of the iron ore that has supported canadas auto industry has come from for the last 50 years. Electricity, Nickel.

If you want to keep troops in the military your best bet is not to station them where there is an availability of high paying civilian jobs like in Quebec where most young recruits go home on the week end and look for work or Cold Lake where the oil industry is taking trained people left right and centre from the military.

As for my suggestions and thoughts on ideas for Unhappy valley goose.

I stated in the post that I have neer been there nor do I think any of my suggestions are new just that something needs to be done. It is quite obvious from the past that the will to do anything isn't there.
 

NL-Expatriate states that NL is not considered an integral part of this country, however, this a completely unfounded allegation, which appears to be based upon NL not being treated exactly the same as other provinces. If any group believes that it is not considered integral to the nation, it is the group itself that holds this belief, not the rest of the country. However, most studies on the state of Confederation reveal that the people of every province and territory feel that their respective province or territory is at a disadvantage and that they are not equal partners. The people of BC believe that their separation by distance and the Rocky Mountains from Central Canada has always disadvantaged them. The people of Alberta believe that too much of their wealth is spent by politicians from and in Central Canada on the provinces east of the Ottawa River. The people of Saskatchewan and Manitoba believe they are marginalized because their economy is based primarily upon the agriculture sector and Ottawa controls crop prices. Those in Ontario believe that too much of their tax money leaves the province to support the so-called “have not” provinces and that not enough of it is permitted to remain in Ontario for much needed re-investment in public infrastructure; infrastructure that is required to drive the economy that supports the “have not” provinces. The people of Quebec have always believed they are isolated from the rest of Canada because of cultural differences. The people of the three Maritime provinces still harbour feelings of animosity toward the federal government for is closure of Canadian Forces Bases Chatham New Brunswick, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia and Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The people of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut all believe that they should receive more federal support. The reality of the situation is that Canada is a nation of diverse regions, but with a population that lives primarily within the confines of a few hundred mile wide corridor along the shared border with the USA. Canada’s economy is always going to be driven by its access to appropriate markets and the ability of its industries to compete internationally, which is becoming ever more difficult as trade agreements continually become more restrictive with respect to any form of government subsidization. Industry cannot operate at a loss in the private sector without going bankrupt. The only way that industry can operate at a loss is if the government subsidizes it. Government subsidized industry cannot operate internationally without threat of legal action by foreign competitors and, as demonstrated by the ongoing softwood tariff battle with the USA, legal action can be taken without proving that subsidization has occurred. The reality of the situation is that not every region of Canada is going to be able to do the same thing as every other region in Canada. Industry is always going to be located where it can be the most competitive, i.e. where the combination of access to raw material, energy, appropriately skilled labour and markets makes it the most cost effective.

NL-Expatriate states that he has never been to Goose Bay; it would appear that he has never been to Cold Lake or Bagotville either. While it is true that a portion of the Cold Lake’s Air Weapons’ Range resembles Labrador, the much greater area covered by all of Cold Lake’s air ranges contain dozens of communities, ranging in size from small villages to large towns. The terrain is varied and contains hundreds, if not thousands of farms, a multitude of roads, bridges, dams, industrial complexes, communications towers, television and radio stations, etc.; which provide literally tens of thousands of cultural (man-made) no-drop targets. The area around Bagotville is similarly developed. The flying ranges in Labrador contain the gravel road that connects Goose Bay to Labrador City, the hydro line from Churchill Falls to Goose Bay, Churchill Falls itself, two small side roads and a handful of fishing camps. The Goose Bay ranges also contain a number (certainly less than 100) of static plywood “camera” targets. Fighters are not permitted to drop weapons on any of these targets and the inaccessibility of the targets means they can only be maintained using helicopters for transport; using helicopters is a very cost-inefficient method of hauling around people and equipment. The Cold Lake Air Weapons Range includes hundreds of target complexes, and fighters can release inert weapons on all of them. Virtually all of these targets are accessible by ground transport at various times of year, which makes them much more economical to support than those within the Goose Bay air ranges. Cold Lake also has an advantage because its weapons range was developed before Canadians spent a lot of time or effort worrying about the environment; it would be impossible to develop this facility today. Do the Cold Lake or Bagotville ranges look like the Middle East? No, of course not, but they both provide existing target sets that simply are not available in Labrador. Goose Bay is close to neither army nor navy bases, so there is no easy way to provide any fighter units who may be located there any cost-effective opportunity for any form of joint training. Cold Lake is close to ground training ranges at Canadian Forces Base Suffield and at the Land Force Western Training Centre in Wainwright and F-18s routinely jointly train with the Army at these ranges. Likewise, Bagotville-based fighters routinely work with the Army at CFB Valcartier, Quebec and CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick. NL-Expatriate’s point about the Navy is fair enough, but Canada only has two regular force navy bases. To solve the issue of ensuring joint interoperability, the answer would seem to be to re-open CFBs Chilliwack, and Chatham, have the Army base an operational unit at the former and have the Air Force put fighter squadrons at the latter and at 19 Wing Comox. Of course that still means there is no need for 5 Wing Goose Bay, so it should close and the savings should go to reopen the closed bases in BC and NB.

I never meant to imply that raw materials and electricity were in short supply in Labrador. My comments were based on NL-Expatriate’s recommendation to put a “Voisey’s Bay nickel refining complex,” a “refinery,” or a “steel mill” in Goose Bay. Although there are large deposits of nickel ore in Labrador, getting it to Goose Bay would be a problem. It is also true that Labrador has supplied iron to much of Canada’s industry, however, Labrador City is connected to the Gulf of St Lawrence via a railway, so iron ore is easily and cheaply hauled to Sept Iles, Quebec, where it is processed, loaded onto ships and sent all over the world. To get any raw materials to Goose Bay, they have to be hauled along the gravel road to the community, shipped in during the half year that the inlet is not frozen over, or flown in. All of these options are cost-prohibitive; not only because of the expense to get the raw materials to Goose Bay, but also because of the cost of shipping the refined product back out again. As previously discussed, it could be possible to deliver material to Goose Bay and send out refined product by water during the six months the inlet is open, however, this adds stockpiling and warehousing costs which would render any proposed facility non-competitive. Perhaps a railroad could be built to Goose Bay, but at what fiscal expense and at what cost to the environment? In the case of NL-Expatriate’s proposed steel mill, the need for another one simply does not exist; current facilities meet demand and are able to handle all of the supplied raw material. Although it may seem difficult to believe, electricity is in short supply in Goose Bay. Until another set of hydro lines is built from Churchill Falls to Happy Valley or until the Lower Churchill Falls project goes ahead, the supply of electricity to Goose Bay is not sufficient to support additional industry.

NL-Expatriate’s solution to attrition in the military appears to be to post CF members to isolated locations where they could not find high-paying civilian jobs. Just to clarify the conditions that CF members work under, it is true that they must follow legal orders, however, they are not slaves. Recruiting is difficult enough without having to tell candidates that they must live in an isolated location because the CF is afraid they might be too employable elsewhere. CF members also have a right to a certain level of “quality of life,” which includes making allowances for the career needs of their spouses, the educational requirements of their children and any special medical, psychological or social support needs of any of their dependants. Because Goose Bay is only a small town in an isolated location, career opportunities, education programs, and medical and psychosocial support are all limited. For many CF members, the quality of life issues would preclude them from accepting a posting there.

I have been unable to find any evidence that supports NL-Expatriate’s claim that young recruits in Quebec go home every weekend and look for high-paying jobs or that, in Cold Lake “the oil industry is taking trained people left right and centre from the military.” As a matter of fact, attrition from the military is at or below average rates. The problem the military has with its personnel numbers is based upon recruitment, not attrition – the number of people joining is not adequate to offset the number of members lost to normal attrition and certainly not sufficient to meet the increased manning levels set by the last and current federal governments.

With respect to NL-Expatriate’s comments that NL should go it alone because so many of the reasons that his ideas for Goose Bay have been discounted based upon the need for centralization, he misses the point that it is the isolation of the community that makes it unsuitable; there is no reason that many of the proposed activities would not work elsewhere in NL. St John’s easily has the population size and diversity, as well as the necessary support and academic institutions to make many of NL-Expatriate’s suggestions suitable for that city. What is more surprising about NL-Expatriate’s comments, is that he seems to assume that Labrador would want to depart confederation with Newfoundland. If he spent any time in Labrador, he would quickly learn that Labradorean’s resent both the way that the Islanders reap the major benefits of Labrador’s abundance of natural resources and that it is the Islanders who have political control over the use of these resources. Control should belong to the people of Labrador! Labradoreans consider the NL government responsible for the original and universally despised Churchill Falls agreement with Quebec. The NL government is the reason that Labrador timber is sent to the Island for processing even though the profit margin would be much greater if the timber was milled in Goose Bay. If Labrador had control over its own resources, the Lower Churchill project and the recently proposed wind generation project would both likely be well underway. It was the government of NL that decided not to convert the existing infrastructure at 5 Wing for use as either a Memorial University or College of the North Atlantic campus. When communities in Labrador require anything that requires provincial funding, the ensuing struggle is always long and arduous. The Mealey Mountain auditorium promised to Goose Bay by the provincial government is just one minor example.

NL-Expatriate appears to base his belief that NL is not integral to Canada on his perception that the federal government does not spend enough in NL and he uses the lack of progress at Goose Bay as an example to prove his argument. It should be made clear that all of the money spent to keep the base open has been federal and from DND’s budget. The province has made no contribution toward funding infrastructure, improvements or payrolls at 5 Wing. As a matter of fact, the only significant provincial government contributions appear to be involved with participating in any event, such as marketing, that means travel out of the province (particularly if it involves foreign travel and the chance to be hosted by foreign governments) during which government representatives live in hotels and dine at the expense of the NL and Canadian taxpayers. It is true that the province has made the administrative effort to approve certain types of flying training activities within the Goose Bay air ranges, however, the approval process involved relatively little financial cost to the NL government and any negative affects from noise exposure to either sonic booms or the metal-plastic particles that form chaff will impact the health of only the people who live in Labrador. Any future costs to address any health issues that arise from activities such as these will be borne by the federal government. It is very clear that the federal government commitment to Happy Valley - Goose Bay has, if anything, been excessive to the point where 5 Wing was kept open while Canadian Forces required activities, equipment or infrastructure was denied funding. Labrador would appear to be much better were it to quit NL and became its own territory, which would permit it to negotiate directly with the federal government and gain direct control over its own destiny. To ensure anyone reading his Blog gets the full perspective regarding the place of NL within confederation and the place of Labrador within NL, NL-Expatriate should add the Labrador Party’s website to his list of NL-related links.

NL-Expatriate states: “If you are any indication of the people in charge of trying to find a fix or use for 5 wing it's no wonder nothing has been done or found…” There are many people trying very hard to find a solution to Goose Bay’s woes. The problem is that any possible solution must be practical, viable and acceptable to both the people who live in the area and to the Canadian taxpayer. If the town’s isolation made it suitable to be used as a radioactive or toxic waste dump, would the people who live in the area accept economic salvation at the cost of risking the environment or their health? Would Canadian taxpayers accept spending billions of their dollars to preserve the 1400 or so jobs identified as currently being directly or indirectly supported in NL and Quebec by 5 Wing, to support one or more of the NL-Expatriate’s proposed economically unviable options? Unfortunately, whenever anybody points out the impracticality of an idea, there is a strong tendency to “shoot the messenger” and claim incompetence or indifference on his or her part. The reason that nothing has been done is that nobody has been able to come up with a solution that is practical, viable and acceptable. I return to an observation from my previous comments: “There are reasons why General Motors does not have a factory on Baffin Island and why Boeing does not assemble aircraft on the shores of Great Slave Lake.” Blaming the people who are working very hard to find a practical, viable and acceptable use for the non-required CF base at 5 Wing for the lack of success and criticizing their performance and dedication isn’t going to make them more sympathetic to the plight of those who live in the Goose Bay area.