Let's all write and let our pol's know what we think about using our
money to spread nukes while people are hungry and homeless in our
streets- or at any time, for that matter, bearing in mind that India's
(and Pakistan's?) bomb sprung in part from a Candu.
A copy of my letter is appened at the bottom.
Caspar Davis
***** FORWARDED MESSAGE *****
PUBLICATION GLOBE AND MAIL
DATE: THU DEC.10,1998
Secret memo shows Liberal push on Candu
Loan approval came despite Ottawa's earlier
concern over extending credit to Turkey
SHAWN McCARTHY
Parliamentary Bureau
Ottawa-- Just three years before approving a $1.5-billion loan for a
proposed nuclear-reactor sale to Turkey, the federal government
rejected a request from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. for less than
half that amount for a smaller Turkish deal, saying such a hefty
financing package was too risky, a secret cabinet document
reveals. In a memorandum to the cabinet dated in December, 1993,
the new Liberal cabinet was advised that federally owned AECL
was seeking to make a $1.6-billion Candu reactor sale to Turkey
and needed federal financing from the Export Development Corp.
to win the contract.
The memo reveals that AECL had been looking for a $650-million
loan from Export Development's so-called Canada Account, which
is backed by taxpayers, but "was advised [by officials] that this
level of financing may be unacceptably high."
"It would likely put a severe strain on the resources available for
Canada Account financing of exports projects generally and would
unbalance EDC's portfolio," states the document, which was
obtained by The Globe and Mail.
Instead, the cabinet was asked to approve a $400-million loan to
support the proposed one-reactor deal, and approved the request in
January, 1994.
The cabinet memorandum also provided an economic assessment
of highly indebted, inflation-prone Turkey and concluded that
"there remain several structural problems that could ultimately
affect the country's creditworthiness over the long term."
Three years later, AECL was back with a much larger proposal,
this time looking for an additional $1.1-billion loan to support a
$4-billion sale of two Candu reactors to Turkey.
In April, 1997, the Liberal cabinet approved that request, bring the
total commitment to $1.5-billion, roughly the same level of
financing Ottawa provided for AECL's $4-billion sale to China in
1996.
Currently, AECL is awaiting word from Turkey on the results of
the bid competition for the controversial Akkuyu project.
David Martin, research director of the Nuclear Awareness Project,
said the sudden display of federal largess -- even as the
government was slashing programs to rein in its deficit -- reveals
just how eager the Liberals have been to make export sales of
AECL's Candu technology.
"This really is in huge part due to [Prime Minister] Jean Chretien's
personal support for nuclear power," said Mr. Martin. "He's taken
it to the wall."
Export Development spokesman Rod Giles said it is up to the
government -- specifically the Minister of Finance and the Minister
of International Trade -- to determine what deals are financed
through the Canada Account.
Export Development insists that it receives a commercial rate of
interest for the nuclear loans, though Mr. Martin argues that no
commercial lender would even touch the AECL project, which
requires guarantees from both the Turkish buyer and the
government of Canada.
The loans to Turkey and China could cost the government
hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Political turmoil in Turkey has delayed the announcement of the
winning bidder for the Akkuyu project several times. AECL had
expected a decision by now, but Turkish officials in Ottawa said
the decision will likely not be made until after a spring election.
***** END of FORWARDED MESSAGE *****
To: David Anderson, M.P.
(cc Prime Minister Chretien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Lloyd Axworthy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
Dear Mr. Anderson,
We are appalled to learn that Canada has approved a $1.5-billion loan
to Turkey to buy Candu reactors at any time, let alone at a time when:
* India has recently exploded a nuclear bomb which sprung in part from
Candus (and Pakistan too?)
* Large numbers of other countries whose economies and social and
political systems are not so different from Turkey's have been
defaulting on loans. Turkey is clearly a poor loan risk.
* Thousands of Canadian farmers are in deep trouble. Thousands of
Canadians are homeless and hungry. Many in both groups are victims of
NAFTA. Surely they deserve help before AEC. If you feel it is
absolutely necessary to help AEC, it would be better(and cheaper) to
give money to each of their workers and cotractors NOT to build Candus.
We are becoming very angry at the corporate welfare which seems to have
no limits and which is handed out at a time when, and often to people
who claim that, we have no money to support education (which is perhaps
the most important social investment), health, welfare, or physical
infrastructure. Much corporate welfare, like the Turkey deal and the
financing of arms sales to other countries, has the potential to do
great harm and very little potential to benefit anyone besides the
corporate donees.
