OCI needs longer term commitment for deal: Dunderdale
CBC News
Posted: Feb 11, 2012 10:11 AM NT
Last Updated: Feb 11, 2012 10:09 AM NT
Premier Kathy Dunderdale says OCI must be prepared to make commitments over the long term to get concessions in the short term. (CBC)
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Ocean Choice International needs to give more in the future to get what it wants today, Premier Kathy Dunderdale says.
"What we needed from the company was a greater commitment, beyond the five years," Dunderdale said in an interview taped for On Point with David Cochrane.
"If you’re looking for a substantive change here that benefits the company, then you have to do something beyond the five-year contract that you’re in now, that would see the people of the province benefit. And they weren’t prepared to go there."
On Thursday, Fisheries Minister Darin King announced that the province was rejecting OCI’s processing plan. The company wanted to ship millions of pounds of unprocessed yellowtail out of the province, pledging to beef up activity at its Fortune fish plant in return.
Dunderdale fleshed out some details of what OCI was asking for, and why the province rejected the plan.
The premier said OCI was proposing to process seven million pounds of a 33-mllion-pound yellowtail quota in Fortune.
But 1.5 million pounds of that seven million would consist of bycatch, which would not be processed at that plant.
'Not substantial'
That left 5.5 million pounds of yellowtail out of a total of 33 million pounds processed in Fortune — an amount Dunderdale called "not substantial."
The province wanted 10 million pounds of yellowtail, plus bycatch, processed in Fortune.
"But they were completely inflexible," Dunderdale said.
The premier added that an OCI request for a long-term exemption on redfish, without any further consideration, was "not on."
She said the people of the province must be "principal beneficiaries" of natural resource development.
'The people of Fortune need to know that they have a future beyond five years.'
—Premier Kathy Dunderdale
Asked whether OCI’s use of replacement workers to staff the Newfoundland Lynx played a role in the government’s decision, Dunderdale called the move a "troubling" one.
"It is troubling. It is absolutely troubling. Because we believe in good labour relations in this province. We believe in negotiated settlements. And on top of everything else that you have going on, that you would layer this on top of it, is troubling," she said.
OCI officials said Thursday that the company will now consider its options.
Dunderdale said the province is open to further negotiations, but needs something in return from OCI.
"What we’re saying is, if you want concessions now, then you have to provide something beyond the next five years," she said.
"The people of Fortune need to know that they have a future beyond five years."
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