Kelvin Parsons, Opposition House Leader and MHA for the District of Burgeo-Lapoile, today released more questionable documentation related to the fibre-optic deal and challenged government to produce any new information that refutes any of the e-mails that were tabled in the House of Assembly. Parsons also suggested that the people of the province request copies of the documentation and do a complete review to come to their own conclusion as to whether this deal followed the appropriate government process and procedures.  

AThe Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development (ITRD) can say that we are cherry-picking information from these documents, but I challenge him to say these e-mails aren=t factual and legitimate correspondence between officials,@ said Mr. Parsons. AThe only cherry-picking that has taken place in this process is that of government deciding what would go into the boxes and made public. These documents are available to everyone and I encourage the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to review these details to get a clear picture of how bad this deal smells. 

AToday in the House of Assembly, I asked several questions on the premier=s involvement in this deal and got no answers. Even though correspondence states that there were scheduled meetings between the premier and the companies involved, and anticipated phone calls between Persona officials and the Premier=s Office , Minister Taylor would not provide any details on those documents. 

AIt is also very strange that after the Aliant fire on Allandale Road, instead of having any discussions with Aliant or approaching the CRTC to file a complaint, government rapidly moved to award this untendered $15 million contract to the premier=s friends and former business associates. In an e-mail, an ITRD official stated that this was a decision of the premier and government would only address the issue if was raised by somebody at a future date. If the premier was so concerned with the service disruption caused by the Aliant fire, why didn=t he approach the CRTC, instead of rushing to justify the awarding of a contract to his friends and associates?

 AIt is also obvious that correspondence from officials in the Premier=s Office and ITRD demonstrate that there was concern about selling the premier=s  message after the deal was announced. One official went as far as to say that the messaging of the premier and minister were contradictory and needed to be meshed together. If this deal was so squeaky clean,  why was government=s lack of detail and mixed messaging of such concern to government officials?