Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Ottawa To Announce Sale Of Nuclear Company AECL

CBC — The Harper government is expected to announce the sale of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to SNC-Lavalin Group of Montreal, ending a federal withdrawal from the nuclear energy business that has been in the works since 2009.

The anticipated sale would include the Candu reactor business but not the Chalk River, Ont., nuclear reactor unit that makes medical isotopes and does research.

An announcement could come as early as this week, media reports said, although final details are still being worked out.

Engineering giant SNC-Lavalin is the sole remaining bidder in a process that saw Bruce Power walk away in January.

AECL has had a troubled decade. The supply chain that supports it has been laying off workers, as sales and profits dwindled.

In May, AECL workers were told by their union, the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates, that it had been in confidential talks with "the potential buyer of AECL," but that the buyer wasn't yet in a position to conclude a deal.

The SPEA said AECL must disclose any new investor's business plans and workforce adjustment plans as part of the collective bargaining process. It said the potential buyer wasn't yet prepared to do that.

"Rumours … that the deal with the new buyer has been signed and just requires the federal government’s stamp of approval … are not correct," it said.

"As we reported on May 5th, there are still some issues (potential stumbling blocks) that have not been resolved, though we do not know what those issues are."

Origin
Source: Huffington 

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