As a candidate himself in this race, Michael Schmidt has a unique window into the process. And he reports on it in the latest post on his “Reflections of a Nominee” blog:
"Bruce Power"... what's in a name? Photo of the paramilitary swat team Bruce Power reportedly uses to "guard the perimeter". Hopefully, the OPP will be able to resolve the issues area residents have with the movement of nuclear materials through their town.
“….Bill Walker is the undisputed front-runner in this process. He does not live in the riding and works for Bruce Power, which does not even appear on his promo flier.
He has been liberal worked on the campaign of the liberal Murray Elston, who then became head of the Bruce Power development. Interestingly enough it seems that Bruce Power needs urgently political support to ship radioactive scrap through Bruce and Grey and then through the great lakes.
And lest you think that picture is some sort of joke, compare this Bruce Power logo to what's on the door of that "vehicle".
Bruce Power already has full support from the local Health Unit. The Health Unit hosted an information session for Bruce Power in the new copper palace in Owen Sound (the 40 million dollar white elephant that pays no taxes). Interestingly the OPP is currently identifying those who are against the shipments and visits them in their home. Bill is the cousin of Howard who is the mayor of Chatsworth and a dairy man. (caught in the system)
When I asked Bill Walker how many memberships he had sold, he answered in a true political manner. He did not lie to me but knew exactly that it was not true what he told me. Who is this Bill Walker and who are those who think that he will make any difference with his pro regulation, pro bureaucracy and non farming, non small business background. Why in world would Conservatives embrace somebody like him?????
Maybe those who bought the memberships from him are in fact non conservatives hoping he gets into power.
My suspicion is that Walker is there to protect Bruce Powers interest. Maybe I am wrong. I just talked to an independent consultant who had conducted on behalf of Bruce Power research with focus groups in order to help Bruce Power garner more public acceptance. She answered: Yes that is what they do. Oiling the political process.Bill sold around 600 memberships and not 300 as he made me believe. No need for panic Bill is determined to replace Bill [Murdoch].
Read the rest of Michael’s report on his “Reflections of a Candidate” blog.
And in other related Bruce Power news, here’s an excerpt from another post on Michael’s blog about how people who spoke up at a public meeting to raise concerns related to Bruce Power activities were later visited in their homes by OPP officers, ostensibly to “address their concerns”:
“Ontario Provincial Police officers are making the rounds in Grey Bruce, speaking to opponents of Bruce Power’s plans to ship 16 decommissioned steam generators from Owen Sound Harbour through the Great Lakes to Sweden.
Two officers — Calum Rankin and Ian George — from the force’s western regional headquarters called Sharen Skelly, a spokeswoman for the group Citizens Against Radioactive Generators in Owen Sound (CARGOS), on Tuesday afternoon and met with her that evening, Skelly said Friday.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Skelly said of the call.Rankin called her again on Friday to say he was willing to speak with anyone about the issue, she said. “He said they wanted to be open and transparent about it.”
However, George would not answer questions from The Sun Times about who the officers were visiting or how they were chosen….”
This story was quoted from the Owen Sound Sun Times.
Interestingly, it was also a candidate seemingly backed by Bruce Power who won the nomination for the Green Party in the same area the last time Michael Schmidt was running for a party nomination.
And further to the lead picture, here’s some news about Bruce Power’s paramilitary swat team:
Tiverton
by Manny Paiva
The SWAT team at the Bruce nuclear generating station in Tiverton is among the best in the world.
The Bruce Power team won the U-S National SWAT championships in Colorado last week — beating out 29 other teams from four countries.
Bruce SWAT Team Leader Greg Simmons says they won three of the eight events that tested physical fitness and marksmanship.
It’s the first time a Canadian tactical team has won a championship in international SWAT competition.
Simmons says it’s a great win for the 8 member team because they are committed to the work and each share a strong work ethic.
The team protects the perimeter of the Bruce nuclear site on a daily basis….”
Read all of that story here on 98 the Beach.ca
Lead photo is from the Jim Bobby Sez blog. Here’s the caption that went with the picture on that site:
“…Here’s picture from Bruce Power bragging about their security team. The stuff they’re guarding will need to be guarded for more than 100,000 years. Who’s going to be responsible for securing the waste we’re creating today? What right do we have to burden future generations and civilizations with the toxic legacy of our wasteful lifestyles?…”
Link to that post on Jim Bobby Sez.
The Bovine 
Latest intel from unidentified sources is that Bill Walker actually sold 740 memberships, which means that those 740 people will likely vote for him at the nomination meeting, and that unless all the other members pool their support for another candidate, Bill Walker will likely win the nomination. But that’s not a foregone conclusion at this point, although the deadline has now passed for joining the party.
Dang right, Bruce Power wants as many cheerleaders as they can get in the political ranks. Nuke power is proving to be just the opposite of what the industry has been saying. It’s not clean, not safe and not affordable.
I think they may have been taken aback by the the opposition to the generator shipments coming from the mayors’ association and other mainstream organizations. They’re used to dealing with ragtag grassroots groups but when elected politicians call them out, they are less experienced. Best way to deal with that: get their own people elected.
We pay them millions of tax dollars NOT to produce electricity and they use those millions to lobby government for even more millions.
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