Steven R. Covey’s book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” was written in 1988 and hailed as the No. 1 most influential business book of the 20th century.
In this globally profound work of non-fiction, Mr. Covey stated that the second habit (principle) of effective people is to “Begin with the end in mind.” Even a child can instinctively understand this wisdom.
Whether or not Rhodes Scholar Danny Williams read the book or not, he clearly missed the boat on that standard and basic planning principle.
How could any reasonably intelligent business mind expect that Muskrat Falls — now at a cost of $12.7 billion (12 thousand million) — could be covered by a small and fragile economy and (then) expect that economy to thrive well enough for citizens to purchase new houses and support a gigantic new commercial development?
Whether or not the hotly debated project will become an eventual success for Mr. Williams and his backers remains to be seen.
It’s a complete fallacy of political “spin” that nobody could have predicted the drop in oil prices, because everyone who drove any motorized vehicle or ran a furnace, including Mr. Williams, knew that local fuel prices fluctuated, and that global oil prices did, too.
One thing is for certain, Muskrat Falls is already a dismal failure by any measure, and can never be successful in today’s energy markets.
The citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador, through one Mr. Justice Richard LeBlanc et al., are left to attempt to sort through the shattered fragments of that ill-planned fantasy. The late Stephen R. Covey wrote another book before his passing that I heartfully recommend to Justice Richard D. LeBlanc: “The 3rd Alternative — Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems.”
For the sake of our children, and their children, let’s all get firmly behind the notion of providing Justice LeBlanc’s inquiry with the desperately needed forensic audit.
Peter Austin, concerned citizen and father
Harbour Main
