|
Tim Mitchell and everyone else,
At the end of one of your messages to the group a month ago
you asked
how we were doing with the Ontario Hydro Buyout Project.
Although we continue to work on the project, it has hit a
stumbling block
here in Ottawa because of the amalgamation of the city and its
suburbs
into a super-city. This means that there will also be a merger
of the
6 hydro utilities in the region. The result of this
announcement is that
the employees of the 6 hydros are more concerned with what
will happen
to their careers than with looking at employee
ownership. I expect that
we won't have much to report until the merger is completed
which will
likely take at least 6 months.
Apart from that we have found that when we talk to people
about employee
ownership and customer ownership, most people think it is a
good idea
however they don't get very exicted about it. There is
no feeling of urgency
in getting this done. No passion. It may be
because it does not seem to
be a solution to an existing problem. I believe that
people think that the
exisiting system is OK so if it isn't broke don't fix
it.
One year ago I had a conversation with Winnett Boyd who worked
on the
Kelso concept here in Canada in the 1970's. Mr. Boyd
became a full-time
advocate of the Kelso system, making speeches about the
concept,
as well as appearing in from of various parliamentary
committees.
He told me that back then most people supported the idea,
except the
government economists. He still has harsh words for the
economists
employed by the Government of Canada in the
1970s.
He went on to say that the Kelso concept was good but he
wasn't
able to convince others of its merits. He is not able to
understand
why they don't see the concept as he does.
I believe the Kelso concept is good and will eventually catch
on but it
may take time. I believe we will need more people like
Winnett Boyd,
Norm Kurland and Shann Turnbul, who are willing to keep at
this for
many years. Eventually there will be a breakthrough but
it will only come
when the concept satisfies a strong need. Most people
don't see that
need at this time.
Barry Randall
Ottawa, Canada
|