Article by Konrad Yakabuski in the Globe and Mail: Rio wasn't the only loser in Alcan deal

 Excerpt: "Alcan says 'it remains committed' to the expansion of its Kitimat smelter and will 'honour all the obligations' of an agreement with the Quebec government that grandfather the company's vast and lucrative hydro operations in the province in exchange for jobs and investment. We just don't know when we'll ever see the money.

"'Whenever anyone says 'we commit' it doesn't mean 'we've spent,'' notes one long-time Alcan observer in British Columbia."

The real story:  The people of Kitimat have been engaged in a bitter eight year fight to save their jobs. BC's northeast smelter town was drained of jobs and now sees the world's richest mining company leaving BC's economy high and dry while taking endless billions of dollars to their Wall Street home. BC's provincial government is engaged in what Naomi Klein's recent book, The Shock Doctrine, describes perfectly; how populations lose when corporation take power and are allowed to escape community responsibilities. Alcan is in two Canadian provinces, Quebec and BC. The Quebec government protects its economy and people by holding Alcan to contracts that employ 6000 people. BC's government has done the exact opposite.