Fri Mar 28, 2008

    Publisher: Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times
    Author: Chris Campbell - Out of Time

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 This was supposed to be a column looking at some of the hysterical rhetoric that's been part of the Run-of-River project on the Upper Pitt River.

But then the provincial government pulled the plug on the project Wednesday, less than 24 hours after 1,000 people crammed into Pitt Meadows Secondary to voice their disapproval.

So where does this leave us?

There's been so much rhetoric it's tough to know what to believe. The province says we need more power and these RoR projects are green options that will fill this need.

COPE 378, the union that represents energy workers, says there is no looming energy crisis in B.C. and wants all private power projects scrapped. Of course, that might just be a case of a union trying to protect public power jobs.

I think RoR projects shouldn't be dismissed outright because they appear to leave a far smaller footprint on the environment than most other power options. I'm not saying the project was right for the Upper Pitt, mostly due to the abundant fish habitat and having to cut through Pinecone-Burke Provincial Park. Far from it. But these projects are definitely a creative option.

It was strange how the project suddenly rocketed into the region's consciousness in less than a week because the RoR story isn't new.

Both local community newspapers have been at the forefront of this story, spilling lots of ink about every aspect of this project for more than half a year. Other media have dabbled in the story, but it really didn't hit the fan with the big city media until the weekend, when the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. named the Upper Pitt River the most endangered river of 2008.

But once the story reached critical mass and all the local TV and radio stations got involved, it was sad what happened next.

NDP leader Carole James (I was going to put the word leader in quotation marks due to her disastrous performance in opposition, but I thought that would be too cruel) jumped on the bandwagon by attending Tuesday's meeting.

She didn't show up in February to the first Pitt Meadows meeting or the second meeting in Mission. Both drew huge crowds, but it wasn't as big a story then.

But once it blew up and the cameras were there, James suddenly appears. The timing is so shady it smacks of the most cynical of political moves. I'm surprised she wasn't holding up a dead salmon plucked from the river itself.

It's also hilarious for her to show up with local MLA Michael Sather, who she hung out to dry because he dared to stick to his principles regarding agricultural land and the Tsawwassen Treaty.

Another bizarre part of this process was the initial decision to hold the first meeting at the Ramada Inn in Pitt Meadows. The room was so small the fire marshal closed the meeting down. That fact helped give the story more legs. It was a costly miscalculation.

Then there's the rhetoric. From both sides of the debate.

Some provincial politicians dismissed outright any criticism because opponents haven't developed their own power generation strategies as alternatives.

Sorry, but being opposed to something doesn't mean you also have to come up with your own power project. Opponents were merely pointing out the dangers of this project. And I think it's reasonable for people to be upset about power lines cutting a swath through a provincially protected park -- especially for those people who fought to have the park protected in the first place.

Pitt Meadows Mayor Don MacLean derisively referred to opponents as the "rent-a-crowd." True, there was that element, but there was a large, local grassroots campaign of concerned citizens.

On the other hand, RoR opponents needed to tone things down. This wasn't a nuclear power plant being proposed, yet you'd think it was by the tone and exaggeration of some of the opponents.

One person at the meeting Tuesday shamefully had his two-year-old daughter give the head of the RoR proposal a drawing she had done. People who use their kids like that make me sick.

Let's be honest, RoR projects have some merit and are a sign of creative thinking. They divert, not dam, water systems to generate power. Compared with other ways of generating power, RoR is a greener option. It wasn't right for the Upper Pitt, but might be right for another area.

Would you rather somebody built another massive dam or another coal-fired plant?