Cariboo Press
Wed 16 Apr 2008

Globe and Mail reporter Mark Hume wrote on October 29, 2007 that "the privatization of energy in BC may be the worst public policy ever pursued by government in this province."

Former Social Credit cabinet minister and media personality Rafe Mair stated in an article entitled 'Campbell's power to harm rivers' that "the Campbell government is making certain people rich at the expense of the public."

If these statements are accurate, why has there been so little public outcry, and why has it taken this long for stakeholders and community leaders to speak out about the effects of the Liberal's BC Energy Plan?

In a nutshell, the BC Energy Plan forbids the building of new power generation facility by BC Hydro, and requires that BC Hydro buy new power from private sources, the majority of those projects being run-of-river hydroelectric projects which will built on hundreds of rivers throughout BC.

When the idea of run-of-river projects was first brought forward, people were told that these projects were 'green' and clean; we were told that they were environmentally benign. While this may be true in individual cases on the smallest scale, groups like the Wilderness Committee who initially supported the concept of run-of-river are now raising alarm bells.

In British Columbia, licenses and approvals for run-of-river hydroelectric projects are being handed out with virtually no consideration for the cumulative effects of the permanent alteration of so many of our rivers and creeks. No thought is being given to the cumulative damage of so many transmission lines criss-crossing our wilderness. And local residents no longer have any say in how their backcountry is going to be used.

In the book 'Liquid Gold: Energy Privatization in British Columbia', Simon Fraser University professor John Calvert says that "the privatization of BC's energy supply is putting rivers at risk environmentally, driving up energy prices and undermining the viability of BC Hydro."

The 'green' veneer on the Liberals BC Energy Plan is wearing thin as people look more closely at the true effects of the privatization agenda. Every British Columbian needs to take the time to learn the truth about what is happening to our energy systems, and demand that this government do the right thing to be true and responsible steward of our public lands.

To learn more about private power in BC, visit www.NormMacdonald.ca.

Norm Macdonald, NDP MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke

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