Please tell me that I haven’t gone mad. Tell me that people in this province really do care for their environment; that they want to continue with public power through BC Hydro.
Thanks to the work of Economist Erik Andersen, we now know that Gordon (Pinocchio) Campbell has set BC Hydro on the road to bankruptcy. We have had confirmed what Damien Gillis and I have been writing and saying for 2 ½ years; BC Hydro has been forced into giving Independent Power Producers (IPPS) sweetheart “take or pay” contracts requiring Hydro to buy power it doesn’t need thus must sell for ½ of what it paid. We’ve also seen that IPPS account for 16% of Hydro’s domestic power meaning Hydro has bought hugely expensive power that it can produce itself for a fraction of the cost. We also know that the substantial dividend Hydro used to pay the BC government each year is gone – unless they charge us higher rates so they can pay it back to us!
The Common Sense Canadian (www.thecanadian.org) sent Mr. Andersen’s report to nearly all the newspapers in BC, a day before the press release along with releases to the principal columnists as well as to about 2000 people and there has been no response from the papers; I gather CBC has done an interview with Mr. Andersen.
My reaction is this – why haven’t we risen as one to condemn this disgraceful state of affairs?
I think I know the answer. The numbers can be easily confused and the Campbell government and its supporters, dwindling though they may be, use this complexity to discourage people from getting involved.
What I’ve just told you is bad enough but there’s more – upwards of 600 rivers will be, to all intents and purposes, killed along with the ecologies they support if we don’t put a stop to it.
Damien Gillis and I have formed The Common Sense Canadian whose principal endeavours are to save our power and rivers as well as fight fish farms. There is a “donate” button on the website (www.thecanadian.org).
The Wilderness Committee with Joe Foy and Gwen Barlee leading the charge are valuable allies.
It’s your power company and the rivers belong to you. Both are being ruined and will be successfully ruined if we don’t fight.
