quote:Originally posted by cuttlefish
Who is more likely to protect our resources?
Let's look at the last eight years. The Liberals have managed to;
Sell off BC Rail when Gordo promised he wouldn't. Now we pay legal fees with taxpayer dollars to prosecute the shysters who were working for government at the time.
Shut down the Fisheries Renewal Program and any support for wild salmon recovery and habitat restoration, then sat back while fish stocks continue their decline.
Lifted the previous moratorium on salmon farm expansion then denied all the science about the impacts and increased sea lice from said salmon farms that has been published in the last eight years along with refusing to respond to any of the reports or recommendations from two Committees of the Legislature and one government sponsored Pacific Salmon Forum until the Morton court decision took it out of their hands and now let them off the hook at election time. Now they claim this is all a Federal responsibility.
Create stump-to-dump contracting in the forest industry so that corporations could maximize profits by playing off citizens against each other for said contracts and then sat back as "spectators" as most logs are now exported raw, pulp mill are closing due to lack of fiber (sawdust and wood chips from shuttered sawmills), blueberry farmers and stable owners stand in line for sawdust from mills running below capacity. Oh, but now they are promising to help us develop new and creative ways to make money from our wood waste!
Selling off the rights to our water to private companies who are promising to generate electricity to sell back to us and others. Oops, sorry, they aren't selling the rights, they're just renting them for 40 years.
Streamline the environmental review process so more mining claims, pipelines from the Tar Sands to the Coast and oil tankers to haul it away, can all be expedited. (I wonder if they will charge a Carbon Tax on that Tar Sands oil as it gets exported?)
That's how the Liberals have protected our resources in the last eight years. I'm sure there are other examples.
If we re-elect these guys, why would we expect anything different? If you as a citizen agree with all of the above, then they are the choice for you.
great post cuttlefish
Here is some info on only 1 of the underhanded and damaging decisions (others include fish farms, BC Rail, etc. as cuttlefish pointed-out) of the BC Liberal party - re: BC Hydro - for the more business-minded pro-liberals in the province whose purse strings and liberal ribbons appear to sing louder than their heartstrings:
1/ From 1994 to 2008, our public utility (i.e. crown corp), BC Hydro, has contributed an enormous $9.5 billion to the province. This amount of revenue generated and subsequently used for programs and offsetting debt IS AT RISK now, due to the changes imposed by the BC Liberals as described below.
2/ British Columbia has enjoyed the 3rd lowest electricity rates in North America for years thanks to public power—assets that are publicly owned and paid for, with cost benefits passed onto consumers. This is due to the fact that the utilities are publicly-owned, and once the capital investment is paid-off (anyone starting a business knows this); the remaining income from power generation is debt-free.
This will NOT happen with power-generating facilities owned by private interests as in the so-called "public-private partnerships" promoted by the BC Liberals.
3/ The BC Liberal government has prohibited BC Hydro from constructing any new public power generation projects. Only improvements to existing BC Hydro dams are permissible. The one potential BC Hydro project under consideration is Site C on the Peace River. This contentious project is presently being examined in a five year feasibility review; and even if approved, there are no guarantees of public ownership.
What this means is that we the taxpayers and hydro rate payers will end-up being renters, rather than owners of our own resources and will pay $$$ for that privilege of use of our resourses.
4/ BC Hydro is already paying more for the 10% of electricity produced by private energy companies than the 90% generated through public power facilities. The per megawatt price of private power electricity is approximately 15 times the cost of existing public power.
Our rates will go-up accordingly, up between 2 to 15 times over the next 40 years. In addition, the interest generated by removing this amount of BILLIONS of $$$ from the public coffers will be lost.
5/ Effective October 1st 2008, the BC Liberal government introduced 2-tier BC Hydro rates that will further increase costs to households where more electricity is consumed—increases of up to 60% over three years, according to the Joint Industry Electricity Steering Committee. Basing such increases on household consumption penalizes larger families and northern communities electricity consumption is higher due to harsh winter climates.
6/ BC Hydro has already entered into long-term Energy Purchase Agreements (EPAs)—some for up to 40 years on specific projects—totaling a whopping $28.4 billion. Additional contracts continue to be negotiated while the specific terms and conditions of the EPAs are kept private.
But whatever the actual costs of these contracts are - we will pay for this power generated by the IPP's - whether we need it or not - and at rates of between 2-15 TIMES that of the market rate. We will pay BILIIONS OF $$$ over the next 40 years.
7/ The BC Liberal government claims that the province desperately needs more power. But that’s misleading because BC Hydro uses its vast supply of reliable hydroelectric power to buy electricity elsewhere when prices are low and sell BC power to other jurisdictions when prices are high, making substantial profits for the province— $1.4 billion in 2007! In fact, over the past decade, some years BC is a net exporter of electricity and other years a net importer.
8/ The BC Liberal government also claims that private power producers will help BC achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2016. This statement is also misleading. Run-of-river power produces in the spring, when BC Hydro’s reservoirs are full, supply is high, and electricity needs of British Columbians are declining. More likely, this power is intended for export to the US—like California—when electricity consumption increases with air conditioning and other cooling system requirements.
9/ The real reason Campbell's Liberals made these changes is to reap over $560,000 in campaign contributions from the multi-national IPP consortiums - thereby costing us BILLIONS of $$$ in future power generating revenues that will come-out of our pocketbooks.
Campbell's Liberal government is NO FRIEND of small business, since they too have to pay these power rates to run their businesses; but rather friends of multi-national corporate interests whose plan is to steal our resources and sell our rights back to us.
10/ at the end of the 40 year contract, these multi-national corporate interests own the water rights to our rivers, and the scale of this development is huge.
All of these decisions were made - not by the NDP - but by the supposedly more "fiscally-responsible" Liberals. Sorry, my liberal pundits - that mantra that the NDP can't govern (whether you like James or not) - is a big pile of bunk - just like how the Republican's in the US lie to themselves about the poor fiscal history of Republican administrations.
Besides the costs of partitioning-off BC Hydro and the promotion of IPPs and 40-year BC Hydro contracts; other financial comparisons between the NDP and the BC Liberal government include:
a/ Under the NDP government (1991-2001), average annual economic growth was 2.8% with 34,100 new jobs created: under the Campbell Liberal government (2001-2009) growth was only 2.6%, with only 323,700 new jobs created.
b/ The Liberals inherited a 2000-2001 $1.5 BILLION annual surplus from the NDP in 2001, and turned it into a $34-40 BILLION debt (for most years, but 2008 is listed as a $1.1 Billion surplus).
For the record - I have no political affiliation except for our future generations. The NDP have made past blunders, too. However, the NDP constructed Fisheries Renewal BC; while the BC Liberals dismantled it as a long-term strategy so nobody would be watching the rivers when they wanted to give them away.
The choices for this provincial election are clear to me. Look into the BC Hydro/run-of-the-river debacle, fish farms, and pipelines - and it should become clear to you, too.
some links:
www.citizensforpublicpower.ca
http://www.ippwatch.info/w/
