By now, B.C. politicians have talked the Site C dam issues almost to the point of incomprehensibility.
The arguments about jobs, alternatives, future demand, energy costs, impacts, downsides and upsides are a big bubbling stew of rhetoric that’s at a constant boil.
But there are still weeks to go before the NDP government’s end-of-year deadline to decide whether to carry on building the Peace River dam. So the arguments continue.
Monday’s question period in the legislature brought another round of trench warfare over the dam. Here’s a synopsis of the play-by-play.
• Liberal MLA Tracy Redies, a former B.C. Hydro board member, said there’s a compelling case to carry on — it means “clean, affordable reliable power that will enable sustainable development for generations to come.”
So, other than partisan malice or a desire to undo the B.C. Liberal legacy, why on earth is the government considering writing off $4 billion and guaranteeing a 10 per cent hike in electricity bills if the dam is cancelled?
Energy Minister Michelle Mungall sought some common ground on the issue, without tipping her hand as to which way the government is leaning.
Everyone agrees B.C. Hydro needs to work for everyone in developing clean, affordable power, she offered. That’s as far at the common ground went. “Unfortunately, the B.C. Liberals chose to sidestep the right process for doing just that … They decided that their decision-making was much better.”
The B.C. Utilities Commission report ordered by the NDP raised lots of doubt about the project costs, but basically concluded it’s a close call whether to carry on or cancel.
• Redies tried a different tack, citing the subsequent request two deputy ministers made to the commission last week, asking why it used a lower load forecast in its analysis than Hydro did in planning the project.
Was it because the commission expects lower economic growth and the decline of mining, forestry and technology “presumably because of NDP economic policies”?
Nice try. Mungall commended her for a stellar spin job. Redies piled on with more, saying the deputies’ queries paint a grim picture of no climate action, no electrification of the economy and no economic or population growth.
Mungall said B.C. Hydro has put its projects through appropriate approval processes, and the Liberals are just mad about the report that resulted when the NDP did just that.
• Liberal MLA Michelle Stilwell rapped Mungall for accusing the Liberals of not following due process when last week she announced an electricity rate freeze before it had gone to the BCUC. Although the freeze supposedly erases a three per cent rate hike planned for next spring, cancelling the project will hike rates 16 to 18 per cent, she said.
• Green MLA Sonia Furstenau joined the fray, citing an academic paper that forecasts cancelling the project and relaying on wind and conservation would create five times the jobs the dam will. “This is one more piece of evidence that shows cancelling the job is the right thing to do,” she said.
Mungall expressed appreciation for all the research being done, but declined yet again to tip her hand. Cabinet’s going to “hunker down” and “sharpen our pencils” and make sure the go or no-go decision is the right one.
• Liberal MLA Dan Ashton raised the First Nations angle, saying there are $150 million worth of work commitments to First Nations at Site C, and they’re all at risk because of the NDP and Greens. Promising reconciliation and opportunity and then cancelling it is hypocritical, he said. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser said he spent the weekend talking to First Nations in the area and it’s all part of the decision process.
• Later in the day, Green Leader Andrew Weaver took another run at Mungall over the problematic rate freeze. He said she’s defending the indefensible by refusing to admit that she announced the freeze without getting commission approval. “Unfathomable,” said Weaver. “Why can’t you just admit it was misleading and say: ‘We’re sorry’?”
That’s tough talk from someone who signed on the dotted line to support the NDP for better or worse.
The takeaway as dusk fell is that the referral to the BCUC and the subsequent report has generated almost as much argument as the dam would generate power.
