Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Site C Dam Not Required, British Columbia Could Save $15 Billion Dollars



 Written by Grant G

In late December/2014....A couple of weeks after Christy Clark told Bloomberg in New York that British Columbia didn`t need Site C dam for the proposed LNG industry, Christy Clark also told Bloomberg the price of Site C was going up by potentially $billions of dollars, we are looking at $10 to $15 billion dollars to build Site C...Possibly $15 billion dollars for a very tiny bite of electric  power...Expensive power, power we don`t need for LNG...The one group that looked at Site C and BC Hydro`s power for the future projected growth model...They came to the conclusion the power was not required, the case not made..!

Meaning there is no need to spend $15 billion dollars we don`t have, no need to put BC Hydro over $20 billion dollars in debt($15 billion plus the $billions of debt hidden in BC Hydro`s deferral accounts),  BC Hydro would have as a crown corporation almost as much debt as British Columbia had when the BC Liberals came into power in 2001...Our provincial debt in 2001, including contractual debt, crown debt stood at that time about $28 billion dollars(now it`s almost $80 billion dollars, not counting contractual debt and crown corporation debt)...And these BC Liberals want to add $15 billion dollars in more debt for power we don`t need?..

 http://commonsensecanadian.ca/bc-hydro-inflates-demand-justify-site-c-dam/

Here are Christy Clark`s own words.

"LNG is our priority in British Columbia and we don’t need to do Site C in order to fuel up the LNG industry,” Clark said, adding she ran for office on a pledge to establish the sector."

 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-10/british-columbia-clark-optimistic-on-lng-despite-oil-rout.html

Christy Clark`s mouth says we don`t need to spend $billions of dollars that we don`t have on Site C for LNG..

And guess who else says we don`t need Site C...

____________


"The retired head of the Association of Major Power Users of BC, Dan Potts, estimates the proposed Site C Dam would lose $350 million a year for taxpayers and BC Hydro ratepayers. The 30-year pulp mill manager told media in Vancouver yesterday that the project, estimated to cost $8 Billion or more, is “fundamentally uneconomic” – based on its outmoded technology and power trading prices that are likely to remain far lower than the cost of electricity produced by Site C.

Potts made the comments at a press conference organized by the District of Hudson’s Hope – where the 80 km-long reservoir would be located – to raise concerns about Site C in advance of the federal cabinet’s ruling on the project, expected this Fall.

Potts and other speakers, including agrologists, farmers, First Nations leaders and elected officials from the region, called for the BC Utilities Commission’s oversight of the project to be restored. The independent energy watchdog was stripped by the BC Liberal Government of its usual role of reviewing a project based on issues like cost and need. In the absence of that review, Potts worries that a project which makes no economic sense may receive unjustified approval.
“This project is turning gold into lead,” said Potts.

It’s going to have a legacy of wealth destruction…It’s going to sap the province’s ability to raise money and borrow money, to do other things, such as infrastructure, hospitals, schools – all the things we need to do."
_______________

So here we have experts, and he`s not alone, calling Site C a boondoggle in the making, a very expensive boondoggle, not only will it cost much more than $10 billion, interest payments on that debt will be $400 million per year....And it will lose on average another $350 million per year in direct losses...

All in, this project could end up costing BC taxpayers $30 billion dollars after interest payments and operating costs...for power we don`t need.

The BC NDP should refuse to even enter our provincial legislature until Site C is taken off next summer`s starting date agenda...You see readers, friends, British Columbians, there is time for a strong opposition to fight for British Columbia, that time is now, before the legislature opens...How many days do politicians need off, vacationing, sitting on their over-paid asses!

We must demand that Site C go to a non partisan regulator, or non-partisan committee...Like the BCUC...This project must be vetted by those who have no skin in the game, by those not wanting to win or steal an election..

There are power generating turbines being added to BC`s Mica dam...For a cost of $500 million dollars Mica Dam will produce extra power, the new power generated, on top of power Mica already produces......For $500 million dollars a couple of new added turbines will produce half the power of Site C Dam..Without flooding land, flooding farm land...Merely adding turbines to an existing dam will create half the power of Sire C dam...for a cost of $500 million dollars...

1/20th the cost of Site C dam ....Mica will produce half the power Site C would at 1/20th the cost..

Where is the media outrage?

Someone needs to haul the BC Liberals off to jail..Demand a Site C plebiscite, or referendum...

The biggest expenditure ever proposed in British Columbia with not one shred of evidence that this power is required..

It would be criminal to allow that big of an expenditure without the case being made that the power is needed..

If the NDP can`t persuade the powers at be, the courts, the new media, the internet media..

We need all hands on deck to stop this $15 billion dollar theft of public money...

We need to explore other options for power..Like this option...

Since we have, according to Christy Clark and Rich Coleman, "British Columbia has some of the largest known natural gas reserves in the world, more than enough for domestic use only, hundreds of years of supply", more than we can ever use domestically.....And as of right now, and probably forever, we don`t and won`t have an LNG export industry..

What British Columbia has is tonnes of natural gas and nowhere to sell it, how about we sell it to ourselves..?

British Columbia could create a market for domestic natural gas, no need to liquify if...And at the same time can create 800 to 1200 mega watts of power, or more,  as much power as Site C dam would produce..

We would not have to flood 30,000 acres of fertile northern farmland...Thus that land up north would not be flooded, the land would continue to grow food and be a carbon sinc, , meaning the non-flooded land would absorb greenhouse gases...Absorb enough greenhouse gas to offset the below proposal..

A proposal that would give B.C. options, options to turn up or down the electrical output depending on the needs, this electrical plant would only take up in total space..24 hectares of space/land required...

And here`s the most attractive part of the whole deal...For a cost of about $1.4 billion dollars we could produce as much power as Site C..

 We could save over $10 billion dollars before interest charges...BC Hydro`s ratepayers would not see their bills go through the roof...

We could build the world`s cleanest, newest, most modern most efficient natural gas electrical generating plant in the world...At the same time greenhouse gas emissions from the natural gas plant would be offset by not flooding 30,000 acres of farmland..no homeowners to piss off, to buy out..no First Nations to cut deals with, plus it gives our natural gas drillers a new market for some of their gas, that means some royalties for the province..And create B.C. jobs for B.C. workers.


And we will save not a few $hundred million dollars but over $10 billion dollars ...

And if someday in the future LNG exports produce bigtime revenues for the province we can shut down this plant, maybe nuclear fusion will come online, newer more efficient appliances, possibly domestic power generation that could feed into the grid, like solar, tidal, geo-thermal and who knows what other technological miracles are coming down the pike..

Pipe dreams, no....A win win win...BC Taxpayers win...Saving food growing farmland wins...A new market for our gas drillers, a win for them, a win for BC`s credit rating and a break-even win for the environment, what greenhouse gas emissions are expelled will be offset by not flooding 30,000 acres of farm land, maintaining the land as a carbon sinc.
BC Hydro won`t have to carry a $20 billion dollar debt, ratepayers won`t have to carry that debt on their bi-monthy electric bills..
British Columbia could save $billions and $billions of dollars by building a copy of this..

______________

 "Shepard Energy Centre is a new, natural gas-fired power plant being built near Shepard Industrial Park in south-east Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The project, estimated to cost C$1.3bn, is being hailed as one of the largest projects ever undertaken by the city of Calgary.

The facility will have a nominal plant rating of 800MW and will be the largest natural gas-fired electricity generation facility in Alberta when commissioned in 2015.

It will generate enough electricity to meet the needs of more than half of Calgary's existing power demands.

The facility will use an advanced emissions technology and will generate less than half the CO2 per megawatt than a conventional coal-fired plant. The plant will be owned and operated by Enmax Shepard, a subsidiary of Enmax Energy."


Enmax Energy's Calgary plant features

Important features of the plant include natural gas compression, auxiliary boilers and a wet surface condenser and cooling tower. Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) will be partially enclosed, while the steam turbine generator (STG) and gas turbine generators (GTGs) will be fully enclosed. The project also has provisions for future carbon dioxide capture.

 http://www.power-technology.com/projects/shepard-energy-centre/

________________



We have time, Major Site C dam construction has not started

Plus there are many lawsuits pending..

I personally asked John Horgan and the NDP party to pay for and commission a non-partisan study exploring the options I highlighted above, if the BC Liberals can prove we need much more power in the future and Site C is the only viable option, so be it, if the BC Liberals have complete faith and confidence they shouldn`t fear a non-partisan committee to review in depth Site C, the costs, the ramifications and other options.

 We may not even need the natural gas power plant, but if we need power, this is the route to go..


However, the time has come for the opposition NDP to step up to the plate, the BC Liberal`s clean energy act is gone, out the window, each proposed large LNG plant would add near 9 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions to our provincial airshed each year...This natural gas electrical plant would add about 1/10th of that total...BC`s clean energy act is null n void with an LNG industry..


Christy Clark and the BC Liberals have been talking the talk, Christy Clark was blathering in public how "BC`s LNG would clean China`s airshed and make the world`s air cleaner".. 

If that is true, if it is good enough for China than a natural gas electrical plant must be good enough for British Columbia too.


We as a province could even buy carbon offsets, $100 million dollars worth of carbon offsets per year and we would still be ahead of the Site C cost by $billions and $billions of dollars..We could buy offsets of that amount for 30 years and only spend $3 billion dollars... Add in the cost of a natural gas electrical plant of $1.3 billion to even as high as $2 billion dollars, add both amounts together ....$5 billion dollars...And we wouldn`t have to buy carbon offsets if we didn`t need to....As stated above...We would not be flooding 30,000 acres of carbon absorbing farmland...

We can`t wait until the spring session of the legislature starts to begin this battle..

 Building a natural gas electrical plant(if we need the power) is a win win... 

BC jobs, BC workers..A electrical generating plant using B.C. natural gas, drilled by B.C. natural gas well drillers, piped through B.C. pipeline, power generated flowing to B.C. homes at a fraction of the cost of a Site C dam...Thus saving the province, saving B.C. Hydro $billions of dollars...Saving ratepayers even $billions more, money that will flow into our economy rather than to New York Bond Buying hedge funds..

A win win win...

We need the media to get onside with this plan...We need the BC NDP making wave after wave...Refusing to sit in our legislature until all these $billion dollar plus saving options are explored thoroughly by non-partisan entities with no skin in the game..

We need The Straight Goods....We need leadership, we need a robust opposition...

Who knows what energy efficiencies lie ahead in the future..A $1.3 to $2 billion dollar natural gas electrical generating plant can easily be decommissioned...A $15 billion dollar dam, not so much..

Food security....Saving ever declining farmland stocks...Not having to flood 30,000 acres...Not having to buy out home-owners, northern businesses, not having to fight First Nations in the Peace region..
The non-flooded land will grow food and absorb carbon...B.C. workers to build a natural gas power plant, giving our drillers another market for our excess gas..

Everybody wins, taxpayers, ratepayers, northern homesteaders, First Nations, the environment, our credit rating..

Everybody wins....

 


P.S....Happy New Year.....Well, we can at least hope for a happy new year.!


The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open





18 comments:

Hugh said...

BC Hydro plans to spend $9+ billion on Site C to generate more electricity, while at the same time the BC Government has plans to allow mining companies to delay paying their hydro bills:

http://www.news1130.com/2015/12/30/bc-mining-companies-could-see-power-payments-deferred-province/

Meanwhile hydro rates are up for the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

burrard thermal
no water with severe drought= no power
no transmission lines with major earthquake and dam damage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_salt_tax_in_India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_March

e.a.f. said...

Your article is good. However, many will not take the time to read all of it. To reach a wider audience I would suggest shorter articles. Most people don't want the details and if this is to be something which people can get into, they will have to read it first.

Some one has a petition on Change.org to get rid of MSP premiums. You might be interested in signing it and sending it on.

If we are to tackle the problem of increasing B.C. Hydro rates and Site C. a petition on Change.org might be the way to go. It has a vast mailing list which the petition would tap into. However, the points on the petition would have to be kept to a few lines so as to have people willing to read and sign it. Just a thought.

Grant G said...

You are wrong EAF...Thousands read this article in its entirety..Including the legislative reporters..Baldrey, ..Fletcher..Palmer..and most domestic politicians(B.C.) read my site..

My audience isn`t massive like MSM...But those in the know read me...

Details, facts and figures can not be sussed out in a 30 second soundbite..

EAF...Don`t you see..The MSM lacks details, the print a quoted lie or government talking point and move on..

If you want short posts with a sound bite..you know where to find them.

Cheers

Anonymous said...

The less fact checking ,the shorter the article?
embedded media risk?
high debt curry,favor risk?
Farrell has long posts also.

Anonymous said...

Another great article. Welcome back for 2016. I always come to this site for some insights and rather blunt commentary. Keep up the great work as there are a lot of us out there who do read your entire articles. I may not always agree 100% with your points but the information is well thought out and well presented. Great job.

JR

Grant G said...

Thanks JR...

I do my best...And I`m not always 100% right..I appreciate your continued support.

Cheers

sd said...

Grant, E.A.F. has his opinion about the length of your articles but I think that he feels the public has been so dumbed down by the way the msm presents complex issues that shorter is better. I take my time with your articles as with Robin's.Regarding site c I've e-mailed and phoned my MP, Mr. Sidhu and his office says he will respond " in due time"! I'll be contacting the minister for the environment today.At this point I'm hoping that the treaties will stop this madness. Amazing how the opposition has Not pointed out crusty hypocritical statements on site c. Eventually we old white guys and gals will have to leave our mam and mom caves and protest visibly. I applaud those in the north that are putting their bodies on the line.Keep on truckin' my friend!

Grant G said...

SD....The change will never happen until concerned people like you amass and say...

We`re fed and not going to take it anymore...Good on you SD..

Where do they sell pitchforks?

Grant G said...

Oh, by the way...This posting was originally posted January 3rd/2015(a year ago) ..

I shortened the post and reposted yesterday..However, there were many comments under this post last year..Those comments I forgot to leave under the article..Here they are.

___


Anonymous said...


"Our B.C. media will not cover these stories of the past..."

Which is too bad. Remember BC Rail?

Campbell, Clark & Co. saddled a profitable business with unnecessary debt and then did the taxpayers a huge 'favour' and sold it to some friends.

Now look at BC Hydro: load it up with some HUGE unserviceable debt and the obvious answer will be that government should not be in the energy business and the jewel asset should be sold - to insiders of course.

December 31, 2014 at 8:08 PM



Hugh said...

Your plan would save BC about $8 billion, preserve agricultural land and avoid conflicts and lawsuits, as you say. Or they could probably retrofit Burrard Thermal for even less.

December 31, 2014 at 10:03 PM



John's Aghast said...

Win, win, win? What about the electrical transmission workers? You know, the ones erecting the 100% over budget transmission line in the north. THEY won't have any work if the NG power plants go ahead. They're counting on transmission lines from site C to the 'market', wherever that might be.

You 'done good'. Terrific, irrefutable report. Too bad the Liebrals don't have anyone that can read. Maybe translate it into E. Indian and Chrispy can have someone read it to her over there.
Happy New Year to you and all your readers!

December 31, 2014 at 10:22 PM



Grant G said...

John Aghast....A natural gas power plant will needs a feed to the transmission lines too..

Hugh..The savings would be much more..Site C is most likely $12 to $14 billion..Interest on that much debt is, even at the best rate..

$400 to $500 million per year, minimum..

But, even a $8 billion dollar saving is massive..

Happy New Year Gentlemen

December 31, 2014 at 10:26 PM



Grant G said...

One more thing John Aghast..

I`m only talking one natural gas power plant..That would produce as much or more power than Site C..

1200 megawatts..

Cheers

December 31, 2014 at 10:29 PM



John's Aghast said...

I understand Grant. But that one plant can be located strategically to minimize transmission lines, whereas Site C is ...well, Site C. And I bet Chrispy & Bennett have neglected to include transmission lines in their 'no upper limit' budget. That's a different billion dollar expense!
I wish you good health for the New Year - no more of those emergency trips to the hospital (What hospital-the Lieberals abolished them in 2015) We desperately need you to carry the torch.

January 1, 2015 at 9:16 AM



Grant G said...

John Aghast...Sorry friend, you are mistaken, I never chose any location for our natural gas electrical generating plant..

If one wants, build in Hudsons Hope, build it in the peace, it only needs 24 hectares of land and a natural gas supply..

I do believe there is natural gas in the Peace region.

Also, if LNG export plants never happen, and any new needed power is for residential, the natural gas power plant could be built closer to population centers..

I don`t wish to argue with you..It could even be built in the heart of the gas fields, then run a transmission line to the main transmission line..

And it might be smart to build a transmission line that won`t be fried by a Coronal mass ejection..

Good Day

January 1, 2015 at 11:29 AM





Grant G said...

Part II

______


Norm said...

Grant you have taken on 2 of the most serious issues BCers face, both in one post. A monumental task. While Site C is a travesty the lack of a viable, effective opposition is worse, that and a compliant media are the reason the corrupt Libs can get away with murder. Has the NDP ever had an opposition worth it’s salt? Horgan doesn’t seem to have the ability to transform the NDPs willingness to be 2nd rate. I’m not an NDPer even though I contributed to the local Ridding Assc for the last election and got the usual requests for money from head office. Even after the election it was gimme, gimme until I started to criticize the and suggest the admin retire, then I was cut off..Now nothing. Who are these people are Jan O’BRIEN, Sihota, Dix still driving the boat, they and many others ned to be gone. Even then would it do any good, the NDP brand is so tarnished it is probably unelectable in BC. The idea of a progressive party should resonate with both young and old but the philosophy has to be clear the Constitution has to be clear and followed and above all new faces and probably a new name.
Grant please keep up the good work, we the great unwashed public need more bloggers like you with the willingness and ability to put into words which we only think about.

January 1, 2015 at 1:11 PM



Grant G said...

Thanks for that Norm...Believe me, it gives me no great pleasure to criticize the BC NDP...

also, one can`t criticize Site C being rammed forward without implicating the opposition..

They knew it was coming.

John Horgan needs to call a press conference, the NDP needs to do as I suggested, pay for a non-partisan professional review on the viability of Site C..

The review must look at economics, trends, cost, forecasts, ramifications on BC`s debt, ...

I`m all for fighting climate change, ...However, the world climate conferences are yielding nothing, for British Columbia to spend $15 billion dollars on Site C when we can create as much or more electrical power for less than $2 billion dollars..

If the media ignores the NDP..Horgan can write op-ed pieces, the Tyee will post them, The Straight Goods will popst them..

Buy radio time in BC..like an info-mercial..

John Horgan could make himself look the hero while shaming the BC Liberals on their economic suicide..

We..the NDP have nothing to lose..

And I`m running out of patience.



Grant G said...

Part III

____
January 1, 2015 at 6:01 PM



Trapped in the Dialectic said...

You're right--Tieleman is done (and has always been a turncoat in my opinion). That article was actually written by Charlie Smith, who writes well enough about issues that matter to regular working people.

Nor was it my intention to dredge up the nineties; although the NDP comes out looking pretty godd in that decade if one is being objective.

And it's also true that the name of Horgan's Chief of Staff does not matter. His affiliations, interests and beliefs make a whole of lot of difference, however. Because he's essentially the gate keeper between Horgan and the rest of the world at this point. This is a big part of why Horgan and the NDP caucus are failing to take a stand in opposition against LNG and Site C. One simply cannot dismiss the fact that not so long ago, John Heaney went to work for the preeminent establishment law firm, Heenan Blaikie.


I'm going to stop and let that last sentence sink in.






January 1, 2015 at 6:42 PM



Anonymous said...

lets just release this on the last day of the year shall we.?

http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/12/information-bulletin.html

January 1, 2015 at 6:57 PM



Grant G said...

You see this..

http://billtieleman.blogspot.ca/2014/12/merry-christmas-christy-clark-stephen.html

Either TEILEMAN has lost his mind..

My Gawd..It`s just plain old embarrassing..

Imagine that..

Christy Clark...Stephen Harper and Bill Teileman all use the same brand of panty liners..

R.I.P. Bill T

Didn`t know you died



January 1, 2015 at 7:09 PM



Anonymous said...

LNG and site C dyke mania.?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-01/mania-manias

January 1, 2015 at 9:17 PM



Jon Ghun said...

Good analysis of the problem; and then a good solution put on offer.

Very rare combination, even for alternative media.

Good work.



January 1, 2015 at 9:22 PM



Anonymous said...

it wasnt a prosperity fund?
it was a propensity fund.?To lie?

BC Liberals -half the promises double the costs.?

January 1, 2015 at 9:25 PM

Grant G said...

Part IV

__
kootcoot said...

British Columbia should give more consideration to geo-thermal and or tidal for energy. Our province is blessed with sites for developing both and they are both sustainable.

I agree Grant, James Moore is sub-human, but hey, that is what you must be to get ahead in the nightmare that is Sleazy Stevie's government!

January 2, 2015 at 9:45 AM



Elwood said...

Grant.

Firstly - Happy New Year!!

Man, you always do great pieces but this one takes the cake.

Honestly, I have printed out your piece, photocopied 20, and given them out to friends and relatives. With my own background explanation. Yes. It was that good!

$15 billion Site C dam so Chrusty Clark can wear a hard hat during the next election with photo ops?

Just so BC Hydro ratepayers will receive a humungus increase in their bills in 10 or so years? When the Cluckster is gone?

What a joke. Farmlands flooded, Treat 8 FNs deprived of terrain and livelihood. Animal species impacted. On and on.

And yet you have the perfect solution with Calgary`s new natural gas-fired Shepard facility.

At a mere fraction of the cost of Site C. To BC Hydro ratepayers. Proper scrubbing technology would decrease GHG emissions.

Better yet. Just last week Saskatchewan just flicked on the switch on a new coal-fired generating station. Guess what?

It also is the world`s first carbon capture power plant. What is not to like? Basically zero emissions.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/01/canada-switches-on-worlds-first-carbon-capture-power-plant

And the carbon capture is utilized underground to increase pressure on oil wells for further output.

A natural gas generating facility in BC`s Peace River region could use same technology to increase pressure on natural gas wells for higher output.

As environmentally green as one can get. And cheap.

So where is the passion in BC`s opposition in all of this?

Back in the day, NDP leader Dave Barrett would have slammed the BC Libs left, right and centre. Body checked them into the boards until they were done like dinner. And Barrett would have come out smelling like roses to the public along the lines of your exact same common sense proposal. Knowing Dave.

But the BC NDP has been absolutely abysmal in their opposition to Site C. If any. Still cannot figure it out.

I do not know what the NDP stands for anymore to be honest. It seems that they have been floundering and rudderless since the 2013 election.

That`s why I and many friends and relatives have given up and moved over to the Greens. At least they give a principled position.

Again, fantastic piece Grant!

January 4, 2015 at 2:38 AM



Grant G said...

Thanks Elwood....

Don`t know that it will do any good.

Andrew Weaver is rather lonely in the legislature and John Horgan isn`t interested in fighting smart..

John Horgan would rather try and score a single point on the quick wins scandal of the past than fight to save BCer`s $12 billion or more..

Horgan has decided to cave into a few labour unions, they of course want some work and new members..

However, those labour unions couldn`t care less about where $15 billion dollars will come from, or the harm Site C will cause..

As of right now Elwood...

I believe John Horgan has joined Christy Clark`s BC Liberal party...Ala Danielle Smith/Wildrose Party style..

John Horgan just hasn`t informed the public or his own members of his defection.

Cheers



January 4, 2015 at 12:15 PM



Anonymous said...

http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/05/26/WikileaksAlbertaElectricity/


July 9, 2015 at 6:20 AM


__________


Grant G said...

Part V


Suicidal Middle Class said...

The funding of politics is the nexus of the greatest importance. And the more I learn about this focal point, the worse it looks.

Moreover, How is anyone supposed to compete against an established system in which a handful of mass media corporations dominate more than 90% of the "news" that people get? The established systems are already entrenched. There are no practical ways to compete with those who already own and control the mass media, as well as every other social institution that one may look at.

On a more theoretical level, there is practically nothing but controlled opposition groups that one could join with, to attempt to resist the established systems. However, one then ends up trapped within the same basic bullshit world view that is creating the underlying problem.

Big unions, big corporations, big npo.s--pick your poison and drink up, serfs, 'cause no here gets away!

January 1, 2015 at 5:45 PM

Grant G said...

Part VI

__


Grant G said...

@ Spiffy pants..

We don`t need a recital of the 90s...The bit about Horgan being a major player in the 90`s..

That`s a bit rich..Horgan, in the 90`s was the author of the oil n gas commission..He did little else

That was Horgan`s contribution..The NDP built BC`s natural gas industry..

And..We don`t need a rewrite of Glen Clark..

Were the NDP of the late 90`s squeaky clean...no...But compared to the crimes off the BC Liberals the NDP are choir boys..

I really should delete your comment, it`s way off topic...Actually, it sounds like it`s Brad Zubyk commenting..

If the BC Liberals had ANY DIRT on John Horgan we would have heard about during the last 2 elections..

As for who John Horgan`s chief of staff is....Who cares, the name isn`t important..

What`s important is the fact they(Horgan n Co.) are failing to present a path forward, a reason to vote for the party..

My vote would never go to the BC Liberals...Never..

I might vote green if the member had a chance in the riding I was voting in..

And in the future..

Don`t ever quote Bill Teileman..

Bill has gone to the dogs, his articles are lame, his writing skill suspect, his relevancy over and done..

Bill T has turned his mind to mush, probably from consuming too much wine...Which in turn makes him WHINE..

Bill Tieleman is a waste of newspaper space...The Tyee`s lamest writer(?)

Bill Tieleman writes about what colour the sky is, or tells readers when the rain is falling..

Tieleman...Can go to hell.

And he can take Adriana Dix with him, they can gobble each other`s goodies.

Good Day






Grant G said...

January 1, 2015 at 1:26 PM



Some Spiffy Suspenders And The Two Different Legs Of The Same Pair of Pants said...

"Victoria lawyer John Heaney has been hired as chief of staff to NDP Leader John Horgan.

Heaney was director of policy and legislation and later, served as assistant deputy minister in the NDP government between 1991 and 1996.

For less than a year in 1999, Heaney was director of NDP caucus services; in 2000 and 2001, he was a deputy minister.

Similarly, Horgan was a major backroom player in the NDP governments of that era, working alongside Heaney.

The Straight reported in 2004 that Heaney was a business partner with Horgan in a company called IdeaWorks. The other partners were NDP caucus research director Mary O'Donoghue, and Ian Reid, former chief of staff to ex-NDP leader Carole James.

IdeaWorks was retained by casino operators Gary Jackson and Len Libin in 2003 to persuade the then-COPE-controlled Vancouver city council to lift a moratorium on slot machines.

At the time, Horgan told the Straight that the company's objective was to bring diverse groups together to demonstrate how slot machines would yield benefits for charities, fund city projects, and provide jobs for trade unionists.

“Once the fabric all came together, the cloth looked pretty impressive for a majority of council, and that’s why we were successful,” Horgan told the Straight at the time.

Horgan, Heaney, and Reid had all previously worked for the B.C. Ministry of Management Services, which spearheaded the expansion of gambling when the NDP was in control of the provincial government.

The gambling issue dogged two NDP premiers during the 1990s.

Harcourt resigned after a relentless series of news reports about the finances of the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holding Society, which raised money for the NDP. The society's central figure, former NDP cabinet minister Dave Stupich, was found guilty of fraud and running an illegal lottery.

Harcourt was never personally implicated with NCHS, but he stepped aside as premier to give his party a better chance of winning the 1996 election. While working in the Harcourt government, Heaney bird-dogged the NCHS file.

Harcourt's successor, Glen Clark, eventually resigned after a gambling licence was awarded to a company co-owned by a friend. Clark was never convicted of wrongdoing.

In 2007, NDP supporter and 24 hours columnist Bill Tieleman wrote on his blog that New Democrats and labour leaders "may be shocked to learn that John Heaney, a longtime senior aide in several NDP provincial governments and former BC Federation of Labour staff person has joined the law firm of Heenan Blaikie and is working with longtime management side lawyer Peter Gall on labour relations files".

"Heaney is currently assisting Gall in representing the employer at the BC Human Rights Tribunal hearing on the case of foreign workers employed in construction of the Canada Line or Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Line who are alleging discrimination in wages based on racial origin," Tieleman wrote at the time.

http://www.straight.com/news/638931/ndp-leader-john-horgan-hires-former-business-partner-john-heaney-new-chief-staff?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

For the record, Heenan Blaikie, a major establishment law firm (and long-time Federal Liberal ally) folded late last year under very strange circumstances.

January 1, 2015 at 5:36 PM

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My apologies.

Hugh said...

If we needed more electricity in BC, BC Hydro could ramp up Burrard Thermal. However, use of B.T. is discouraged due to its CO2 emissions.

But the BC Govt thinks it's ok to send BC LNG 7,000 kms across the Pacific to Asia, where some of it would be used to generate electricity, in plants similar to Burrard Thermal. Doh!

Merv Ritchie said...

Two things - the 10 to 15 billion could be used to employ laid off drillers to drill for geo thermal - or just build a grid and "wheel" the power from SE Alaska - they have it ready.

An Excerpt - From March 2012 - http://www.mwpr.ca/show9498a300x300y1z/THREE_NUCLEAR_REACTORS_WORTH_OF_POWER_IN_SE_ALASKA_WAITING


Southeast Alaska has 3000 MW of potential hydro-electric and thermal power, all pure green electricity, virtually just sitting idle, waiting for a leader to hook it up. As Congressman Don Young stated in regards to constructing the grid required on March 14, 2012, at the South East Alaska conference on their IRP (Integrated Resource Plan), which includes the Alaska Canada Energy (ACE) Coalition, “Is it expensive? Yes. Is it too expensive? No.”

But the plan requires something no one is discussing.

In December 2010 North Coast Power was given the ‘go ahead’ to conduct a preliminary survey through the Iskut Valley from Bob Quinn, BC, to Tyee Lake, SE Alaska, for a potential power line. No context of size was provided during the application phase. The reality is very basic, grade school actually when it comes to critical thinking skills..

SE Alaska has the potential to provide North America with the power capacity of three new 1000 MW Nuclear power plants, as much power as any one of BC’s major hydro dams mentioned earlier. “Site C” on the Peace River would no longer be required and various IPP’s (Independent Power Producers) would have a new grid to connect to, providing even more power; an untold, unimagined potential.

As a first stage another triple 500 KV grid would need to be designed to be constructed from SE Alaska through Bob Quinn to Prince George to intertie with the main Grid heading south. An initial line, the first of the three 500 KV lines, would provide all the power necessary for two mines and the back up for RTA and the NW. The subsequent lines would provide more security for the southern grid. And of course, the Alaskans would need to connect the SE Alaskan communities from Skagway to Craig.