April 11, 2009
The NDP, big labour and funded lobbying groups continue to spread dishonesty about the BC Liberal Energy Plan. For example, in a recent letter from Rafe Mair on behalf of a group called "Save Our Rivers" he makes patently false statements that government is privatizing BC Hydro, privatizing rivers, and that under NAFTA this will result in the export of bulk water to the U.S. as well as a loss of control over electricity exports. The NDP are echoing these claims.
This is simply dishonest and irresponsible. Here are the facts:
- BC Hydro always has been and will continue to be publicly owned. The BC Liberal government passed legislation ensuring it remains public and by 2010 will have backed that commitment with nearly $9 billion in new investment into BC Hydro since 2001.
- All rivers and streams in B.C. continue to be publicly owned. Legislation passed by the BC Liberal government actually put a 40-year limit on water licenses, while under the NDP these licenses were awarded in perpetuity. There are over 290,000 streams in the province and only 0.03 per cent are impacted by run-of-river projects.
- NAFTA has no effect on the government's authority to regulate its water resources or determining whether or not to issue water licenses. It was the BC Liberal Government that passed legislation to ban bulk water sales.
- In terms of exports, nothing has changed in BC Hydro's ability to import and export power when needed, and in fact it was the NDP's lack of investment in new power during the 1990s that led B.C. to become a net importer of U.S. power just to keep the lights on.
What the Energy Policy does provide is an opportunity to make our province energy self-sufficient by 2016, meeting half of that through conservation and the other half through generating new, clean energy in the province. This will come from new BC Hydro investments and expansions as well as innovative contributions from the independent, clean power production sector that is not only supplying power but also billions in investment and thousands of new jobs.
The NDP and their allies like Rafe Mair continue to spread misinformation in spite of the facts. That is simply reckless and irresponsible.
