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Categories: Independent Power Producers (IPP)
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in-sights.ca 
I suspect that these ruin of the river projects failed to concern a good number of British Columbians as they were led to believe that these projects were going to be tiny operations with a very small footprint on the landscape. No matter how many of those that knew and warned about how large and intrusive these projects would be, the spin doctors for the industry and government drowned them out with bafflegab. And where was the MSM? Silent as usual. All they did was label the naysayers as crackpot environmentalists.
Now we know BC Hydro's tenuous financial situation and still the MSM emulates the Pinball Wizard with their deaf, dumb and blind routine.
It is bad enough that there is no way to physically undo much of what has already been done and what is worse is that those that were the architects of this whole debacle will never be held accountable and in some cases even honoured such as Gordon Campbell was with his receipt of the Order Of BC.
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A good question to ask, “Who are the sponsors of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.”
PHD economist David Schreck (StrategicThoughts.com) worte this about CTF a while back:
“The organization that is quick to criticize governments for lack of transparency is far from transparent. It takes some searching but financial highlights can be found which shows it received $3.4 million in donations in 2011, up from $3.2 million in 2010.
…only the directors are eligible to elect directors! In other words, the $3.4 million in donations received by CTF is under the direction of five people who elect themselves and choose whoever they want to fill any vacancy”
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This project on the Sechelt Peninsula, about 50 miles from Vancouver, is an example, using Andrew Nikiforuk's words, of the moral carelessness of today's provincial government. Nineteenth century slave traders also placed profits before consequences. Today's private power promoters are little better.
Clearly, faux capitalists behind this and other private power projects dared not risk reliance on open markets. It was easier to buy off a few politicians (and the media for its silence) to secure secret contracts with BC Hydro; agreements that ensure financial risks are carried entirely by citizens of British Columbia while profits are gained by the promoters.
Where is Jordan Bateman and the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation on Hydro adding a billion dollars a month to energy purchase commitments without regard to need? Does CTF have no concern when waste and fraud benefits their sponsors or multinational tax avoiders like General Electric?
Where is the Fraser Institute, supposed advocate of free market economics? Or the editorial writers of Postmedia? The Fraser Institute's main echo chamber fails to worry about free market principles even though citizens are being scammed.
$100 billion levied against BC Hydro customers for private power is money that won't even circulate in the provincial economy. In many cases, as soon as the BC Hydro contracts become effective, the facilities are sold to foreign investors. The dollars paid for power won't improve our communities, they'll flow instantly to offshore tax havens.
Citizens, where is your outrage?
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A major difference with Wahleach is just as G. Barry Stewart points out….it is publically owned (now)….another difference (shown by its proximity to a daily commuting route)…it is built in an area that was already developed and near existing infrastructure…..it was built at a time extra electricity generation was required for domestic use (local transportation in particular)…and though I don't have references (and it wouldn't have been an issue then), it likely displaced fossil fuel generation. It was a time when there were a lot more untouched areas close to Vancouver. In 2012 the pressure is on to use what we have learned since then to instill balance between profit, growth, control of our resources and preservation of this special part of the world.
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@ anonymous 4:46
You bet they are. In your days of logging you would have been in jail, or broke from fines. That would mostly happen due to regular visits by ministry inspectors. With these guys, no inspection required, if a government ministry employee happens to be there and does make a report, it is put in the round file. The Tyson Lake silt event did not result in any charges under the Federal Fisheries Act relating to “deposition of a deleterious substance in a fish bearing waterway”….even though they ignored an ordered shutdown and it happened a second time. Now that Harper has taken “fish habitat protection” out of the DFO mandate everything will be fine….not. If someone from the “outside” did not take the photos, no one would know about it. The private power companies are so arrogant they made no effort to remediate obvious problems before inviting tours of how “green” and “small scale” they say they are. Rules and profits do not go together.
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This project looks eerily similar to one that I pass daily on my commute: the Wahleach power station between Chilliwack and Hope on Hwy #1. It has been merrily pumping out power since 1952 — though I suspect there would be a great protest, if the project hadn't been started until 2012.
A key difference is that Wahleach is a Hydro project, so it belongs to us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahleach_Lake
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We could expect nothing better, from the likes of the criminal Campbell. We certainly got nothing better with Christy Clark. The evil that has been done to BC, by Campbell and his grand larceny BC. His destruction of our province is all around us. Hopefully once we get rid of the evil BC Liberals, we can restore as much as we can to our rivers, by tearing the dams out. Thousands of fish die from those disgusting hydro dams. We need to tear out, the dirty diseased fish farms too.
Campbell's dirtiest deal yet is. When he and Harper signed a sneak deal behind our backs, as usual. Campbell permitted Harper to force the Enbridge pipeline onto BC anyway. We loathe Harper as much as Campbell. We will fight their treachery, right to the last ditch. The thought of Red China on our Canadian soil, had angered many more people and country's, besides BC citizens and Canadians.
We have to take our province back. We have to restore it, back to what this beautiful province once was.
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Are those waters running down roads and through trees natural stream courses?
In my days in logging, interference with streams was a significant issue and buffer zones were required to keep industrial activity away from waterways.
These pictures demonstrate the rules are not applied to the project pictured.
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