February 8, 2024 news item: BCE slashes 9% of workforce, puts blame at the feet of regulators and policymakers. The cuts affect about 4,800 jobs and follow the elimination of 1,300 jobs last June…
Man exploits man
Oh, Mrs. Robinson
The NDP’s Selina Robinson situation has been a subject of much debate in recent days. It began when the Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA and Advanced Education Minister made controversial statements in a late-January forum hosted by B’nai Brith.,,
Condensed history of BC Hydro
Repeated here is something I wrote about BC Hydro in early 2017 for The Common Sense Canadian, an online journal covering Canada’s economy and environment. The site was co-founded by Damien Gillis and the late Rafe Mair and ran for a decade. It remains a worthwhile archive of several thousand stories. A few statements are revised to reflect current information.
Socialism when necessary but not necessarily socialism
Years ago, Rafe Mair wrote that W.A.C. Bennett, if he were alive in 2009, would have been a member of the NDP, in those days a party firmly positioned on the left. Although he railed theatrically against socialists throughout his political career, Bennett knew that public ownership of near-monopolies was sensible…
Canada profiting from death and destruction
This country was once known as a peacemaker and peacekeeper. Now it is better known for selling instruments of death and destruction. As occurs in other sectors, profit-seeking arms dealers are either amoral or immoral. In this ProPublica article, Canada is mentioned 26 times…
Everything else becomes moot
Climate scientists tell us to reduce and ultimately eliminate burning of fossil fuels, products that are the dominant cause of global warming. Worldwide, the oil and gas industry and its supporters in governments and elsewhere plan for us to burn more…
Clean energy blowing in the wind
EDP Renewables has begun operations at its Sharp Hills wind farm 250 kilometres northeast of Calgary. Construction of the 300 megawatt project — approved by Rachel Notley’s NDP government — began in 2021. Each megawatt of capacity is costing $2 million at this $600 million facility. By comparison, a megawatt of capacity at Site C will cost about $18 million, if the 10-year long construction project is able to produce electricity in 2025.
The fragile state of democracy in 2024
In a 2022 virtual appearance at the University of Toronto, Canadian Margaret Atwood talked about the future of democracy. She warned about the “deliberate creation of chaos” by those who prefer authoritarianism. Financial Times editor Roula Khalaf said Atwood’s appearance was part of an editorial initiative to provide expert commentary about the fragile state of democracy in 2024.
Less costly Site C alternatives were ignored
Many self-interested people told us that non-destructive alternatives to hydropower would not work in British Columbia. These, they said, were unreliable and could not always send power to the grid on demand. Dispatchability was key, according to pseudo experts. This despite BC Hydro having reservoirs that act like giant batteries.
BC Hydro’s call for power is the wrong call
Energy-systems consultant Roger Bryenton wrote an open letter to Premier David Eby, BC Hydro CEO Chris O’Riley, and BCUC Chair Mark Jaccard. It is published here with permission.
For Site C promoters and enthusiasts
Climate change is one of the most pressing global issue in contemporary times, and dams play a substantial role in aggravating it by becoming feeding grounds for methane-producing microbes. In addition, dams fragment rivers and disrupt their natural flow, threatening the survival of aquatic fauna, especially migratory species. Dams are also culpable for disrupting the biogeochemical cycles of river ecosystems, thereby impacting their function and structure. Taking all the environmental impacts of dams into account, the apparent economic gain from them may not be worth it…
Use and misuse of words by journalists and editors
Dan Froomkin — one of my favourite American commentators — offers several suggestions for the New York Times style guide. Here are a few published at presswatchers.org:
Local governments sitting on piles of cash
In theory, local governments assess property taxes at levels that allow accumulations of surpluses sufficient to fund replacements and major repairs of public infrastructure. My survey of local governments, representing about two-thirds of BC’s population, showed they held surpluses totalling $51 billion at the end of 2022. That suggests a total for all local government of $75 billion, or about $14,000 per person.
Unhealthy changes in the newspaper world
We learned this week that Black Press Ltd. and associated companies applied for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. The BC based company’s main business is print and digital newspapers and magazines operating in Western and Northern Canada and in the USA. This shows companies affiliated with Black Press Ltd…
Denial is a defence mechanism…
A 2022 article in Psychology Today is worth attention. The author is the late Charles M. Johnston, MD, psychiatrist, author, and futurist…
BC Hydro numbers
BC Hydro has often said that demand for electricity in this region is growing at a rate of 40 percent in 20 years. The company claims population increases result in greater consumption of electricity and vested interests tell us the utility must commit to major spending to serve the province. Self-serving messages are not meant to inform citizens of British Columbia. The intended purpose is to misinform. The strategy works. BC Hydro has been spending tens of billions of dollars because people pay little attention to underlying facts.
Nothing to see here!
A Berkely Earth email today reminds us that serious actions to address climate change should not be delayed. But like most Canadian political leaders, Detective Frank Drebin is indifferent…
Megaproject madness
CBC is reporting that three aluminum ships built in British Columbia during the 1990s will be sold or sent to the ship-breakers. Constructed for about 800 million in today’s dollars, the three “fast ferries” are now worth little or nothing more than scrap value. North Vancouver business consultant Rob Arthurs, in collaboration with associates, hopes to resell these ferries and see them returned to use…
Not all sides are equal — updated
Writing in The Economist, former New York Times editor James Bennet commented about the state of his profession. He thinks today’s mainstream media too often fails to provide open and objective, truth-seeking journalism…
Misdirected energy policies
In 2018, BC Hydro began discouraging the production of solar power in British Columbia. The crown corporation had allowed customers with PV panels a two-way connection to the grid. When consumers fed surplus electricity to the utility, credits were recorded. If credits were not used to buy electricity from BC Hydro within a year, the utility would pay homeowners a price roughly equal to the average rate paid to independent power producers, or about one-half what Site C power will cost if it goes into service in 2025…
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