All posts by Rafe Mair

About Rafe Mair

Rafe Mair, LL.B, LL.D (Hon) a B.C. MLA 1975 to 1981, was Minister of Environment from late 1978 through 1979. In 1981 he left politics for Talk Radio becoming recognized as one of B.C.'s pre-eminent journalists. An avid fly fisherman, he took a special interest in Atlantic salmon farms and private power projects as environmental calamities and became a powerful voice in opposition to them. Rafe is the co-founder of The Common Sense Canadian and writes a regular blog at rafeonline.com. View all posts by Rafe Mair →

Rafe Mair: Howe Sound under siege

May 12, 2014Energy and Resources, LNG, Mining, Ocean Health, OceansfeaturedRafe Mair

Rafe Mair: Howe Sound under siege — Boaters raise the alarm over plans to re-industrialize Howe Sound (Future of Howe Sound Society)

Howe Sound is Canada’s southernmost fjord. It is a natural beauty which should be declared a world-class heritage site.

I grew up as a child on Howe Sound and well remember the men with the herring rakes, raking out the herring for salmon bait. Speaking of the salmon, if you went fishing and didn’t catch one, you must’ve forgotten to put a spoon on your line.

Over the years, Howe Sound went downhill. Industry polluted and people became careless about the environment. The fish disappeared; the whales disappeared; the Orcas disappeared; the herring and salmon seriously diminished.

Howe Sound on rebound…

A revitalization program – partly official, mostly just people taking care – has brought Howe Sound back, not quite to where it was when I was a boy, but considerably back to where it should be. Herring came back, salmon increased, Orcas abound and humpback whales have appeared for the first time in years. The fishing industry has restarted.

…But not for long

This, unfortunately, was not to last. Industry has reappeared, big-time.

Just let me give you an example of what we now see on the horizon for Howe Sound:

1. $60 million proposed McNab Greek creek gravel mine

2. $1.7 billion Woodfibre liquefied natural gas (LNG) project

3. $350 million Eagle Mountain Woodfibre gas pipeline expansion project

4. $500 million Metro Vancouver waste incineration facility at Port Mellon

5. We already have three private, ‘run-of-river’ projects, one approved and two in the process of approval – under the radar somehow.

6. A multimillion dollar real estate development at Brittania Beach involving 4000 homes. God knows how many cars and of course all of the impact such large, new community will bring.

There are a number of citizen groups opposed to this development, both in Squamish and other parts of the Sea to Sky Highway and Howe Sound communities.

Howe-Sound-industrialization-map — Map of Howe Sound with proposed industrial projects (with help of Future of Howe Sound Society)

Gravel pit threatens salmon, recreation

McNab Creek gravel pit is the center of attention. A gravel pit, for God’s sake! McNab Creek, apart from the Squamish River, is the only salmon-bearing river in Howe Sound. The gravel pit will, of course, have all of the usual effects on salmon rivers that gravel pits do. Erosion, siltation, and habitat loss will threaten multiple species of spawning wild salmon.

McNabb Creek-gravel pit location — McNab Creek – location of proposed gravel mine

The company, Burnco, out of Calgary, wishes to use McNab Creek because it is closer to its customers and cheaper to deliver gravel by boat. This will be a catastrophe and it’s safe to say that the people of the Howe Sound area are almost entirely opposed to it.

This massive assault cannot be under played. We will have lost a world class beauty spot. I haven’t even mentioned the impact of tankers out of Vancouver.

The difficulty comes in the opposition. People are law-and-order by nature and tradition. They don’t like to offend the law but obey it. John Weston, a conservative MP for the area, is fond of talking about how there is “process” in place.

Environmental review process deeply flawed

Well, folks, this “process” is about as fair as the Soviet show trials were in the 1930s. The fix is in. The process doesn’t involve the people expressing their opinion as to whether not they want the project – all they can do is offer suggestions as to how the environmental process might proceed.

The meetings are stacked – the proceedings biased and there’s always somebody from the company on the stage to “explain things”.

Companies are ordered to perform routine processes such as have public houses and opportunities where they try to explain themselves to the public. The difficulty here is the companies are not noted for telling the truth anymore than governments are. There’s no frank discussion of the downside of the project – simply a propaganda exercise complete with pretty pictures and models showing what a marvellous thing this is going to be for the people. In the case of Burnco, they fail to mention that it will entail just 16 low paid jobs.

Time for civil disobedience

There is nothing harmless about a gravel pit on a fish bearing river indeed on any river.

Unfortunately the answer to the question – if indeed there is an answer – involves civil disobedience.

One is always reluctant to suggest this for fear of being seen as promoting violence, which I’m not. I am not fomenting revolution; I am simply saying that unless the citizens of the Howe Sound area – indeed all of British Columbia – stand up to the government and refuse to accept these projects, they will go ahead.

Refusal to accept means, frankly, getting in the way of the production. Lying down in front of bulldozers and that sort of thing.

The pattern that follows is all-too familiar. The company takes the civil law and turns it into criminal law by getting injunctions against a few of the people who protest – and when those people refuse to obey the injunctions, they are sent to jail for contempt of court and that takes the steam out of the movement.

It’s that latter phrase we must watch – taking the steam out of the movement. We must have enough people prepared to go to jail that it is the government and companies who tire of the exercise, not the public.

This takes organization and it takes people willing to make sacrifices. This means that more and more people go to jail so that the authorities tire and, in fact, perhaps even run out of jail space.

Democracy in name only

In a democracy these are strange words. The problem is is we should know we live in a democracy in name only. The public does not get the right to decide what’s going to happen to them – that’s decided by line corporations with their handmaidens in government.

Am I being too hard on governments and corporations?

I don’t think so – all you have to do is look at the amount of money spent by the public relations people in industry has been almost duplicated by governments using public funds – so a docile public hasn’t got a chance.

When you add to that a media that is beholden to government and industry, the public has almost no chance of being informed, except by volunteer efforts without the backup of expert opinion.

It is gone on long enough.

Time to get together

Pipelines will abound in British Columbia to make money for somebody else and destroy our heritage. We, the people, are offered nothing else but go through the process and then sit back and take it.

Surely that’s not good enough.

Surely we must finally get together and fight back.

We have valuable allies in first Nations. Unfortunately they have the right to think that they’re standing alone on this fight and everybody else is waiting for them to win it. This is simply not fair nor is a practical. We have to get behind that leadership and support it every way we can, personally and monetarily.

If we do not rise up as one and fight back against the power of hugely-funded industry and client governments, we will lose our province.

The solution is strong medicine. It will be difficult to organize. But we’ve got to do it.

********

P.S. Rafe’s back

I have been away – I hope you noticed. It started in the middle of December when I took a bad fall and went to hospital this was aggravated by another fall after I got home in January. To make a long story short, I spent 4 ½ months in the hospital and nearly bought it three times. Presently I am home and still quite weak. It will take some time for me to get better, I am told.

In the meantime I hope to get back to doing more writing. This is my first story for The Common Sense Canadian in nearly 6 months. I hope to vastly improve upon that record.

In the meantime I thank you very much for your patience and I am delighted to see that my friend and colleague Damien Gillis has kept things running and the magazine has grown and prospered.

Sincerely,

Rafe Mair

BC Hydro rate shock powered by lies

December 2, 2013Economics, Hydropower, WATERfeaturedRafe Mair

Hydro rate shock powered by lies — BC Energy Minister Bill Bennett

How do you know when a politician’s lying?

When you see his/her lips move.

Bill Bennett, the BC Hydro point man in the government, tells us that there will be a 28% increase in Hydro charges over the next few years, which NDP critic John Horgan says will raise a family’s costs by $300 dollars annually.

The NDP sent out a fundraising plea last week “to fund our work to protect British Columbians from these gigant rate hikes.” Simply campaigning to kill the increases without getting to the root of the matter will do nothing to solve the problem long-term, as our independent economist Erik Andersen has explained in these pages.

Mr. Bennett didn’t tell the whole truth about the need for this rate increase and Horgan, who talks about the obvious impact this will have on families, doesn’t seem to want to go to root of the matter. I will get to that in a moment. First, an obvious question which doesn’t get raised much if at all.

Bleeding Hydro still pays dividends to Liberal Govt

With all its financial woes, BC Hydro still pays a dividend to the government. How can a corporation bleeding to death financially pay a dividend?

The answer is – are you ready for this? – The cost is passed onto us, the beleaguered ratepayer/taxpayer. What is happening is simple – the government takes the dividend that can only be paid by a Hydro rate increase. So, the government steals from our pocket then makes up the theft by raising rates!

The real reason for Hydro’s financial woes

Let me spell it out – these hikes have very little to do with upgrades and everything to do with rank fraud perpetuated by the Campbell/Clark government and placed on the shoulders of BC Hydro, then passed on to us!

Let me pause for a moment to observe that this sleight of hand is indeed happening and raise Mair’s Axiom I to the forefront: “You make a serious mistake in thinking that those in charge know what the hell they’re doing.”

Now the grand theft, entirely unmentioned by the mainstream media.

Here’s the skinny. In 2003 the Campbell government took away BC Hydro’s right to generate any new energy (except Site “C”) and all new energy must be created by private power companies.

(As we go on here, remember Mair’s Axiom I.)

For the most part, private companies – the so-called “run of river” projects – produce the majority of their power during the Spring run-off, just when Hydro has full reservoirs and has no need of private energy.

Well, then, I guess BC Hydro simply doesn’t buy energy from these companies, right?

Wrong! And remember Mair’s Axiom I as we proceed.

BC’s private power sham

These private companies have “take or pay clauses”, which means that Hydro must pay for this unwanted and unneeded energy!

Ah! You say, Hydro would be able to get this power cheaply, right?

Wrong. Remember Axiom I – they must pay 2-3 times the market price and about 10x what they can make it for themselves!

What are the consequences from this for Hydro?

Over the next 20-40 years they will have to shell out over $50 BILLION dollars to these private companies, somewhere between $1.5 and $2 BILLION per year for power that don’t need and must pay at least double its worth. Note, that these private contracts, by all accounts, are indexed to increase over time, so that they are protected from the marketplace.

Now the scandals: Bill Bennett is shielding this $50 BILLION from his reasons for Hydro increases – and for reasons I can’t fathom, the NDP critic, John Horgan, isn’t talking about it.

“You make a big mistake…”

Support for First Nations critical after Clark-Redford pipeline deal

November 8, 2013Energy and Resources, First Nations, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and SupertankersfeaturedRafe Mair

Support for First Nations critical following Clark-Redford pipeline deal — Chiefs of the Tsimshian First Nation speak out against Enrbidge at a 2012 Prince Rupert rally

You would have thought that they would have had the decency to wait until the Joint Review Panel had made its report before the two western-most premiers made a deal on the pipelines. Of course there was no need to because the federal government that prizes “process” so much has already made it clear it wasn’t going to pay any to attention the panel unless it supports pipelines.

I wonder what my MP, Conservative John Weston thinks of this considering how he’s been so vocal about “process”, it being his constant buzzword for environmental matters. Will he stand up in the House and condemn his government and the provincial governments for cocking a snook at the “process” he praised as for the reason for gutting the protection of fish habitat?

There is no sense getting worked up about Christy Clark and Alison Redford’s pact – yet. I suspect all environmentalists will condemn this cynical bit of business, where BC trades its environment for pipelines. I can assure you that The Common Sense Canadian will do so and will keep it up as long as necessary.

What is more important now is support for First Nations as they formulate their battle plan and thereafter.

One can never be sure of steadfastness until it is seen in action. Reading between the lines, one would have to conclude that Enbridge, Kinder Morgan and the senior governments are satisfied that they can get over this hurdle. From my meetings with leaders and working the room at conventions, I don’t believe this. First Nations leaders are politicians too and must answer to their voters. Whether those voters can – pardon the bluntness – be bought off or not remains to be seen.

If First Nations – particularly the coastal nations who have been unshakable in their resolve – maintain their position hitherto, it will obviously do very little good to the governments and corporations who have to ship their grisly product once they get it to the coast.

I’m too damned old to be shocked or surprised at what a government or company will do for a vote or some money.

I don’t know what my colleagues in the environmental movement will do – I suspect we will know soon.

For me, this creaky crock will fight these pipelines and tankers as long as he has the breath to do so.

Rafe: Gordon Wilson finds religion on LNG…for $12,500 a month

November 4, 2013Energy and Resources, Fracking, LNG, Politics, Western CanadaRafe Mair

Rafe: Gordon Wilson finds religion on LNG...for $12,500 a month — A screen capture from Gordon Wilson’s youtube endorsement of Christy Clark

Some years ago I got into hot water for calling a federal cabinet minister of the female persuasion a “political whore”, a phrase that has nothing to do with sexism and everything to do with having principles for sale.

Christy Clark is paying Gordon Wilson $12,500 a month for four months – probably a permanent gig if he keeps his nose brown enough. Wilson is going to be an advocate for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

Wilson once highly critical of LNG

In April last, before this former BC Liberal leader and NDP cabinet minister endorsed Liberal Christy Clark in the May election, Wilson had this to say about LNG:

[quote]The most compelling reason to be concerned about relying on this golden goose is the fact that the markets we are told will buy all we can supply may not materialize as we think, and even if they do, the price they are prepared to pay for our product may be well below what is anticipated.[/quote]

Quite, Gordon, quite. That was Gordon Wilson the skeptic talking but there is more. Here’s what Wilson the environmentalist had to say last April: “Expanded LNG production also comes with a significant environmental cost.”

Our lad went on to say:

[quote]The impact of an expanded hydrocarbon economy will certainly speed up global warming and cause us to build a dependency on a revenue stream that originates form processes that are poisoning our atmosphere.[/quote]

Precisely, sir, precisely. Given my most articulate moment, I could not have said it better.

The story changes

So what happened to Mr. Wilson? Does he have some contract in his pocket for LNG sales from BC to an Asian customer? Has there been some host of angels descend from Heaven, urging Mr. Wilson to get on the side of God and Christy Clark?

Or is he just a grubby political whore whose price is $50,000 a quarter?

To call Wilson that cannot come without evidence of past prostitutional behaviour. (Yes, I just invented the word, dictionaries please copy.)

Wilson’s first dance with BC Liberals

Mr. Wilson, back in the 80s was a Liberal, both federal and provincial. The provincial wing was in disarray and Mr. Wilson took over, severed its ties with the federal party and built the local Libs into a force to be reckoned with in the 1991 election, when they went from zero MLAs to seventeen and he became Leader of the Opposition.

It was downhill from there. By 1993 it was obvious that there were rumblings in the Liberal caucus that he was entirely too close to their House Leader, the gorgeous Judi Tyabji. The media kept quiet until the late John Pifer got his hands on a love letter from Ms. Tyabji to our hero. None of us, least of all me with my marital record, wanted to make anything of this except the political reality that the Opposition was clearly unraveling and doing a lousy job.

Lie led to ouster

Had Mr. Wilson stated that he and Judi were a thing, with Judi leaving her post, it would have been a 48-hour story at worst.

But Wilson lied – serially lied. He destroyed himself in an interview with CKNW’s Philip Till.

The party held a leadership convention and unceremoniously dumped Wilson for the calamity called Gordon Campbell.

Wilson’s finer points

Before going further, I must acknowledge my debt to Wilson on the Meech Lake/Charlottetown issue. We were very close on that issue, along with Gordon Gibson and the late Mel Smith, QC. Wilson introduced me to Clyde Wells, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, who became all but a fixture on my show at CKNW.

Moreover, I have to say that a couple of years ago I urged him to try and form a new party of the “centre” where I perceive the political vacuum to be. I have never questioned his ability to articulate issues. In fact he may be the perfect political animal.

Trading principle for money

My quarrel is with his crass trading of principle for money.

Wilson, when Campbell was selected, most ungraciously quit the Liberal Party and formed, with the lady of his choice, Judi Tyabji, the Progressive Democratic Alliance.

This was not to last. As the NDP tottered towards its 2001 wipeout, Wilson was asked to join its cabinet, which he did, while making it abundantly clear that he would never join the party.

But he did. In fact, he ran for their leadership. And in terms that made him sound like he was as committed as if his Dad had worked the coalmines of Wales.

I was at that leadership convention and I was astonished to hear him speak as if socialism was burned into his soul. He demonstrated – dare I be so bold as to say – that he was a political whore who, quite clearly for personal aggrandizement, had gone from being an enemy of the NDP to a cabinet minister in an NDP government; from rejecting the party to an aspirant, and a serious one, for their leadership.

In deep financial trouble, Wilson takes money to shill for LNG

Now Wilson moves from being skeptical of LNG and all its obvious flaws into a position of solid support for it.

Are we supposed to believe that this volte-face had nothing to do with $12,500 a month, which could easily morph into $150,000 a year?

We learned from reporter Bob Mackin a week before the May provincial election that Wilson’s return to the Liberal fold came amidst mounting legal and financial pressures – including the court-ordered sale of the Sunshine Coast home he shared with his wife.

Am I, taking the risk of a lawsuit, not entitled to say that Gordon Wilson, for all his many talents, is indeed a political whore whose principles can be precisely valued at $12,500 a month – to be expanded, because Premier Clark will have no other choice, to $150,000 per annum and perhaps beyond?

I like Gordon Wilson. I am still an admirer of his many abilities.

But he is, price tag stamped on his forehead, a political whore.

Rafe Mair: Enbridge pipeline should face BC referendum

October 24, 2013Energy and Resources, Pipelines and Supertankers, Politics, Western CanadaRafe Mair

Rafe Mair-Enbridge pipeline should face BC referendum — Thousands of citizens spoke out against Enbridge at last year’s “Defend Our Coast” rally” (TJ Watt photo)

The cynicism of both our senior governments regarding tankers and pipelines is appalling.

The pact between Premier Clark and Alberta Premier Redford – followed two days later by the Harper government’s Speech from the Throne – does precisely what many of us have said all along was their intention, to approve pipelines and tankers, irrespective of the findings of the Joint Review Panel (a farce), the wishes of First Nations and the wishes of the people.

This is not the time to despair but for two separate lines of action.

Enbridge pipeline requires referendum

First, and critically important in the short term, the people of BC must demand and press for a province-wide referendum. Would anyone suggest that the ravaging of our environment is less important than on the way we vote – i.e. the STV referendum – or a tax, as in HST? Would Premier Clark dare to take that position?

What it will take is a concerted effort, one where we all fight no matter what organizations we represent.

I suggest that all environmental organizations get under one roof for this struggle – it can be anyone of many. The Wilderness Committee, Living Oceans Society, Dogwood Initiative, Forest Ethics, Pacific Wild, and the list goes on. I can say that The Common Sense Canadian would get behind such an effort.

Civil Disobedience

We must also be prepared, and let the government know we are prepared for massive civil disobedience. It must be peaceful and large enough that there aren’t enough jails to begin to hold all the protesters.

I believe that will happen spontaneously, so let’s for the moment deal with the referendum.

Public must demand referendum

As a starting point, let’s everyone make it clear in letters, emails and social media messages to Premier Clark that we demand no less than the right to decide the fate of our province. And let’s start now.

And, I make this plea to fellow activists – let’s get a plan for action up and running as soon as we can. I repeat that we at The Common Sense Canadian will be there to share developments on this front with the public – and to make a strong case for why this initiative is so necessary.

We simply cannot sit on our backsides and let these bastards get away with it.

A referendum, Madam Premier, and now!

Rafe: Fix is in on Enbridge as Clark and Redford put on show

October 17, 2013Energy and Resources, Oil&Gas, Pipelines and Supertankers, Politics, Western CanadaRafe Mair

Clark & Redford: What their cozy relationship means for BC pipelines — BC and Alberta Premiers Christy Clark and Alison Redford (CP photo)

I assure you that this will not take long.

We’ve been screwed, blued and tattooed folks.

You may have read the story last week that First Nations have charged that the Enbridge pipeline has already started.

At the same time, the BC/Alberta Deputy Ministers Working Group is announced and the fix is in. No doubt about it.

There are two shared goals in the document touting this partnership:

Opening new markets and expanding export opportunities for oil, gas and other resources
Creating jobs and strengthening the economy of each province and Canada through the development of the oil and gas sector.

The document talks about oil spillage on land and sea, but never does it say that a project might not be allowed because of the “risk” of pipelines and tankers. It’s a given that there will be pipelines and tankers, PERIOD.

It mumbles platitudes like a “world class prevention and preparedness” regime.

First Nations’ Enbridge spill concerns being ignored

I’m sure First Nations will be delighted to know Clark and Redford will supply them with “accommodation”, which “can include mitigation measures or even economic compensation”. (emphasis added)

Mitigation is a weasel word for saying that although damage is coming, we will do our very best to minimize it – honest to goodness, cross our hearts and hope to die – we will give you prosthetic devices for the arms and legs we’re going to cut off.

[quote]Health permitting (I’m a little long in the tooth) I’ll place myself in front of the first dirt remover.[/quote]

And, dear friends, there may be wampum for you if you’re good little Indians and place your “Xs”on the dotted line. Somehow I don’t see First Nations being convinced by this document that they will be treated any better than the Carrier-Sekani or Haisla were at the time of Alcan’s Kemano hydroelectric project in the 50s. This government, like the Bourbons, “has learned nothing and forgotten nothing”.

Carving up the booty

The rest of this 10-page document deals with carving up the booty – partly in bribes for First Nations, but mostly between themselves.

One of the major players – are you ready for this? – is Fazil Mihlar, a former fellow of the Fraser Institute and editor of The Vancouver Sun. Mihlar recently left the paper to become the BC Liberal Government’s Assistant Deputy Minister of the new Oil and Strategic Initiatives Division.

Act as if pipelines are a done deal

There is little to say except we must now choose our weapons and we should stop beating about the bush. There is no point in pleading with these bastards for their mind is made up. We must treat the situation as if the pipelines were a done deal – because they are.

We’ve reported on the false facade of Clark’s supposed reservations about Enbridge over the past year, juxtaposed with the realties of trade deals and the province’s legal abdication of responsibility on the pipeline decision – this new information simply reinforces our concerns all along.

Peaceful civil disobedience is the only weapon left and we must prepare for that. As I have said for sometime, health permitting (I’m a little long in the tooth) I’ll place myself in front of the first dirt remover.

Writing letters is always a good idea but it does nothing. Your MLA and MP have no power to do anything.

The opposition to these pipelines and tankers must contain the solemn undertaking to physically stop them. Anything else will be taken by your government as bluff and bluster.

Rafe to Christy: Hold a referendum

For the first time in nearly 82 years on this planet I find myself ashamed – not just pissed off – but ashamed of my government. The people, indigenous or otherwise, have not been consulted and won’t be.

I leave with this challenge to Premier Clark: hold a referendum.

Or are you afraid that, as with the Charlottetown Accord in 1992, the public will be informed and let you know they want nothing to do with your disgraceful deals?

Yes, hold a referendum and let us decide the fate of our beautiful province with one of the last real wilderness areas in the world.

[signoff1]

Harper won’t sell First Nations on Enbridge, Kinder Morgan pipelines

September 22, 2013Canada, Energy and Resources, First Nations, Pipelines and Supertankers, PoliticsRafe Mair

So Prime Minister Stephen Harper and members of his cabinet have been meeting with BC’s First Nations chiefs in order to get them onside with the Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipelines. This is a gross insult and I believe will be seen as such.

Bribing First Nations

What Harper must do is get First Nations onside and this is impossible unless it takes the form of an acceptable bribe. For that is what Mr. Harper and the pipeline companies are doing. And they may be able to do it as companies have been able to in isolated circumstances with private power projects. But before we conjure a sneer at any First Nations’ possible breaking of ranks, let’s remember Robbie Burns saying, “O wad some power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as others see us”.

We Europeans accept bribes all the time. That’s what political promises are and we swallow some pretty unpalatable gunk, wrapped in a party package every time we go to the polls. We also, in making judgments, must “walk a mile in the other man’s moccasins”

Many nations live in poverty consistent with 75% unemployment and a “political promise” from the Prime Minister will be listened to. Moreover, the bands that have hitherto rejected pipelines and tanker traffic have dissension within their ranks and that’s to be expected. For example, any political offer to all municipalities would receive different response from different places.

Mr. Harper starts off wrong-footed, as he and his arrogant Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver have made it clear that the Enbridge line will go through, irrespective of findings by the Joint Review Panel looking into the environmental challenges of the Enbridge line.

This is the kind of government move that takes the breath away, but Harper & Co hope that they can still make a deal. As this process takes place, most non-natives are on the sidelines cheering First Nations along.

In my travels around the province I have met many aboriginal leaders and my sense of it is that they will remain steadfast no matter which “vigorish” is presented in a brown envelope.

Grand Chief Phillip: Ministers had nothing to offer First Nations

Curiously, according to the Union of BC Indian Chiefs’ Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, the ministers with whom he met made little effort to win him over. Phillip described separate meetings with Oliver and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Velcourt to the Vancouver Observer

[quote]There was just a lot of rhetoric about not dwelling on the past, looking towards the future, and realizing the benefits of the vast natural resource wealth that this country has been blessed with. Pretty much a Canadian Apple Pie lecture…There wasn’t any engagement or dialogue in terms of Minister Oliver saying ‘what will it take? What are your recommendations?…He just sat there and repeated his talking points.[/quote]

Phillip suspects this flurry of unexpected meetings – after years of being ignored or insulted as “radicals” opposed to development, by Oliver in particular – is about papering over consultation with First Nations that has been sorely lacking, paving the way for the pipelines through the argument of “national interest”.

If this experience is indicative of what other First Nations leaders are seeing from Harper’s pipeline push, then sooner or later the government will find this approach too is failing – forcing them to put some tangible goodies on the table.

Selling Enbridge

To sell this project to First Nations, Mr. Harper must persuade them that Enbridge has a marvelous track record, when in fact they average a spill a week or more.

He must convince them that his government has put in strict rules regarding spills (never admitting the obvious inference that there will be spills), hoping that no one will notice that fines will hardly frighten Enbridge, which already has them marked off as an expense of doing business – or the fact that he has actually gutted environmental regulations.

In saying this, you will not be hearing Harper & Co playing the famous Glenn Miller hit of another epoch, Kalamazoo, for that is the living symbol of the company’s utter inability to handle a spill, which was right along side a highway. It’s been over three years and the mess has yet to be cleaned up and it never will be.

The cleanup is a major concern for all of us, but especially for First Nations. The company cannot say they will have no accidents, for even big companies, serial liars all, know you can go too far. They dissemble, obfuscate an make promises they have no intention of keeping. This means, somehow, Enbridge and Harper must convince First Nations that there will be no damage from a burst pipeline or leaky oil tanker. I don’t think they can do it.

Taking it into the street

We should see these visits for what they are: an unpopular Prime Minister paying homage to Alberta MPs and Conservative-held seats in BC. Harper needs to show his western base that he’s prepared to go the extra mile for these pipelines.

We have no right to tell First Nations what to do but we can let them know that they are supported by their fellow citizens.

In fact, that is precisely what Grand Chief Stewart Phillip asked of us, following some of these meetings last week:

[quote]My message to those who have been very diligent in their efforts to bring their concerns forward about the possibilities of catastrophic oil spills and oil line ruptures is, ‘Now is the time to bring these issues into the street, to be visible and vocal while these federal officials are in BC.’ [/quote]

Thus I close by saying that this decaying Prime Minister and his lickspittle outsiders must be dealt with by First Nations, with our support, and that I believe that they will continue to see this Harper/Enbridge road show as the covey of snake oil salesmen it really is.

[signoff1]

Why Rafe Mair gave Sun and Province a stay of execution

September 19, 2013MediaRafe Mair

Rafe Mair recently vowed to cancel his Postmedia subscriptions – here’s why he couldn’t pull the trigger.

I have a terrible admission to make. I have to because the bastards would “out” me sooner or later.

Wendy and I didn’t cancel Postmedia’s Sun and Province as we said we would. Not that there wasn’t a great debate on the subject but I prevailed by promising this was the last 4 month period.

The Toronto Globe and Mail came up for suggestion but since it gives us the only real peek at BC affairs, it has a stay of execution.

I read the National Post when I get a freebie, as when I’m in the barber shop. I read it and it looks better than the Globe, but that’s damning with faint praise indeed.

The Globe does have decent BC writers like Mark Hume, Gary Mason and Justine Hunter – plus occasional Gable cartoons. Since it is, after all, a Toronto paper, that’s pretty good coverage of BC and once in awhile they let our local writers do a column with the big kids from the East.

At least the cartoons are good

The hardest part of letting the Province go is the comic Luann. I have it marked on my computer now so that can be taken care of.

There is only one downer for the Sun, which has no cartoonist and whose columns come from the wheat fields of Saskatchewan – I’ve followed Rex Morgan MD for longer than I can remember and would miss reading that. As for the rest, it’s appropriate use would be an insult to any decent caged bird.

In fact, with the Sun and Province, there is one reason to spend ridiculous sums to have it at the breakfast table – to know what Vaughn Palmer and Mike Smyth didn’t say and what news the paper didn’t tell us about.

This past week provided some excellent examples of what was not done.

On Saturday, Mike Smyth interviewed Janet Holder, the executive of Enbridge’s BC policy re pipelines and tanker traffic. Then the Sun followed on with a puff piece by Ms. Holder herself.

Shirley Stocker of CKNW first taught me the descriptive term for puff pieces and patty-cake interviews. This term – and remember this was before Bill Clinton – is “corporate blob job”.

Since CKNW leads the media in CPJs, perhaps Shirley, a product of CKNW when it specialized in tough radio, is too embarrassed to use that term any more.

In any case, if covers the crud the Postmedia papers pump out.

A softball for Enbridge

Mike’s “interview” with MS Holder was a classic example of a CBJ. Not one single tough question asked. Not one. Not even a raised eyebrow! This nice little chat should have been run as a paid advertisement – which, in a sense, it was.

Let us not forget that his paper last year pulled a spoof of Enbridge’s new commercial. The animation’s creator, Dan Murphy, plainly stated at the time that the publisher faced heat – via his corporate bosses – from Enbridge, who was just rolling out a $5 million ad campaign with the Postmedia chain to spruce up its image.

The piece in Sunday’s Sun obviously came from that same CBJ that spawned the Smyth cold porridge.

Prairie columnists, an occasional cartoonist who can’t caricature faces, and corporate blow jobs wherever you look – and the Province is even worse.

Note to Wendy: Hon, I was wrong to press for continued subscriptions but can’t you see that journalists who want to fill in the gaps must know what those gaps are and where it is that news wasn’t printed.

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Rafe: Farnworth favorite to replace Adrian Dix as LNG hurts Horgan

September 18, 2013Politics, Western CanadaRafe Mair

It's official: Dix stepping down as BC NDP leader next year — The BC NDP’s outgoing leader, Adrian Dix (photo: BCGEU)

Today’s decision by Adrian Dix to step down as BC NDP leader, pending a leadership election next year, comes as no surprise. The good news for Mr. Dix – to be a bit catty for the moment – is that he stays as Leader of the Opposition, with the salary that goes with it, until some time in 2014.

That he had to resign based on history doesn’t stand up – Gordon Campbell blew the 1996 election, stayed on and became the worst premier in our history. Right wing parties, until Mr. Vander Zalm, have always circled the wagons and – to mix a couple of metaphors – refrained from eating their own whelp.

For the NDP, however, self-immolation is traditional.

This announcement gives the NDP time to focus on its leadership to come, and the party has never been very good at that. The reason is simple: the NDP is a party of principles – which is not to say that any of those principles make any sense – whereas right wing parties concentrate on winning and let other principles be damned.

The business community doesn’t give a fiddler’s fart what the leader stands for as long as he is being friendly to business at all costs. You will remember how, right after Campbell became premier in 2011, he gave a billion dollars in tax “relief” to the well off.

Replacing Adrian Dix

The candidates for succession to the slightly-less-than-enviable prize that the NDP nest of adders is, are several – and we may not even know the names of some of them by the time the contest gets seriously out of the starting gate.

The two favourites at this stage are Mike Farnworth and John Horgan. I mention that Mr. Farnworth is gay only because that will be – and perhaps should be – a plus in a party that prides itself on its openness to minorities. Whether or not this bears any electoral problems, I can’t say – it shouldn’t. In addition, Mr. Farnworth has had experience in cabinet, including the senior post as Health Minister. He is also – and this is important – liked and respected both in and out of his party.

John Horgan is certainly intelligent but has a temper. A tempered temper, so to speak, may be just what the party needs. He carries with him, however, a conviction that might be hard for the NDP to support in the days to come . He supports, evidently without serious reservations, the Liberals’ vision for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plants – plus the pipelines and fracking that go with them. Since this is the only hope the Liberals have for 2017, that makes things awkward for an NDP leader who agrees with them.

It’s also a problem for the third name always mentioned – George Heyman, former labour leader and former executive director of the environmental organization, the Sierra Club in BC. Heyman’s first problem is he’s not popular with the union movement who believe he laid down when Campbell legislated his members back to work.

His second problem is that he’s an untested rookie and, since the leadership contest will likely be before the Legislature goes back in session, will still be unbloodied before the leadership convention.

There will be others. Somehow dust gets sprinkled into the eyes of no-hopers who always visualize a deadlocked convention with them, somehow, coming up the middle to win – something that rarely happens. The last one I can recall – and this was before conventions were stacked with 24-hour members – was Joe Clark in 1976.

Horgan’s LNG problems

I believe that the odds on favourite will be Farnworth. He’s popular with the caucus and the party and that’s pretty important, to put it mildly. But more importantly, he will be able to corner Horgan on the LNG issues – especially over fracking. Horgan, poor chap, is trapped in the policy of the 2013 election when the NDP – if they stood for anything – were for LNG development with a minimum of study.

Now that the Liberals have staked their government’s future on LNG and mythical “Prosperity” funds, being in favour of this will not be a winner at the convention. Horgan will, no doubt, be babbling, “LNG if necessary but not necessarily LNG” – and he’ll have the experienced and popular Farnworth snapping at him from one side and the kid on “the make”, Heyman, on the other. Heyman, that is, with the strong track record opposing fracking.

This, to my mind, makes Farnworth the winner and also guarantees the usual outcome – the NDP squabbling and divided at the end of the process.

Massive power bill increases due to Liberals’ failed IPP scheme

September 12, 2013Economics, Hydropower, WATERRafe Mair

Massive power bill increases due to Liberals' failed IPP scheme — BC Energy Minister Bill Bennett (photo: CP)

I told you so!

My colleague Damien Gillis told you so! Independent economist Erik Andersen told you so! The Campbell/Clark government has taken the jewel of our diadem, BC Hydro, and forced it into what would be, for any company in the private sector, bankruptcy.

We learn this from a leaked internal BC Hydro document, headlined in the September 11 Vancouver Sun, where Independent Power Projects (IPPs) share part of the blame for the massive power bill hikes on the way for Hydro customers – over 26% by 2016! By 2024, rates will allegedly skyrocket by 57.3 per cent!

Minister Bill Bennett says that the costs from IPPs are “not that great” but doesn’t give any figures. According to Jim Quail of COPE Local 378 – the union that represents many Hydro employees – these losses are due to “a failed experiment with independent power producers”.

$55 Billion in over-priced IPP contracts

What we do know – and have known for some time – is that BC Hydro has signed on for some $55 BILLION of power from IPPs, over the next 20-40 years, to buy power at 2 -3 times the market rate, sometimes far more. We also know that Hydro didn’t have to spend one cent for private power (we’re now a major net exporter, at a considerable loss) and we also know that on Minister Bennett’s orders, at least 10 IPP contracts for unfinished projects will be cancelled.

Minister Bennett, trying to act as if he and his government had nothing to do with the mess Hydro is in, says:

[quote]I’ve been very forthcoming since I took over as minister, in terms of saying to the public that there will be some rate increases. I have always coupled that statement with my commitment that I will do everything I can to keep the increases to a minimum.[/quote]

And while we’re at it, how can a BC Hydro report come as a surprise to the minister?!

Is there any question why Premier Clark is not calling the Legislature into session this Fall? Day after day hammering by the opposition on BC Hydro?

No chance, Lance.

LNG is the answer to all our fiscal problems…or so they tell us

When I started preparing this piece, I asked this question: “How are you going to deal with these huge power bill hikes, Minister?”

There is only one way – find some other pathway to the taxpayer’s pocketbook. Be honest, Mr. Bennett, your government has screwed up big-time and no matter how you tart it up, the taxpayer will pay every red cent of Hydro’s debt.

Amazingly, a magic fairy has fixed everything overnight. A day later, “back of the envelope” Bennett has figured out how to deal with a 26% rate increase.

I had underrated his ability to whip into place a change in government policy that truly takes the breath away, for now, 24 hours after the BC Hydro report was leaked, natural gas is the answer! I wonder what policy is on for tomorrow, Minister?

Do you remember when natural gas was a filthy fossil fuel? When the Liberals loudly condemned the Burrard Thermal plant, which for a few weeks of the year, when Hydro is short of power, supplies a tiny amount by natural gas?

The Campbell/Clark government came out in 2002 with an energy policy principally in line with the preferences of the right-wing philosophies of Alcan, General Electric, Accenture and the Fraser Institute. It declared that all new power henceforth (with the exception of Site “C”) would come from private projects.

IPP map — Map of 700+ IPPs – proposed, under construction, and on-line (ippwatch.info)

This policy designated some 700 rivers to be ruined and sent BC Hydro down the one way road to financial collapse. The only thing in the way for Hydro’s bankruptcy was the bigger and bigger assault on citizens’ wallets.

Of course, now that natural gas has gone from being a toxic fuel to clean energy overnight, can coal-fired power plants be far behind?

A government out of control

This government is out of control. It has had a decade to analyze BC Hydro and assess its power needs and how to meet them – and yet it couldn’t be more off-base.

Why? Because they have made these highly improvident deals with IPPs. Any study of the Hydro problem will run afoul of industry, which is on a gravy train and supported by the Fraser institute. Most of all, they’re hugely frightened that these secret IPP deals – which you’re paying for – would be made public.

Am I bitter?

Frankly, I am, but perhaps not for the reason you might think.

I am a native and lifelong citizen of British Columbia and yes, I’m a British Columbian above all else. Since the scales fell from my eyes in 2005, I’ve fought against IPPs. Everywhere I spoke, audiences would look heavenward, assuming I was exaggerating – I must be, for no government would do this!

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In many meetings I was heckled by shills for the IPP racket, who would try to discredit me by asking red herring questions about Hydro’s workings and by discussing the minutiae of these secret contracts, which only they could claim to know.

I became more and more frustrated and when the NDP blew the election in 2009, I despaired for the province and kept on speaking and writing. I thought some relief would come after the election last May. I’m no NDP fan, having whipped their ass in 1975 and 1979, but I could see that they were the only hope.

Empty vindication

I knew that vindication for Damien, Erik and me would come but what would that mean? It wouldn’t bring our rivers back and it wouldn’t stop the fiscal ruination of BC Hydro.

Now we have a government acting as if the huge mess came from the Wicked Witch of the West. Maybe it has something to do with sun spots or chemtrails.

There will be no political penalty. Just before the next election, the Liberals will trot out a modest increase in electricity rates. According to this leaked document, that’s exactly what they’re planning to do, drastically curbing power bill hikes – just as they did this election year, when they capped increases at 1.44%, further compounding Hydro’s long-term financial woes for short-term political gain.

In the meantime, they will peddle a load of horse buns about a pot of LNG gold just around the corner.

So yes, I’m bitter that our government and private power industry have destroyed much of the province I love so dearly and dragged our once proud power company to the portals of bankruptcy.

And I make no apologies for my bitterness.