How it works in BC (#2)

The following was the BC Ferries edition, published on April 02, 2012, but can easily be applied to the new BC Hydro situation where the government is asking we, the taxpayers, to bear the burden of a 26% increase in our electricity rates.
BC Hydro, through the mismanagement of the BC Liberal Government, and the people chosen to run BC Hydro, are now paying $130 per kilowatt hour to the Private Power Producers that Gordon Campbell installed in sweetheart deals, when all experts say the price should be $20 per khr. And did you know that $17 of every hundred BC Hydro takes in goes for 'dividends' to the BC Liberal government! Surely it is a TAX increase!

 Reprinted from April 02, 2012 but easily applies to the present situation.This is Gordon Campbell's legacy and we are wondering, again, who got paid off to implement these P3 deals that are now sinking the once finest public utility in North America?

We expect, once more that the 26% is only a ploy and that they truly want, say 12%, and that Christy Clark will follow her mentor's ideas and step in to 'save' us. Thereby taking accolades for 'protecting' us poor BC taxpayers. 
A lot of people when considering these P3 power projects are saying, ' I told you so."
This is how it works in BC ...........
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Monday, 2 April 2012

Here's how it works in BC

The Victoria Parliament Buildings at midnight. A meeting in the janitor's closet between two men ... both are wearing grey fedoras and black trenchcoats, with Groucho Marx glasses and fake mustaches. They are whispering ....

BC Ferries guy - We need a price increase of about four percent to cover our next years bonuses and payouts to executives for great service to the people.
BC Liberal guy - Listen, we always gotta consider the backlash to fare increases. Uh, lose the cigar, would you?
BC Ferries guy - Backlash?  That was only because David was making a million a year and the ridership didn't like it? 
BC Liberal guy - David?  
BC Ferries guy - David Hahn.The last CEO of BC Ferries.
(BC Liberal guy slits open the door and peaks out. No sound from the eerie marble hallway) 
BC Liberal guy - Oh yeah. The guy who was in charge when that ferry sank.
BC Ferries guy - Um, we don't talk about that one, okay?
BC Liberal guy - Well, he took the spotlight off Gordo's salary and pensions.
BC Ferries guy - Gordo who?

BC Liberal guy - Gordon Campbell, the ex Premier who we hid in England.
BC Ferries guy - Oh, I heard about that. The Gordon's gin guy, we toast him with tumblers. What about our fare increase?
BC Liberal guy - No prob. What 'll we say you need it for? Gas? 
BC Ferries guy - Well diesel, that's what we use. The boats were made in Germany, you know, not BC.  Easier to disseminate the money off shore ... if you know what I mean.  (it is so black neither sees the other's wink) Hey, careful where you nudge, eh?
 

BC Liberal guy - Okay, sure, okay. (pause) Well this is how it works here in BC. You come out publicly and ask for, say a 15% increase, we'll have Christy step in and say she's looking after families and only give you like, 4.8%.
BC Ferries guy - What's the .8 percent for?
BC Liberal guy - You'll be in charge of the money, yeah?
(silence in the blackness)

BC Liberal guy - Win win for all of us.

BC Ferries guy - Lose lose for ferry riders though. (snicker) Say, who's this Christy anyways?
BC Liberal guy - New boss lady, Christy Campbell, er, I mean Clark. Oops, Freudian slip .... (a tremble in his voice) Sheez, I could get sent to East Vancouver for that.

BC Ferries guy - Oh yeah, I remember, Clark is the BC Rail woman.
BC Liberal guy - Shhh. We don't talk about that one and we don't remember stuff either. (he worriedly puts his ear to the slit and listens carefully) Psst! If anyone comes just grab a broom and start sweeping.
BC Ferries guy - You'll get this through before any elections or anything though, right?
BC Liberal guy - Done. Even before the secret RCMP contract. Say, you haven't seen BC Hydro guy, have you?

BC Ferries guy - I think I saw him in the gardener's tool shed siphoning gas out of a lawn mower. Hey, wanna grab a burger? I know an underground MacDonald's that stays open after midnight.
BC Liberal guy - Sheez, here in Victoria? Does everyone do illegal stuff now? Okay, but let's leave one at a time.
BC Ferries guy -You couldn't go as a British Harpo, could you?


Since 2003, when the Crown corporation was quasi privatized, BC Ferries' fares have gone up by about 70 per cent on the major routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and by 80 per cent on the minor routes, according to a chart on the ferry commissioner's own website.
As the ridership declines, BC Ferries considers charging more from the few remaining passengers. These are the elite brainy people who run our province for huge salaries. 


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Is this also a direct result of choosing to pay California 750 million dollars because they sued us and we backed down from a winning case?
Didn't you expect more from your politicians and management of YOUR resources?

You laugh or cry, either way, YOU are getting screwed by your corrupt government. 



 

The all NEW BC Christy Liberals for 2013!

The BC Provincial election is in May 14, 2013. Christy Clark has chosen her big guns for the epic battle. She found some under the back benches. Not ALL the BC Liberals deserted her, there were still some to pick from. (she was seen at KFC buying the Slim Pickens bucket.) So now all new for 2013, Christy presents the election ticket for prosperity in British Columbia!   Trust us.  We`re the BC Liberals!

BC Premiere, Christy Clark

Sure she looks dazed, but .. but a premier`s job is hard. (is that Basil Rathbone behind her) Look to the future, where you won't have to do anything but listen to what we tell you. We're for families and blueberries and PPPs and surrrprissses.

                             Ministry of Labor and                           Ministry of Wildlife                          Ministry of Welfare
                                 Beer Distribution                                  and Whining                                   and Inertia
                                     Fred Waddle                                  Eunice Shivver                             Harvey Closetted

                            Ministry of Finance                       Ministry of Holograms                       Ministry of Intimidation
                                and Finagling                                and Mysteriums                              and Tax Collection
                                    Al Kida                                    Havanna Marks                               Dawg Bailiff    

                       Ministry of Health                                   Ministry of Ethics                             Ministry of Forestry     
                          and Hospitals                                    and Crime Presention                           and Agonyculture
                     Dr. I.O. Stranglelust                                Kahuna Wakalulu                              Olaf Bigwoody 

So there you have it, our pride and ploy ... er joy. We defy the NDP or the BC Conservatives to come up with a line-up of talent like this. (No that's not him, just looks similar) Elect us again and we`ll get right back to doing the same things to you all over again. 

Our new platform includes; 
- selling Vancouver Island to the Chinese so they won`t have so far to ship their toxic plastics and contaminated foods; also to balance our budjet that we told you about.
- selling the water in our rivers in Public Private Partnerships to collect taxes on toilet flushes; 
- selling Rich Coleman to the Alberta Meat Packers Assoc. (testing for mad-cow first, of course); 
- tolling all the bridges everywhere including that lil wooden one by Second Beach in Stanley Park; (don`t laugh, they`ll pay when we let developers build condos on the west side of the park); 
- cutting taxes on the rich and making workers pay their fair share; 
- setting up a Defend ex Liberals fund for those who got caught and were persecuted unfairly; (or might get caught in the future); 
- fixing the PST & the GST before 2035;
- forgetting BC Rail once and for all; 
- making BC a have-not province for a sixth time, (the NDP only managed it once, we've done it five times!); 
- setting up a Junior Ministry advisory on Atlantic fish farm salmon and why growth hormones and coloring are good for you; and a 'Who needs sockeye salmon?' campaign.
- writing a new melody to the Fast Ferries chant; 
- yes, we`ll even adjust the minimum wage to $9.25 per hour! 

And remember, we don't do French here so Dix is NOT a ten!

All great reasons to return the BC Christy Party to POWER!

There`s lots more where these, er ...  this came from!

I'm Mortimer Snerd, and  I approved this message.
[Paid for by the Desperation Committee to re-elect any Liberal anywhere somehow]

Should ALL BC Christy Liberals be turfed out?

A  FEW of the things the BC Liberal party has done that forces one to believe they should ALL be tossed out in favor of some honest newcomers. in no particular order -

1. Gordon Campbell's BC Liberals tried to shut down the Georgia Straight newspaper. (while totally controlling political output of the Vancouver Sun and Province dailies)
2. BC Liberals tried to cancel our Knowledge Network.
3. Gordon Campbell gets drunk and drives in Hawaii, is arrested and tries to cover it up by using a sleazy lawyer in Maui.
4. Campbell promised a deficit of $495 million that became 1.8 BILLION! 
5. Liberals allow split up of elderly couple married for 60 years to separate care homes over costs and one dies lonely and afraid without her lifelong partner.
6. Gordon Campbell sold OUR railroad, BC Rail, under suspicious circumstances. (still ongoing investigations, while the Christy Liberals obfuscate)
7. Gordon Campbell keeps old fast ferries for political show when he could have sold them.
8. Campbell vindictively tried to stop NDP leader Joy MacPhail from an office in Legislature.
9. BC Liberals send 430 million to Germany to build 3 ferries instead of using competent BC shipyards. ALL of that money supported German families, NONE for BC workers.
10. Persistent whispers that the propellers' design causes bad cavitation resulting in unexpectedly high fuel costs. BC Ferries raises prices.
11. They allowed private Run-of-the-River projects on publicly owned rivers that are now costing us a fortune for Hydro, paying a much higher cost and only benefiting privately owned power projects.
12. BC Liberals hire out of province people to run BC Corporations - BC Ferries. BC Hydro and pay them ridiculous salaries, while ignoring homegrown BC talent.
13. BC Ferry sunk while American CEO runs corporation for 1 million a year salary.
14. BC Liberals steal surplus money from ICBC for general use so BC safe drivers get no lower insurance break.
15. Gordon Campbell sells BC Gas to private corporations for what considerations? Another BC asset sold off to private corporations for no apparent reason.
16. Campbell stopped a legitimate criminal trial on BC Rail and paid guilty pleading Virk and Basi to be quiet! The DAY before Gary Ferrel-Collins was to testify. Suspicious?
17. BC Liberals allowed foreign owned fish farms and diseased Atlantic salmon to devastate our once greatest wild Pacific salmon fishery.
18. Campbell illegally terminates legitimate union contract of the Hospital Employees Union.
19. Bowed to the 'creme-de-la-creme' on the natural/cheapest Skytrain route to the airport.
20. Huge cost over-run of 388 million on the Vancouver Convention Center.
21. Gordon Campbell gives himself a 53% pay raise!
22. Christy Clark spends 12 million hosting Bollywood but nothing for dying BC Film industry.  Bollywood to bring 500 employees to work the event. No one from BC.
23. Gordon Campbell steps away in shame from BC Premier job and gets an estimated 1.5 million pension plan and a plum job in England. 
24. BC Liberals purposely make no input into Enbridge pipeline hearings until too late. Tacitly being quiet while pretending to put conditions out.
25. Basi and Verk get 6 million legal fees paid by taxpayers after pleading GUILTY! How can anyone construe this as anything but a keep quiet payment?
    
26. Lying to merchants on Cambie Street about Skytrain 'tunnel' when it was cut and cover.
27. Port Mann bridge becomes dangerous in icy winter for design flaw.
28. BC allows private liquor stores to replace taxpayer profit with private profits. Money taken right out of BC coffers with every bottle of liquor sold!
29. Liberals try to sell off distribution branch of BC liquor control division.
30. BC Place stadium cost over-runs higher than fast ferries for restricted new roof.
31. Liberals fire Auditor General Doyle for investigating their own BC Rail scandal.
32. BC Christy Liberals control media through Vancouver Sun and Province, Bill Good, Sean Leslie, Keith Baldrey, Vaughn Palmer.
33. Rich Coleman.    Nuff said.
34. Kim Haakstad, Christy Clark's aide resigns over ethnic vote scandal. Liberals try to minimize attention to the personal emails shared by Pamela Martin and others. Information about people's private issues!
35. Translink builds a Seabus ferry in Holland for 25 million instead of a BC shipyard for 27 million, saying they have no interest in employing British Columbians for the job!  Again sending 25 million OUT of BC with no benefit for BC shipbuilders!
36. Christy Clark continues to surround herself with people with questionable motives. More aides under suspicion.
37. Minister John Yap admits that PERSONAL emails were used to avoid Freedom Of Information requests and revelations from media. Then cites privacy issues for not telling.
38. Provincial debt rises every year Liberals in office in spite their own law of balanced budgets. 50% higher!
39. Liberals hide true debt by grouping huge debts as 'Contractual Obligations' and not figuring them into what we owe.
40. Continual increase in raw logs shipped to out of province mills instead of value added for BC's benefit.
41. Pat Bell involved in 3 different scandals up north! 
42. Tolls on new bridges and more to come.
43. Christy Clark openly neglects the once billion dollar BC Film industry causing 15 thousand employees to struggle. 
44. Christy Clark spends 11 million BC taxpayers` dollars on Bollywood film-maker awards. Which turn out to be only a private TV promotion of Bollywood and Christy changed the date to precede her election image!
45. Shadow tolls on the Sea-to-Sky Highway.
46. Scam Liberal political ads all over TV pretending to be info ads at cost of taxpayers.
47. Liberals allowing Enbridge corporation to purposely distort the Douglas Channel by photo-shopping distances and islands to minimize the impact of their bitumen tankers.  
48. Liberals disbanded Tourism BC after years of successfully promoting our province.
49. Liberals introduced the HST after promising before the election NOT to have it. And it shifts up to 2 BILLION dollars from big business onto the back of BC taxpayers! The so called 'revenue neutral' tax brings in another 800 million from consumers!
50. BC Liberals fought every way at huge cost of $8 million to prevent a recall of the HST.
51. Christy Clark Liberals dragged their feet about when to stop the HST, instigated it within 30 days, took 5 years to end it. And after five years, we owe the federal government nothing because we have fulfilled our obligation!
52. Allowed Smart Meters over the protests by the homeowners of BC.
53. Questionable carbon tax adds 10 cents per liter to our gasoline price at the pump.
54. No protests from BC Liberals about 300 imported Chinese workers taking BC mining jobs while not allowing Canadians to gain employment! Fighting all queries about it.
55. BC Liberals fund raising in Alberta but not telling us what they are promising Albertans.
56. Wimpy BC Liberal MLAs unwilling to speak up for their own constituents.
57. Clark's legal bills for BC Rail paid by taxpayer AFTER she left the party for CKNW? 
58. Lara Dauphinee paid almost 300 hundred thou for being Campbell's aide?
59. Liberal candidates can't promise anything for voters - Premier's office controls it all.
60. Lost millions on the Telus renaming of BC Place. 
61. Rich Coleman tries to get Casino for Surrey, no, then tries for Langley. SUSPICIOUS!
62. Clarks close aides have to resign for trying a sneaky ethnic vote scandal. Sending private information about BC residents to personal emails of Pamela Martin, Brian Bonney etc. Admittedly to stop Freedom of Information Requests from media! More sneakiness. 
63. BC Liberals totally quiet while the federal government closed our Coast Guard station! 
64. As rats leave the sinking ship, Liberals still billing themselves as new faces while Rich Colman, Bill Bennett, Michael de Jong, Terry Lake, Mary Polak, Ida Chong, Shirley Bond, Margaret MacDairmid and Christy Clark pretend they are fresh and untainted. Sure.  
65. Moodys lowers the Province's credit rating to Negative.
66. The BC Liberals, under Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark, have raised the provincial debt and taxpayer obligations five fold and every Liberal has sat there without a squeak to protect his or her constituents or the valued assets of British Columbia. Doesn't that tell you something?
67. Twice as many people left BC under the Liberals than the NDP! The NDP had a net gain of 126,000 people.
68. The money from BC Natural gas will not begin flowing into BC until 2017, well after the NEXT election! 

Sorry, I have to stop! If I wait another day before posting this there will probably be a whole list of new scandals! How many more do you want?

I've had enough already. Time for a major sweeping of the BC Christy Liberal Party scandal littered floor! 

Wow, just like I said, one day later and what should appear? Yet another scathing report from BC Auditor General slamming the Liberal government for carbon offsets cheating! And using tens of millions of dollars (from hospitals and schools) that are not being credibly spent! 

Had to add this in 2017 #69 scandal Christy fires 8  employee of the Health DEPT. AND ONE COMMITS SUICIDE OVER PHONY ALLEGATIONS!   FORCED TO RESCIND. NO ONE SAYING WHO DID WHAT TO WHOM IN LATEST SCANDAL!  Could I add more? YES!!!!

current BC Liberal campaign ad

Personal TV and radio ad aimed at Adrian Dix:    Dix did a bad thing. Changed a date or something while working for Premier Glenn Clark. Fired. Owned up to it, got severance from the NDP party of 70,000. dollars. Says he has moved on. Now trying to be premier himself. Bad Adrian Dix?

I'm alright Jack.

BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell. Was plunging his party into oblivion because of nefarious  buddy deals and suspicions of corruption. His personal rating tanked to single digits. Stepped down in a cloud of controversy over BC Rail and other things. The most unpopular Premier ever. Gordon Campbell moved on too, got a send off pension of $98,175 PER YEAR! EVERY year! About 1.7 million lifetime, and to top that off, an Order of British Columbia. Then to smack the people of BC in the face once more, got an appointment to the diplomatic post of High Commissioner to Great Britain at a huge salary. And didn't own up to anything.

And Golden handshakes too? This is what it cost the BC taxpayers to get rid of these people -
Alan Seckel - Deputy to the Premier - $549,776.   Martyn Brown - who served only days as Deputy Minister -  $416,191.  Lesley Du Toit - $330,000.  Ron Norman - $323,917.  Lara Dauphinee - $192,000. as a 'retirement bonus'.  (=1.81 million)

Dix - seventy thousand dollars. Campbell - several million dollars. No wonder he's feeling smug.

Which is best?

While you were sleeping ...

The BC Liberals stealthily changed their name from the BC Liberal Party, to the BC Christy Party.  Trying very hard to launch themselves as something new and escape the gravity of Gordon Campbell and his henchmen and head for the moon.

Christy is using phrases like 'new beginning', 'turn the page', we even expect 'New World Order' soon!
We think Christy might be moonstruck, in both definitions of the word -
Moon·struck - 1 - Dazed or distracted with romantic sentiment.
                       2 - Affected by insanity; crazed.

Trouble is, all the henchmen are still the same and there's nothing romantic or sentimental about them. And that moon still shines down on the BC Liberals with Gordon Campbell's guilty face.

Hmm, and Christy is going after John Cummins because of HIS ego?
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don't go to sleep again.
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Catch up time.

And I don't mean on your chips.I mean like your past catching up with you.
In the latest revelations of past doings going awry, the present BC Hydro chief questions the ability of the utility to support the IPPs and their high priced electricity. We have all suspected that these Independent Power Projects built on our rivers by foreigners would only siphon off dollars from BC Hydro. Those dollars of course belonging to you and me.

When Premier Gordon Campbell started these IPPs by handing out licences to entrepreneurs to build dams and power stations on our smaller rivers, many people questioned why BC Hyrdo didn't do it themselves if that power was needed. What would have been the reason to allow strangers into OUR environment to build high profit making power stations while ignoring other issues.
Some could only see the reason as personal gain.

Why would you sell off the production of power when we already had the crown jewel of public utilities in BC Hydro? Some of these IPPs paid a pittance for the licence. Well, at least on the surface. It was even suggested there might have been a secret side payment to those who could make these easy money schemes happen! If you were granted a licence to print money at the cost of the BC taxpayer, a million in cash slipped quietly as 'tip' money into an offshore bank account was little to pay when you would, in the future, be charging BC Hydro way above the going price for he power your IPP would be producing.
What a sweetheart deal!

Now even the CEO of BC Hydro is questioning those deals. Forced by the government to buy power at a premium price when BC Hydro doen't even need it, Putting our public corporation at the brink of bankruptcy because of it. What could be the next result of this grand scam? Perhaps the handing over of BC Hydro to foreign interests?

All that this deception on the BC taxpayers will result in is to dig deeper into our pockets while a certain few make billions on the scheme. And was that the plan all along when the BC Liberals, all quiet and looking the other way, allowed the premier of our once proud province to sell us out completely? Wasn't that the BC Rail result too? Are we on the same level as some hapless middle African country being exploited by a greedy dictatorial leader who runs off to the South of France with his unctuous money later. In this case the UK.
Seems that way.

Christy Clark will probably do her usual, "We don't like it but we can't do anything about it, they have contracts," rote comment.
Wasn't Mz Clark there when Gordon tore up legal union contracts?
Wouldn't it guarantee her re-election if she promised to expose the corruption in the BC Rail sale? And return it to its rightful owners? We the people of BC. Couldn't she tear up David Hahn's obscene contract and fire him too? Couldn`t she exproprate those IPPs operating with impunity on OUR rivers?

Yes, imagine the fallout. Lawsuits by the bushel. If I was premier I would simply say the sale of BC Rail was obtained through illegal means, therefore it is illegal and negated. I would challenge David Hahn to go after us in the courts, reminding him that he had a sunken BC Ferry on his watch, at the same time promising that he will be in for a 20 year ordeal. And those IPPs? I would suggest that the first one to come foreward with information of corruption on the part of anyone within the BC Government would get to keep their IPP, and make their profits. The rest would come under BC Hydro care and control.

But that's not going to happen. Is it? Simplistic. We can't. That's the operative word with BC Liberals. These current MLAs voted 84% to back Gordon Campbell the week before he stepped down in shame. How's that for an approval rating. Scoundrels backing a rogue. Circle the wagons, zip the lips.
Same old same old over there in Victoria, picking at the taxpayer's bones and what WE all owned as part of a thriving British Columbia.

One can only hope that this trail of corruption and disregard for the people of BC catches up with the perpetrators. Heavy on the word traitors.

No, that is not ketchup up on my chips, it's blood.

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Last chance at HST vote

So what should you ask yourself as you make a decision about the HST?

Should you hold the Liberal government responsible because you believe they cheated you?
Did Gordon Campbell really cheat you when he said no HST and then implemented it?
Did the Liberal MLAs cheat you by endorsing Gordon Campbell's actions by 84%?
Should you give up the right of future British Columbia governments to tax you themselves?
Should you cede that right to levy taxes at whatever rate BCers want?
Should you hold premier Christy Clark responsible for this?
Will Christy Clark actually put the tax free PST back or will she cheat you again?
Do you trust Chisty Clark about ANYTHING after her refusal to even TALK about BC Rail?
Is Christy Clark following the Campbell policy of cheat the people and then be silent?
Will the HST federal government tax be better for Britsh Columbians or someone else?
Will you mind paying higher tax on HST when hundreds of items had NO tax on PST?
Is a three year wait enough for a 2 point reduction in HST taxes?
Should you move on, accept the tax and just let it pass that they got one over on you?
Are you masochistic to the point that you LIKE and expect to be cheated?
Are you just struggling to make ends meet for your family and don't care?
Do you actually believe Christy Clark's family first rhetoric when the HST will actually be 140% increase in some prices?
Will you be paying more in the future for all Liberal government decisions?
Will the Federal government treat you fairly when you give them your HST windfall?
Will big companies actually lower their prices because they save on accounting?
Are these corporations telling you the truth that BC will be better off or just them?

Will YOU as a British Columbian actually fare better with the HST?

Wow. Lots to think about. But why it is that it is always the Liberals AGAINST the people of BC? Why is it they are ALWAYS defending their actions? Why is it that they always say they can do nothing about it?

Think carefully, giving up your right forever to use the PST tax however you like is important.
The Liberals told us that we still own BC Rail. The contract is for 990 YEARS. Sure we do.

Why is it the Liberals do so many things against British Columbians?

Vote however you like.
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A concerned citizen's letter re BC Hydro

published in the April 15 edition of the Campbell River Courier-Islander.

"Now there's a profundity! Merely a month on the job and Hon. Rich Coleman is qualified to single-handedly determine the engineering, safety, and financial merits of BC Hydro projects. Does he think that Hydro would be proposing the project if it didn't need to be done? Some sort of a 'make work' project perhaps? In your article Mr. Coleman goes on to say "...But we also need to minimize costs and take care about the burden we're placing on families ... you also have to figure out how you an bring your costs in and cash-flow it through so that your rates will be kept down..."
To ensure that Mr. Coleman's prerequisites can be met, he has struck a panel of 'senior officials' to examine Hydro's financial performance, its operating and capital requirements, the reliability of its forecasting systems, administrative expenses, procurement processes, cost containment strategies, and opportunities for savings.
As a retired BC Hydro manager with 36 years service I feel both compelled and qualified to comment. The underlying implication of Mr. Coleman's comments and actions is that BC Hydro is inept and that somehow by the end of June his panel of 'senior officials' is going to identify the various errors of Hydro's ways and get them on track towards providing low cost, reliable, clean hydroelectric energy for the citizens and industry of British Columbia.
Whoa! Reality check!
The facts of the matter are that BC Hydro, through the watchful eye of the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) and the incredible foresight of the W.A.C. Bennett government has been providing the lowest cost, reliable, green, 100% renewable electrical energy in North America to the citizens and industry of B.C for the past 50 years. >
And, just as importantly, they would still be doing so if the provincial government (yes, the same Liberal government that Mr. Coleman is and has been a Minister for) had not decided to use (or more accurately abuse) BC Hydro as an enormous "cash cow" and steal hundreds of millions of dollars from them per year in "dividend payments" to the "shareholder" (the government on behalf of British Columbians).

The fact is that the government saw Hydro's large cash flows and capital and operational program funds as huge cash reserves that they could 'better use' to fund other government programs for which funding would otherwise have to be reduced or taxes would otherwise have to be increased. Our 'diligent' premier and his cabinet simply didn't care that their 'rob Peter to pay Paul' actions would require Hydro to cut and/or seriously curtail their requisite system operations and capital programs.
In fact, to add insult to injury, the Liberal government under Premier Gordon Campbell forced BC Hydro to take on billions of dollars in additional debt in the form of long term (30 -- 40 year) 'use or pay' contracts with private run-of-river and wind power developers. Furthermore, the contracted energy costs are two to three times higher than current electrical energy value.
So, back to Mr. Coleman's quandary. What will his panel of experts determine? What can we do to ensure that the citizens and industry of British Columbia are getting the best bang for their energy dollar?

How can we be sure that Hydro and its villainous team of engineers and technicians isn't out to screw us? Well, I would like to humbly suggest the following solutions: Get your grubby government hands out of BC Hydro's pockets. For the past 50 years the citizens and industry of British Columbia have enjoyed 'real' dividends from BC Hydro in the form of the lowest cost, clean, reliable electrical energy in North America (possibly the world). This didn't happen by accident and it certainly isn't indicative of a poorly run energy corporation.
Let BC Hydro work to its mandate and let BCUC do its job of overseeing Hydro's operations.
Make the government the 'fall guy' rather than BC Hydro and explain why Hydro is in the mess it's in. The government created the mess so they should at least have the intestinal fortitude and integrity to admit it.
Unfortunately we are all going to have to pay to get ourselves out of this mess but at least we should know the real cause so that future generations don't repeat this sham.
M.J. (Marv) Everett, Retired,
Campbell River

(bolds are mine)

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There are many people in British Columbia who harbor suspicions about the motives of the current Liberal government to undermine the work of BC Hydro in the first place, and the reasons for private power Run of the River projects.
Some believe that, (using the BC Rail trial jargon) that 'Tips' might have been provided to certain officials. Most of these power projects have a limited liability to even provide power for the people of BC and after their initial contracts run out, said to be for only five years, they are free to use the resources of BC rivers for their power to supply out of country electricity, to California air conditioners and Nevada neon etc without having to provide one milliwatt to British Columbians!
BC Hydro has, as Mr. Everett said, been trusted for fifty years by British Columbians, to look after OUR needs, and he is careful to acknowledge the foresight of WAC Bennett to build this into the corporation. Alas, governments with benefits for BCers in mind are sadly gone.
We notice Mr. Colman's clever use of Christy Clark's new election buzzword, 'families', and we wonder how many journals, radio, newspapers, TV stations and other media will bring up even ONE question in the coming provincial election to a Liberal candidate regarding the destruction of the jewel of Crown Corporations in BC and it's effect on the families of British Columbians?