Clark vows to get Site C “past the point of no return” …during memorial.

Posted on by Laila

The memorial for former long time premier Bill Bennett was held yesterday as many friends, family and politicians gathered to remember his life and his life’s work.

clarkpalin

 

Among those speaking was Premier Christy Clark,who somehow still managed to find a way to mention herself in her eulogy:

 

“She promised to finish Bennett’s vision for the controversial Site C Dam project.

“Premier Bennett, you got it started and I will get it finished. I will get it past the point of no return.”

Moving beyond the fact that politicking at memorials is really poor form,her statement raised eyebrows of many, I’m told by some who were actually there.

Partly because of the inappropriate timing of the comment, but also because Bennett handled his governments attempt at building Site C in a manner completely opposite to  that of the current government.

Bennett did have a vision, but he did not just force it through like the Clark government is -at least not when it came to Site C

 In fact it was the Bennett government that created  the BC Utilities Commission.

It’s job was ( and still is when government allows it) to regulate Hydro rates and review BC Hydro’s projects independently fully and independently to ensure they are needed, costed properly and ensure all projections/estimates are correct.

Site C did not come to pass back in the eighties because when the BC Utilities Commission reviewed it ( remember it was then premier Bennett’s government that created this independent agency) they found that there was no need and that it was not in the best interests of British Columbians. The BCUC instructed BC Hydro and the government to begin investigating and pursing other alternatives like geothermal,solar and other alternate means.

And that was the end of Site C. It died with the BC utilities commissions denial. Why?

Because Bennett did not force the dam through like Clark is. He trusted the analysis of the agency he helped create, and put a stop to the plans when they said no. Whether you were on the same side of Bennett politically or not, you have to respect that he did the right thing here.

sitecjprAs I’ve written of previously, it was the Campbell government that exempted Site C under the Clean Energy Act, in my opinion not because hydro power is clean, but because they knew it was very likely that the BC Utilities Commission independent review would once again say it was not needed or justified and deny the project.

Which, will forever be a travesty forced onto this province and certainly not something I could imagine Bennett being proud of. What the Campbell/Clark governments have done with the BC Utilities Commission, crippling it, is appalling.

Cities in the area of Site C, asked the province to send it to the BC Utilities Commission. The Union of BC Municipalities, made of  representatives from all cities in BC, passed a resolution asking the Premier to send Site C to the BCUC, all because of concern over the escalating costs & lack of proof it is needed. Many other groups and organizations have asked, including other political parties – all to deaf ears.

There are still several outstanding court cases on Site C from First Nations in the area and Clark knows all of this was done wrong – she also knows  there is a good chance that any of those three court cases could put a stop to all of it.

It just doesn’t make sense.  Particularly to make a vow of  “getting it past the point of no return” in a eulogy for the man who created the process her government refuses to acknowledge and participate in. That is not, by far, a show of respect.

 

clarkreversemistakeRecently, Clark heralded the federal government for reversing the decision on the Coast Guard closures in BC, and it’s time for her government to do the same thing on Site C- particularly when you look at what happens when you do things the wrong way.

Look at Muskrat Falls, a dam project that looks like it might go down in history as one of the biggest boondoggles an eastern province has seen. In fact, the costs and projects are so out of line, that the Newfoundland government is conducting an independent review now, during construction.  Ironically the scope of the review is nearly identical to what the BC Utilities Commission should have done on Site C.

It’s now being called an over budget burden on the province and there are growing calls for the province to cut its losses and stop construction before it gets worse:

The Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador was always destined to define the political legacies of the politicians who championed it. As by far the biggest capital undertaking in Newfoundland and Labrador history, it would either enrich the province as a North American clean-energy power provider or saddle it with a Hoover Dam-sized debt it would long regret.

The skeptics hovered long before oil and gas prices tanked, leaving the provincial government facing massive deficits far into the future and dismal prospects for fetching premium prices for the project’s power on export markets. Newfoundland taxpayers risk paying for Muskrat Falls in more ways than one.

The $7.7-billion project also risks burdening Canadian taxpayers, who, thanks to the federal loan guarantee on $5-billion worth of Muskrat Falls bonds, are responsible for repayment should the provincial entity that issued them default. t, thankfully, is not an immediate concern.

~snip~

The project is behind schedule and over budget. In September, Nalcor upped its cost estimate for Muskrat Falls to $7.7-billion from an initial $6.2-billion. The total comes to more than $9-billion, when financing costs during the construction phase are included. That may not be the end of cost overruns before the power starts flowing in 2018 – or later.

~snip~

“This politically charged project is large relative to the provincial economy and is expected to place considerable upward pressure on future electricity rates,” Moody’s noted this year in a report on Newfoundland Power, the private power distributor that, as a condition of the federal guarantee on Muskrat Falls, must buy its electricity from Nalcor.

Former top provincial bureaucrats Ron Penney and David Vardy, who estimate that Muskrat Falls will increase Newfoundland’s gross debt by 50 per cent, recently called the project “one of the most unfortunate public-policy decisions in the history of the province.”

Many Newfoundlanders wish they could simply pull the plug.

It’s crystal clear that much like Muskrat Falls, the politicians in BC who are championing Site C are also trying to define their political legacies,and Clark’s bizarre vow during her eulogy, sets an ominous tone for hers.  This is not how Bennett would have wanted it finished.

It’s time to stop the project before more taxpayers money is wasted. Listen to the Forces of Know. Do the right thing. There are good, solid, job creation alternatives. Twin the Transcanada to Alberta. Create a market for solar power. Be proactive, not reactive.

Remember Ms. Clark, you said it yourself: “It’s never too late to reverse a mistake that was made.”

** Link to the fundraising page for legal fees of Rocky Mountain Fort Campers named in BC Hydro lawsuit . https://www.gofundme.com/s6c4s4vs

** Check back tomorrow for another post with some compelling photos that are raising big questions.

46 thoughts on “Clark vows to get Site C “past the point of no return” …during memorial.”

    1. No disrespect, but I hope you have a good funeral policy. There have been approaching $2 billion (US or CAN ?) in contracts awarded to out of province and International contractors. Where is the point of ‘no return’? This harridan has no respect for the law, common sense, the economy or decency, but don’t waste your body on her decision. Rise up and FIGHT!

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  2. Clark is the embodiment of closed ears and eyes when her interests aren’t best served, such that listening to the above spoken word presentation gives rise to increased frustration over the sense of how little difference the words will make, along with all the meaning behind them. So sad.

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  4. At least Site C won’t increase our debt by 50% like NL. Cleverly, Christie has increased our debt so high (without even considering private power projects) that a measly 12-15 billion extra debt will hardly dent the door on the debt vault. We are fortunate to have such a math wiz as premier, she will leave the next generation or three in great shape.

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  5. she wants it “beyond the point of return” so that if she looses the next election all her friends and political supporters will have their contracts in place and can get one more kick at the cash can. Site C has so much money to throw around and all those B.C. Lieberal supporters deserve to get as much as they can before they get turfed from office.

    This has nothing to do with electrical needs of the province but everything to do with making money for contractors. Site C dam? How about the Christy Clark dam? Well in my opinion if the people of this province permit this dam to go ahead, we will be dammed.

    Christy never miss a photo op, thinks no government will “pull the plug” on something half built because of all the contracts, etc. Well it maybe that the next government, simply does pull the plug and tell the contractors, take a hike. it wouldn’t be hard. You simply turn the Site C into a “semi private” firm, and have it declare bankruptcy. done and dusted.

    Declaring bankruptcy. this province might want to give it a try. given the debt load the B.C. Lieberals have placed us under, it maybe the only way to see day light this century. B.C. is Canada’s version of Detroit.

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  6. The remark by Christy Clark at Bill Bennett’s Memorial was utterly disgraceful. Quite apart from the terrible timing of such rank politics, Ms. Clark obviously did not know Bill Bennett. I did. he had a very strong suspicion of BC Hydro’s energy predictions. In those days, however, hydro power was the only alternative to fossil fuels whereas by the time this government came to power, the techniques for using alternative sources of energy had increased exponentially. Bennett did everything possible to avoid the need for Site C while Campbell and Clark, having the alternatives in hand, opted to ignore them.

    In 2003 the Campbell/Clark government “Energy Policy” created the self fulfilling prophecy that Site C would happen. Suddenly, Hydro was forbidden to make any new energy EXCEPT SITE C, and all other new energy had to come from the private sector which BC Hydro was compelled to buy, whether they needed it or not, at hugely inflated prices. It was obvious that the inevitable consequences would be enrichment of large international companies like General Electric, the building of Site C, and even worse, BC Hydro would be bankrupted.

    Instead of demanding that BC Hydro examine these other options, bring them on stream, thus avoiding the necessity of Site.C, the Liberals, closing their eyes to the consequences, left the decision to Hydro brass who are all like the carpenter who only owns a hammer so that everything looks like a nail. They can only see hydro-electric as a power source and did handsprings to avoid even considering alternative sources.

    Bill Bennett was a leader and a great leader. For the likes of Christy Clark, who has messed up everything she’s touched, including getting us committed to LNG when nobody wants to buy it, to try to hitch herself and her failed policy to Bill Bennett is ludicrous in the extreme. To do so at his Memorial Service was inexcusable bad manners which because she is our premier, extended to all of us. She must now apologize.

    Christy Clark should listen carefully to the words of Senator Daniel Moynihan who wisely said, “one is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts.”

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    1. This comment is an example of what has been missing from the MSM for some time now and is a reminder of how badly we are being served in that arena. It is precisely why we are stuck with a premier exhibiting all the signs of a true sociopath, a band of sycophants posing as elected legislators, and record numbers of corporate parasites regularly dumping copious shares of the flesh carved from the public bone into the BC Liberal election kitty. The current “journalists” hereabouts are imposters.

      If there is a current member of the MSM with half the acumen and at least one of the balls of Rafe Mair, he or she is keeping the fact well hidden.

      Meanwhile, he keeps on telling it like it is. http://commonsensecanadian.ca/long-ed-murrow-hard-hitting-mainstream-journalism/

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  7. Nice work on exposing this.

    It almost sounds like she is declaring loss or acknowledging pending replacement already.

    Huge money is being wasted prematurely at the dam site every day by forcing certain parts to be done in winter conditions, secret direct awards to purchase support from key groups, and project scope changes in various tenders, many which have not been open to public scrutiny on BC Bid or elsewhere.

    Somewhat explaining the price drift from $1.5 Billion to $`1.75 Billion on the Major Works RFP, a secretly negotiated, un-scrutinized, non-competitive direct award process which can easily cover up shoddy methods and cost overruns.

    Other money being thrown away would be uncollected PST on out of province construction machinery ,supplies and other support items being brought in by contractors.

    As well as carbon tax on any fuel consumed and license fees on the large fleet of utility vehicles that have been brought in. FOI requests on anything to do with the North Bank Prep project need to be done as it was originally tendered on BC Bid and then mysteriously disappeared from the process, with no list of plan takers, or list of tendered bids published. Strange for sure. Most likely to cover for generous pay out clauses if the project is indeed cancelled.

    And if any of this isn’t true the people that know need to prove it as for now we can only believe what we see happening.

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    1. Exactly!! We used to be privy to contracts awarded for public works. No longer. Why?
      PST, provincial income tax, fuel taxes etc. loosey goosey contracts! All demand an inquiry! The sooner the better!

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      1. “We used to be privy to contracts awarded for public works. No longer. Why?”

        Good point John and the “Why?” should be put directly to Mr. Horgan.
        Is he going to just sleep in another day? This crap needs to stop.

        The NDP could well toss another opportunity to govern, if they actually want to, so using both barrels now can’t really hurt them. Sure could help my grandkids though.

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  8. She just confirmed what I have been saying ever since the first trailers arrived on site. Full steam ahead, so the pre election investment in Site C will be too great for the NDP to scuttle.
    And again I ask, where IS the NDP?

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  9. Another home run, Laila!

    Here’s Vaughn Palmer’s review of the memorial, including Christy’s words.

    “Clark also credited Bennett with the inspiration for Site C, neglecting to mention how he shelved the project for a generation. “I will get it to the point of return,” added the premier, which I took to be a vow to sign enough contracts in the next year that neither the courts nor a change of government would halt construction.”

    http://www.vancouversun.com/search/Vaughn+Palmer+Memorial+celebrates+both+sides+former+premier+Bill+Bennett/11690878/story.html?__lsa=e8a9-8ac1

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  10. Another out-of-control politician in way over her head and at odds with the citizens she is supposed to represent, a legacy project based on stupidity and wilful blindness will ensure her name goes down in infamy.
    How about ‘Christy’s Folly’ in 30 foot red letters across the dam so no one forgets the financial and environmental devastation she has wrought!
    Go to Hell, Christy!

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  11. A crass, oportunist with zero empathy for the venue at which she spoke.

    I’m sure the Bennett famliy appreciated her using the death of their father for her own personal “stump speech” on something that had absolutely nothing to do with his eulogy.

    One wonders what other souless little troll wrote that “stump speech” for her was thinking when they licked the bottom of the political latrine for “stuff” to tie in her never ending campaigning with a dead premiers legacy…..
    This, ladies and gentlemen, is the legacy of how low our political system has fallen.
    A Premier that will literally stand next to the photo of a former Premier now dead, and use his Celebration of Life as an opportunity to further their own twisted agenda.

    What an ignorant, unfeeling piece of sh*t!
    May 2017.
    The election cant come soon enough.

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  14. With this speach and her lieds of late, delete delette,her not caring as to what is being dine to the people financially-it is time for impeachment.

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  15. Madam Clark does not speak for the taxpayers nor the rate payers of this province. Apparently she does not speak for the former Premier either…..
    She does speak for high priced corporations and firms waiting to get their shovels in the ground and get their piece of the action at the expense of all other British Columbians.
    I’m sure that the former Premier would be turning over in his grave knowing that she is doing this in his name.

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  18. “It should be noted however, BC Hydro has already installed new transmission lines in this region, to allow natural gas drilling operations to switch to electricity as their main power source, and according to Mr. Coleman — reduce carbon footprint.”

    This quote is from the above article. Natural gas drilling (I assume fracking), powered by clean, renewable publicly-owned energy from BC Hydro.

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  23. We can’t just hope, we have to get out there and work hard to get anyone other than the BC Liberal candidates elected. We also have to call and send e-mails to various journalists in the MSM, telling them to get off their lazy butts and keep all the BC Liberal scandals on the front page. We need more Laila Yuiles in this province’s media.

    Then and only then can we hope to see Christy’s cabal ‘past the point of no return’.

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  24. The dam to nowhere
    The transmission lines white elephant
    Just say charge it on the BC Liberals CC
    Freedom is an action word. It means turning off your screen devices – or at least greatly reducing your viewing time – and getting active to take to stave off the emerging apathy.

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  25. Laila, this is a very, VERY important topic and I wish somehow it could be left at the top of your page for longer than a few hours. The number of comments being 2-3 times greater than the norm, speaks to the high interest and thus, its importance.

    Have you noticed, any and all of your Christy Clark posts grab more comments, by far, than most others?

    It was good to see Rafe post a comment as well and here is a follow up in his own column; http://rafeonline.com/

    So many things frustrate me about Site C, including; the full steam ahead; the apathetic and uninformed populace and the appearance of a non existent opposition. All of which just play into Clark’s hands.

    I really have to wonder if un-needed projects like the Port Mann bridge, BC Place et al were not just trial runs to see how much they could shoplift. It would seem as though we have agreed to leave the vault open and unattended…on the front porch.

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  26. In Bill Bennett’s letter response to Adrian Dix, he says powerlines from BC Hydro will go to gas drilling sites, so instead of burning natural gas in the process, they can now use clean power from BC Hydro. But all the gas will be burned anyway, so how’s that a GHG benefit?

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  27. Here’s Simi Sara’s interview with retired bank economist Daivid Bond. Bond holds no punches in his views on LNG and Site C — or on Christy and Co.

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  35. […] Second, The answers from BC Hydro should have residents of Hudsons Hope, Fort St. John and the surrounding area, asking for explanations from their local MLA Mike Bernier, Enery minister Bill Bennett, BCHydro CEO Jessica Mcdonald and the premier who vowed to get Site C past the point of no return. […]

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