Dear Editor
Just following up on some recent items that speak to why we should give some credence to so-called alarmists who question our gung-ho attitude to resource development.
The first item was an opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun on July 24 where we find out that our government has been lying to us about BC Hydro rates. Until now, we were told that the 19 per cent rate increase was purely due to upgrading ancient infrastructure, but lo and behold, they now admit that it is also due to the exorbitant deals given to their friends in the IPP industry.
The alarmists raised this issue consistently over several election cycles and were dismissed as cranks. The environmentalists who said we should conserve energy instead of developing new sources were also dismissed as cranks. Personally I’d far rather spend my money upgrading my home insulation than paying increased hydro rates to line the pockets of Liberal-friendly developers.
Another interesting item is a Government of Canada website about remediation efforts to clean up after the Giant Gold Mine in Yellowknife. You can find it at https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100027364/ 1100100027365 .Who’s paying for this? You and me, the Canadian taxpayers. Once again, we get to pay for the clean-up after the party is over. Just as we will when the oil and gas is all gone.
And this just in. According to the Public Accounts released on July 15 for 2013-2014, our fiscally responsible provincial government has increased the provincial debt by $5 billion in the last year, to a record high total of $60.9 billion. When you add contractual obligations, such as IPPs, that climbs to over $100 billion. When the Liberals took over government in 2001, provincial debt stood at $30 billion. These are the same people promising us a debt-free BC!
It’s not easy being a nay-sayer in a climate where such activities can have the CRA knocking on your door, but we, the taxpayers, need to let our governments know that we no longer believe the fairy-tales they tell us about their plans for our resources.
Natural resources belong to the citizens of Canada and should not be given away cheaply to friends of government at our expense.
Jim Ryan
Spences Bridge