RUN OUTTA TOWN

Fascinating.

The B.C. Utilities Commission has killed Premier Campbell's plans to revise energy issues in this province.

"Green Premier's agenda hits snag as energy plan rejected

Commission says British Columbia government's initiative not in public interest"

What makes this decision so compelling is that the Preem has couched his plans in the popular wedding gown of ecology and clean energy, when in fact his plan has always been about what all his plans are about - helping Big Biz get more.

In this case, we are talking about run-of-river rights being handed on a plate to private energy producers. This being a typical Campbell Triple P, Triple Sauce, Private-Public-Partnership scam.

God, he thinks he's so clever, and like most people who are enamoured with their own cleverness, he is soooooo transparent.

"Some analysts say the ruling – which shocked the government and the stock market – indicates B.C. has been over-estimating the amount of power the province needs in order to justify the development of independent power projects.

“We have a very flawed energy plan in this province … the government cannot continue to exaggerate the need for power,” said Lori Winstanley, a spokeswoman for the professional employees' union known as COPE, which has long been critical of BC Hydro's energy plan.

For years the opposition NDP has questioned the Campbell government's energy plan, claiming independent hydro projects that harness some of the province's rivers – known as run of river projects – pose hazards to the environment, and sports fisheries."

I had the pleasure of hosting and moderating a public debate about this very issue not too many months ago. Both debaters were excellent presenters and decent people.

But it was clear to me that this was another Campbell Sell-Off, in which, under some noble disguise, resources are given to private concerns to make hay while the public purse is left in the lurch.

Hey, it worked for George W. Bush in Texas, why not for Wee Gordie in BC?

I applaud the Utilities Commission decision.

Back to the Back Room Strategy Board, Gord.