This and that for your Thursday reading. – Ian Welsh calls out the latest example of deceptive use of COVID-19 data to minimize the risk people continue to face, as the CDC is failing to investigate or report on cases which don’t result in immediate hospitalization even if they lead
Continue readingTag: vaughn palmer
Cowichan Conversations: BC HYDRO Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead
Norm Farrell calls a spade a spade, always has. The handling of the Site C Dam project has been an exercise in deceit and conflict from the outset. Both the BC NDP and BC Read more… The post BC HYDRO Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead first appeared on richardhughes.ca.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Vaughn Palmer discusses how British Columbia’s Site C megaproject had gone awry long before the coronavirus pandemic hit. And CBC News reports on new research showing that thousands of earthquakes can be traced to the province’s push toward fracking with no regard
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – PressProgress examines the damage Doug Ford wants to inflict on children in Ontario’s education system. Fareed Khan calls out the right-wing politicians acting like spoiled children rather than responsible decision-makers. And Rick Smith discusses how to develop public policy to withstand the vandalism
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – The New York Times’ editorial board highlights how many of the people looking to defend a habitable planet from environmental destruction are being met with state-assisted violence in response. And Oxfam examines how Australian mining companies are exploiting west Africa to the tune
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Yves Engler writes that the Libs’ SNC-Lavalin scandal represents a fully expected consequence of a foreign policy based on acquiescing in corruption: …Trudeau went to bat for SNC after the firm had either been found guilty or was alleged to have greased palms
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former B.C. NDP premier’s pro-pipeline sentiments boost Rachel Notley’s ‘social license’ strategy
PHOTOS: One of the few photos your blogger could find of Dan Miller (found on the Internet, original source unknown). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan and B.C. Premier Christy Clark (from the Canadian Encyclopedia). There’s more evidence out of British Columbia this week that Rachel
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Toby Sanger offers some important background to the federal government’s expected plan for privatized infrastructure by noting that the anticipated result would be to double the costs. And Luke Kawa notes that the Libs are already having trouble spending the money they’ve
Continue readingIn-Sights: Careless or captured? (A 2009 repeat)
When you read or listen to resource industry advocates, especially ones masquerading as objective political pundits, compare their concerns in 2009 about burning natural gas to generate peak-demand electricity to their current attitudes toward burning natural gas to liquefy natural gas. The following was first published at Northern Insight on
Continue readingIn-Sights: Careless or captured? (A 2009 repeat)
Despite deep cynicism about those backing Gordon Campbell’s Liberals, I’ve long held respect for the writing of Vaughn Palmer. My reservoir of appreciation seems now to have run dry. He has been bright, skilled and articulate, usually worth reading throughout 35 years with the Vancouver Sun.
Now, I don’t know. Is he distracted, overburdened, grown careless or captured by his subjects? What can explain Palmer’s early reporting about the British Columbia Utilities Commission decision on BC Hydro’s 2008 Long Term Acquisition Plan.
July 31, on his regular Vancouver radio outing, he led with this:
“I think it means the BC Utilities Commission is out of touch. You know, they said, “We’re not persuaded we need all this new green power because you’ve got the Burrard Thermal Plant sitting out there in Port Moody and it could run full time and take care of your power needs for many years.” Which, is completely out of touch. … the Utility Commission’s belief that the Burrard Thermal is the answer to any of the province’s power needs for the future just ignores its impact on air quality among other things.”
That is not merely weak reporting of the Commission’s determination. It is a reprehensible misstatement that totally fails to reflect the actual decision. I can think of only two possibilities. One is that Palmer had not read the report but relied on someone’s corrupt précis. The other is that he intentionally misled the audience for some purpose.
Sidekick Keith Baldrey, also of Canwest Global, contributed:
“And, that’s why I don’t understand why a number of environmental groups who are applauding this decision have remained silent on the fact that Burrard Thermal is to be relied on at an increasing rate because it produces dirty energy. That’s a contradictory and hypocritical position and a number of people haven’t really squared themselves with that.”
No Keith, the BC Utilities Commission simply didn’t say that.
Palmer subsequently shifted his attack, all but accusing the BCUC of joining forces with uninformed racists:
“You know, that bit about the First Nations – I mean think about this for a minute – if we go out and get public opinion on First Nations, one of the first things you hear from people is, “You know, they always want a handout from the government, they’re always taking government money.” You know, here you got a bunch of First Nations in British Columbia – some of the best led native bands in the province – gone out and they’ve found private partners to develop their own resources on their own traditional territory and the big provincial government regulator has slammed the door on their face. I mean, it’s no wonder that they’re feeling frustrated.”
Baldrey added:
“. . . these independent power projects have as economic partners First Nations groups. These are a huge economic development tool for impoverished First Nations and Vaughn and I were reading this morning, from the Sechelt Indian Band, a letter they’ve written the BC Utilities Commission accusing them of essentially, and I quote, “This appears to us to be nothing less than regulated racism.” So you’ve got First Nations now very much up in arms. With the stroke of a pen, the Utilities Commission has kiboshed what they saw as the number one tool to lift a lot of their people out of fairly extensive poverty and I don’t know if the Utilities Commission thought this through properly.”
I was interested to note that at 9am July 31, Baldrey and Palmer knew the contents of the Sechelt Band’s letter and were even armed with the pointed quote claiming “regulated racism.” Yet that letter was still warm from printing, being dated only one day before, July 30. I wonder how it came to be reviewed so promptly and publicly by the Victoria based journalists.
Was the Public Affairs Bureau (PAB) or the Independent Power Producers Association of BC (IPPBC) helping Chief Garry Feschuk and the shishalh First Nation circulate the letter? Were the flacks also providing pre-digested interpretations of the BCUC decision to certain journalists?
Palmer went on to provide a bit of accurate detail, saying the BCUC decision did not reject green power, private power or run of the river facilities and that, primarily, BC Hydro had to rework the scheduling of projects. Mind you, he ignored the BCUC determination that BC Hydro had been either inaccurate or dishonest in its power needs forecasting. That should have been news. At best, Palmer had part of the story correct but his headline material was worse than sloppy.
We cannot though accuse all professional journalists of faulty or inadequate reporting. Mark Hume at the Globe and Mail had no difficulty understanding the entire BCUC decision and writing conclusions based on the Commission’s actual findings. He said:
“The commission’s ruling made it clear, however, that there is no energy crisis – and that when there are energy shortfalls, such as during droughts or the period of peak demand in December, BC Hydro has a solid backup system in the Burrard Generating Station, an old, mostly idle plant fueled by natural gas.
“The commission is not saying we should run the Burrard plant, or that Burrard is a better source of energy than clean resources,” said economist Marvin Shaffer. What the commission determined is that Burrard is valuable as a backup facility, and that in that role it has the capacity of at least 5,000 gigawatt hours, not the 3,000 GWh estimated by BC Hydro.
“By refusing to accept the lower capacity, the commission called into question the need for BC Hydro to purchase backup power from IPPs.
“Had the British Columbia Utilities Commission not intervened, B.C. would have been damming its wild and scenic rivers, not in a noble fight against global warming, but in order to run air conditioners in California.”
Contrast that analysis to the one by Keith Baldrey:
“Yes, they (BCUC) just said go and use Burrard Thermal.”
One does not need to be a sophisticated media analyst to conclude that Canwest Global’s Palmer and Baldrey reported on the BCUC in a manner that is entirely below the standard set by Mark Hume. The Globe and Mail faces the same financial challenges as every newspaper publisher but in the western bureau, they employ and deploy high quality staff, particularly in comparison to the competition.
In-Sights: Twitter bits
The final item may present a clue to the current state of British Columbia’s energy market. It’s hard to believe we came to this only through the sheer stupidity of our policy makers. Liberals didn't sell BC's publicly owned #BCHydro, they gave it away. https://t.co/i5lzREUAsa#bcpoli pic.twitter.com/ifOSyhSYup — Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell)
Continue readingIn-Sights: Twitter bits
The final item may present a clue to the current state of British Columbia’s energy market. It’s hard to believe we came to this only through the sheer stupidity of our policy makers.Liberals didn't sell BC's publicly owned #BCHydro, they gave …
Continue readingIn-Sights: Twitter bits
Liberals didn’t sell BC’s publicly owned #BCHydro, they gave it away. https://t.co/i5lzREUAsa#bcpoli pic.twitter.com/ifOSyhSYup
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 15, 2016
.@VaughnPalmer analyzes #BCHydro‘s financial status with not one mention of IPPs. #bcpoli https://t.co/i5lzREUAsa pic.twitter.com/pjv6bfp9dV
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 14, 2016
We don’t have commitment liability for FY 2016 but in first 9 months, BC Hydro’s term debts were up another $1.5 billion. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 15, 2016
#BCHydro presently offering to pay IPPs 205% of the average price at which BCH sold power to heavy industry in Q3 (Dec 2015) #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 15, 2016
#BCHydro is responsible for transmission network upgrade (TNU) costs so the price paid IPPs is just part of its energy costs. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 15, 2016
IPP contracts provide for annual price escalations and contracts #BCHydro has signed extend for up to 56 years into the future. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 15, 2016
BC Hydro’s obligation to independent power producers (March 2015) was $12,200 for each man, woman and child in BC. #bcpoli @VaughnPalmer
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 15, 2016
For my immediate family, that’s an obligation to IPPs of $207,400. #bcpoli
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 15, 2016
In @christyclarkbc‘s 5 years as Premier, average price paid #IPP rose 15x rate of increase under Campbell. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/fNFqCqtH3b
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 16, 2016
SNC-Lavalin, a favourite of @christyclarkbc and #BCLiberals. Gee, wonder why. #bcpoli https://t.co/IbXSQoh3qo pic.twitter.com/Z6Dgjnnzvw
— Norm Farrell (@Norm_Farrell) April 15, 2016
In-Sights: News from the echo chamber
Columnist Vaughn Palmer reports concerns expressed by Moody’s Investors Service about growing BC Hydro debt. The agency stated the obvious, which is that numerous capital projects are adding billions to the public utility’s debt and higher electricity rates or contributions from government are inevitable. Palmer repeats Moody’s judgement that Hydro’s
Continue readingIn-Sights: News from the echo chamber
Columnist Vaughn Palmer reports concerns expressed by Moody’s Investors Service about growing BC Hydro debt. The agency stated the obvious, which is that numerous capital projects are adding billions to the public utility’s debt and higher electricit…
Continue readingIn-Sights: News from the echo chamber
Palmer repeats Moody’s judgement that Hydro’s financial metrics “are among the weakest of Canadian provincial utilities.” However, the Vancouver Sun pundit provides an inaccurate explanation of why the situation exists. Readers here know about sixty billion reasons for weakness, from independent power producers alone. Buying massive amounts of unneeded power at three times market value certainly contributes to weak financial metrics. So does selling to heavy industry or exporting electricity for less than the price BC Hydro pays to purchase power. Perhaps that information wasn’t in the press notes provided by BC Liberals.
Palmer blames not the Liberals who’ve held power for 15 years; the predecessors must share responsibility, even if dramatic financial changes are recent. Palmer wrote:
Successive provincial governments have siphoned $6 billion in dividends from Hydro over the past quarter century, about two thirds of it borrowed, as Rob Shaw reported in The Vancouver Sun Tuesday.
It is silly to suggest only 2/3 of BC Hydro’s payments to government were borrowed funds. Since 2001, BC Hydro has paid $10.3 billion to governments for dividends, water use, capital taxes and local services. Had those transfers not been made, the retained cash would have paid for new investments and kept term debt near zero at least until Christy Clark took control of the Premier’s office.
Palmer writes about other problems with BC Hydro financials:
Then there’s Hydro’s massive expansion into the realms of deferred accounting under the B.C. Liberals…
But, we need not worry about dividends, or about deferred expenses, he implies, even if BC’s Auditor General recently expressed major concerns. Palmer tells us:
The Liberals have begun to rein in both abuses…
In addition to that reassurance, we’re told the Liberals have been conservative. The Moody’s report is quoted:
No income nor economic impacts from LNG development and activities have been incorporated in its budget forecast.
The claims of income and economic impacts have certainly been incorporated in Liberal Party pronouncements but no self-respecting finance ministry officials took the promises of LNG income seriously. They could not when Liberals had signed away the right to taxes and gas resource rents from LNG companies. Government loyalists in the Press Gallery bought the Prosperity Fund nonsense but, unlike officials, they rely on press releases, not facts.
Palmer continues the current Liberal messaging:
Looking ahead, the main risks that could tip the outlook from stable back to negative include political pressures leading to “a loss of fiscal discipline…”
Loss of fiscal discipline is code for spending on education, healthcare, disability benefits and other social needs. Liberals are OK with billions spent on bridges, roads, dams, transmission lines and other projects that put money into the pockets of their financial supporters. But, Premier Clark’s Government views expenditures on needy citizens as undisciplined. They want that message repeated by friendly media.
Some political pundits are like movie stunt fighters, throwing what seem to be heavy punches but never landing hurtful blows. The faux-journalists carry messages for causes they support or for organizations that hold their sympathies but, to be effective, they must create appearances of fair-minded neutrality. Without that, a pundit might as well work for Black Press.
As usual, let us look at BC Hydro’s financial statements to see what the debt trends look like. However, remember that BC Hydro owes tens of billions of dollars to private power producers and that’s a creation entirely by Liberals.
In-Sights: Ingrates, eh?
Transcript from Vaughn Palmer’s Voice of BC, May 2012Topic: Extra Funding for Ferries, Vaughn Palmer:This week…. We’ll start with a parochial Vancouver Island guy who lives in Victoria question. You managed to find $80 million for the ferries this …
Continue readingIn-Sights: Ingrates, eh?
Transcript from Vaughn Palmer’s Voice of BC, May 2012 Topic: Extra Funding for Ferries Vaughn Palmer: This week…. We’ll start with a parochial Vancouver Island guy who lives in Victoria question. You managed to find $80 million for the ferries this week. Did Kevin Falcon turn over the couch cushions
Continue readingIn-Sights: Ingrates, eh?
Transcript from Vaughn Palmer’s Voice of BC, May 2012
Topic: Extra Funding for Ferries
Vaughn Palmer:
This week…. We’ll start with a parochial Vancouver Island guy who lives in Victoria question. You managed to find $80 million for the ferries this week. Did Kevin Falcon turn over the couch cushions or something, and find some money? Where did this money come from?
Blair Lekstrom (Transportation Minister):
…It’s spread over four years, so it breaks down to about $46 million, then another $10.5 million, $11 million, $11.5 million for a total of $79.5 million is what we get to. It is a significant amount of money in these tight fiscal times that we’re in — but we had to do something. There’s no one easy answer to the solution with BC Ferries, that’s for sure.
Vaughn Palmer:
What does this lift the annual subsidy from the two levels of government, too, for the ferries? It must be getting close to $200 million.
Blair Lekstrom:
…The actual service-fee lift will be $10 million this year, $10.5 next year, $11 million, and then $11.5 million…
Vaughn Palmer:
In spite of that, I heard a tremendous amount of whining today — and if you’re watching this live, it’s Thursday — from ferry users that it’s still not enough money.
Blair Lekstrom:
Well, it was interesting. I don’t know if there’s [inaudible].
Vaughn Palmer:
You’re not going to call them a bunch of ingrates?
The reality:
In-Sights: Caution BC Liberals, the temperature’s rising
Your browser does not support this audioListen to more of John McComb’s show HERE.
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