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B.C. government to go ahead with Site C dam project


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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/site-c-dam-decision-1.4435939

 

Quote

Calling it a "difficult decision," the B.C. government has decided to go ahead with the controversial Site C hydroelectric dam, paving the way for work to restart.

 

The New Democrat government had been debating whether to continue the construction of the dam — which will flood 5,500 hectares of the Peace River valley and displace many Indigenous communities and farmers — or cancel the work midway through the job.

 

Ultimately, the government concluded that cancelling the project would result in a 12-per-cent increase in hydro rates in 2020. They also forecast overall rates would be nearly twice as high for 20 years beyond 2020 if they cancelled Site C, or would leave the government with significantly less money to spend on other infrastructure spending.

 

An estimated $2 billion has been spent so far on the dam, announced by the previous B.C. Liberal government in 2014.

 

Originally budgeted at $8.3 billion, the government now expects the dam will cost approximately $10 billion, with $700 million set aside in a reserve for overruns.

 

The B.C. Utilities Commission, an independent energy regulator, concluded in its assessment that the dam is over budget and behind its scheduled completion of 2024.

 

The dam has been marked by deeply divisive approaches to environmental, economic, technological and Indigenous concerns that have become the front lines of political battles in B.C.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1113949763754/

 

More to come.

 

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There was no cancelling it once it had begun.

 

NDP saying they'll "review" it was just part of their campaign which appears to have been successful. 

 

Glad they managed to dethrone the Liberals. I personally voted for Green!  

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Good. Now go ahead with the Massey Bridge, Patullo Bridge Replacement and Broadway Skytrain. Bring on congestion charging downtown and distance-based tolls.

 

Also, get Translink some money to buy more skytrain cars. The 2 car MKII's running the Millenium Line are just pathetically small. Those should be 6 car trains, Expo 8 car trains if the station platforms support that.

 

I'm serious.

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10 minutes ago, LordCanuck said:

well either the provinces credit rating gets screwed and hydro rates go up or we finish the project.

Yup... really no turning back. 

 

Probably wasted more money reviewing the project further.

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Apparently we can look forward to rate increase when we are already paying for some of the provinces hydro companies (NOT TO PRODUCE POWER).That's right,paying for them to do nothing.Everyone will be paying for this for decades and decades to come.So corporations can steal the power for next to nothing and put the burden on us for the rest.

They don't really build Dams anymore.but it seems good ole B.C. politicians think it's a good idea to throw Billions(it's already over budget by the way) at something we really don't need,

The natural gas(fracking) conglomerates are raking in Millions(this is who it's for) but gee, no more fresh water, but the corporations (nestleys) own all the rights to it and will be selling it for dollars a bottle.

We can not survive this B.S. for very much longer folks,global warming is not a joke. KILLING THE PLANET FOR PROFIT!

The basterds.

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1 hour ago, apollo said:

There was no cancelling it once it had begun.

 

NDP saying they'll "review" it was just part of their campaign which appears to have been successful. 

 

Glad they managed to dethrone the Liberals. I personally voted for Green!  

 

1 hour ago, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

Damned if you don't, and dammed if you do.  Damned dam damning dammers!

 

1 hour ago, LordCanuck said:

well either the provinces credit rating gets screwed and hydro rates go up or we finish the project.

 

Pretty much. We've already sunk billions...need to finish the project to try and recoup some of them unfortunately.

 

Be nice if smarter decisions were made 5 years ago to not start the project but it's passed the point of no return now. I for one wonder how much better off we'd have been with the government supplying the same dollars as massive subsidies to things like solar/wind. You get businesses/developers/home owners sharing the infrastructure costs and millions of diverse, small-medium scale power generation points to feed existing demand/send excess power back on to the grid.

 

Diverse, cheap power generation with lower infrastructure outlay, more fault tolerance, less environmental impact etc, etc.... *sigh*

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Options were

 

A:  Stop it, and hook the taxpayers for billions

B:  Build it and know that we'll have to sell off the excess without a true rate reduction

 

There was no way around it.  The Transmountain line will go through as well for basically the same reason.

 

The irony is that those who complained about the NDP being job killers or who hate them out of pure political spite now have the task of somehow justifying their complaints about this going through after spending the entire time claiming the NDP would bury it.

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The NDP made a rational decision by going ahead with the Site-C  program.   Given all the billions already spent, and the large settlements for cancelled contracts if it did not go ahead, the NDP did not really have a choice.

 

Some people accuse the NDP of selling out by not cancelling the project but during the election the NDP did not say they will cancel the project.  They said the project would be subject to a review.

 

If anyone sold out if is the Greens for staying in the coalition with the NDP.  If they had any balls they would drop out of the coalition since the decision goes against everything they stand for.    But of course the Greens will stay with the NDP since they have the thing they want most.:  A change to the electoral system.   If it goes to proportional representation, the Greens will benefit the most.  The Greens will likely get double digit seats compared to the 3 they have now.

 

The NDP is really in the driver's seat since they can did anything they want, knowing the Greens will squawk but not drop out of the coalition.

 

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25 minutes ago, Gnarcore said:

Rational decision sure.  It still costs me more than cancelling it.  Just an absolute &^@#ing boondoggle from start to finish...

According to Premier Horgan,  cancelling it will cost taxpayers a lot of money.

 

These are his exact words in his press conference:
 

Quote

 


“Cancelling the project would mean a $4 billion hit, an unavoidable $4 billion hit immediately, either on BC Hydro’s books or on the books of the minister of finance,” Horgan said.

“The consequences of that would be a 12 per cent rate increase almost immediately and foregoing very important capital projects like schools and hospitals, bridges and transit.”

 

 

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Of course the NDP will finish the  Site C project.

 

When done the NDP will paint a  BIG white Elephant on the  front of the dam.

Site C  for the Liberals will  be long remembered  ( and 10 times the money wasted )   as the Fast Ferries were for the NDP

 

Basically this White Elephant of a project will ensure the NDP get re-elected for many more elections.

Put a bow on it NDP - the Liberals just made your re-election a piece of cake. 

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57 minutes ago, DonLever said:

According to Premier Horgan,  cancelling it will cost taxpayers a lot of money.

 

These are his exact words in his press conference:
 

 

And spending another 10 billion to finish building a project to sell power below market value for the foreseeable future costs me more.  Thankfully I am out of the country in 2022 to retire somewhere far cheaper and warmer. 

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5 hours ago, Warhippy said:

Options were

 

A:  Stop it, and hook the taxpayers for billions

B:  Build it and know that we'll have to sell off the excess without a true rate reduction

 

There was no way around it.  The Transmountain line will go through as well for basically the same reason.

 

The irony is that those who complained about the NDP being job killers or who hate them out of pure political spite now have the task of somehow justifying their complaints about this going through after spending the entire time claiming the NDP would bury it.

what irony? Horgan just isn't an idiot and/or listened to the union leaders telling him to keep the project going. 

 

The real joke in all of this is Weaver, saying 'he did all he could'. At some point you would think he'd be tired of being schooled by Horgan but I guess he did stick his own neck in the leash. 

 

What this also gives us is negotiating power for the Columbia treaty. 

 

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5 hours ago, inane said:

Hate it, and let's not forget it next time the liberals squeal about being such great economic managers. This should have never started in the first place.

 

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/why-john-horgan-deserves-credit-for-going-ahead-with-site-c/amp/

More accurate to say....let's not forget the BC Liberal Party are "Liberals" in name only.  They just hijacked the Liberal party name after the previous name became worthless (eg., Socreds).  I'm pretty certain most of the people that work for the BC Liberals (provincially) work for the Conservatives in federal elections.  Heck, look no further than BC Liberal leadership candidate Watts (won running as a Conservative in the last federal election).

 

Even the BC Liberal party election signs are mostly blue in color!

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