Bill’s Weekly MLA Report July 5, 2010
Posted by admin in : Bill Bennett , trackbackLast week was back to school for your MLA. With Thursday a holiday, I gave Jennifer and Brenda Friday off to recover from their anti-HST woes in the Cranbrook office and I committed myself to 5 days of briefings and meetings in ministry business. The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources covers a wide range of issues, including surface and underground mining, mineral & coal exploration, oil and gas development, energy, BC Hydro, alternate energy sources, First Nations, environmental & community issues.
I won’t bore you with many details, but of relevance is the newly passed Clean Energy Act. This new Act establishes that BC intends to be self-sufficient in electricity and that we will also aim to export power to increase our export revenues for tax payers. BC has been a net importer of electricity for 8 of the last 10 years and for a province blessed with our potential to generate clean, affordable electricity, this is a travesty. BC Hydro has been charged (sorry for the pun) with putting together an Integrated Resource Plan over the next 18 months, to determine what we need to do to become self sufficient and then eventually to also develop enough “insurance power”.
As for export, we will first need to identify secure markets. My senior staff was just in California with the new CEO of BC Hydro. I will be going sometime this summer myself to explain to California legislators how they can replace some of their aging, dirty power plants with clean hydro electricity from BC. The Clean Energy Act requires the province to pay for any new generation directed at the export market from export profits, not from domestic rate payers. This is an essential commitment that you must know about. When you hear people say that independent power projects for export will drive up the cost of your electricity, you can safely and confidently tell them they are wrong. No doubt electricity rates will go up over time as our existing aging heritage assets need upgrades. However, the cost of developing export generation will not be connected to domestic rates!
Other than a fascinating half day briefing with BC Hydro in Vancouver, I also met for two days with mining and oil & gas companies, all of whom have ideas for investing in our province and creating jobs. My ministry has the most positive things going on in it of all ministries so you can expect me to be out in the media over the next year talking about the good things happening around BC. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, this ministry provides well over half of all resource revenues that your government receives. It is an honour to have this opportunity and gives Kootenay East lots of opportunity for influence.
On Wednesday when I was in Vancouver, I had two meetings with senior political junkies, both of whom have been involved in provincial and federal politics since the 70’s. They are both federal Conservatives and BC Liberals and are of course worried about the impact that our disastrous handling of the HST file will have on the next election. I am also receiving emails from a few people who have voted for me three times and are questioning whether they will do so again. As upset as some of our supporters are, with some justification too, we will all need to pull together to avoid turning this beautiful province over to the NDP. I tell you in all seriousness, I sit across from them in the legislature 6 months of the year and they are not simply moderate BC Liberals. They actually believe that government “knows best” and that’s coming from a group that is comprised of a few teachers, no business people, and the rest largely unburdened by higher education or experience at meeting a payroll. I’m not sure where they get their bizarre ideas about all business being evil and profit being a dirty word but if given the opportunity, they will set BC back just as they set us back in the 1990’s.
We need to remind our friends what the province was like 10 years ago. We had the highest income taxes in the land, our neighbours were moving to Alberta and our kids left and never came back. Real disposable income has gone up every year we’ve been in government, whereas it went down every year the NDP were in power. Our income taxes are the lowest in Canada. BC is predicted to lead Canada in economic growth. We should all take a breath, set HST aside for an hour or two, and celebrate the success of our blessed province, fresh off the most successful Olympic Games in history, the greatest exhibition of Canadian pride ever. We are still the Best Place on Earth! But in British Columbia, that can change over-night with a return to the NDP. I will work my tail off to do my part. Thanks for your support. Keep your chin up!
Have a great week.
Bill
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