SKEENA ANGLER

Rivers for sale – cheap

When I wrote a series of columns in this space on so-called “Run-of-the-River” hydro projects proposed for Kleanza, William, and McKay Creeks a few years ago, I was motivated by the fact that it seemed patently obvious after only a cursory glance that these putative green sources of hydro power were more brown than green and that they were just one more example of selling off the commons.

I had no idea then that these apparently modest proposals were a harbinger of a province wide energy revolution with international ramifications and profound implications for the citizens of B.C. But, before I deal with that, let’s have a look at the history of a run-of-the-river project on a Kleanza-sized river near Squamish.

The Ashlu is a beautiful little coastal stream racing over smooth cataracts through much of its length. It’s a favourite of kayakers and anglers, and like all our coastal rivers, it’s a richly endowed wildlife corridor.

When folks in the area first heard that a firm called LEDCOR had applied to use the waters of Ashlu to generate power, they rounded up as much information on in-river projects and quickly discovered that a lot of industrial plywood lay under the green veneer.

Word spread. Letters were written, lots of them. Many phone calls were made. Hearing such a volume of concern, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District realized that its duty was to call public meetings. At those packed meetings, the regional board members heard such strong opposition that they voted 8 to 1 to deny approval to the project’s proponents.

Regional district boards were instituted by wise men, like William Andrew Cecil Bennett, many of whom, like the former Premier, grew up in small towns like Kelowna. Men who understood the importance of giving voice to local consensus. Men who realized that when the rights and aspirations of small communities were trampled, the democratic process began to unravel.

The democratically elected Squamish-Lillooet board fulfilled its democratic obligation and that should have been the end of it. It wasn’t.

The halt of the Ashlu proposal threw a wrench into the grand power plan of Gordon Campbell and the Liberal government, and things got really slimey as things have so often done under the Liberal Regime.

The government drafted and passed Bill 30, later to become known as the Ashlu Bill. The intent of Bill 30 was specific, blatant, and in the case of the Squamish-Lillooet Ashlu decision, retroactive. It stripped local municipalities of their zoning authority over private river power projects.

Back in the day, such a high-handed usurpation of regional democratic authority would have been scandalous and might well have brought a government down, but back then a Socred minister of highway had to fight for his political life after being ticketed for speeding. Now the premier himself can drive drunk, swallow any integrity he may have had, blubber apologies in front of the provincial media and stay in office. It’s a new day.

Against the wishes of the community, the Ashlu project went forward. First, new roads were cut. The impact of roads on river valleys, as we who have witnessed the logging of many a watershed will tell you, is severe and enduring. In many cases the destruction worsens over time.

In the Ashlu case, the road, of necessity, had to be cut right next to the river for a considerable distance. Part of the road building involved clearing the right of way. This meant lots of logging and blasting, much of it through the highly sensitive riparian zone.

Once the right-of-ways were logged off, a large tunnel was blasted into Mount Ashlu so as to accommodate penstocks through which 91 per cent of the river’s water is destined to flow.

Oh yes, there will also have to be right-of-ways for transmission lines that will take the power to market via the grid. Does any of this sound like even the palest shade of green to you?

While all this havoc was being wrecked, LEDCOR hired a private security force to keep the public off its own roads.

Environmental oversight, impact studies, you ask? Forget that.

The Liberals long ago weakened the environmental review processes, gutted out the Ministry of the Environment, and served notice to those civil servants remaining that they were not to impede progress in a province that would henceforth be open for business.

It doesn’t end there folks. Read about the greatest public rip-off in next week’s column.

See you then.