Blame BC Liberal appointed Board of Directors for big 30% BC Hydro rate hikes to come

Ask BC Hydro's Board of Liberal Pals to Explain Rate Hikes

 

BC Hydro headquarters in Vancouver

Because it's consumers who'll pay for the Crown corporation's fiscal fiasco.

Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Vancouver/The Tyee column

Tuesday July 9, 2013

By Bill Tieleman

This is not the first surprise I've had from BC Hydro and I can tell you I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be the last one... when I have to I'm going to read them the riot act."

- Energy Minister Bill Bennett, July 4, 2013.

If Bill Bennett wants to get to the bottom of BC Hydro's lack of disaster preparedness and huge cost overruns forcing big rate increases for consumers, he doesn't need to read the riot act.

Just read the BC Hydro Board of Directors list and then ask any one of the many BC Liberal Party donors and insiders appointed by his government.

Premier Christy Clark's own chief of staff Dan Doyle was BC Hydro chair until he took over his current job in September 2012, replacing Ken Boessenkool, who resigned after he committed "inappropriate" acts.

And Clark's constant companion on the BC Liberal tour during the 28-day election campaign was Brad Bennett, a BC Hydro director and party stalwart. Brad is son of ex-premier Bill Bennett, but has no relation to the minister.

If there's any surprise, it's for BC Hydro ratepayers who will get hosed with significantly higher electricity bills of likely 30 per cent over three years because the government and board were playing with the Crown corporation's finances like it was Monopoly money.

And that's where the buck should stop, instead of being charged to the smart meters imposed on British Columbians -- another $1-billion boondoggle.

Instead, Bennett, Bennett and Clark presided over the pillage of BC Hydro revenue to balance the government budget through dozens of "deferral accounts" approaching $5 billion that will eventually have to be repaid through rate hikes.

And they implemented ex-premier Gordon Campbell's massive gift to independent power producers, forcing BC Hydro to buy their unneeded, high-priced electricity at costs far in excess of available market rate power.

In the year ending March 2012, BC Hydro paid IPPs $676 million -- more than double the price of imported energy available on the market then.

And BC Hydro has IPP contract obligations of $50 billion over the next 25 years.

The family BC Hydro

But don't expect a BC Hydro board full of BC Liberal insiders in addition to Brad Bennett to worry.

Current chair Stephen Bellringer has given the BC Liberals over $52,000 since 2006, Elections BC records show; 

Director Larry Blain ran Partnerships BC, the government's privatization operation, for years; 

Director Jamie Brown is the ex-president of Canaccord Genuity, who together with parent firm Canaccord Financial has given over $370,000 to the party since 2005: 

Director John Knappett, a construction company owner, has given thousands to the BC Liberals and is a former director of the Independent Businesses and Contractors Association, a significant donor to the BC Liberals that has also run its own anti-NDP ad campaigns; 

Director Tracey McVicar has extensive links to key party and government figures, as well as corporate connections to the smart meter program and $5,000 in party donations since 2009; and 

Director James Hatton has given $2,500 to the BC Liberals since 2007.

BC Hydro also has senior staff with long BC Liberal links, including executive vice-president Susan Yurkovitch, who was parachuted into a job that now pays over $385,000 after helping run the 2005 election campaign, and who has donated to the party.

Steve Vanagas, BC Hydro's director of communications and public affairs, was ex-premier Gordon Campbell's deputy chief of staff for communications and now collects over $240,000 a year.

Meanwhile, Bill Bennett is blowing off enough steam about the $175 million-cost overrun on the Northwest Transmission Line to be a power source himself.

"How is it that BC Hydro can't estimate its costs accurately? The problem with this project is that BC Hydro does not operate like a business," Bennett claimed.

Actually, BC Hydro does operate like a business -- a BC Liberal family-owned monopoly that runs on political nepotism, not the best interests of its customers.

It's BC Hydro consumers forced to pay for this fiscal fiasco that should read the riot act to this government.

.

Steve MacFarlane - dedicated teacher, BCTF, VDLC and NDP activist - sadly gone at 51

Steve MacFarlane 1961-2013

Steve MacFarlane

I was very saddened to hear late last month that my friend Steve MacFarlane had passed away at just 51 years of age.

Steve was not only a longtime NDP activist in my riding of Vancouver-Point Grey but also my daughter Erin's teacher at Kitsilano Secondary School, where he taught for the last 20 years.

I last saw Steve at an event for NDP candidate David Eby - now MLA - at Joy MacPhail's house on May 8 and had a good chat with him.  That made his sudden passing all the more shocking.

I attended Steve's memorial service on Friday July 5 and learned much more about him through his colleagues and family, even though I knew him for 20 years.  [ You can sign the online memorial guest book here.]

Steve was the epitome of an activist - and a dedicated teacher.

Despite suffering serious health challenges from the diabetes he was first diagnosed with at the age of 8, Steve insisted on continuing to teach.  His brother Andrew said that in fact, teaching gave Steve a reason to battle on against the illness that eventually took his life.

Steve was a BC Teachers Federation staff representative for his fellow teachers at Kits High - in fact, he is still listed on their website today.

And Steve was good at it - sticking up for teachers in their workplace.

He also was a BCTF representative at the Vancouver and District Labour Council.

Steve MacFarlane - centre - on BCTF picket line in 2005

And Steve involved his social studies students in fascinating projects.

His good friend and fellow teacher Shelley Sullivan told the memorial audience that Steve had enlisted 182 of those students in a successful letter writing campaign to get a Vancouver park named after the late MP and MLA Rosemary Brown, the first black Canadian woman elected to a provincial legislature.

And today Rosemary Brown Park can be found at West 11th Avenue and Vine!

Steve was also highly irreverent, always enjoying raising controversial topics with great amusement.

In fact, at a Vancouver-Point Grey all candidates meeting - that Premier Christy Clark skipped - Steve asked if they would support lowering the voting age to 16 to encourage young people to get more involved in democracy.

As Steve told the Georgia Straight after the event, students want to discuss current events:

“They have incredible concerns about the underfunding of public education, and other issues with the Enbridge Gateway Pipeline, and they do have the critical thinking skills,” MacFarlane said then.

Without being unduly political in a memorial, I can say with certainty that Steve was thrilled that David Eby was able to defeat Christy Clark in Vancouver-Point Grey on May 14!

Sadly, Steve suffered greatly from his illness, undergoing more than 10 surgeries and spending much time in hospital.

But his friend Shelley Sullivan said he never complained about his own fate and was always concerned for others despite his difficulties.

Steve's dedication to teaching was so strong that even though on partial disability, he finished his school year at Kitsilano Secondary just weeks before he passed away.

His brother Andrew told me after the service that Steve was the toughest guy he ever met because of the way he dealt with his illness.

My condolences to Steve's parents Jim and Agnes, brothers Andrew and Peter and all his many family, friends and former students.

Steve will always be missed but in our hearts and memories forever.

Steve MacFarlane and faithful dog Jock

A Luongo-Term Contract Lesson for BC Teachers: Vancouver Canucks' goalie says it "sucks" - why would teachers want one?

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo - Allie from Vancity photo

Canucks goalie's plight shows how decade-long deals spell trouble 

Bill Tieleman's 24 Hours Vancouver/The Tyee column

Tuesday July 2, 2013

By Bill Tieleman

"My contract sucks. I'd scrap it if I could right now."

- Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, April 2013

What do British Columbia teachers and Roberto Luongo have in common?

They all think that decade-long contracts suck.

Luongo -- who is back to being the Canucks number one goalie after the shocking trade of Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday -- has over nine years left on his massive $64-million, 12-year deal.

Luongo said it "sucks" earlier this year because he was ready to move on to another NHL team -- but the duration and cost of his existing contract scared away all other owners.

It's an object lesson in the perils of long -- or Luongo -- term contracts that hasn't been lost on B.C. teachers.

If even a contract that will pay Luongo a massive $40.57 million 'til it ends is such a problem, why would teachers sign a 10-year term?

That's why they voted last week by 96 per cent to reject the BC Liberal government plan for a 10-year collective agreement.

Taking the long view

Watching the Luongo drama, it's not hard to see why teachers gave a thumbs-down to the BC Liberal idea -- which was part of its successful election campaign platform but hardly a key plank.

What's more difficult to see is exactly why Premier Christy Clark wants a deal that long when so many factors from B.C.'s economy to government revenue to enrollment can change dramatically.

After all, if B.C. suffers a financial downturn during the 10 years, the only alternative to breaking a binding contract would be to layoff large numbers of teachers and staff while gutting the education system.

That kind of move would anger parents, students, teachers and staff alike.

But Clark has pulled the rug out from under apparently productive talks that had been taking place for some time to impose the 10-year mandate.

And she has yanked the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, which was negotiating with the BCTF, replacing their team with Peter Cameron, a former militant union activist before he switched sides years ago to bargain for BC Liberal government employers.

Ice the deal

One has to wonder whether replacing fruitful negotiations with the 10-year mandate is merely to ensure the BC Liberals can say they tried to meet their election pledge and blame teachers for not succeeding, or if it is more sinister -- the first step towards unilaterally legislating a 10-year deal over the strong objections of the BC Teachers' Federation.

The latter would guarantee unnecessary labour unrest and a court challenge that would likely overturn the imposed contract if past legal history of battles between teachers and the government are any indication. 

And it would ensure that the BCTF only increases its public antagonism towards the BC Liberals, though perhaps that would be the goal.

But if Clark truly wants to succeed at building a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with teachers, it's time to put the 10-year deal -- like Luongo -- on ice.

.

Could Premier Christy Clark Go from Safe to Sorry in Westside-Kelowna By-election?

It's a long shot, but recent events suggest Christy Clark could botch by-election 

The remains of defeat: Christy Clark signs outside garbage in Vancouver-Point Grey riding after May 14 provincial election

Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Vancouver/The Tyee column

Tuesday June 25, 2013

By Bill Tieleman

"History is not on the government's side when it comes to byelections. The only byelection that government has won in 30 years was the one that I won in Vancouver-Point Grey."

- Premier Christy Clark, April 12, 2012

Could Christy Clark possibly lose the July 10 byelection in the very safe BC Liberal seat of Westside-Kelowna?

The odds are overwhelmingly in favour of the premier, but pushing incumbent MLA Ben Stewart out certainly didn't help.

Stewart hasn't publicly complained about his treatment, but his wife Ruth certainly did on Facebook, saying she was "angry and hurt" about the "unfair" decision affecting her husband, Black Press columnist Tom Fletcher reported.

She removed the post later, but said she didn't "need to apologize" and that there was "no use hanging onto the negative..."

Stewart himself admitted that Clark accepting his offer to resign for her was "disappointing at the start" but he is "excited about the next 28 days."

An examination of both local circumstances and B.C. byelection political history -- as Clark herself pointed out -- is enough to give the battered BC NDP at least a faint hope clause of a chance.

First the numbers: Stewart was re-elected May 14 with 58.4 per cent of the vote to NDP challenger Carole Gordon's 30.5 per cent and BC Conservative candidate Brian Guillou's 11 per cent.

Stewart's 12,987 votes almost doubled Gordon's 6,790 and even if all Guillou's 2,172 voters had gone NDP instead, the BC Liberals would still have easily won.

Game over already? Not quite.

Bygone byelections

Byelections aren't general elections. They almost always mean lower voter turnout, focus more on local issues and are often seen as a safe opportunity to send the government a negative message without tossing them out of power.

The turnout in Westside-Kelowna was 49.6 per cent of the 44,830 registered voters. That means if the turnout dropped to 30 per cent in the byelection -- or 13,449 total votes -- and the NDP held its 6,790 votes, it would win.

And what was the turnout in the upset NDP win in April 2012 the Chilliwack-Hope byelection? Thirty-two per cent.

There's also a scary precedent of a provincial representative quitting to let their leader have the seat and then seeing them lose.

Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory did just that in 2009, albeit as opposition leader, but Member of the Provincial Parliament Laurie Scott's 10,000 vote majority in 2007 disappeared for Tory and turned into a 900 vote loss.

So is a stunning loss likely? No. Possible? Enough to worry Clark.

After all, voters in Vancouver-Point Grey obviously were not that impressed with Clark's local representation, turfing her out after two years as MLA in favour of the NDP's David Eby, who won by 1,063 votes.

Eby has outlined the major factors for his victory -- Clark's position on pipelines, a focus on riding issues and his strong on the ground campaign.

Clark refused to debate Eby during the election and apparently won't debate Gordon either, leaving her open to allegations of arrogance or indifference.

Then there's the fact that Clark never lived in Vancouver-Point Grey, something she will repeat in Westside-Kelowna, though she has promised to establish a "second residence" there.

Meanwhile Clark's main opponent Gordon is a 40-year Kelowna resident, local teacher and director of the United Way, and new BC Conservative candidate Sean Upshaw is a Kelowna realtor. There are five other contenders.

Are you the betting kind?

BC Liberal strategists are concerned enough about Clark's potential for electoral disaster that the premier painfully reversed course on her plan to give political staffers a big pay raise as the new government's first order of business.

Those salary hikes flew out the Westside-Kelowna window, but Clark's deputy chief of staff Michele Cadario will still keep her $20,000 increase.

BC Liberal advisors will be exceedingly anxious about all political issues -- like the $300-a-year wheelchair "maintenance" fee being imposed on seniors in residential care detailed previously in this column -- and the potential for backlash against Clark.

Gordon has already challenged Clark to cancel the fee, which is scheduled to come into effect Sept. 1.

There's also the popularity standard set by Stewart, whose 58.4 per cent win last month was an increased majority over his 2009 win, when he received 53 per cent.

Clark only needs to win by a single vote to return to the B.C. Legislature, but a significantly diminished margin of victory after losing Vancouver-Point Grey would be embarrassing at least.

And even a loss wouldn't force Clark out of the premiership, though it would cause a panic in BC Liberal ranks and force the resignation of another BC Liberal MLA in an even safer seat to give way.

Any betting person would put big money on Clark to win handily and the Westside-Kelowna byelection to be soon forgotten.

But anyone who's been to a horse-racing track know that sometimes a long shot wins against all odds. And B.C. politics has a history of surprising upsets.

On a different note, over 200 people have joined my new Facebook group Wheelchairs for BC Seniors, calling on the government to not impose $300 a year "maintenance" fees on seniors in residential care. Thanks!

.

BC Government Cash Grab From Seniors in Wheelchairs in Residential Care Gets Even Worse!

Disabled seniors must pay new $300 annual "maintenance" fee but future wheelchair use will be privatized, while BC Liberal political staff get rich pay raises 

BC seniors will have even more of their fixed income taken away to pay wheelchair "maintenance" fee
 - or rent or buy on wheelchair

Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Vancouver/The Tyee column

Tuesday June 18, 2013

By Bill Tieleman

"Action expresses priorities."

- Mahatma Gandhi

Disabled seniors in wheelchairs across British Columbia living in residential care are going to have even more money picked out of their pockets by the cash-hungry provincial government, according to an independent MLA.

Independent MLA Vicki Huntington said in an interview Saturday that not only will seniors be forced to pay a $300 a year wheelchair "maintenance" fee but all future wheelchair service will be fully privatized, costing them hundreds to thousands of dollars for necessary mobility equipment.

The Fraser Health Authority announced the new policy in a May 31 letter to seniors at South Delta's Mountain View Manor that was made public by their MLA.

That letter states that after Sept. 1, when the "maintenance" fee comes into effect for current residents, all new residents "will be required to purchase or rent equipment from an external supplier."

Manual wheelchair monthly rental fees range from $75 to $100 a month, while purchase prices range from several hundred to several thousand dollars. The only exceptions require "financial hardship" be demonstrated.

Fat raises for Clark gov't staff

The new policy came the same week Premier Christy Clark gave government's political staff a significant increase in their salary eligibility by up to $86,000 a year.

Clark's deputy Chief of Staff Michele Cadario's maximum pay went from $144,000 to $230,000, meaning she could potentially make more than U.S. President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, who earns a paltry $172,200 a year.

Cadario's potential $86,000 raise alone would pay the annual wheelchair maintenance fees for 286 seniors.

The new policy and raises for political staff, Huntington says, are both "out of whack".

"The government's priorities are completely out of line with the public's," Huntington said.

But the situation will only get worse. The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority will also charge a wheelchair maintenance fee and now the Interior Health Authority is "looking" at one too.

Is there any question that the sudden imposition of a $300 a year wheelchair "maintenance" fee -- never before charged on equipment mostly donated by families is anything but a desperate attempt to help balance B.C.'s budget?

'Money grab': MLA Huntington

Huntington says it's a "money grab" by the BC Liberals, who promised to balance their budget this year.

"I think it's a new way to obtain revenue," she said.

"Really what the system is trying to do is strip every penny away from people," Huntington said. "They already take 80 per cent of after-tax income away and now they're saying: 'If you've got it, we'll take it.'"

The fee will have to come from the $200 a month "comfort fund" seniors in residential care have for personal incidentals -- like podiatry, non-prescription pharmacy items, shampoo, cable TV, hairdresser, special outings and other costs.

That's often the only money they have left after paying 80 per cenbt of their after-tax income to cover residential care home fees for accommodation, food and basic services.

To summarize: disabled seniors will have to pay a new $300 a year fee for the same wheelchairs they now use, out of their small fixed incomes, while BC Liberal political staff get rich pay raises.

If you think that's dead wrong, join my new Facebook group Wheelchairs for BC Seniors and send the government a message to put disabled seniors first, not their already well-paid staff.

.