ISSUES IN THE NEWS


PUBLISHER Dorothy Dobbie, Pegasus Publications Inc. dorothy@pegasuspublications.net


DESIGN Cottonwood Publishing Services


EDITOR Joan Cohen joan.cohen@pegasuspublications.net


ART DIRECTION & LAYOUT Charis Hernandez charis@pegasuspublications.net


GENERAL MANAGER Ian Leatt ian.leatt@pegasuspublications.net


CONTRIBUTORS Barbara Bowes, Dorothy Dobbie, Myrna Driedger, Ceder Finnie, Rick Frost, Erin Girouard, Ian Leatt, Hon. Jim Rondeau, Sherrie Versluis, Robert Urano


ADVERTISING 1-888-680-2008 info@pegasuspublications.net


SUBSCRIPTIONS If you would like to receive Lifestyles 55, we offer both monthly newspaper and online formats. To place your order, call 1-888-680-2008. 12 issues/$24, 24 issues/$40 plus tax.


To view an online back issue, visit www.lifestyles55.net


Published monthly by: Pegasus Publications Inc. 3081 Ness Avenue Winnipeg, MB R2Y 2G3 1-888-680-2008 www.pegasuspublications.net


DISTRIBUTION Available at over 100 locations in Winnipeg, Brandon, Steinbach, Morden and Selkirk. If you would like bulk copies of this publication, call Dorothy Dobbie at (204) 940-2716 and arrangement for bulk deliveries will be organized.


EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS Call Joan Cohen at (204) 940-2715 or email joan.cohen@pegasuspublications.net for more information and guidelines.


Lifestyles 55 is published monthly. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without seeking permission in writing from the publisher.


Copyright Pegasus Publications Inc. 3081 Ness Avenue Winnipeg, MB R2Y 2G3 Phone: 204-940-2700 Fax: 204-940-2727 Toll Free: 1-888-680-2008 www.pegasuspublications.net


Time to rethink Bipole III for the good of Manitobans


ometimes, no matter how much it hurts, we have to back away from a decision and start fresh. Of course, there can be consequences, but they can often be far less damaging than hanging onto an idea which has been rendered wrong due to time and circumstances. One such idea is that of routing Hydro’s Bipole III line down the west side of the lakes in Manitoba. Doubtless, back in 2005, when the government decided to reverse Hydro’s own decision to drive the line down the east side, Gary Doer’s government felt it had reasons for taking this decision. Strong as those reasons may have been, the decision was difficult to de- fend then and, today, it is indefensible. A quick review


S


Let’s review the issue briefly: • Hydro recommended that a third transmission line, Bipole III, be built to protect southern Manitoba from a catastrophic event that would deprive the larg- est percentage of the provincial population of power for an extended period. Economic jus- tification was made on the grounds of export sales to the United States. • Hydro further recommended that the line be driven down the east side of the lakes, the shortest, the most cost effective and the most efficient route in terms of delivering enough power to replace that transmitted by Bipoles I and III. • In 2005, the government rescinded that decision and mandated a change of route to the west side of the lakes, stat- ing environmental concerns that they said would hinder the designation of the east side as a World Environment Heritage site. • Jim Collison, the former president of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee overseeing those designations, testified that the east side route would have no bearing on that decision. • The west side route is some 54 per cent longer than the east side route, adds about $1 billion to the cost of the trans- mission line and reduces the amount of power available at the end of the line. • Ignoring this, the government continued to insist that environmental concerns and opposition from First Nations reserves dictated the change. However, most of those com- munities favoured the east side route, which they saw as one way of getting an all-weather road that would give them ac- cess to the outside world and perhaps attract tourism. • The government countered by offering to build a network of roads at a cost of some $3 billion over 30 years. In doing so, they have tacitly admitted that the hydro line, which has a narrower footprint than a roadway, would not affect a world heritage site designation.


The west route has many negative impacts Meanwhile, costs for the west side route have continued to escalate and concerns are being heard about its impact on the environment, on people and on private interests: • The west side route interrupts migratory bird flyways. Thousands of birds are killed by transmission lines every year. On the other hand the proposed east route does not traverse any migratory flyways. • The length of the line running through the boreal forest


on the west side (884 km) is only 16 km less than on the east side (900 km) so environmental damage to untouched wilder- ness is about the same. • The cost to farmers of the western route is estimated to be between $1.6 and $2.6 billion due to impediments to spray- ing and incursion by the lines into croplands. • There are almost as many First Nations on the west side as on the east side and furthermore, 11 of the 16 east side com- munities favour that route. • The extended length of the west side route


Dorothy Dobbie


will result in the loss of 40 megawatts of power which means it will not meet the key Hydro criteria of providing fail-safe power to south- ern Manitoba in case of a catastrophic event that shuts down Bipoles I and III. • The chances of a failure of Bipole III are much greater on the tornado and ice-storm- prone west side than on the east side. • The west side route will cross the flood plain just south of the current City of Winni- peg limits, seriously affecting further southern growth in the city and potentially affecting the quality of life for many in that area. The economics have changed


Perhaps just as importantly, the economics have changed since the decision was taken. Hydro power is no longer seen as the energy answer to the northern U.S., which now has access to abundant energy resources through fracking (the introduction of chemically treated water at high pressure to crack deep shale formations and release natural gas). This and other economic changes have reduced the dependency on hydro power from Manitoba. Exports are way down. Our ex- port sales were only $427 million in 2010-2011 as compared to $623 million the year before. Moreover, the much-touted 500 megawatt sale to Wisconsin has since been downgraded to 100 megawatts.


There are dozens more concerns and reasons to stop and rethink the whole Bipole III project – there just isn’t room here to share them all and you are probably getting the picture anyway.


Decision may contravene the Act


Section 2 of the Manitoba Hydro Act states under Purposes and objects of Act:


“The purposes and objects of this Act are to provide for the continuance of a supply of power adequate for the needs of the province, and to engage in and to promote economy and efficiency in the development, generation, transmission, dis- tribution, supply and end-use of power . . .” Bipole III is clearly in contravention of the Act on at least two of those counts, and perhaps three if you consider the loss of power due to the length of the line.


Recently, the federal government announced a rethinking


of the proposal to purchase the costly CF-35 fighter jets. Costs that had started out at $9 billion over 20 years had escalated to $25 billion over the same period. The government has quite rightly determined that the whole program needs a rethink and has appointed a task force to evaluate the proposal. The current provincial government needs to learn by this example and have an independent panel re-examine the whole Bipole project in light of changing needs, shrinking exports and escalating costs.


MAY 2013


www.lifestyles55.net 3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24