Local government officials in the Sea to Sky corridor this week spoke with one voice in condemning new provincial legislation aimed at usurping the authority of municipal and regional governments over zoning for independent power projects (IPPs) on Crown land in B.C.
The legislation, entitled the Utilities Commission Act, had passed first reading in the legislature even before local officials issued their first statements about it, calling it "draconian" and just the latest example of Victoria's paternalistic approach to its dealings with local governments.
Government officials and representatives of the independent power industry said the legislation was aimed at providing greater certainty to IPP proponents, investors and governments "through a one-decision-maker process similar to most other resource development approvals," according to the government's initial statement issued last Thursday (April 27).
Those in local government, including the president of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), disagreed strongly, saying the legislation, if adopted, would have serious long-term implications for local governments across the province.
However, officials agreed that its immediate target was the Squamish Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) and specifically the board's refusal in two tries to adopt zoning for a run-of-river power project on the Ashlu River north of Squamish.
Squamish Mayor Ian Sutherland, who sits on the SLRD board, joined an emergency meeting on Tuesday (May 2), and voted to send a strongly worded letter asking that the legislature halt the progress of the bill until a full, province-wide debate can take place.
At that evening's Squamish council meeting, councillors Corinne Lonsdale and Patricia Heintzman said the letter was not strong enough.
Lonsdale said she was offended at the wording of the legislation, when it stated the bill would bring certainty to local governments in determining who has the authority to rezone for IPPs.
"They didn't need to ram it down our throats," she said.
Last year, the SLRD board voted to reject an application for zoning from the Ashlu IPP proponent, Ledcor Power Inc., after the community expressed strong opposition on the grounds that the Ashlu is one of the most popular rivers in B.C. for whitewater canoe and kayak enthusiasts.
A second application was submitted early this year. This time, the board reserved its decision and asked that the Province work with SLRD officials on a regional energy strategy. They argued that with about a dozen projects in the corridor either completed or under construction, and some 60 water-licence applications pending in the SLRD alone, it only made sense to formulate a regional plan.
Susie Gimse, SLRD director for Electoral Area C, said Victoria's answer to that request was not entirely unexpected but "disappointing," especially given the fact Minister of Energy and Mines Richard Neufeld had only last week expressed a willingness to discuss some sort of regional plan.
The legislation states that local government will still have zoning authority over IPPs on private land. However, Gimse said every one of the IPP applications within the SLRD are on Crown land.
"We were hoping that they would not proceed in a manner that would take local government authority away," Gimse said. "We've been pushing for a regional energy strategy; there had been discussions involving Ministry and our staff. So on one hand they're discussing energy planning with our staff, and on the other hand they're taking away local government authority for independent power projects."
Gimse said SLRD officials are not at all anti-IPP and still believe strongly that a regional strategy, as well as zoning authority in local hands, is the best way to ensure the sort of certainty that proponents need while giving local residents a voice in the process of deciding what gets built, where.
But Richard Neufeld, B.C.'s Minister of Energy and Mines, said the new process will ensure that the approval process is stringent while allowing those with concerns to voice them, either through local governments or to the province directly.
"If it's being portrayed as something that will remove any power of local government, that's wrong," Neufeld said. "What it will do is compile all that input and information and place it before one decision maker."
