COMMENT
A4
TUESDAY, AUG. 5, 2014
A blue view from above SPREADING A MESSAGE THAT WE CAN’T PUT PROFIT AHEAD OF ECOLOGICAL HEALTH A now-famous 1972 photo of Earth taken by Apollo 17 astronauts from 45,000 km away became known as “the blue marble.” The late scientist Carl Sagan described a 1990 picture taken from six billion km away by the unmanned Voyager 1 as a “pale blue dot.” The vision of Earth from a distance has profoundly moved pretty much anyone who has ever seen it. “When we look down DAVID at the Earth SUZUKI from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet,” International Space Station astronaut Ron Garan said. “It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile.” Referring to the atmosphere, Garan added “it’s really sobering … to realize that that little paper-thin layer is all that protects every living thing on Earth.”
SCIENCE
Many astronauts report a deep feeling of connection that transcends borders and worldly conflict — referred to by some as the “overview effect.” Apollo 14’s Edgar Mitchell said, “You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty.” How can anyone who has even seen a photo of the Earth treat our small blue home with disdain and carelessness? How can anyone fail to recognize how precious and finite the resources, especially water, are — and that we must share and care for what we have? The “blue marble” photo from Apollo 17, the last manned lunar mission, catalyzed the global environmental movement. Now, as people around the world compete for air, water and land — not just with each other, but with corporations bent on profit at any cost — we need a resurgence in action to care for our small blue planet. That’s why I’m about to embark on what will likely be my last national tour. From Sept. 24 to Nov. 9, I’m crossing the country, from St. John’s, N.L., to Victoria, B.C., with 20 stops along
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
AltaLink should not be sold to foreign ownership AltaLink is a publicly-funded, fully regulated utility that is owned by corporations that has often been brought into disrepute: SNC-Lavalin. AltaLink also just happens to be Alberta’s largest electricity transmission company that controls 80 per cent of the electricity flow in Alberta. Albertans guarantee AltaLink an annual income of roughly nine per cent return on equity (ROE), and we pay for all the capital improvements to the company via a transmission charge levied on every monthly electric utility bill. By law, AltaLink doesn’t pay any taxes. Given SNCLavalin’s poor reputation, (they suffer multiple sanctions by the World Bank for fraud and corruption), it seems only fair to Alberta’s ratepayers that another owner with a higher caliber of integrity operates AltaLink. That said, SNC is proposing to sell AltaLink for $3.2 billion to MidAmerican Energy, a U.S. company owned by billionaire Warren Buffett. Both the Canadian government and the Alberta Utilities Commission must approve the sale, and on Friday, July 25, the Canadian government approved the sale. SNC purchased AltaLink for $800 million back in 2002 and if the AUC approves the sale, it would in effect provide SNC-Lavalin with a $2.4-billion profit at the public’s expense, and this is incredibly unfair to all Albertans on multiple levels. Without delving into the question of why a publicregulated utility should be privately owned, the sale of AltaLink raises numerous questions that must be answered before any sale is approved. By all guesstimates, Buffett is overpaying for AltaLink by as much as $600-plus million. Executives
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER Published at 2950 Bremner Avenue, Red Deer, Alberta, T4R 1M9 by The Red Deer Advocate Ltd. Canadian Publications Agreement #336602 Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation Fred Gorman Publisher John Stewart Managing editor Richard Smalley Advertising director
the way. The plan is to work with Canadians from all walks of life to protect the people and places we love. It’s the most important thing I’ve ever done. And it’s going to be fun! Because they care deeply about our country and the planet, many friends are joining me along the way, including Feist, Neil Young, the Barenaked Ladies, Margaret Atwood, Kinnie Starr, Raine Maida, Grimes, Danny Michel, Stephen Lewis, Bruce Cockburn, Robert Bateman, Shane Koyczan and many more. The goal of the Blue Dot Tour is to work with community leaders and groups, local governments, First Nations, musicians, writers, legal experts and — we hope — you on local, regional and national initiatives to ensure all Canadians have access to clean water, fresh air and healthy food. Ultimately, we’d like to see the right to a healthy environment enshrined in the Canadian Constitution’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That may seem like a challenge, but it’s not unusual. More than half the world’s nations — at least 110 — have environmental rights in their constitutions. Not having them is a strange oversight in a country like Canada, where our clean air and water, spectacular nature and abundant wildlife
from both companies refuse to say how this premium is going to be recouped, but I guess we all know the answer: ratepayers. Overpaying may be in the best interest of SNC-Lavalin, but is overpaying in the best interest of the ratepayers? Given that Alberta’s ratepayers are the primary (if not sole) capital investors in AltaLink, how do we get a return for our investment? Typically in other jurisdictions, SNC would only receive a percentage of the profits (or loss) based on the market value of its investment, and the public would receive a percentage of the profits (or loss) based on our investment. Any premium paid over and above the adjusted present net book value would be returned to the ratepayers. The formula varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but for the most part it is fair. So why in Alberta does SNC-Lavalin get all the profits from the sale of AltaLink if the ratepayers have paid for all the capital improvements? The sale of AltaLink raises other concerns with regard to competition and security. AltaLink owns transmission lines that have been deemed critical to our economy. Does it make sense to sell critical infrastructure to our economy to a foreign company? Does it makes sense that we will guarantee an income to a foreign company that will not pay taxes in Alberta, and pay for all their capital upgrades as well? Further, given that MidAmerican Energy owns numerous generators and transmission lines in the states, how do the regulators propose to police anticompetitive price manipulation? The sale of AltaLink is complex, but given that Alberta’s ratepayers are the primary investors in this deal, the current proposal to sell AltaLink to MidAmerican should be denied on the premise that this is a very bad deal for the rate-paying public! No private investor would ever invest in a project or business and not expect a return for that investment. Why should the rate-paying public be treated any different? The solution is to retender the sale of AltaLink
Scott Williamson Pre-press supervisor
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and resources instill a sense of pride and make us the envy of people around the world. Maybe we take our good fortune for granted. But we shouldn’t. Already, environmental hazards contribute to about 36,000 premature deaths in Canada a year, and half of us live in areas where we’re exposed to unsafe air pollution levels. Pollution costs Canada about $100 billion a year, and many people suffer from illnesses like asthma and heart disease because of environmental contamination. As the rush to extract, transport and sell fossil fuels while there’s still a market heats up, it will only get worse — unless we all pitch in. It’s not about getting in the way of industry or progress; it’s about building a conversation about the kind of country we want. And it’s about ensuring that our economic activity creates more benefits than harm to people and the natural systems that keep us healthy and alive. We hope you’ll join us. Visit BlueDot.ca for more information and tour dates in your area. Scientist, author and broadcaster David Suzuki wrote this column with Ian Hanington. Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.
so that the AUC can evaluate all the proposals. The bidding process should account for foreign tax and other subsidies to create a fair process for Canadian companies. If a foreign company wins the bid, so be it! But, under no circumstance should a foreign company own infrastructure deemed critical to our economy. If AltaLink is to be owned by a foreign company, they should be required to sell the critical infrastructure to a Canadian-owned company. Most importantly, profits from the sale should be allocated based on a formula that is fair and just to all investors. Joe Anglin MLA Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Rimbey
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