Hydro-Québec is bad? It could be a lot worse.

Prime Minister Philippe Couillard’s government in Québec has approved a $1.4 billion project for Hydro-Québec to build a new transmission line from the Lac St-Jean region to Montreal.  Monsieur Couillard says the new line is absolutely essential in order to serve demand in the most populated area of Québec and to more efficiently deliver electricity over a high tension line rather than several smaller ones.  In short, the Prime Minister is right.  Big tower lines do ensure more electricity gets to the places where it is needed the most.  The added infrastructure improves the overall reliability of the system that users of electricity depend on for their homes and businesses. 

However, not all of those home and business owners along the 400 kilometre proposed right of way are too happy.  Residents of the Rawdon area say their concerns are being ignored by the government which has decided to fast-track construction of the new line.  A farm couple told Radio-Canada that 20% of their woodlot will be cut down so the new line can be built parallel to an existing one built 20 years ago.  A citizens group is already planning to protest the government’s decision.

Rural residents opposing a transmission line and recent rate increases have made Hydro-Québec unpopular with some residents of the province lately.  This is quite a departure from the golden decades of the public utility when it rose to be a symbol of Québec’s economy, technology, and cultural identity.  An entire generation remembers René Lévesque as Resources Minister during the Jean Lesage government as the face of the public takeover of the patchwork of private utilities that formerly provided power to Québec.  Anyone from Québec during the 1960’s and 1970’s seemed to know someone who had gone north to work on building the Manic-5 dam or the even bigger James Bay project.  During the 1970’s, Hydro-Québec’s slogan in advertising was even “On est Hydro-Québécois,” meaning “We’re all Hydro-Quebeckers.”  The slogan indicated the utility’s place as an identifier of Québec and as an institution owned by its residents—who were also its customers.  The slogan was an indication that through James Bay, Manicougan, and the expansion of the 1960’s, the Maîtres chez-nous objective of Jean Lesage and René Lévesque was being accomplished. 

However, with opposition to rate increases and new transmission lines, can it still be truthfully said that we are all Hydro-Quebeckers still?  Is the utility with the distinct orange “Q” logo whose headquarters figures prominently on the Montreal skyline still universally appreciated?  If we take a look at why Hydro has made these recent decisions, the answer should still be yes.  Utilities under government ownership generally serve the public interest much better than those under private ownership.  Hydro-Québec is accountable to the Executive Council (cabinet), the Minister of Resources, and the Prime Minister.  It is also accountable to the Régie de l’énergie, a government-appointed commission that regulates utilities in Québec.  In jurisdictions with private utilities, there is seldom this extent of public oversight.  Private utilities raise rates in order to make larger profits to keep their shareholders happy.  Public utilities raise rates in order to make larger profits to make capital investments that ensure the lights stay on and the factory machines keep running.  The profits Hydro-Québec makes are going to improve the reliability of the service customers receive, including through projects like the new Lac St-Jean to Montreal line.  When New York State Electric and Gas increases its rates, much of the extra profit is going to shareholder dividends.  Hydro-Québec is required to pay a yearly dividend too, but it goes to the treasury of the government and gets used for the services citizens require.  Our power utility is helping to pay for our schools, highways, and hospitals!  Would we rather live in Ontario where the single utility in that province was dismantled and now its remnants are to be sold to private interests?  The ridiculous rate increases in Ontario during recent years have not been necessarily motivated by the need for capital improvements but are instead subsidizing a badly devised renewable energy policy.  Future rate increases in Ontario will unfortunately continue to subsidize this poorly planned and executed program, but now that Premier Wynne’s government is privatising Hydro One, rates will likely increase again in order to maximize profits and shareholder satisfaction.  Residents of Québec should look at what is happening in Ontario and say with satisfaction, we remain Hydro-Quebeckers.  

Church itch, hymns are hard work, and Psalm 23

Going to church on Sunday morning is important to me, yet I've always found church to be a peculiar experience physically.  Going to church alone doesn't help this.  It can often feel very lonely in a cavernous building, even though it is supposed to feel welcoming and comfortable.  I've always been fortunate to regularly worship in places where the celebration of the service and the people present help lessen this feeling.

Why do my eyes always water during the church service?  I am not an emotional or charismatic worshipper, nor do I worship in a place where those things are to be found, yet every Sunday, my eyes are watering by the time the sermon is over.  If you have seen me looking like I'm crying on Sunday morning, I'm not.  Oddly, my back also gets incredibly itchy as soon as I sit down in the pew each Sunday.  This does not happen anywhere else I sit during the week.  Is there an itch-producing varnish coating Lutheran pews in the National Capital Region?

I have a strained relationship with singing.  I love listening to beautiful hymns, but I find singing them to be tiring.  It feels like work if I look at the hymnal and see something longer than three verses.  However, I will sing the parts of the liturgy that are meant to be sung.  They're shorter, and are generally prayers containing verses from, or derived from the Bible, so I feel a greater sense of conviction to sing them.  I have past experiences in other branches of Christianity where singing in three or four part harmony was the norm during a church service.  I just couldn't get used to the harmonious Plymouth Brethren and Mennonites who always seem to know what part of the hymn to sing and how.  In my attempts to follow this approach, I felt more like a train that was unable to properly switch tracks.  Singing in those churches always seemed like work.  I go to church to be refreshed, not get tired.  I've spoke about my lack of singing with at least one Lutheran pastor.  He completely understood and said "good, as long as you read along."    Grace figures into Lutheran doctrine pretty strongly, I haven't been struck down from above yet because of my muted participation in the hymns.

Psalm 23 was the focus of the sermon at St. Luke Lutheran in Ottawa today.  Of course, that's the Psalm usually said at funerals because of its words which indicate faith and acknowledgement of God as the shepherd of the life of the Christian believer.  Pastor King, who seldom ceases to keep the attention of this watery-eyed worshipper with an itchy back exclaimed repeatedly that Psalm 23 is not exclusively for funerals at all!  It's words are a statement of faith and reliance upon God that is true at any time in life.  Wise words to remember indeed as we begin a new week.

The Nepal earthquake and news that matters

The statistics and photos coming out of Nepal today are shocking.  The Himalayan country experienced a 7.8 magnitude earthquake earlier today and at the present time (21:13 Eastern) at least 1,800 people are dead.  The quake triggered a landslide on Mount Everest that also killed several climbers.  The quake also caused deaths in neighbouring India and Bangladesh.  The Canadian Armed Forces is sending its DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) to help with relief and recovery efforts.  The Department of Foreign Affairs is also attempting to assist the 388 Canadian citizens it was aware of who were in Nepal when the earthquake struck.

When a major natural disaster strikes, it is serious news.  The fact that Nepal is also a developing country with a history of civil instability makes the news even more serious.  Natural disasters and civil unrest are very unfortunate things.  They are also sadly the kind of thing that in the contemporary news business often get secondary attention to to say--a 65 year old former Olympic decathlete who has decided to transition from a man into a woman after decades of capitalizing excessively off of his now nearly forgotten reason for becoming a celebrity in the first place.  Bruce Jenner won the gold medal for the US in decathlon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.  Most followers of his current story of switching which restroom he uses were likely not even born then.  The event predates my own birth by nearly three years.  I only remember Jenner as a frequent celebrity pitchman (pitcher?) throughout the 1980's.  Jenner's omnipresence in the commercial world, along with his many appearances on various television series was market saturation other TV peddlers of peculiar products like Ron Popeil of Ronco, and Suzanne Somers with her Thighmaster must have envied.  The current generation of Jenner followers likely only associate him with his most recent affiliation with the Kardashians, a family whose rise to fame still mystifies me.  Although there is arguably a dimension of activism and social justice behind Bruce's switcheroo, it still does not come across as something with a particularly high level of intellect and urgency.  If he/she did not have the Kardashian connection and long ago achievement in the Olympics, Jenner would be just another transgender senior citizen doing what many others have already done.  Jenner's continuous milking of the publicity machine over the past 39 years along with his most recent marriage into the plastic Kardashian family makes the story better fodder for supermarket tabloids than mainstream news and current affairs.  Friday evening's big one-on-one interview between Diane Sawyer and Jenner was the top story yesterday and into the early hours of today.  How sad it is when tabloid fodder takes up prime time on a major television network and also makes the top headlines in all other forms of media!  What is sadder though is that it took a devastating earthquake and the death of nearly 2,000 people to knock it into the second story on the front pages and television newscasts.

Pray for the victims of the Nepal earthquake, their families, and for the recovery efforts.  Give to relief organizations assisting with the disaster response if you are able to.

America's circus

The modern circus has taken a beating in recent years.  Ringling Brother's recently announced they're phasing out elephants due to concerns about cruelty after years of protests from animal rights organizations.  Even Quebec's own Cirque du Soleil, the legendary animal-free acrobatic spectacle has hit hard financial times and has been recently sold.  And of course so-called "freak shows" were rightfully declared completely distasteful and exploitative years ago.

There still is a big circus in the United States though.  It's called the Presidential election campaign.  The election is still over a year away, but this travelling show, complete with it's fair share of ringmasters, carnival barkers, and freak shows is already on the road.  One of the parties (the Republicans) even uses an elephant for its logo!  And trust me, most of what the average Republican candidate says piles as deep and smells as bad as anything an elephant leaves behind.  I'm not excusing the Democratic Party at all here either.  Their logo is a donkey, and that completely explains itself.

So far, nobody running for either of these parties deserves to be President.  At last check, there were 19 people running for the Republican nomination.  The most prominent names are Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.  These two men are prominent for all of the wrong reasons.  They represent the most reactionary, angry, contemptuous elements of the Republican Party.  The single positive fact about both of them is that they are Hispanic, and their candidacies are thus a major footnote in American ethnic history.

Due to the US Constitution, it still is not clear if Senator Cruz will even be able to legally run for President.  He was born in Calgary, and the Constitution says the President has to be born in the United States or any of its territories.  Strangely though, there does not appear to be a birther movement opposing Senator Cruz like the one that developed against President Obama, composed of those who insist he he was born in Kenya.  If you thought the Tea Party Republicans of recent years and the administration of George W. Bush were ridiculous, Cruz makes them look sophisticated.  Among his ideas are "voluntary conservation."  That means corporations would only have to preserve the environment if they felt like it.  He also wants the Internal Revenue Service disbanded and a single flat federal income tax.  A flat tax is great if you are rich.  It's a bargain because you end up paying far less of a share than you would under a progressive income tax system.  The poor pay the same amount, even though they don't make nearly as much money.  Cruz's crowd assume that the whole trickle down idea will work instead.  Rich people and corporations will just feel so compassionate and benevolent that they'll instantly burst forth with charity and sprees of job creation.  Yeah, sure, right, and Elvis is still alive.

And then there's Marco Rubio.  He too is a flat taxer, and judging by his views on climate change, he very likely believes the Earth is flat too.  He's known as the "Crown Prince" of the Tea Party movement.  This is an ironic title to have in a country that ditched the British Monarchy during the rule of George III.  He's also continually supported the PATRIOT Act and opposed legislation to deal with violence against women.

The other Republican candidate who is getting some attention is Senator Rand Paul, son of former Representative Ron Paul.  Together they've developed a cult-like following.  Both are doctors, and their possessed fans are always very vehement to refer to either of them as "Dr. Paul."  Senator Paul, like his dear old Dad, thinks that just about anything the US government does is too intrusive.  He has a literal interpretation of the Constitution that if adhered to, would have the US government with less governing capacity than a Board of Selectmen in a small New England town.  To the Paul family, the US Postal Service and the Interstate Highway System are likely intrusive tools of tyranny.  Rand and Ron tend to appeal to a segment of the population who don't like the rule of law.  This includes everyone from far-right conspiracy theorists to aging hippies who just want to spend their declining years stoned.  They have a big following among college students with a rebellious streak, which sort of indicates an immature segment of their fan base.  What happened to the good old days when rebellious college students just staged sit-ins in the Dean's office or trashed a mainframe computer?

Speaking of politics on the family plan, another Bush could be in the running.  George W's more moderate and articulate brother Jeb, a former Governor of Florida.  At first glance, Jeb doesn't look so bad really.  If victorious, he would be only the second Roman Catholic President, and the first Republican Roman Catholic.  Both would be positive firsts, however Jeb has recently proven though that Bruce Jenner is not the only man in his 60's with an identity crisis.  It was recently discovered that in 2009, Governor Bush identified himself as Hispanic on his voter registration card.  No Jeb, you are not Hispanic.  You are from an old, white, English-speaking, Yankee establishment family.  Just because you are married to a Hispanic woman does not mean you are Hispanic too.  And then there's the issue of family dynasties.  One of the reasons behind the foundation of the United States was to get rid of the domination of the political process by wealthy elite families.  Having a President Bush III wouldn't exactly honour one of the reasons behind America's founding.

The same argument applies to the only Democratic candidate so far, former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.  First of all, she's too right-leaning and corporation friendly to be a Democrat, and she's too trigger happy when it comes to military intervention.  Arguably, most of her popularity comes from the fact that she's former President Bill Clinton's wife.  15 years after leaving office, Mr. Clinton remains immensely popular.  The idea of having his wife as President probably makes many Americans nostalgic for the 1990's when the word terrorism seldom got used and the economy was roaring.  And of course Mrs. Clinton, with her steely resolve seemed to take the words of late country music performer Tammy Wynette literally.  When the bad news surfaced that Bill had been a bad boy with Gennifer Flowers, and then Monica Lewinsky in the sex scandal of all sex scandals, Hillary stood by her man.  It would be as unhealthy for American democracy though to have another Clinton as President as it would be to have another Bush (or Kennedy for that matter) as President.  If either Hillary or Jeb are elected in 2016, that will mean that two families will have controlled the White House for 20 of the past 30 years as of 2020.

None of the people who should be President of the United States are running, and if they do run, they don't stand much of a chance.  Their support is too based upon ordinary people, and not the wealthy establishment or the corporations who buy election campaigns with their donations.  Independent Senator and self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont has not yet stated his intentions.  Senator Elizabeth Warren, the liberal Democrat from Massachusetts has not indicated her plans either.  Former Clinton-era Labor Secretary Robert Reich has already said he will not run.  There are two Republicans in the should run but would probably lose category.  North Country Public Radio in northern New York recently ran a story indicating George Pataki, who served as New York's Governor during the 1990's is considering a run.  Pataki however would have very few friends in extreme right-wing factions that seem to dominate the Republican Party right now.  The same applies to Ohio Governor John Kasich, an unusually independent Republican who while adhering to many conservative approaches, has however significantly increased funding for Medicaid and public education and has even expressed support for private sector trade unions.

So, there really is a big circus still going in America.  It's almost as loud, obnoxious, tacky, and full of freaks as anything found under a big top tent!  Watch the acts taking place in each ring over the next few months as candidates come and go until there are just two left.  One will be riding a blue donkey and the other a red elephant.

Sharon, Lois, and Bram

Lois Lilienstein of Sharon, Lois, and Bram died yesterday.  I was honestly surprised to read she was 78 years old.  The trio of children's entertainers never seemed like they could ever be senior citizens.  My sister and I loved Sharon, Lois, and Bram when we were kids.  The Elephant Show was regular viewing in our house back when it was on TV Ontario.  I recall when I was about 6 or 7, my parents went out for a Friday evening, probably dinner and some shopping, maybe a movie too.  When I got up on Saturday morning, there was a copy of Sharon, Lois, and Bram's album "One Elephant, Deux Elephants" placed by the stereo, all new in the plastic shrink wrap.  We were so amazed.  I think that record got played twice a day for the following week.  The bilingual album featured the title song, and Skinnamarink, the tune that became Sharon, Lois, and Bram's anthem.

Sharon, Lois, and Bram were not necessarily educational in the way Sesame Street was, but they taught children how to have fun and be creative.  Their songs were often literate adaptations of old folk songs or classical pieces.  The fact that three anglophones from Toronto would even bother recording a bilingual album for children also demonstrates their dedication to Canada.  Before I ever sat through a French class, I was singing the French verses of the songs and reading along with the words in the booklet that came with the album.

The legacy of Sharon, Lois, and Bram isn't going away.  The record still gets played for my niece and nephew when they visit Grandma and Grandpa's house.  My nephew's Kindergarten class also sings one of the songs from the album.  Lois Lilienstein will be missed, as will the entire trio of her, Lois, and Bram.  Their impact however on Canadian children's entertainment is undeniably positive and happily enduring.

Ontario Budget and how The Hydro could have been saved.

It's no longer snowing.  The sun is actually appearing through the clouds sometimes.

It's budget day in Ontario.  Finance Minister Charles Sousa says the plan is "a forward thinking document."  Forward thinking is just another one of those cliché buzzwords that politicians and businesspeople like to use to make something sound positive.  Could he really be expected to say the budget is backwards?  I do happen to think it is backwards, especially because of the planned privatisation of Hydro One.  I'll fully disclose ahead of time that I have a place in my heart for Ontario Hydro and its remnants.  My father worked there for over 30 years.  It gave him a good career and quality life for his family.  It also inspired me to study what I am studying now.  I loved the Hydro people too.  Even those who had more pronounced flaws than others have provided some amusing memories and direction for how not to do a job or treat others.

The Ontario Liberals say that the revenue from the sale of Hydro One will go to infrastructure.  So far, the emphasis seems to be largely upon infrastructure for the Toronto region.  What about other cities?  What about small towns and rural areas?  Municipalities across the province are having considerable difficulty in maintaining or expanding their roads, sewer and water systems, and public buildings.  It is not much comfort to residents of a small town who cannot afford street repairs while Toronto and its suburbs get new commuter trains.

There was a plan at one time that could have saved Ontario Hydro, but it was never implemented.  In the late 1960's, the provincial government created the Committee on Government Productivity.  It reviewed every agency and department of the government and recommended how they could better function and be restructured.  This is how Ontario ended up with having various "Ministries" to oversee various government responsibilities.  Previously, there were many "Departments," that often had a much more inefficient scope.  The committee created a group called Task Force Hydro in 1969 to examine Ontario Hydro, which was then officially known as the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario.  It recommended that Hydro be converted from a commission composed of members of the government and senior Hydro staff to a crown corporation with a board of directors composed of not just government and senior staff, but also representatives from outside.  This part of the recommendation was implemented and became official in 1974.  Task Force Hydro also recommended that Ontario Hydro divest its distribution systems but keep the transmission and generation systems.  Local distribution would become the responsibility of new regional utility commissions that the government would create to coincide with the new regional municipalities the province was planning to establish to replace all of the counties in southern Ontario.  Regional government was never completely implemented, aside from the Toronto Region, Niagara, and Waterloo.  Others were established in Ottawa, Haldimand-Norfolk, and Sudbury, but have since been disbanded.  Regional utility commissions were only established in a small handful of places.  I believe that if the Task Force Hydro recommendations had been fully implemented, Ontario Hydro might still exist today.  Local distribution and customer service would be in the communities where customers lived and worked.  Costs would still be low because the local Hydro would still be getting its power at cost from Hydro.  Like all of the former municipal utility commissions in Ontario, members would be elected by municipal ballot and therefore accountable to citizens.  Ontario Hydro would be able to focus on generation and transmission.  If Hydro had been able to focus on this more during the 1970's, it may not have become as financially burdened by its nuclear projects as it became.  More creative generation options could have been explored, such as the now shelved plans for a pumped storage generating station in the Blue Mountain area.  The Wesleyville white elephant near Port Hope could have been more effectively used for other purposes too.  It remains half-finished and semi derelict ever since oil prices shot up in 1973.

Ontario residents and business owners should be very concerned about power rates increasing after Hydro One is sold off.  There is not an example of electrical utility privatisation anywhere that led to a rate decrease for customers.  The prices always go up because the motivation is profit and satisfying shareholders.  Electrical infrastructure, something that is already in poor shape in many parts of Ontario could also suffer at the expense of profit over capital investment.

Il neige et "à la maison mon"

Oui, il y a des flocons de neige dans l'air que je regarde par la fenêtre que nous quittons lentement centre-ville de Montréal. Ce est 23 Avril et ressemble plus analogues 23 Novembre à l'extérieur! Dans la zone industrielle graveleuse juste à l'ouest du centre-ville, le gris de l'ascenseur Canada Maltage ou le point de repère le moulin Farine Five Roses correspondent presque de la couleur du ciel. Je profite d'un bon coup d'œil à la gare de triage que nous sommes dans un certain modèle de brassage étrange que nous laissons. Après deux nuits de mauvais sommeil sur un mauvais matelas, je suis impatient d'être de retour "à la maison mon" comme mon neveu de cinq ans serait l'appeler.