It’s time for Westlock County council to take a public position on the $1.49 billion Alberta PowerLine Fort McMurray West 500-kV Transmission Project.
So far, all council has done is say it facilitates and encourages discussion.
And even then that “facilitation” has been limited to a public hearing at a county council meeting over eight months ago.
Here’s a news flash — there’s a whole procession of groups and organizations dedicated to just that cause and they do it much better.
The developer Alberta PowerLine, the regulator, the Alberta Utilities Commission, and local opponents like that East Route Landowners Opposition Group [ERLOG] are all better equipped to handle public consultation.
The county just has too many competing interests to do a good job of encouraging discussion — they’re wedged between the metaphorical rock and a hard place.
On one side are the residents who oppose the east route and its path through Westlock County. These are the people who pay tax in the county and have the final say at the ballot box.
ERLOG has asked council to take a public position on the power line and all they got silence.
Firmly on the other side of the wedge is the enticement of liner assessment.
Outside of property taxes and government grants, Westlock County doesn’t have many revenue streams and the money from the line would help the bottom line.
It’s a fair, utilitarian position to hold and if members of the council truly believe it, they should publicly state it.
Yet when it comes to the county, all points are moot because they refuse to take a public position.
Other municipalities have taken the power companies to court over developments that they and their ratepayers opposed.
What do we get here? Silence and a hope the whole issue will go away.
At this stage, the substance of any position taken by the council is not important. What is important is that council actually considers the evidence on the table and makes a public statement.
