Betty Krawczyk a lifer? Feisty ol' Grandma!

By Rafe Mair

Most will know that that Betty Krawczyk is an environmental protester and has been in jail a number of times. Most recently she spent 10 months in the slammer for refusing to obey a court order keeping her off public land that Peter Kiewit, the Campbell government’s always favoured construction company, was using to take the Sea-to-Sky highway to the considerable displeasure of many. She served her term then appealed it on a matter of principle.

The Campbell government instructed Crown Counsel to seek a ruling that Betty is a habitual criminal and ask the Court Of Appeal to consider life imprisonment of this 82 year old lady, In support of this argument, Crown Counsel presented two cases where serial crimes had brought long prison terms, even life. Both these two cases involved violent sex assaults on children.

Why do I connect this application directly to Gordon (Pinocchio) Campbell’s government?

Because no Crown counsel would deal with this highly politicized case, using these horrific cases in support, without clear direction of the Attorney-General and it’s inconceivable that Campbell would not have OK’d the decision.

When it hit the fan and the public expressed outrage that these two cases would be used in Betty’s case the Crown, disingenuously tried to explain that the cases they pleaded were only to sway the judges to look at Betty’s long history of devil disobedience and give her a longer penalty, even life and that these cases were only cited in support of that argument.

This is bullshit and there’s no other word for it.

The principle that the court can interfere with the lower court and increase the sentence need hardly be pled. The Court of Appeal understands that well and needs no help from the Crown’s lawyers and their pedophilia cases – or any other cases for that matter - on that point. That being the case, why would the government’s lawyers raise these two cases?

The answer is simple and disgraceful. This is a clear attempt to cow the environmental movement into taking their bad medicine, like it or not.

(I impute no impropriety to Crown Counsel. They can plead such cases as they wish, the propriety or relevance of such will be to the Court. I don't for a moment suggest that they were any part of the political decision [sic] I allege)

What’s this really all about?

There are a number of river projects on the horizon. These arise out of Independent Power Companies (IPPs) damming our rivers and selling the power to BC Hydro. (The companies don’t like to use the word “dam” and much prefer “weir”)

In order to be fully aware of what these projects are all about one must be aware of these points

1. Far from being small operations they block up to 90% of the stream or river. To see for yourself, just go to the Ashlu project just north of Squamish. Not only do these projects kill fish by silting the river while construction is on, they permanently damage if not outright kill fish populations. As if that wasnt bad enough, they must clear-cut large swaths of trees to build roads and erect transmission lines. They are environmental catastrophes and not only damage unto death the fish but do the same to the ecology the river sustains. The damage to wildlife is incalculable.

2. These are not little Mom and Pop companies but huge like Ledcor, General Electric and the Dupont Family trust.

3. BC Hydro has been compelled by the Campbell government to enter into sweetheart deals with these IPPs on a take or pay basis (Hydro pays even though it doesn’t need or use the power at double or more the export rate and 8 times more expensive than Hydro makes its own power.

4. Because the IPPs can only generate power when their rivers are high from the annual run-off, BC Hydro can’t use the power they generate. It has full reservoirs and lots of power of its own. This gives Hydro two choices – it can use the IPP power instead of their own, at 8 times the cost or they can sell it on the open market at less than ½ what they paid for it. It’s worth noting, I think, that we the citizens of BC are the only shareholders of BC Hydro and it’s us that’s getting ripped off.

5. BC Hydro is going broke according to economist Erik Andersen and can only be kept alive by raising electricity rates to industry and you and me. Hydro’s only alive on paper because it has been using an accounting procedure whereby they can take their accumulated losses, package them and say that because they are owed this money it’s not a loss but an asset! No kidding! The BC Auditor-General in a recent report confirmed that and commanded them to change.

6. Over the years, BC Hydro has declared a very large dividend each year to our government in the hundreds of mullions of dollars. Hydro can no longer do that because of the foregoing so, guess what? They will raise your electricity bills so they have enough money to give you your dividend.

The Campbell government, looking ahead, has threatened, through the Betty Krawczyk case, draconian legal consequences to any who dare interfere with their plans.

I would call shame on them except they have demonstrated over and over again that they have no shame.

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