MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson Ward Stamer said he has a full working strategy planned in spite of what he considers to be a “lax schedule” for the upcoming 2025 provincial legislature calendar.
"My schedule certainly isn’t going to be put on hold until mid-February to get to work in the legislature," he said during an interview Saturday, Jan. 4. "The provincial schedule set by the NDP doesn’t represent the work ethic my constituents expect or deserve. I think we could go back to work earlier in the fall in September and work until June which would provide more time for us to address important issues on behalf of our constituents.”
Stamer said he is not impressed with what he feels is a lack of accountability by the NDP for projects.
He cited as an example, the multi-million-dollar Mount Mabel wind farm project to be built along the Coquihalla Highway south of Kamloops that has been given a green light by BC Hydro with a 30-year electricity purchase agreement. This project is one of nine such wind projects approved by BC Hydro.
“An environmental assessment on a project like this would mean looking into everything to do with planning, the process and construction up to completion. That is responsible planning, which is not what is happening. I’ve heard from many constituents that are concerned about the lack of consultation on projects like this by government. Our party will be formulating a policy as well as responding in kind to support all residents throughout B.C. when it comes to any power generation or projects to make sure procedures, consultation and rules are being done properly for large projects such as this,” said Stamer.
Stamer feels the provincial government has “changed the regulations so that now they get to decide what gets an environmental assessment or not” and feels the NDP shouldn’t be able to “pick and choose” which projects don’t need an environmental assessment. The MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson says there needs to be more transparency about where these potential wind farm sites will be and how they will impact overlapping jurisdictions impacting community forests and other “stakeholders” like the Cattleman’s Association.
“How much money are they actually going to be spending? They said 6 to 8 billion dollars. Is it six, eight or is it ten? What is the rate going to be to the taxpayer over that 30-year contract? They haven’t given us anything in terms of details on these projects. We’ve got power generation that we are using with biofuels from biowaste in Williams Lake and BC Hydro doesn’t want to renew those contracts, yet they are arbitrarily hoping that these wind farms are going to make up the difference,” states Stamer.
He says there are not many locations in the world where the wind power is that consistent. “You can’t just turn the wind on. They call it decarbonized hydro electrification, but if you have water, biomass and natural gas as power generators that can be turned on anytime it’s needed. We can’t be solely looking at decarbonized hydro electrification.”
Stamer gives the example of Finland which “heats entire towns from waste off the forest floor” saying they have an even “higher environmental standard than we have” questioning why we aren’t doing that here in B.C. and adding, “We should be sustainable in B.C. like we used to be when it comes to power.”
The Kamloops-North Thompson MLA said he is looking forward to attending the upcoming B.C. Cabinet and First Nations Leaders Gathering taking place on January 21 and 22 on the territories of the Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx ̓wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations at the Vancouver Convention Centre West.
“Hopefully some of these projects will be discussed there and once we are back in the house in session. Ten caucus members have been invited to join the gathering, with the majority holding resources related portfolios," Stamer said.
He plans on travelling as much as possible as the appointed opposition forestry critic along with his duties as MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson now serving five municipalities and six First Nations in what he describes as a “fairly large riding."
“I want to be able to meet with every council and every First Nations council to be able to get a clear understanding and direction on what they need me to do on their behalf. It’s so important to consult about what each communities' needs are. We all need housing, infrastructure improvements, and to address health care and of course very important are the situations with our highways.”
Stamer explains there is a lot of work to be done in the Kamloops-North Thompson and “throughout the province” before the budget comes out on March 4 this year.
“I intend to be working very hard even before we are back in session, not only for my constituents but all of British Columbia in my first term in office. That is the commitment I made.”
Black Press has reached out to Capstone Infrastructure for a comment on the proposed wind farm project along the Coquihalla Highway.
