In order to sell off to the private sector Manitoba’s Crown assets, such as Manitoba Hydro and provincial Parks, the Pallister government would need to lay the legislative groundwork.
That is what Bill 12, The Crown Lands Dispositions Act (Various Acts Amended), makes possible.
This omnibus Bill, which was placed on the Order Paper for second reading on March 11, 2021, amends not only the Crown Lands Act, but also the following five Acts; The Expropriation Act, The Land Acquisition Act, The Public Works Act, The Transportation and Infrastructure Act and The Water Resources Administration Act.
All of the amendments in Bill 12 that would affect these six Acts are designed to lay the legal foundation for the Pallister government to lease or sell, in whole or in part, Manitoba Hydro and our Provincial Parks.
The first Act that needs to be amended to effect such a sell-off is the Crown Lands Act. Bill 12 does this by allowing the Minister responsible to sell Crown Lands, at his discretion, if the value of those lands is $200,000 or less. If the value of the lands to be sold is over $200,000 but less than $1,000,000, the Minister needs only a sign-off by the Minister of Finance. Any Crown land over $1,000,000 needs to go to Cabinet for approval. A government committed to privatization would get such approval.
The lengthy list of Crown lands that can be sold is described in the amendments to the Crown Lands Act, which are part of the Bill 12 amendments. They include provincial parks, provincial forests, wildlife management areas, game reserves, bird sanctuaries, or publicly owned resorts . Also included are rights-of-way or roadbeds through Crown lands, and such other Crown lands as are advisable or necessary for stations, station grounds, workshops, buildings and yards, as well as unoccupied Crown lands transferred to the province under the Natural Resources Agreement.
In order for the Pallister government to sell off Manitoba Hydro dams, Bill 12 also amends the Water Resources Administration Act, which deals with water works. As defined in this Act, water works are for the conservation, control, disposal, protection, distribution, drainage, storage, or use of water. This would include Hydro dams.
However, a dam on its own is not a profitable venture. A profit-seeking corporation would need the HVDC transmission lines, all the associated buildings and infrastructure, the service roads that maintain all the Manitoba Hydro Infrastructure and all of the necessary Crown land rights-of-way. Bill 12 amends the other five Acts, listed above, to make this all possible.
Premier Pallister has stated previously that he is not interested in selling off Manitoba Hydro and our provincial parks. Why then is his government setting the legislative groundwork to do just that?
If I were a Section 35 Rights holder, I would be sending lawyers running straight to the courts to put the brakes on this Bill until such time that proper Section 35 consultations have occurred and that free, prior and informed consent has been achieved.
For the rest of us who believe that Manitoba Hydro and our provincial parks are more important to our collective well-being than to be used to drain profits out of the province and to take control out of Manitobans hands, Bill 12 has to be stopped.
Our provincial parks are for people and not for making profits, and with $217 million in net income generated for the government from Manitoba Hydro over the last two-years, why would we sell this cash cow to the private sector, only to see future increases in electricity and natural gas prices for the consumers and a decrease in services, while all the profits going to the private sector rather into government programs and services.
Rather than hold a referendum on any new major Hydro development projects, may I suggest that Pallister hold a referendum on selling off our Crown Jewels.
Let’s Stop Bill 12 From Becoming Law. PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION
Guest Contributor: Don Sullivan