Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Columbia River Treaty -- The Americans will undoubtedly want a reduction in the Canadian Entitlement but that’s what negotiations are all about


On Wednesday of this week (December 5th) the BC government will be holding a community meeting in Invermere.  At the meeting, local area residents will be given an update on the state of Columbia River Treaty (CRT) negotiations … and provided an opportunity for discussion of community interests relating to the treaty.

Also attending the meeting will be BC Liberal MLA for Columbia River – Revelstoke, and opposition critic for the CRT, Doug Clovechok.  I spoke with Doug on the weekend to ask him about the meeting, and its importance:

I fought hard to get them (BC NDP government) back here to talk to my headwater communities.  The Americans will undoubtedly want a reduction in the Canadian Entitlement, but that’s what negotiations are all about.”

I asked if he would be attending the meeting, as well as making comment himself:

BC Liberal MLA Doug Clovechok, and wife Susan (Area
“F” Director for the Regional District of the E. Kootenay)
Yes, on both counts. The purpose of the meeting is to get input from constituents, and I am looking forward to it”.

Interestingly, in an age of fiercely adversarial politics, Clovechok was positive towards Katrine Conroy, BC’s Minister Responsible for the Columbia River Treaty:

I have been working closely with the Minister. This file is truly one that can be approached with a non-partisan lens. This is important to people in the basin, as the Columbia River Treaty drives revenue for the Columbia Basin Trust 

He continued, “The NDP remain committed to the 14 principals we set out in 2014

Of the 14 principle, the first sets out the tone of what is to follow … The primary objective of the Treaty should be to maximize benefits to both countries through the coordination of planning and operations.

To that point Clovechok’s thoughts on the Treaty, and the importance of the negotiations, were not lost on me … nor should they be to other British Columbians:

The modernization of this treaty is complex as there are many downstream benefits that the Americans receive from it, that were never negotiated in the original”.


Still”, he said, “There’s no question that the Columbia River Treaty is a shining example of one of this planets most successful trans-border water treaties”.

The significance of the treaty, to those in the Columbia River Basin, again becomes borne out in these words from Clovechok, regarding his counter-part NDP Katrine Conroy:

I have a great working relationship on this with her. I think it is because (former BC Liberal MLA and Minister Responsible for the CRT) Bill Bennett afforded her the same courtesy. Her husband was one of the key drivers behind the creation of the Columbia Basin Trust when he was an NDP MLA”.

And what thoughts about the agreement, from BC’s Minister Responsible for the Columbia River Treaty, Katrine Conroy?

The renewed discussions about how we can work together to modernize the treaty are still at an early stage. This is a time to build relationships and find common ground.”

I know that negotiators from both sides of the border are working very hard as they look at options for the future of the treaty”, she concluded.

Following Wednesday’s community meeting in Invermere, the next round of Columbia River Treaty negotiation meetings will take place Dec 12th and 13th in Vancouver.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops.  If you have any thoughts on this commentary, please take a moment to share them below in the Comments Section. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

GORDON F. D. WILSON: When The Trick Masquerades as The Treat

Thirty-seven years ago, Halloween 1987, I became the leader of the BC Liberal Party.   British Columbia was badly polarized. Social Credit held one side and the NDP the other. It had been twelve years, 1975, since Liberal MLAs Garde Gardom, Pat McGeer, and Alan Williams had walked away from their party to join Social Credit, one year after the lone Progressive Conservative MLA Hugh Curtis had abandoned his party to sit with Bill Bennett, the son and heir apparent to long-serving BC Premier, WAC Bennett.   An unwritten agreement by the biggest Canadian political shareholders, the federal Liberals and Conservatives, decided that if British Columbia was to remain a lucrative franchise from a revenue perspective, they couldn’t risk splitting the electoral vote and electing the real enemy, the NDP, so no resources would be used to finance either a Liberal or Conservative party provincially.   “There are two sides to every street,” I was told by a very prominent Canadian businessman who cont

FORSETH: You Have To Be A Bit Crazy

  Ward and his wife Carleen celebrating his win on election night.   In March of this year, I took on the role of Campaign Manager for BC Conservative candidate Ward Stamer.  It’s the third time I’ve had the opportunity as I took on the role for Peter Sharp in 2013, and for Dennis Giesbrecht in 2020. Now let me tell you, in the past, a BC Conservative campaign team generally consisted of myself, the candidate and one or two helpers – and very little in the way of a campaign budget. Thankfully, a benefit of having spent 30+ years in the broadcast media afforded me the ability to do ad copy and write candidate speeches, and prep both Dennis and Peter to deal with the media – it’s also something I have always enjoyed. That was part of my duties this time around as well, however having a team of a dozen and a half volunteers meant that for the first time we had people available to ID our supporters, put together and install campaign signs, distribute campaign literature, and help out at ou

Rustad will support policy for 'everyday' people, otherwise work to bring down NDP

  Conservative Party of B.C. John Rustad Tuesday (Oct. 29) said his party would support government policies that support "average, everyday working" persons in B.C., but also repeated earlier promises to bring down the B.C. NDP government under Premier David Eby. "If there are things that are moved forward that will improve lives for those people, we would be looking at support it," Rustad said. "But if he's going to carry forward with the destructive policies that he has, then yes, we are going to look at every opportunity possible to bring him down as soon as possible."  CLICK HERE for the full story

Labels

Show more