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Old Posted Dec 20, 2007, 1:58 PM
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East-side power line supported in new report
Province risks international uproar over boreal forest
Thu Dec 20 2007

By Mary Agnes Welch

THERE are good reasons to build a massive new power line down the east side of Manitoba instead of the west side but the province risks turning the boreal forest into an international "cause celebre" if it does, according to a new report released Wednesday night.

The NDP government and the Tory opposition faced off again yesterday evening at a Crown corporations committee meeting -- normally mundane gatherings that have taken on new life thanks to the power-line debate.

On the table between the cabinet ministers, opposition critics and MLAs was a new study done by CMC Consultants that recapped many of the east-versus-west arguments that have dominated the legislature for the last several months.

The NDP government has decreed that a third power line connecting northern dams to southern customers should be built down the west side of Lake Manitoba rather than the east side of Lake Winnipeg. That's despite the fact that the west-side route is "the longest, most expensive and least useful in an emergency operation," according to the consultants.

The NDP favours the western route because it wants to preserve the boreal forest on the east side. The government is making a bid to turn that forest into a UNESCO world heritage site.

The consultants' report, which makes no firm recommendations, said building a power line down the east side wouldn't necessarily kill the province's bid for a UNESCO site. And it highlighted some similar environmental issues on the west side that no one has studied properly yet, like a forest reserve near the Saskatchewan River.

It also noted that First Nations opposition to a line down the east side may be wavering -- something the Tories have been arguing for months.

Premier Gary Doer has said repeatedly that his 2004 consultations with the dozen-or-so bands on the east side revealed deep opposition to the line. But the consultants said that view is far from unanimous and they noted that some First Nations appear willing to discuss a line if it comes with economic opportunities.

Also at issue is the lobbying heft of international environmental groups and whether they would make the preservation of the forest the focus of a well-funded global campaign. That's Doer's fear, and the consultants said it's a genuine possibility, especially if First Nations are unanimous and are allied with environmental groups.

But Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen said he's not convinced a global outcry is a foregone conclusion, especially if the pros and cons on each option are laid out clearly for the public. And he said he listens more to people who live in the boreal forest, like aboriginal groups, than he does to Cape Cod environmentalists, a shot at activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has demanded the forest's preservation.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
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