• Several people have asked about the “mysterious fire” in Saanich early Wed. morning. The video seems to indicate a potential involvement with the smeter. At 0.34 you can see the meter base with the missing meter. Why was the meter missing? The investigation is ongoing. At 1.:12 you can see well the smoke and smudgy soot going up from the smeter to the roof. This is typical of smeter fires, where the fire goes up to the roof and travels from there, very quickly. The firemen said the fire was raging and fully engaged by the time they got there. The talk of possible arson is due to the fact that the fire started on the outside of the home. I will be investigating but it will take months to get reports, and since the meter is gone, it is highly unlikely any info. about its possible involvement will not be addressed.

http://www.cheknews.ca/fire-saanich-house-overnight-119909/

 

• Coldstream/Greater Vernon and Reg. District of No. Okanagan areas getting $$mart water meters. Time to demand proof of safety and cost savings.

http://globalnews.ca/news/2291773/greater-vernon-water-meters-set-to-become-smart/

 

Regional District of North Okanagan – Water Meter Improvement Program – October 20, 2015:

– http://www.rdno.ca/index.php/news/announcements/water-meter-improvement-program-oct-2015

 

• Update from the Olympic peninsula group the planned EMR wargames by the US Navy. As you know we still have heard of no involvement by either the Federal or Provincial governments about this action which will inevitably affect wide areas of BC. May I suggest we immediately contact the newly elected MPs, perhaps the Prime minister-elect himself. We need help by our governments to raise attention about how this will affect us and our homes.

 

• Dear Friends and Colleagues,

  We would like to bring your attention to the publication of a new Navy document: the Final EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) for Northwest Training and Testing (http://nwtteis.com).    While impacts from the Growler jets, the Electronic Warfare Range, and the Northwest Training and Testing are all functionally connected, they have been separated into multiple documents covering an area from Northern California to Alaska.

  The latest EIS is unlawful and fatally flawed for a number of significant reasons, listed briefly below. These are explained in detail in a Joint Memorandum by the West Coast Action Alliance and the Olympic Forest Coalition. It was sent to senior Navy officials in Washington DC and the Pacific Northwest, selected federal and state legislators and County Commissions in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, plus city councils on the north Olympic Peninsula, and a variety of other organizations and individuals. Supporting materials can be found on the WCAA web site at: http://westcoastactionalliance.org

  Reasonable concerns by the public have long been ignored, and this controversy intensifies by the day. For example, Congressman Derek Kilmer requested several months ago that the Navy undertake a “neutral” sound study on the effects of jet noise over Olympic National Park, under the auspices of the Federal Interagency Committee on Aviation Noise (FICAN).    But the Navy ignored his request and reconstituted an old study using data that applied to Prowler jets, which are no longer being flown and are less powerful and less noisy than Growlers. They inserted that old study in the new EIS and claimed “no significant impacts” on the soundscapes of Olympic National Park.

  The reasons we believe the latest EIS is unlawful and fatally flawed are:

• Failure to provide reasonable notice to the public
• Failure to provide adequate comment process
• Failure to address functionally connected activities and their cumulative impacts
• Failure to adequately consider impacts to Olympic National Park’s World Heritage designation Failure to wait until completion of Final EIS and Record of Decision before initiating actions

We believe that the government should follow federal law and policy, and that it is neither unpatriotic nor unreasonable for citizens to ask them to do so.

What can you do?

• Read the joint memorandum and its attached letter from UNESCO on the WCAA web site;
• Write letters to your elected representatives; a list is here: http://westcoastactionalliance.org/location
• Write letters to the editors of local papers;
• Finally, consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Olympic Peninsula Protection Fund. Monies will be used for advocacy, outreach, and legal defense. You can use PayPal here (http://olympicforest.org/?page_id=121) or write a check to: Olympic Forest Coalition, PO Box 461, Quilcene, WA 98376.

The West Coast Action Alliance invites you to respond to this email or submit comments. However, on the advice of counsel, we cannot commit to preparing responses or answering questions in this forum.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

The West Coast Action Alliance and the Olympic Forest Coalition

• We have had trouble getting information requests honoured by BC Hydro. They refuse, delay, and obfuscate and even after lodging official complaints to the Privacy Commissioner it is virtually impossible to get information. Everything is “private” due to a 3^rd party, or to protect their financial interests. Who is this 3^rd party? And their financial interests are our financial interests. Let them not forget they work for us.  Other depts. too are being investigated. This was broadcast on Victoria’s radio station CKNW.

 

“BC Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham says staff in 2 government ministries & Office of the Premier failed to fulfill Freedom-of-Information duties. Denham says, “I have recommended that government make a technical fix to stop employees from permanently deleting emails.”  Denham says a staffer in the Transportation Ministry admitted to deleting emails after lying under oath. The file has been turned over to the RCMP to investigate.”

 

• Be advised that BC Hydro seems to be getting desperate and is looking for any way to get smeters on our homes. As some members have found out, Hydro is playing with rules, charging that for one reason or another that a meter must be changed. One was saying that a person can have only one account with a $$meter. I could find nothing in the Tariff, which is the contract, written by Hydro, which stipulates what we must do and what Hydro can do. Now someone has been told that 18 months ago they signed a letter saying they agreed to a $$meter. This person wisely asked for a copy and lodged a complaint with BCUC, which said:

Commission staff review all submitted information using the following criteria:

 Has the utility reasonably responded to the customer’s concern(s)?

1. Has the utility followed its Tariff and the Utilities Commission Act?

• Non-smeter but major for this farmer. And the health problems that are associated with living under powerlines are serious.

http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/dawson-creek/rancher-sues-bc-hydro-over-dcat-line-1.2090221

 

• From a member:

This afternoon in Delta, I watched a man walking thru a neighbourhood reading/checking meters. The problem is that ALL of the homes in that neighbourhood are already equipped with SMeters.

Why is there someone going house to house with a hand computer collecting data from SMeters?

He was wearing a very commercial dark blue jump suit but I saw no insignia or his vehicle, but I recognized the computer as the very same one Hydro meter readers generally carry for gathering analog readings.

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Letters:

From: X
Sent: October 22, 2015 1:11 PM
To: premier@gov.bc.ca
Cc: john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca; mike.farnworth.mla@leg.bc.ca; adrian.dix.mla@leg.bc.ca; bill.bennett.mla@leg.bc.ca; complaints@bcuc.com
Subject: BC Hydro Legacy Meter Charge

Dear Premier Clark:

Approximately half of my hydro bill consists of the Legacy Meter Charge.  This is outrageous and extremely unfair for those of us who have refused to have a device installed on our homes that is a fire hazard, has the ability to invade our privacy, is vulnerable to hacking, and is a health hazard.

By now you have received ample and credible documentation regarding the above concerns that any prudent government would reconsider the decision to implement this program.  At the very least, the legacy meter charge should be reduced to a small amount such as was done in many other jurisdictions.  To charge $73.50 to read a meter is nothing but a brutal attempt to coerce people to accept a “smart” meter.

Sincerely,

X

—————————

From: XX
Sent: October 21, 2015 2:11 PM
To: greg.reimer@bchydro.com; Jessica.mcdonald@bchydro.com; brad.bishop@bchydro.com; smartmeter@bchydro.com; patrick.wruck@bcuc.com; Complaints BCUC:EX <complaints@bcuc.com>
Cc: jessop@shaw.ca; Sharon Noble <dsnoble@shaw.ca>; bill.routley.mla@leg.bc.ca
Subject: BC Hydro continual harassment

Hi,

I am writing to ask all of you why BC Hydro is continuing to harass me in the matter of a smart meter. Yesterday I received the attached phone mail message (forgive the sound quality; my phone and answering machine are of elderly, non-transmitting vintage) from BC Hydro. It refers to my complaint to BCUC about having been given a smart meter while I was paying for an analog, and says that they cannot discuss it with me because I am only a renter.

BC Hydro has had my landlord’s letter on file (snail-mailed, signed) for over a year now, giving permission for me to speak with them on this matter. Is BC Hydro so disorganized that they have lost it? Or should I assume the employee who called me is so poor at his job that he never thought to check? Surely BC Hydro cannot be destroying documents, now?

The phone message says I need to get my landlord to send a letter to BCUC.  Why on earth is BC Hydro telling me what BCUC requires?  And if BCUC does in fact need its own version of the letter why didn’t BCUC themselves mention that fact to me in their own reply to me. I told them I was renting and that BC Hydro already had an authorization letter and no-one at BCUC asked me for a second authorization.  (Today I asked my longsuffering landlord to send BCUC a copy of his original letter to BC Hydro).

I am left to conclude that this is just another obfuscating move on the part of BC Hydro as they have forced this smart meter on me and denied me my rights, granted under the Canadians with Disabilities Act, to expect reasonable accommodation for my environmental illness. Leaving me with an analog electric meter is perfectly “reasonable” when others in the locale are still receiving and keeping their analog meters. Why has BC Hydro decided to persecute me in particular?

What more can I do? This is flagrant abuse by a corporation.

Sincerely,
XX

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Newsletter prepared by Sharon Noble