What is a, ‘Boondoggle’? A Boondoggle is defined as a, ‘work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value.’ or in use as a verb, ‘waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects.’ See where I’m going with this? Yesterday the Province announced they will – albeit it seems a little reluctantly – Site C Dam will be built at a cost a staggering $10.7 billion dollars – That’s up from the original cost estimate of $8.3 billion. What Premier Horgan dislikes more was a $4 billion dollar bill had they cancelled the project. Also had the building been stopped, the premier says hydro rates for all British Columbians would continue to climb rapidly and that $4 billion would be better spent on other major projects in the province. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver called it, ‘An NDP Boondoggler’ but it won’t break the current alliance the Greens have the with Province. It was a tough decision for the NDP and no matter what they did, there would be critics – and there are critics on either side of the fence. Paying $10.7 billion to stop money from continually flying out of our pockets – hydro bills in this case – isn’t what I call a, ‘Boondoggle’. Sounds more like it’s called long tern thinking and planning. Looking at Infrastructure, healthcare and housing, it looks like someone finally looked forward to the future of this province.
Neil
(nmorrison@pulsefm.ca)