Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia), March 26, 2007

PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE ON TRIAL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

[Rachel's introduction: In British Columbia, the Tsawwassen indigenous people have gone to court to try to stop a major electric power line from crossing their land. They are using precautionary arguments.]

By Andrew A Duffy, Times Colonist

Day one of the B.C. Court of Appeal hearings into the $230-million Vancouver Island Transmission Reinforcement project dealt a blow to Tsawwassen residents hoping to re-route the work.

A three-judge panel ruled it will not consider whether existing right- of-way agreements permit the construction of new overhead transmission lines in Tsawwassen, as it felt the question does not fall within its jurisdiction.

That means the only question the court will consider is whether the precautionary principle must be applied by the B.C. Utilities Commission when rendering decisions on projects such as this one.

The precautionary principle says when there is an element of doubt -- as in questions of whether high-voltage power lines increase the risk of developing cancers -- courts should err on the side of safety.

The panel heard the submission from the Tsawwassen Residents Against High Voltage Overhead Lines Monday, and on Tuesday will hear from project proponent B.C. Transmission Corp.

"That came as a surprise to us," said corporation spokeswoman Donna McGeachie of the dismissal of the right-of-way issue. "We were anticipating it would be discussed."

The Court of Appeal has suggested its ruling will be released within three weeks.

The project intends to replace the aging, 51-year-old power lines that link Vancouver Island to the mainland's electricity grid.

B.C. Transmission Corp. has said the old submerged cables, which provide about 10 per cent of the electricity to Vancouver Island, will be unreliable after the fall of this year.

The new lines, which will carry five times as much electricity as the unreliable old ones, are expected to be in service by October 2008.

Copyright 2007 CanWest Interactive