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Those who care back east-side route for hydro line: poll

By: Bruce Owen

Posted: 07/8/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies) | Last Modified: 07/8/2010 1:26 PM | Updates

BIPOLE, schmipole.

That the gist of a new poll of the public's views on Manitoba Hydro's plan to build a new transmission line down the west side of the province.

About the poll

This province-wide survey was conducted by Probe Research Inc. via telephone interviews June 8-25 among a random and representative sampling of 1,000 Manitoba adults. With a sample of 1,000, one can say with 95 per cent certainty that the results are accurate to within 3.1 per cent of what they would have been if the entire adult population of Manitoba had been interviewed.

The Probe Research survey of 1,000 Manitobans found the majority (59 per cent) have largely ignored the Bipole III debate. To be more specific, 21 per cent said they have not paid much attention and 38 per cent said they know little about the issue.

But Probe spokesman Curtis Brown said Wednesday the more telling numbers are in who's paying attention to the political debate and what they think.

He said the poll found that more than half of the 40 per cent of Manitobans who are following the ongoing debate want the $1.1-billion transmission line built down a shorter and cheaper east side route.

That position is in keeping with the position of Hugh McFadyen's Progressive Conservatives, who say the western route is a key example of wasteful spending by the NDP. They argue a cheaper route down the east side of Lake Winnipeg would provide just as big a benefit to the province in export hydro sales.

"It's not just Tory supporters following the issue," Brown said. "There's a broader constituency."

The line is being built over the next decade to deliver more power generated by Manitoba's new hydro dams to customers in the United States. It will run south from Gillam down the west side of the province to the new Riel converter station being built just east of Winnipeg. There are already two lines running from the north delivering power, but a third is needed to build up reliability in the system and increase export sales.

The NDP want the line built down the west side of the province to protect the east-side boreal forest in a bid to have it declared a UN World Heritage site. The eastern route would cut a 60-metre swath through pristine forest and muskeg, while the western route would follow a more developed path close to Thompson and The Pas.

The poll found of the 40 per cent following the Bipole debate, more than half (54 per cent ) reject the provincial government's decision to build the line through western Manitoba. Only 26 per cent were in favour of the west side route. Four per cent said that neither route should be followed and 16 per cent were undecided or did not state a preference.

Tory Hydro critic Rick Borotsik (Brandon West) said those numbers are positive for the Tories because those who are paying attention to the debate are also more likely to vote.

"That 40 per cent will increase as time goes on as the final route is chosen," Borotsik said, adding that's when people will see its direct impact. Manitoba Hydro is to announce its preferred route for the line soon. That will be followed by a fourth and final round of public consultation before the plan is submitted to regulatory authorities for environmental approval. An Environment Act licence is needed by the fall of 2012 to meet an in-service date of 2017.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 8, 2010 A4

History

Updated on Thursday, July 8, 2010 at 1:26 PM CDT:
26 per cent were in favour of the west side route.

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