Thanks to Paul Willcocks for his column in the Nov. 9 Citizen. It seems the B.C. government has been using some very creative accounting to show BC Hydro having hundreds of millions in profit where in fact they had a near $250 million loss last year.
This playing fast and loose with the numbers has been going on for years and they have now hidden away more than $2 billion in expenses that is going to need to be dealt with some time in the future.
The B.C. government looks to Hydro for over half a billion dollars in dividends each year. And the management at Hydro wants their hefty bonuses. Showing a loss at Hydro would make this tough. So just defer a bunch of expense into the future and everything is great. B.C.'s auditor general has told them to stop but they have no intention of quitting. Anyone who watches TV, reads a paper or listens to the radio has to know the mess countries like Greece and Italy are in.
Well folks, give your heads a shake, because this is exactly how they got in that mess.
Governments kept taking on obligations and deferring the costs of those obligations into the future. The piper is there wanting to be paid in Europe right now and we aren't far behind if our governments keep this sort of financing up.
It's all about winning the next election and it is no way to run a government.
John Warner
Prince George
