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What is the motive for building a dam?

Anyone that thinks that Fortis Generation is doing this to benefit the Similkameen Valley is grievously wrong.

Dear Editor:

In her radio interview of April 1st., Ms Sulentich took great pains to point out that Fortis Generation was its own entity within Fortis Inc.

Fortis Generation is an investor group with its own agenda, using investorsʼ money for projects.

This being the case what is the motivation for building a dam? Profit, pure and simple, and how is this to be achieved? By building a dam for power generation. Who benefits from this profit? Fortis Generation

The proposed dam will do everything that dams are supposed to do; store water, regulate water flow and produce electricity but to whose benefit? The public erroneously thinks that these uses would somehow benefit them, but in this case it will not.

The Similkameen River is part of the Columbia River System. We know that the U.S. is energy hungry and needs more. The extrapolation can be made that the flow and storage of water is for the benefit of the Fortis Generation investor. They will adjust the river (comprising its integrity) to allow the water flow as needed and sell this water to the U.S. for the generation of electricity.

Anyone that thinks that Fortis Generation is doing this to benefit the Similkameen Valley is grievously wrong. Why provide something for free? Altruism is not part of an investors make up. People need to examine and to analyze motives, not everything is so straight forward.

M.Masiel, Princeton.