VICTORY! BUT THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES! Thanks To All You Who Participated in Our Cyber Campaign. Eugene Plawiuk
Friday, July 16, 1999
Council pulls plug on EPCOR sale
7-6 vote keeps utility for city
By MARK COOPER, EDMONTON SUN
The power will stay with the people - at least for now.
A nearly full chamber packed with seniors erupted in applause as
council voted 7-6 not to pursue the sale of EPCOR, the power
company owned by the city.
"I think what happened here today is a solid vote for the
company and for the people of EPCOR and the city is solidly
behind the future we have chartered for them," said EPCOR
CEO Don Lowry.
Lowry spoke confidently of the company's long-term viability
during a sometimes animated debate that required Coun. Leroy
Chahley to ask the audience not to clap or hiss.
But Lowry warned short-term uncertainty from industry
deregulation could mean a temporary dividend drop from the $67
million EPCOR paid to the city last year.
He said his employees should take the decision as a vote of
confidence but warned them of the days ahead.
"The customers with their dollars are going to vote who they're
going to go with. Nobody has got jobs for life or guarantees here.
It was simply a vote of confidence to proceed, to compete."
The defeated motion was to have city administration and EPCOR
prepare a company profile that council could then send out to
gauge interest from prospective buyers.
Coun. Brian Mason said councillors didn't buy the proposition it
was simply a fact-finding mission.
"I think people saw through that. They saw that people were
trying to convince us to take the next step down the privatization
road," said Mason, who lobbied at the last minute to win Coun.
Larry Langley's swing vote.
Langley said he made his decision at the lunch recess.
"I just felt the (motion) ... was really a step towards selling," said
Langley. "I didn't feel we should take that step until we've made
the decision. Do we want to sell?"
But Coun. Jim Taylor, who made the amended motion, said all he
wanted was information. So did Mayor Bill Smith.
"I didn't see anything wrong with trying to get some more
information," said Smith. "However, seven people felt they had
enough and didn't want to deal with it any more. That's their
decision. I respect that."
While sale options are dead now, a councillor from the winning
side could change his or her mind and bring it up again. After a
year, anybody can suggest it.
But Coun. Michael Phair has made a motion to direct
administration not to spend time on the issue until council's term is
up in 2001. That will be voted on after city staff look at its
feasibility.
Friday, July 16, 1999
Same old struggle, say sale protesters
By NICOLE BERGOT, EDMONTON SUN
They got a charge out of yesterday's council decision not to
float EPCOR for sale, but opponents say the battle isn't done.
"The fight still goes on," said 76-year-old Bill Danyk, president of
the Edmonton and District Labour Council.
Council's 7-6 defeat is too close for comfort, said Danyk.
"EPCOR's a goldmine for the City of Edmonton because it will
continue to keep the tax rates down. Why sell it?" he said, after
joining more than 100 protesters - mostly seniors - denouncing
the motion on the steps of City Hall.
"I'm a Raging Granny and it seems like there's a few of these
councillors who are airheads," said 75-year-old Evelyn
Tomlinson, clad in the group's traditional white shawl and bonnet.
"They want profits right now and don't think of the future."
Many seniors recall the day Ed Tel was sold in the early '90s,
said Danyk. The sale of the phone company went sour for
ratepayers who saw taxes jump soon after, he said, "and we can
see what direction the city's still going."
Cheers and applause greeted Ivor Dent - mayor from 1968 to
1974 - who's calling for a plebiscite on the issue.
"If it's sold, our taxes are going to go up and the average person
isn't going to be able to own a home, making us a second-rate
city," said Dent. "You just don't sell a thriving business and turn it
into cash."
LETTER OF THE DAY EDMONTON SUN JULY 16<BR>
POWER FOR the people. An international campaign launched on the World Wide Web in opposition to the privatization of EPCOR has been a success, says Eugene Plawiuk, the Web activist who launched the page in January. "We have had our site linked to various international labour and activist sites," says Plawiuk. "There is an international campaign, linked at our page, opposing the trend towards the privatization of public utilities." Plawiuk says that activists from around the world have been responding to the page and have been encouraged to e-mail protests opposing the sale of EPCOR by city council. "There are international campaigns opposing the privatization of electrical and water utilities being conducted in Europe and South Africa, they understand the seriousness of losing public utilities to private companies," says Plawiuk. "The whole world is watching Edmonton city council in its deliberations over EPCOR." A Web poll on the page shows 87% opposed to the privatization of EPCOR.
Eugene Plawiuk
(Not us. We support privatization.)
Power For The People Stop the Privatization of Edmonton Power (EPCOR) http://www.labournet.ca/epcor.html Lobby City Council/Vote in Our Poll/Join the Discussion mirrored at: http://www.connect.ab.ca/~plawiuk/epcor.html