david nicholson's

A Window on Westmount Ville Marie

The need to know...the right to know...and hydro.
by Christopher C. Goodfellow B.A., M.B.A.
Montreal largely back on line, but think of all those VCRs going "12:00"

A Window on the ICE Storm Wednesday Night

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westweb |------David T. Nicholson |-------

My tribute to all those wonderful people who are fighting the storm.
from Harry Mayerovitch

Tuesday 5 May 1998 Standing together against Hydro Battle erupts over power line
Tuesday 5 May 1998 Place Bonaventure sold Landmark complex bought by U.S. investors' group, Montreal businessman
Monday 16 February 1998 Mountain of destruction 'I felt like crying,' says tourist after seeing ice-storm damage on Mount Royal during a guided tour by non-profit group by JONATHON GATEHOUSE
Wednesday 11 February 1998 Political storm follows ice storm DON MACPHERSON
The Ice Storm by Hon Lucienne Robillard

Wednesday, January 14th, #828

ICE

Not surprisingly, the subject matter of this Wednesday Night was dictated by the events of the previous nine days. Inevitably, guests swapped stories of their experiences during

THE ICE STORM OF THE MILLENNIUM as they gathered in the candle-lit rooms.

Politicians

A number of politicians, including Lucien Bouchard and Jean Chrétien have enhanced their standing through their public pronouncements and presence. Mayor Bourque, despite doing the right thing by flying home from Asia, has not managed to look effective, but has reminded people by his actions, of Jean Doré's absence during the great July flood when he was Mayor. Some hitherto unknowns have attracted highly favourable attention including the Mayors of St.-Jean and Boucherville. Federal/Provincial relationships have been cordial, supportive and correct.

The Army

Some guests queried the powers accorded to the Army personnel (powers of arrest) and wondered if this was not a suspension of civil liberties. At what point was the Charter of Rights repealed, or the War Measures Act invoked? They were reminded that the current status was enforced by decree, not act of Parliament and the military personnel are unarmed. Clearly the military help was needed in this crisis. Military personnel must have authority during times of crisis. Furthermore, the Army has been welcomed by the population in general, has been incredibly helpful and polite, particularly with the elderly and young children in the shelters. It is a good image for children to see soldiers helping rather than shooting. One guest, recently returned from Paris, recounted that in the Paris Métro he frequently saw clumps of soldiers, fully armed. Nobody gave them a second glance. He wondered why Canadians are so paranoid about a military presence? Québec is the worst.

In Westmount, the Royal Montreal Regiment was involved as the Mayor (Peter F. Trent) is Honorary Colonel, however not until after the Prime Minister had approved the use of the military in Québec.

Hydro

A comment that Hydro has not been reinvesting capital in infrastructures and that lines are in poor condition raised the question "Do we have the best hydro system in the world?" Hydro's History: Québec has encouraged the dependency on electrical power and in relative terms, we are heavily dependent (28%). There has been little encouragement of alternatives including co-generation. Hydro, as an instrument of the government is expected to be a huge money maker. We are spoiled by the low cost of electrical power.

Would people be prepared to absorb the higher rates necessitated by improvement? Over what period could these costs be amortized? What would be the effects on our bond ratings? Hydro's borrowing power is weakened by Québec's poor credit rating. The Province's debt is guaranteed. Hydro has a plan you can download. Part of the plan calls for Hydro to divert rivers to produce more power, a big chunk of which is for export to newly deregulated markets in the United States. Thursday 26 February 1998 Hydro unplugged

Improvements

A public statement that a storm like this could only happen once in 10,000 years is utterly ridiculous. We must start thinking now about how to respond to the next crisis. The safety factor of the pylons is far too low. We need better, stronger pylons. More underground distribution systems (Note that Westmount has 50% underground and fared better in the early days of the storm than cities like NDG with largely over-head distribution). What about the costs? But what about the cost of this storm??? Some estimate underground systems to be 5 times the cost. In the U.S. underground distribution is recommended. We should be looking at distribution underground for amounts under 4KB which would not be that expensive. We are not talking about the transmission system, nobody is suggesting that should be buried.

Apartment houses, shopping malls, community centres… must have supplementary power sources. Natural gas heating systems with pilot lights couldn't function because of electric thermostats. Simple solutions can be found. Car battery and inverter , with the inverter you can power the circulating pump.

New Business Opportunities

Wednesday Night, it is often said, should invest in a business. There are opportunities here… how to connect generators to power lines, gas and wood cooking and heating stoves, many other alternative energy options.

Westmount

The incredible efforts of the Westmount councilors, particularly Cynthia Lulham and Karen Marks at the shelters, the City Workers and volunteers were applauded. Numerous people made reference to the spirit of cooperation and neighborliness that had emerged during the storm and its aftermath.

WESTWEB is pleased to offer a link,to the Westmount Rotary Club site and to call attention to the splendid work of the Club during the Ice Storm. The Rotarians gave $50,000 for the purchase of 22 generators for the home-owners and farmers of two South Shore communities, St André d'Acton and St. Théodore d'Acton. The money had been raised during the past year through various fundraising efforts of the club. This is one more example of the tremendous community spirit of this fine organisation.

Someone wondered if a deal had been struck with Hydro in order to have our power restored early. Hydro was told that 60% would be sufficient for us to cope, however, we received 100%. However, while load shedding continues, Westmount must conserve energy. The Mayor has written to every household on this matter.

In response to a request for help from the Mayor of Montreal, Mayor Peter has agreed to help with snow removal in neighboring NDG. 30% of Montreal's equipment is damaged.

Given the contrast between the response of the City of Montreal to the crisis and that of numerous smaller cities and communities, it is unlikely that we will hear much about amalgamation for a long time!

Several sites offer answers that Hydro-Quebec would frown upon.

The union that represents workers at Hydro's research institute, for example, has a site (http://www.spsi.qc) featuring its position on the matter: it thinks Caille is moving much too quickly. It wants a public debate. The Grand Council of the Cree, which waged a successful campaign against the Great Whale hydroelectric project, is now up in arms against Hydro's latest plan, saying it threatens their land. Visit the council's site (http://www.gcc.ca) for details. For more Cree info, surf to the site (http://www.virtualfilm.com/power) set up to promote Power, a documentary film about the Crees' first campaign. The site includes links to many other sources, including The Nation, a Cree magazine, and environmental groups like Communications for a Sustainable Future. You can also visit the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee site (http://www.carc.org), featuring information about how previous Hydro projects have affected the North. A site called Canadian Sustainable Energy (http://www.web.net/newenergy) helps explain different power sources and why some are more efficient than others. It helped me understand how cogeneration works. If you're fed up with electricity, visit a U.S. site called the Virtual Home Energy Advisor for info about the most efficient heat sources. The site (http://eande.lbl.gov/CBS/VH) gives tips on buying furnaces and boilers, for example.

The Economy

The resident Technical Analyst remarked that traditional p/e multipliers do not apply in periods of disinflation or deflation.

One of our economists pointed out that the U.S. is at a peak of an economic cycle. Imports are dropping. The American dollar is performing well against most currencies. He believes the US dollar to be a safe currency.

Another expert suggested that the Swiss franc is not as independent as it once was. The DM and other Euro currencies will strengthen. Stability in the currency markets is expected. The U.S. dollar will probably trade at $1.37 Canadian.

Conclusion

Before the evening ended, Diana Nicholson read a moving description of the Storm written by Ida Zielinska, sister of Rafael, and a new guest this evening. Ida is a former student of David Mitchell, a talented writer and animator. David promised that her writing would be included in the westweb Ida Eva's page.

by Peter Trent

27 Nov BUNDLING UP FOR WINTER

22 Jan COMMUNITY WARMTH DE-ICES WESTMOUNT

To: letters@GlobeAndMail.ca
Sir:

"Montreal Readers Burning As Writer Fiddles With The Facts" would be more appropriate. I have long admired Jan Wong as a writer, but this time she got it all Wrong!
A letter to the Editor in today's paper has already stated the facts regarding Westmount's power company, so I need not reiterate them.
As a Westmount resident who twice had lengthy black outs in the past week (and we live on the same street as the Mayor Peter F. Trent), I can attest to the relatively even-handed treatment meted out by the storm and its aftermath. Westmount responded magnificently, City Councillors were towers of strength at the shelters, public safety crews have been - and continue to be - tireless and gifted with tact and good humour, local businesses have been generous to a point only matched by private citizens who have opened their houses, staffed the shelters, donated time, food, clothing, blankets....But, Westmount is not alone. All of the affected municipalities and their citizens are working together in general good humour and creativity.
We do not need an expat journalist to convey to your national audience a snide and totally false impression of unequal services and efforts available to individuals because of differences in their incomes, or to imply that somehow this is attributable to a difference in ethnic background.
And, by the way, what would Ms Wrong have said had the wealthier, but powerless families sought assistance in the shelters rather than paying for the lodging that they could afford?
Finally, it was an interesting note that the "welfare mother" was concerned about the computer and four televisions at home. Was that a necessary piece of information? We are all concerned about our homes and possessions when we have to leave them. Let us hope that more and more people will be able to return to their homes - and the guarding pets who have remained behind. The readers of the "national" newspaper deserve better from you.

CBC Radio, both of which have been magnificent sources of information, encouragement and fair-mindedness for their readers and listeners.

Diana Thébaud Nicholson
Westmount, Québec
Wednesday January 14th., 1998

Les mercredis,
le Wednesday, 14 janvier, 1998

A NIGHT at the ICE STORM

The need to know...the right to know...and hydro.
by Christopher C. Goodfellow B.A., M.B.A.

The blue-box recycling program in Toronto is far from the financial success
Competition would improve Hydro Jan22, 1998 Jay Bryan
Norman Webster - Reflections on a winter storm Jan 17
Wednesday 21 Jan Hydro out of control, critics say
20-hour days since last Monday
"We've asked for more beds and more blankets," After four days of temperatures hovering around the freezing point, it will start dropping about five degrees a day until it reaches minus-14 degree Celsius by Tuesday. While nearly half the residents of the island were without water, the Ville Marie tunnel was closed for part of the day because of flooding. In Baie d'Urfe, firefighters and public-works employees were pumping water out of basements where the power outage stopped sump pumps from working.
Full power weeks away
Where you can GO.
Sunday 11 January 1998 What a week! As relentless ice storms and sustained blackouts turned Montreal and surrounding areas into a disaster zone,
Jay Bryan - Economy will shrug off effects of ice storm
Jan 9th Globe story "The Ice Storm: A Beautiful Disaster" by Gary Gallon two stories
BLAME IT ON EL NINO Macleans
Peggy Curran - A thaw in big-city coolness Don't be a stranger after lights come up.
Pen, paper make comeback as writing tools Elizabeth Bromstein ..NEVER!
Our favorite Storm Story --- the liquor stores which are closed because their computerized inventory cannot function without power, so rather than record by hand what has been sold, they have opted to not open!

Who ever wanted to be a pioneer, eh? Peggy Curran Jan 17 ...Dogs make better house guests than cats.
$80 million drained daily Quebec companies have lost as much as $800 million as a result of the ice storm and its aftermath Storm paralyzed the city, not the people L. IAN MACDONALD Jan 16
Needed: up to 50,000 poles Westmount producer confident it can replace all downed hydro poles
Friday 30 January 1998 After the storm, the syndrome SUSAN SEMENAK