Mr. Speaker, in Powell River, one of the local communities I represent, two hydro dams provided a clean, reliable and cost-effective source of electricity for over 100 years. Their electricity powered the local pulp mill, created thousands of jobs and quite literally built this amazing and beautiful city. That was until the mill fell into financial trouble and was forced to sell the dams as distressed assets to Brookfield, the company that registers its subsidiaries in Bermuda and has avoided paying more than $6 billion in Canadian taxes.
Now we have found out it wants to use these amazing assets not to create Canadian jobs nor to power Canadian homes, but to export all of the electricity to the United States, with no benefit to the people of Powell River, B.C. or Canada. However, to export this power, it needs a permit from the federal government. That is why I am imploring it today, as the local elected representative, to deny this application.
Let us get back to putting the interests of Canada and the Canadian people first, instead of foreign-owned corporations.