In Kristin Annable’s article (Hydro taking heat over large contract, March 2) she quotes Manitoba spokesman Bruce Owen’s justification for an untendered $85-million contract as "the best people were in place so we’d be getting the best bang for our buck." How could this be concluded without a request for proposals? Brian Pallister is correct "that government needs to set a proper tone at the top." Pallister is not alone in questioning Manitoba Hydro and the NDP’s accountability.
Former premier Ed Schreyer and Will Tishinski, a former vice-president of Manitoba Hydro, have joined critics of this unchecked spending spree. Both men, now in their 80s, are vocal critics of the current energy strategy. Both command our attention because their own careers shaped Hydro’s growth strategy.
Schreyer was quoted in the Free Press last year, saying: "We can’t recklessly start multibillion-dollar projects that have hopeless revenue-expense ratios and hope this will somehow turn out for the best." Tishinski, during a recent luncheon address to Winnipeggers, provided a brilliant historical synopsis of the escalating costs of Manitoba Hydro’s expansion.