Editor,
With all due respect to Mayor Kentner, by previously jumping into a conditional willing host agreement without any real public consultation, Meaford Council gave up any meaningful control or power over the TC Energy (TCE) Pumped Storage Project.
However, going forward, Meaford could regain some control over the project when TCE prepares to build a concrete plant, transmission line or other project infrastructure outside of the Federal DND military base.
Here is a previously reported insight into how TC Energy uses strategic tactics to make it easier to advance their projects:
What was leaked
Recordings of two internal TC Energy meetings, one in February and a March “lunch and learn” for about 150 external relations staff across North America, have been reported by the National Post, The Guardian, and The Narwhal. In the March session, an executive who has since resigned, described a seven-part playbook for influencing governments, shaping public opinion, and discrediting project opponents. It includes a local “ground game.”
The Meaford connection
The leaked recordings implicate TC Energy in a concerted application of these strategic statics to influence our local governments and sway public opinion about the pumped storage project.
In the recordings, Liam Iliffe, then a senior executive in external relations, said the head of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) had praised TC Energy’s “great ground game” on the proposed Meaford pumped storage project. He specifically cited its local public relations and municipal lobbying in Meaford and Owen Sound. Executives celebrated winning conditional support from Owen Sound and from the host community, the Municipality of Meaford.
The recordings suggest that Meaford, Saugeen Ojibway Nation, Owen Sound, Grey County, and other communities were all targets of these tactics.
Why this matters here
1. Possible political interference
TC Energy will likely say this is ordinary lobbying. Legally, political interference usually requires unlawful acts such as bribery, coercion, or a breach of the Lobbying Act. But has TC Energy crossed the line?
The Meaford Mayor was once opposed to the project. He has said that a conversation with then Energy Minister Todd Smith at the January 2023 ROMA Conference changed his position. He has described being told the project would go ahead with or without his support, and that he should “get on board.” Was this one of the “ground game” successes?
Doubts about the independence of the IAAC process
The IAAC is the federal body responsible for independent environmental and socio-economic reviews of major projects. Meaford, Owen Sound, and Grey County each passed resolutions supporting the project on the condition that it undergo environmental impact assessment. They are relying on the federal process, under the Impact Assessment Act, to protect the Niagara Escarpment and Georgian Bay’s drinking water.
That process only works if it is, and is seen to be, independent. The IAAC head’s reported praise for TC Energy’s “ground game” in Meaford raises questions about how close the relationship is between the company and its regulator.
Should Meaford Council really deal with an Alberta based fossil fuel corporation that uses these tactics and has a dubious track record of many government violation fines over the years in North America?
Finally, this reader would like to know who Bruce Mason really is. No one seems to know him and he appears to be untraceable.
Could this name just be a pseudonym for a TC Energy employee or agent writing letters to discredit project opposition and praise the TCE Pumped Storage Project? The ridiculous claims and rabid attacks on opponents of the project seem to indicate this.
Best Regards,
Mike McTaggart, Meaford
**Editor’s Note: As for who is Bruce Mason – I can assure you that he is real, he is a Meaford resident, and I have met and spoken to him on a handful of occasions over the years when he has stopped into our office, or I have bumped into him downtown.
