The week of April 19th has seen question period in the BC legislature focus on issues arising from Province columnist Mike Smyth's revelation that the BC Rail contract is for 990 years. Joy MacPhail and Jenny Kwan asked about contradictions between what the Campbell government told the public and what has been discovered in the contract. The government backbench wasted most of question period with questions they first rehearsed in their caucus room.

Backbench questions are usually of the form "Minister, can you tell me how good you were to my constituents today?" Victoria-Beacon Hill MLA Jeff Bray broke that pattern when he launched into an attack on the Suzuki Foundation saying:

"a couple weeks ago, friends of the opposition, the Suzuki Foundation, came out and actually were opposed to the hydrogen highway. Certainly, my research into the topic has suggested that large-scale production of hydrogen fuel cells can reduce greenhouse emissions, and, in fact fuel-cell powered cars have zero emissions. I'm wondering, given both the economic benefits - because we have high-tech industry here - as well as environmental benefits to large scale hydrogen fuel plants, can the Minister of Energy and Mines tell me why anybody, including the Suzuki Foundation, would be against the hydrogen highway project?"

Bray's question set the stage for Minister of Energy and Mines, Richard Neufeld, to launch into a mini-lecture on the great vision of Premier Campbell. The Mustel Group poll released April 21st shows that Campbell's disapproval rating has now reached 61%. Apparently, not everyone is thrilled with his "vision". The poll also showed that the NDP leads the BC Liberals in the Victoria area. Jeff Bray will be running against NDP leader Carole James in the May 17, 2005 election. That constituency is known for their passion for environmental issues. It is bizarre that Bray would misrepresent the Suzuki Foundation and portray it as "friends of the opposition". It is as if the Campbell Liberals are campaigning against themselves.

On April 1st the Suzuki Foundation issued a news release that warned that hydrogen fueled vehicles are not necessarily more environmentally friendly if the hydrogen is produced from dirty fuels. It advocated for hydrogen to be produced from solar or wind power. It went on to urge the federal government to enact requirements for improved vehicle efficiency. According to the Suzuki Foundation "a more affordable and practical solution to the immediate problem of climate change and air pollution is to improve fuel efficiency standards for cars. Recent studies have shown vehicle efficiency can be boosted 50 to 70 per cent with a five per cent increase in cost."

Bray didn't display any understanding of the Suzuki Foundation's position. If he had bothered to do any research on hydrogen power he would have discovered that natural gas is the most common fuel stock used to produce hydrogen. That makes hydrogen fueled vehicles less clean than Bray seems to believe. The next time he rushes to attack the Suzuki Foundation he might find it useful to do a simple Google search, better yet he should support the Foundation and turn his attention to his government's misrepresentation of the BC Rail deal.