According to Martin and Hoffman (2008) in Chapter 7, “In Service of
Globalization,” the impulse towards globalization is clearly manifested in the
continuously expanding development of Manitoba’s hydroelectric system in order
to serve increasingly distant extraprovincial markets. In Chapter 6, “Elites’
Survival and Natural Resources Exploitation in Nigeria and Niger,” Thorp et al.
(2004), Yvan Guichaoua focuses his study on the behavior of political elites in
the resource rich African countries in the post colonial era, which coincides
with industrial extraction of oil and uranium respectively (p. 131).
The growing demand for electricity in Quebec and the Midwestern United
States is influencing this impulse towards globalization evident in Manitoba
Hydro’s present and long-term exogenous development goals. Since 2001, non-domestic sales have accounted
for anywhere from 33 to 42 percent of total system sales. Thus it is clear the
limitation of a transmission system built primarily to meet local, or at best,
regional loads, but which is increasingly being called upon to handle
intercontinental bulk power transfers, is the reason for the push to build
Bipole 3 (pp. 146-149).
According to Thorp et al. in Nigeria
and Niger, centralism is a common characteristic that tends to weaken the
grassroots politics that might be the basis of a different endogenous
development strategy (p. 168). In Nigeria, corporate interest holding the
natural resource cash tap gives critical leverage for controlling the national
political game (p. 151). In the case of Niger, post-colonial Niger had a
resource France wanted dearly, which it sold to its colonial ruler as part of a
bundled transaction involving mechanisms aiming to preserve incumbent elites,
including aid, technical assistance, and military cooperation (p. 152).
Bradley and Hoffman (2008) state the key difference between hydro
development in Quebec and Manitoba is the politically destructive
project-by-project and community-by-community negotiating style that has long
characterized provincial-Aboriginal relations in Manitoba. Thus, unlike in the
case of the Paix Des Braves, Hydro and the province of Manitoba continue to
deal with each and every community as a separate entity on a project-by-project
basis. The implications of this strategy are best appreciated by comparing
negotiations in Manitoba with those in Quebec, and specifically, with the 2004
Les Paix Des Braves agreement, which has been described as a ‘true
partnership’. In contrast, the absolute inequality in Manitoba stems from the
insistence on the part of Hydro that individual agreements be consummated
between the company and various northern Aboriginal communities (pp. 151-152).
According to Bradley and Hoffman (2008), the project-by-project and
community-by-community strategy also confronts individual communities with a
remarkable reality: by becoming business partners, they are, in effect,
agreeing to perpetuate ecological damages that are a functional part of the
project’s operation. In this respect, Aboriginal communities become
participants in the continued degradation of an ecology that could support a
traditional land-based way of life. However, according to The Honorable Tim
Sale, Minister of Energy, Science and Technology, hydro development is green
energy and contributes to meeting our national climate change targets (Kyoto)
by helping to displace fossil fuel generation (pp.151-155).
According to Thorp et al. (2004), a system where economic
distribution is primarily oriented towards the reproduction of political elites
is likely to be detrimental to the consolidation of a developmental state (p.
136). In Nigeria, despite the oil profits, the standard of living for the
general population has not improved; the GDP per capita is roughly the same as
it was in 1970. Favoritism and corruption are symptoms of rentier behaviors
encouraged by oil specialization (p. 139). Indigenous people are not consulted
and decisions are made from above (p. 145). The Niger delta has been a
particularly volatile pocket of political and social upheaval with its share of
ransoms, trafficking, and human rights abuses.
A redefinition of the Aboriginal role in hydro development in
Manitoba is required. It is necessary to
consider Aboriginal people as a resource to be developed, as inhabitants of the
lands being developed, with title to these lands and rights equal to all
others, they must be a part of the consultation process as well as have a share
in the projects and the profits derived from them. This would inevitably contribute to securing
better social health for the province in the future. According to Hoffman and
Bradley (2008), a reasonable first step in reversing the downward spiral faced by
these communities would be to abandon the divisive “business only” approach
employed by provincial authorities and establish meaningful nation-to-nation
dialogue in the next round of dam building (p. 164).
According to Thorp et al. (2004), more social movement and a push
for decentralization are needed to stop the civil unrest in Niger. Young
Tauregs (Nigerians) were promised the creation of municipalities and 25 percent
of the riches produced locally, but the promise was never fulfilled. In Nigeria, the behavior of oil companies is
determined by political elites in power who prevent the creation of strong
institutions to control environmental damage and create
transparency (pp.188-191).
No comments:
Post a Comment