{"id":7312,"date":"2015-12-10T11:27:14","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T18:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=7312"},"modified":"2015-12-10T11:28:48","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T18:28:48","slug":"letter-class-action-sought-vs-bc-hydros-smart-meters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=7312","title":{"rendered":"Letter: Class action sought vs BC Hydro&#8217;s smart meters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/blindjustice2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7314\" alt=\"blindjustice2\" src=\"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/blindjustice2.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/blindjustice2.jpg 620w, https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/blindjustice2-300x193.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>posted\u00a0Dec 9, 2015\u00a0at\u00a010:00 AM<\/p>\n<div id=\"storyBody\">\n<p>To the editor:<\/p>\n<p>Commencing December 7, 2015, the truth about BCHydro&#8217;s flagrant disregard of our Charter Rights will be presented to the Supreme Court of BC. The proceedings centre around the deployment of their microwave radiation (MWR)-emitting smart meter program.<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs are applying for the judge&#8217;s approval and certification of their civil lawsuit against BCHydro as a Class Action, thus providing legal representation for all BCHydro customers who have been actively and knowingly denied their constitutional rights.<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs&#8217; position is that \u201cthere exists a reasonable basis for concern about health risk so as to give rise to a right of autonomy and free choice as to whether a smart meter is operational from one\u2019s own dwelling.\u201d Due to BCHydro&#8217;s actions, the plaintiffs experience loss of personal choice and loss of autonomy to decide for themselves whether a MWR emitting meter will operate at their respective dwellings or places of business.<\/p>\n<p>This lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the following conduct by BCHydro:<\/p>\n<p>a) Operation of a smart meter where a customer requests that there be no operation of a MWR emitting meter<\/p>\n<p>b) Threatening or effecting a service refusal<\/p>\n<p>c) Exacting payment from a customer of an opt-out fee in exchange for BCHydro abiding by the customer\u2019s choice to be free from the installation\/operation of a MWR emitting meter<\/p>\n<p>d) Exacting payment from a customer of a failed installation fee related to BCHydro\u2019s attendance to install a MWR emitting meter where installation is not carried out because of either an objection made by a customer or an obstruction.<\/p>\n<p>Information and registration for the lawsuit can be accessed at:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><a title=\"Class action vs BCHydro\" href=\"http:\/\/www.citizensforsafetechnology.org\/CLASS-ACTION-Lawsuit-PACKAGE,97,3617\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">http:\/\/www.citizensforsafetechnology.org\/CLASS-ACTION-Lawsuit-PACKAGE,97,3617<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For a basic life necessity such as electricity, where participation is not a choice, consumers must have the freedom to choose.<\/p>\n<p>A ruling in the plaintiffs\u2019 favour would have positive effects down the road for FortisBC customers as well.<\/p>\n<p>On July 18, 2013, Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines, made the following statement by way of press release announcing BC Hydro\u2019s Meter Choices Program:\u00a0\u201cAs we have said, nobody will be forced to take a smart meter. I believe that this is a fair and reasonable solution for all British Columbians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Bennett is reminded to stand by his words. If he had remained true to his documented assurance, these court proceedings would not have been necessary at all.<\/p>\n<p>Hans Karow, Summerland<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\" http:\/\/www.kelownacapnews.com\/opinion\/letters\/361280201.html\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u00a0http:\/\/www.kelownacapnews.com\/opinion\/letters\/361280201.html<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pentictonherald.ca\/opinion\/article_40b12164-9ee4-11e5-bf1f-0b5c54d4541e.html\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">http:\/\/www.pentictonherald.ca\/opinion\/article_40b12164-9ee4-11e5-bf1f-0b5c54d4541e.html<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>posted\u00a0Dec 9, 2015\u00a0at\u00a010:00 AM To the editor: Commencing December 7, 2015, the truth about BCHydro&#8217;s flagrant disregard of our Charter Rights will be presented to the Supreme Court of BC. The proceedings centre around the deployment of their microwave radiation (MWR)-emitting smart meter program. The plaintiffs are applying for the judge&#8217;s approval and certification of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,182,17,103,178,222,153,223,18,180],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bchydro","category-bcsmartmeterlawsuit","category-bc","category-canada","category-canadians-for-safe-technology","category-coalition-to-stop-smart-meters","category-court","category-sharon-noble","category-smart-meter","category-una-st-clair"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7312"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7315,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7312\/revisions\/7315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}