Natural Resources

Premier appoints Brad Bennett chair of BC Hydro

By Mary Beach /

Premier Christy Clark, new BC Hydro chair Brad Bennett, MLA Bill Bennett, BC Hydro CEO Jessica McDonald

THE#BCBIZDAILY
Plus, Bentall for sale and a mega pipeline hearing begins

Power play
Premier Christy Clark announced the appointment of Brad Bennett as chair of the BC Hydro board of directors on Thursday. Bennett takes over from Stephen Bellringer at a crucial time, as the Site C mega dam, the biggest infrastructure project in B.C. history, began construction this summer. President of McIntosh Properties Ltd, a real estate and private equity investment company, Bennett is also son of former premier Bill Bennett, grandson of premier W.A.C. Bennett, and no stranger to behind-the-scenes politics himself. In addition to the BC Hydro board, he has served on a number of public and private company boards, and his previous public service positions include chair of Okanagan University College (now Okanagan College), chair of the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation and chair of UBC Board of Governors. Bennett was a big supporter of Arvind Gupta, who stepped down this summer after a one-year run as president of UBC. Gupta has now moved onward and eastward—to alma mater University of Toronto, where, in other news, he has been appointed distinguished visiting professor in the computer science department for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Buy-buy Bentall 
The monster of all Vancouver real estate stories has been let out of its cage. Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc., majority owner of the Bentall Centre, confirmed that they have put the landmark, priceless (so far) property up for sale. Located at the heart of downtown Vancouver’s business district, the property—four towers, ranging from 21 to 35 storeys—is one of the largest integrated office complexes in Canada. Known by its distinguished and stable corporate tenants and its views over Burrard Inlet, Stanley Park and the North Shore mountains, the Bentall Centre stands to attract offers from institutional investors all over the world. (via Vancouver Sun)

Mega motions
This summer, Canada’s National Energy Board approved the start of construction on Enbridge’s bitterly controversial Northern Gateway pipeline–a multi-billion dollar proposal to link Alberta’s bitumen with B.C.’s port. Thursday in Vancouver, 18 entities will plead their cases against the pipeline ranging from First Nations land use claims to ecological concerns for an unprecedented six-day hearing at the Federal Court of Appeal in Vancouver.