In response to Tom Fletcher's article posted May 10 and titled "Smart meter refusal fees trimmed":
Part of this article seems to paint a picture that only "a "few" people in British Columbia continue to resist the installation of a Smart Meter on their homes and have false or exaggerated claims in order to sell solutions to the purported hazards..."
Actually sir, there are well over 50,000 BC Hydro customers currently resisting the installation of these "gadgets" on their homes and with good reason.
Did you know that right here in British Columbia, the civil, privacy, human, constitutional and Canadian Charter Of Rights of many of Hydro's customers has and continues to be ignored and violated in an effort to force them to accept the installation of a Smart Meter on their homes and businesses?
There are and have been attempts (many have been successful) made by Hydro to trespass on the private properties of their customers. Many have been and continue to be exposed to Hydro's bullying tactics,threats and attempts to coerce and/or blackmail them in an effort to install these "contraptions" on their homes.
-As we sit here debating this issue, there are more then 50,000 tax paying citizens in British Columbia who have come together and are in the process of suing BC Hydro and make no mistake, we are the proud members of: "The BC Coalition against Smart Meters", "Stop Smart Meters BC", "Take Back Your Power" and the "Citizens for safe technology" organizations.
Here are some of the facts that many folks with a Smart Meter installed on their home may not know...
-Smart Meters are made up of combustible plastic
-Smart Meters allow anyone to hack into them and collect their personal and private information. Information that infringes on the right to privacy of everyone with a Smart Meter.
This means that anyone with $20 worth of equipment (available online or at any local hardware store) can easily hack into and monitor the activity of everyone living in your home and learn when you're not home and monitor your family so they can break in when you're not home!
-Smart Meters leave the private information of Hydro's customers open to the public, criminals, terrorists, foreign states and computer hackers to name a few. Have we already forgotten the recent headaches Taxation Canada faced when a 15 year old high school student recently hacked into their website?
The Analog and some digital meters (over 10 yrs old)replaced with these devices worked perfectly while maintaining your right to privacy, but the new Smart Meters don't.
-Once a Smart meter has been installed on your home, your original contract with BC Hydro immediately becomes null and void! It's a loophole called "Implied consent". Now, some folks don't know that but rest assured, Hydro does.
-it's only a matter of time before we start hearing about attacks on the grid to which EVERY Smart Meter owner is now exposed to
-Smart meters omit dangerous and dirty electricity omissions that continue to create all kinds of health problems for adults and children around the globe.
Tom Fletcher and those who remain convinced that Smart Meters are safe and that over 50,000 folks in B.C. are mistaken, let me ask you this...
If you still think there's only a "few" BC Hydro customers trying to make a big fuss over the changing of a little meter, allow me to extend to you all an invitation to explore the information on just one of our websites:
http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.ca/html/
Lori Giesbrecht,
Mission