Conservative runner claims green turf

By Dan Hilborn
Published Dec. 17, 2005


If the Conservative Party of Canada is trying to redefine itself in this election, then there is no better example of that than in the return of George Drazenovic as the Tory candidate in Burnaby-Douglas.

In a riding that has been held by the left wing for almost a quarter century, Drazenovic, a former manager in the corporate finance and development division at B.C. Hydro's South Burnaby headquarters, is working hard to portray himself as a modern environmental activist.

In August, the 35-year-old Lower Mainland native of Croatian descent became the chief financial officer of EPod International Inc., a $50 million alternative energy company which is listed on the Frankfurt exchange in Germany (under the symbol EDU) after two years of trading on the OCC Bulletin Board, an informational website maintained by NASDAQ.

The company, which was incorporated in the Bahamas in 2003, is clearly aiming at the growing market of alternative energy providers in the United States as evidenced by a quote from a glossy one-page overview of the firm provided by Drazenovic.

"The increasing cost to Americans of securing oil supplies in hostile foreign countries is only now making itself clear. We can expect demand for real and vital solutions to expand in coming years," said the quote from U.S. president George W. Bush on the official EPod information sheet.

Drazenovic, a former captain of the BCIT soccer team who attended UBC before obtaining his MBA from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, is a natural salesman for alternative energy.

"I love the energy sector," Drazenovic said during a 90-minute interview with the Burnaby NOW last week. "According to the B.C. Renewable Energy Association, this sector could provide 400,000 jobs in the province over the next 25 years."

According to a series of new announcements published on the Yahoo Finance MarketWire website, EPod has had a very busy time since incorporating two years ago.

In January, the company announced that it had successfully converted a Honda GX160 gas-powered engine to operate on hydrogen.

In April, it was listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange and, in July, the firm announced that it had entered into a 'technology development agreement' with the University of British Columbia to develop an advanced hybrid supercapacitor-based battery.

Drazenovic said the firm's real strength is in its proprietary technology, which has patents pending. He claims it can reduce by 30 per cent the amount of energy lost during the conversion from alternating to direct current.

Drazenovic believes his firm's technology can be used to increase the amount of power produced by wind farms, tidal power generators, solar power producers and almost all other types of energy producers.

And, in what could be a departure from official Conservative Party policy, which often opposes direct government subsidies to business, Drazenovic believes neither the provincial nor federal government is doing enough to assist the alternative energy sector.

"The problem with governments is they always make these grandiose announcements - such as the Kyoto Accord - but there is little help for going through the system, for filing an offering or paying taxes," he said. "You could speculate that the government would help you, but small companies just can't do this. They can't afford it.

"But I don't think anybody would argue that if you're promoting green energy that a subsidy is a bad thing," he said. "But our end goal is not government subsidy, it's government collaboration.

"I know Conservatives in general do not believe subsidies are efficient, but I believe this field is different. Besides, we're not looking for large-scale subsidies, we're looking for support and collaboration."

Drazenovic said the northeast corner of the province is the perfect location for a large-scale wind farm that could be connected to the power grid on the same transmission lines that would be built for the proposed Site C hydroelectric dam project.

But Drazenovic's conversion from a corporate businessman in the 2004 election to a major player in the alternative energy sector, does not sit well with his rivals.

Bill Siksay, the current NDP MP in Burnaby-Douglas, said the Tories simply aren't doing enough on the environment.

"I'm very disappointed with the Conservative platform on the environment. They absolutely refuse to support Kyoto, which is the worldwide initiative to combat greenhouse gas and pollution," Siksay said. "If they were serious, they'd be on board and trying to make Kyoto work, like the NDP is doing."

And Bill Cunningham, the Liberal candidate in the riding, said there is an inconsistency between official Conservative policy and EPod's attempts to partner with government.

"In the last election, the Conservatives got hit pretty hard after making blanket statements about corporate welfare and how private businesses shouldn't be propped up," Cunningham said. "Certainly, the Conservative Party's track record doesn't seem to jive with what this company is looking for, and what it wants to do.

"So it is a little bit ironic. It would seem to me that voting for the Liberal party of Canada would be in the company's best interest," Cunningham said.

And if the Conservative Party is running a 'green' candidate in Burnaby, then it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Green Party is running a former Tory in the person of former Progressive Conservative candidate Ray Power, who currently runs a floral shop in South Vancouver.

Meanwhile, Drazenovic said the hectic pace of work with EPod is one of the main reasons why he was the last of the three major candidates in the riding to open his campaign office.