LNG beneficial to economy, environment says BC United
British Columbia’s NDP government is in denial when it comes to the benefits LNG can have for both the economy and global emissions, Fort St. John residents heard at the recent BC United Town Hall meeting.
Natural gas is a far cleaner fuel source than the coal that is being used to fuel power plants overseas. Various countries have repeatedly sought to switch from coal to British Columbia’s lower emission LNG. Yet both the BC and federal governments continue to make this a difficult proposition. In fact, BC is dedicated to the pursuit of its Clean BC policies, which, according to BC United, amounts to destroying the province’s resource sector.
“Since 2017, the support has been deteriorating for British Columbia’s resource sector. That is as a direct result of the NDP government. The NDP government has been putting a tight grasp around the oil & gas industry through multiple regulations and horrible mistakes,” said Peace River North MLA Dan Davies.
The province’s one success story in recent years has been the LNG Canada project, the success of which “is only as good as what’s happening up here where we’re producing the natural gas,” Davies said.
Ellis Ross, BC United MLA for Skeena stepped down from his position as Chief Councillor for the Haisla First Nation in 2017, to help BC fulfill the LNG dream. But it didn’t work out quite the way he’d planned, he said.
When the NDP joined with the Green Party to assume government in 2017, Ross, who was then Minister of Natural Gas Development, said that 19 major LNG projects left the province.
“The only one that survived was LNG Canada. They’re still not out of the woods yet, they’ve only got Phase 1 approved,” Ross said. “Phase 2 is an additional 2.2 billion cubic feet per day, and it probably won’t get approved by the NDP government.”
“It’s a Catch-22. They won’t really approve it unless they can electrify Phase 2, but BC Hydro is not in the position to electrify Phase 2. Why I bring this up is because we’re connected, Kitimat and the Peace region, are connected through this multi-billion-dollar initiative to help lower global emissions, while uplifting First Nations.”
“We are joined, and in doing so we help uplift British Columbia with the revenues and the employment,” he said.
It would be a win-win situation, if only the government would admit that LNG is a valuable part of BC’s economy. Ross says the project in Kitimat solved the poverty issue for his people, and for all the First Nations between Prince George and Kitimat.
“It’s an incredible story. You won’t see it in the papers because it’s not sexy enough.”
BC United is trying, said Ross, to show the rest of BC just how important LNG is. They’ve tried to debate it in in the Legislature, but the government refuses to discuss it.
“It’s tough because you have a government that just does not like natural gas. They do not like it; they will not talk about it. The largest private investment in Canadian history, $40 billion, and they will not talk about it. We’re doing our best, we’re trying to promote natural gas, we’re trying to promote our regions, but the NDP, especially this last session, are abusing the democratic system.”
Permits aren’t being issued to get the gas out of the ground, says Ross, and that’s detrimental to the economy of the province.
“I know it’s affecting jobs; I know it’s affecting contractors. It’s only a matter of time before it’s going to affect the community economy. With the majority the NDP has down in Victoria right now, I can’t see any change unless we bring it to the public’s attention.”
“Government can change this tomorrow with the stroke of a pen. They can approve those permits. In fact, it’s their job, it’s their duty to do it. But they’re not doing it,” Ross said.
We all care about the environment, says BC United leader Kevin Falcon. The best way to help the environment is to be smart about it. British Columbia represents 0.17 per cent of global emissions, less that 2 days worth of emissions from China.
“So instead of economically killing our economy, wouldn’t it be smarter to export our natural gas as LNG to Asia. Something we have lots of. In Asia, a lot of their power is coal-generated. The dirtiest form of emissions,” Falcon said.
Exporting LNG could cut those emissions by 50 per cent and is the greatest contribution we can make as global citizenry, he said. “We could have a growing economy while helping the rest of the world to transition to a cleaner future.”
Without the Haisla and Ross’s leadership, Falcon says LNG Canada would never have been done.
“The hard work done by that man and his Nation – recognizing that was the way out of poverty, recognizing the future was exporting something that we’ve got a lot of.”
“We want everyone to know that we’re all in on LNG. Not just on that incredibly beautiful facility that we’ve already got that’s just coming to completion, but the Cedar, the Haisla are moving forward with the Cedar LNG opportunity. That means we go bigger and get that out to the countries that need it,” Falcon said.
Falcon is worried because thanks to the NDP government’s policies, the province is not seeing the private sector investment and capital that would get big projects done.
Even with the tax breaks LNG Canada has received, a lower carbon tax rate, for example, the project is still going to provide the province with $23 billion in revenue.
Imagine if there were five projects of similar size, said Ross. “Every second day, one tanker leaving Kitimat basically carries $100 million worth of natural gas going to Asia. They get Phase 2 built, that’ll be everyday. That’s 365 tankers a year, $100 million each shipment.”
“The economy matters, not only for our communities, jobs, contractors, our well-being, but it also matters to government. That’s how we pay for things,” Ross said.
“We open up the economy and we let the private sector do what they’re good at. Building up our communities.”
Davies said that it’s not just LNG either, it’s all the resource sectors that need to be growing.
“There’s opportunities there, it doesn’t matter what you look at, that’s what’s going to pay for bridges, infrastructure. It’s what’s going to pay for healthcare, what’s going to pay for education,” he said. “We can’t have any of these things that we all expect without a strong economy. Because you cannot put that on the taxpayers’ back.”