TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

NDPs newfound love of resources nothing but hot air

After nearly a decade of keeping their boots on the necks of British Columbia’s resource industries, NDP government’s sudden recognition of the importance of natural resources is nothing but noise and hot air.

The damage has been done. Their “announcements” are too little, too late.

Since US President Donald Trump first threatened to put tariffs on Canadian goods, Premier David Eby has been making noises about how valuable BC’s natural resources are to the province and the nation.

But noise is all it is.

He’s promising to fast-track projects, setting up resource councils, task forces and making economic growth the “top priority” in his ministers’ new mandates.

But it’s too little too late.

Take the BC Softwood Lumber Advisory Council that was set up last week. This group has been ostensibly set up to deal with the “unjustified softwood lumber duties” that the United States has imposed on Canada, according to the press release announcing the council.

The most recent softwood lumber agreement expired a decade ago. The US refrained from imposing duties on Canadian softwood lumber until 2017, coincidentally, when the NDP came into power. It took the BC NDP government eight years to get its act together and decide to work with members of the forest industry, and the United States, to try to hammer out a deal.

Meanwhile, during the eight years that the NDP has been in power, softwood lumber duties have been steadily increasing on our products. The new forests minister, Ravi Parmar says he’s prepared to “defend the hard-working forestry workers of BC from these unfair duties.”

Yet since 2017, 30 mills have closed throughout the province, many of them in the North. There is not a single Canfor mill left north of Prince George. How many hard-working forestry workers have lost their jobs since 2017?

Too little, too late.

Oil and gas is no different. Last week Adrian Dix made another announcement in the government’s attempt to rejuvenate the natural resource sector. Various projects for our energy security, and to build our resource economy are going to be fast-tracked. Most of the projects in the list are windfarms. Of those, two are in northeastern BC.

Of the “energy security” projects, two are located in northeastern BC; the NorthRiver Midstream NEBC Connector, and the Enbridge Aspen Point project. Both projects have already received regulatory approval and are expected to begin construction shortly.

Fast-tracking projects which have already been approved is more hot air-filled noise from the government.

Wouldn’t speeding up approvals for projects that have been waiting for five years or more, be more proactive? Like the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project, whose point of origin is near Hudson’s Hope. Or the Pacific Trail Pipeline which would carry natural gas from Summit Lake to Kitimat. Or the Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission project, an 850-km pipeline that would carry gas from the Cypress area in northeastern BC to Ridley Island near Prince Rupert. Or any of the many LNG projects that were proposed a decade ago?

Instead, the government sits on its hands, making noise about how valuable our LNG is, and spewing hot air.

Meanwhile the United States has made a deal with Japan to sell them Alaskan LNG. Japan asked Canada for LNG, but the Prime Minister said there was “no business case”.

Now, when we need to diversify our natural resource industries in the face of 25 percent tariffs from the US, we don’t have the means to get those resources to any markets other than the US. Not even markets within Canada.

Too little, too late.

As mentioned, most of these fast-tracked projects are the windfarms, the “clean energy” projects. Projects that are so clean, that the government has decided that the Environmental Assessment process isn’t needed.

Does the government, which mandated that First Nations be major shareholders in these BC Hydro Call for Power projects, really think that’s going to fly? After-all, the First Nations in BC have shown that they are staunch advocates of the environment, they want the land healed, not destroyed for economic gain.

Does the government think that First Nations are going throw their principles out the window for a quick buck?

The only recent announcement that isn’t simply noisy expulsions of hot air, is adding the regulation of renewable energy to the BC Energy Regulator’s portfolio. For over 25 years, the BCER (formerly the BC Oil and Gas Commission) has had a history of getting things done, while enabling resources to be developed responsibly.

Perhaps this will help provide some of the certainty that businesses need to invest in British Columbia. But the BCER alone cannot solve the problems created by the BC NDP.

If we’d had a provincial government that wasn’t determined to destroy our economy, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in now, with only one market for our goods.

If we’d had a government that did more than pay lip-service to the most profitable sectors in our economy, which contributed billions to the province’s bottom line, we wouldn’t be facing major job losses throughout the province.

If only we had a government that does more than spew hot air.

Their efforts now appear too little, too late for British Columbia.