LNG shakes up alliances
Tuesday’s announcement that a $40-billion LNG project will go ahead works out for all parties in the B.C. legislature — even the one that’s opposed to the project.
Premier John Horgan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended a signing ceremony to launch a project that will see a Liquefied Natural Gas refinery built in Kitimat along with a 600-kilometre pipeline to carry the gas from Dawson Creek. The government will offer incentives to get the project built and insists its greenhouse-gas reduction targets are still on track.
The project throws current B.C. political alliances on their heads.
The NDP government’s usual partner, the Greens, are opposed to the project, but the opposition Liberals support it.
The minority NDP government needs the support of one other party to survive.
Horgan and the NDP seemed well aware this was an issue where they would lose Green support, but could count on Liberal backing. After all, the Liberals campaigned and won an election by promising LNG riches for us all.
The Liberal support actually provides convenient cover for Andrew Weaver’s Greens. The Green party can now oppose the project without fear their position may bring the government down.
While the Greens oppose this project on environmental grounds, it appears they don’t really want to defeat the government yet. Despite bumps in the road, their overall alliance with the NDP is working pretty well for them.
In a statement opposing the project, Weaver kept his cool — which he sometimes doesn’t do — and offered an olive branch.
“Despite our profound disappointment on this issue, we have been working closely in good faith with the government to develop a Clean Growth Strategy to aggressively reduce emissions and electrify our economy. The B.C. NDP campaigned to implement a plan to meet our targets and reaffirmed that promise in our Confidence and Supply Agreement. We will hold them to account on this. We will have more to say once that plan becomes public later this year.”
Leader Andrew Wilkinson, and other important Liberals were given the VIP treatment and invited to the signing ceremony.
In their own statement, the Liberals said they “celebrating” the decision. While they say they will have to examine the NDP’s legislation on the project when it comes, their support is assured.
If the Liberals tried to bring down the government on this issue, they would not only damage their own credibility, but they’d also risk killing the project.
Besides, the Liberals aren’t ready to return to power yet. Wilkinson hasn’t yet shown British Columbians he’s a potential premier and the party’s time in the penalty box, ordered by voters in the last election, isn’t yet over.
The NDP and Liberals will continue to praise each other — and therefore themselves — over the deal while the Greens can stick to their principles with no repercussions.
Other voices are also trying to get in on the act. Alberta cabinet ministers complained of B.C.’s double standard by approving an LNG pipeline, while opposing a pipeline that will carry bitumen. The federal Conservatives issued a news release taking credit for the project’s go-ahead. Those comments show everyone wants to score political points on LNG.