Coalition could be damaging to economy
NDP and Greens toying with citizens’ livelihoods, says Stewart Muir
There is a growing sense of anger and frustration as more people in B.C. realize how their very livelihoods are being treated as pawns in a political chess game between the NDP and Green parties.
Unable to form a government without violating the convention requiring the as-yet-to-be-named Speaker to be a neutral arbitrator, in a classic case of the tail wagging the dog, the NDPGreen coalition is preparing to implement ideologically driven, insular changes to the economy.
Reviews of the proposed changes reach chilling conclusions.
Last week, Scotiabank’s daily equity research bulletin focused on what the coalition means for oil and gas investment. It is not a pretty story. According to the paper, the impacts of this drive could be “devastating” for B.C.
Scotiabank examined several policy implications based on the B.C. Green and B.C. NDP platforms. Two of them involve pipelines, the better known of which is the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion that will give Alberta oil access to the global marketplace and reduce the province’s dependence on the increasingly unreliable U.S. market.
If the coalition succeeds in killing the pipeline, as it has promised to try its best to do, this report forecasts negative consequences for the B.C., Alberta, and Canadian economies, including many lost jobs. Politically, it would signal that pipelines cannot be built in Canada. Investors would exit to more balanced markets such as the United States.
Other risk areas detailed in the report are directly tied to gas extraction, an industry that pumps dollars through the entire province of B.C. via a supply chain of goods and services that the coalition’s chief resource deniers make a great show of pretending does not exist.
“Action against this critical component of hydrocarbon extraction could result in increased costs, sterilized sub areas, or a halt to new activity,” wrote the bank analysts.
There are numerous examples of the impact this wrong-headed drive could have. In Chinatown, there is a tech company that provides software to maintain the giant trucks used in oilsands mines. Steps from Granville Island, a local company mobilizes health services into remote camps.
Real people, in real jobs, located in urban centres as well as rural communities, do much of the work required.
Further, the possible halt of the Site C dam means postponing necessary investments in renewable energy. A new report from the International Energy Agency says clean power generation like that provided by hydroelectric dams needs to grow 40 per cent over 2020-25 to reach Canada’s climate change goals.
Site C, underway now while costs are low yet designed to switch on in 2024, ought to be part of that solution.
The dismissive attitude of B.C. Green Leader Andrew Weaver toward resource jobs is becoming all too apparent in the days after the election. Claiming these important jobs don’t exist or are of trivial impact is grossly irresponsible.
There is much at stake for those in positions of influence at this delicate moment. It is a time when investors need to hear clear, deliberate and positive messages.
The NDP-Green coalition is shaky, rife with competing interests and egos as well as half-truths based on selective data. Even together they have the narrowest of majorities in the house. Their ascension to power should not be viewed as inevitable, but could be devastating for our economy if it is allowed to proceed.
However this plays out, the significance of the B.C. resource industry is about to be tested. Stewart Muir is executive director of Resource Works. This article was published by Canadians for Affordable Energy.