So much for the no more ‘activism’ promise
When John Horgan became premier, he said it was time for the NDP to stop fighting special-interest battles and start governing for all the people.
“We have to set our activism aside and start being better administrators,” Horgan told Global TV’s Keith Baldrey.
He was referring largely to the Site C dam, fiercely opposed by environmental activists within his own party. Horgan overruled them and announced he would complete construction of the dam anyway.
But this week has seen some startling insights into the activism still present inside the Horgan government when it comes to fighting projects and industries opposed by the environmental movement.
Postmedia reporter Rob Shaw obtained documents tracing the internal government fight over open-net fish farms that some groups believe harm wild fish.
On Oct. 13, Agriculture Minister Lana Popham sent a threatening letter to a Vancouver Island fish-farming operation targeted by environmentalists and First Nations.
The letter reminded the business that the government could pull its operating licence. The documents obtained by Shaw showed at least one government official thought the letter “sounds like a not-veryveiled threat.”
The opposition Liberals, meanwhile, have revealed an internal strategy document connected to the Kinder Morgan Strategy Group, which is fighting the company’s Alberta-to-B.C. oil pipeline.
The document describes a plan to “support mass popular resistance” against the pipeline, with direction coming from masterminds in “the hive” to a “swarm” of activists fighting the pipeline on the ground.
The strategy blueprint tells anti-pipeline fighters to communicate their plans through an app called Signal that uses “disappearing messages.”
The Liberals have slammed Environment Minister George Heyman for meeting with members of the anti-pipeline group at a private dinner on Bowen Island.
“What kind of group is this?” Liberal MLA Michael Lee railed at Heyman in the legislature. “Will the minister stop colluding with these radical activists?”
But now the government is moving ahead with new anti-pipeline measures.
On Wednesday, Heyman released an “intentions paper” outlining proposed environmental-protection regulations, including new oil-spill minimum response times, spill-response plans over a large geographic area and mandatory compensation to the public in the event of a spill.
Now the proposed new rules will be put out for a public consultation process that could last well into next year.
The possible result? More delays, costs and frustration for the backers of the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, a project that’s already been approved by the federal government and the province.
It has the Liberals wondering about Horgan’s promise to drop the “activism” and start governing for everyone.
“This is a threat to the B.C. economy and investor confidence,” said Liberal MLA Peter Milobar. “If an investor sees a jurisdiction where the government fights approved projects, they might decide to invest somewhere else.”
Great point. But the pipeline war will continue.