Is Terry Lake setting up a situation for an ‘honorable retreat’?

Environment Minister Terry Lake

INTERESTING NEWS from the Globe & Mail, in the form of a story entitled, “BC Liberals announce review of province’s carbon tax”.  In part it read:

The Liberals are not announcing a new schedule of increases in the tax beyond the one that ends in 2012.  But Mr. Falcon rejected a reporter’s suggestion on Tuesday that he is laying the groundwork for the demise of the tax.

“I wouldn’t make that leap,” he said at a news conference during the budget lockup.

Instead, he said the government has been proud to lead in addressing climate change through the tax.

“The issue is: four years on is the right time to review where we are at,” he said.

The minister added that he is especially interested in whether the tax is affecting economic competitiveness, especially in the agricultural sector, which faces competition abroad from rivals unburdened by such a tax.

Mr. Falcon said B.C. always expected other provinces and jurisdictions to adopt carbon taxes, leading to an “equalizing effect.”  But he said that has not happened, and B.C. is isolated.

Later in this story they went on to quote George Heyman, who happens to be BC’s Executive Director of the Sierra Club BC, saying that Falcon’s remark were basically a signal of the governments intentions.

“There’s no way to read the minister’s hints except that they’re definitely looking for a way to get out of the carbon tax,” he said.

Now just in case you have forgotten, BC’s Environment Minister is Kamloops North Thompson Liberal MLA Terry Lake. 

That makes it odd that it’s Kevin Falcon talking about, and discussing, what is happening with the Carbon Tax.  It is after all part of the government’s environmental green plan --- and that would make it is something which would be on the radar for an environment minister.

That’s why I found the following, from the February 23^rd edition of the Kamloops Daily News, rather interesting.  They had a story from the Canadian Press in which story writer Dirk Meissner said:

Lake (Environment Minister Terry Lake) strongly endorsed the review of the carbon tax announced in Tuesdays budget, but also said he would question his future in politics if the government was in the process of abandoning its green agenda.

Note however this is NOT the first talk, by BC Liberals, on the future of the carbon tax.  Back in November of last year Terry Lake had already said that the Liberal government was reviewing its future, including ideas to cap increases and fund green initiatives.

There was no talk about the possibility of not running back then.  Here is something however which may be playing into things.

In the 2009 Provincial General Election, Terry Lake won the Kamloops North Thompson riding by a whisker.  He garnered 47% of the vote, compared to the NDP candidate Bob Brown, who received 45% of the vote.

He won the riding with a 2% margin! 

The last Angus Reid Poll (February 1, 2012) indicated that 25% of the people who voted Liberal last time round, would not do so again. There is NO wriggle room for finicky voters.  If an election were called today, it is very likely that Terry Lake would lose his riding of Kamloops North Thompson.

Is Terry Lake now setting up a situation which will allow him to have an ‘honorable retreat’ and departure, back to his former veterinary surgery rooms, before the next election takes place in May 2013?

Of course only time will tell, but it is an interesting question don’t you think?

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.