Could this in fact be the real reason, for the BC Liberal government, to be declaring they will not agree to the Northern Gateway Pipeline proceeding

Let me begin today's Conservative Thoughts blog post with the following:

"Under our feet lies as much energy as Alberta has in its oil patch. It is in the form of natural gas, a cleaner alternative to oil or coal, in the Northeast corner of British Columbia ... our goal is to have a Liquefied Natural Gas industry that will add value to our abundant natural gas resource by shipping it by sea to Asia ..." ~~~ 2013 BC Liberal Election Platform

 

I'll come back to this shortly.

 

With the Final Hearings and Questioning Phase yet to be held, by the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel, the BC Liberal government Environment Minister, Terry Lake, has already announced "Our questions were not satisfactorily answered during these hearings." 

 

For those unaware ... there are still twelve days of hearings yet to be held in Terrace from June 17th and 28th.  Would it not seem to be in BC's best interests to wait for them (the hearings) to conclude before coming to that decision? 

 

BC needs a provincial government that is prepared to work with and for British Columbians, to implement policies that take full advantage of our natural resources, our geographic position, and our hard-working residents.  

 

Yet despite that, and just two short weeks after the provincial election, both Premier Christy Clark, and Environment Minister Terry Lake, are both showing the Liberals are going to be a failure in that area.  

 

Our province has suffered ongoing interprovincial population loses since Christy Clark first became Premier two and a half years ago.  With Environment Minister Terry Lake's announcement Friday, the people of BC can except that trend, officially documented and recorded by BC Stats, will continue. 

 

Once again, this government, led by Premier Christy Clark, is about to betray the hard working men and women of the Peace River and Northern BC, by rejecting the Northern Gateway development, before the Review Panel completes its duties. 

 

It's one thing to criticize, but what are your expectations; what will satisfy your government?  Both Terry Lake and Christy Clark can't simply say they are opposed.  What is the government's real position; and what outcomes do you need to have met, so that they can be realistically addressed. 

 

In a story on Saturday (June 1st), in the Kamloops Daily News, they state:
Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Minister Diana McQueen issued a statement saying the two provinces have a shared commitment to both protecting the environment and economic growth. 

Stayed tuned Mel .. we'll continue to roll things out in the weeks and months ahead

The Armchair Mayor, Mel Rothenburger

Well know newspaper man, and former Kamloops Mayor Mel Rothenburger, penned his latest Armchair Mayor column on the weekend.  It was entitled, "Sorting out facts from BS not easy".

It was a good editorial, although I did mention to Mel that I did not agree with his opinion John Cummins was not taking a stand on issues. 

I told him that John has indeed been very clear on a number of issues, of great importance to the people of BC.  He will continue to do so in the weeks and months ahead leading to next May's general election.

Armchair Mayor Mel responded by stating to that he had:"

"... listened to Mr. Cummins' AGM speech, all 39 minutes-plus of it, and pretty much all he did was rehash old news stories about the Liberals and be very clear that the B.C. Conservatives would do things differently.  How? Good question.  Ajax? He's "not ready to weigh in on that."  Kamloops? As next spring's provincial election draws ever nearer, still no Conservative candidates for our two ridings, no one wanting the nomination, and no policies on local issues."

Normally I would have said we hadn’t heard the same speech; however I have it good authority that we both did (me in person -- and Mel via the internet). 

Regardless, I was there and heard it live .. and it was powerful and it was moving.

John Cummins pointed out some serious concerns we as BC Conservatives have with how the Liberals are governing -- and we are not the only ones having those concerns ... not by a long shot.

Big spending -- big government -- big deficits and BIGGER debts!  They all top most lists.

Government crown corporations and agencies with out of control management ... and need we mention Community Living BC again ... there's rising fees that we have no say in (I challenge you to look at the amount Medical Services Plan rates have increased over the past decade).

The stench of the BC Rail sale has never cleared, and no amount of Febreze is going to help ... Christy Clark is desperately tryng to straddle both sides of the Enbridge pipeline proposal, while at the same time 'playing politics' with the Alberta government in a phony game of hardball.

BC Conservatives have clearly articulated positions that don't change depending on what loud vocal minority group is shouting

Everyone knows, and it is perfectly clear, that I do not support Christy Clark and the BC Liberals.

My lack of support has only been re-enforced in the recent days and weeks, as it seems that Christy blows one way or the other, in the breezes of voter discontent.

Shall we start with Enbridge and the Northern Gateway Pipeline? Clark herself has never really made a firm decision on the Northern Gateway … in fact the 5 principles she placed as crucial to having government support can NEVER be met – and she knew it at the time.

Ms. Clark simply wanted to try and make herself look good to anyone with an opinion on the project, whether they support it or not. By taking no stand however, she has pleased NO ONE.

She wants those who don't support the pipeline to think she is on-board with them … and she wants those who do support the project to think they just might have a chance to see it come about.

Meantime, she knows full well that the five principles she has put forward can never be met, and therefore the project will never get off the drawing board.

Contrast that however, to the statements of John Cummins, and the BC Conservative Party.

As CFTK TV News in Terrace stated today, “At least one political leader in BC is willing to express support for Enbridge's controversial Northern Gateway Project” --- that ONE leader would be John Cummins of the BC Conservative Party.

In a media release today, John Cummins said that unlike Premier Clark AND Environment Minister Terry Lake, he WAS willing to meet with Enbridge officials to see what their plans look like for building and maintaining the safest pipeline possible, and to see in person what monitoring systems they have in place at other locations.

Cummins stated that the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Project had economic benefits far outweigh environmental concerns.

"Given all of the information made public to date, I strongly believe that the Northern Gateway Pipeline should proceed as quickly as possible. British Columbia desperately needs new capital investment, and new high-wage jobs. The Northern Gateway Project delivers both”.

And little wonder … this project alone would provide as many as 4,100 person-years of direct on-site work, and a total of 35,000 person-years employment throughout the province.

Environment Minister Terry Lake on the other hand, in a TV news interview which I saw, refuses to meet with officials from Enbridge, who have offered to show him what the technology they will be working with. 

AND YET ... he has the audacity to claim and state (which I have also seen and heard) in the media, that Enbridge will not provide the government with the environmental and safety information they wish to have on the project.

Twitterverse lights up for Clarks not a throne speech, throne speech, on the Bill Good Show

BC Premier Christy Clark

Today Christy Clark paid a visit to the Bill Good show on CKNW 980, to outline upcoming plans for the BC Liberal Government.   

As expected the #bcpoli Twitter feed lit up with the comments of news people, and political pundits alike, commenting on what she had to say.

The following is a small snapshot of what I thought were the “Best Of” those comments – of which there were literally hundreds and hundreds:

CHILDCARE:

We need a childcare plan in BC. The cost of childcare in BC is too high for families

BC LIBERALS and the BC NDP:

Both of those parties are the same old and they need to be replaced

CALLERS ARE BC LIBERAL PLANTS:

Anyone else feel like they're listening to @billgood980's private lobbying session with @christyclarkbc as the #fauxthrone speech?

Oh BC Liberals, your plants to @CKNW call-in line are SOOOO obvious. The pat talking points kinda give you away..

Sounds like call-ins so stacked @BillGood980 has 2 pose most questions

RECENT POLLS:

Amusing to listen to the premier dance around recent polls. Earth to Christy: your party is way behind right now.

She should call the by-elections and lets see what those 2 polls look like

Premier Christy Clark says you cannot judge these things by polls that go up and down....when was the last 'up' poll?

Hiring Ken Boessenkool is for the partisan purpose of making the BC Liberal government look good

Is the Premiers Office a non-partisan part of the government of BC --- or is it an extension of the BC Liberal Party?  I ask this question because it is becoming increasing unclear what it’s exact 'political' purpose is.

Ken Boessenkool -- Christy Clark's new Chief of Staff

A story in the Globe and Mail on Friday, stated that:

 …. Ms. Clark has announced that, effective Feb. 15, Ken Boessenkool will take over the job … As chief of staff, Mr. Boessenkool will lead day-to-day operations at the Premier’s Office. Mr. McDonald will become principal secretary. “Ken brings a ton of skills as a manager, and he brings a lot of skills in terms of the relationships he has right across the country, so I think his addition could make a real difference for us,” Ms. Clark said in an interview.

There is no denying that Christy Clark needs and should have someone at the top, in her office, directing operations. But, what exactly are the operations of the office to be?  It is very vague and hard to find out, but here is a bit of insight from an official BC Government document.

Allowing that to happen is indeed insane … it is wrong and it distorts the whole process

Route of the Northern Gateway pipeline

The Northern Gateway oil pipeline, proposed to run from the oil sands of Alberta, to Kitimat in British Columbia, has many opponents – and champions.  

On one hand, thousands of jobs, along with millions in much needed tax revenues, are in limbo waiting approval. On the other hand however are environmental concerns that are also very much on the minds of Western Canadians.  

Some though, from outside of Canada, are trying to disrupt and stall the review of this project for their own self-interests, and personal glorification in the media.

Today’s edition of the Globe and Mail has a story entitled, “‘Radical groups’ spur Tories to speed pipeline review process”.  Here is the beginning of this news story;

The Conservative government will bring forward new rules to greatly shorten environmental reviews of pipelines and other major projects, arguing that “radical groups” are exploiting the reviews to block proposals vital to Canada’s economic future.