You were elected at a very unique time in our human story. You had the opportunity to make a gigantic difference. Your legacy could have been celebrated for decades to come. The realization of an innovative and enlightened future was yours to reveal and make possible. But you didn’t do that.
Sonia Furstenau's speech in the BC Legislature on Bill 10 to subsidize LNG in BC.
We have voted against Bill 10 at every stage - this is a bill that gives increased tax credits to the LNG industry.
It's 2019. We have a critical choice to make: will we make decisions that take us to a safer, healthier future, or will we double down on 20th-century energy and the fossil fuel industry, that needs taxpayer support in order to survive.
In April 2010, when then-premier Gordon Campbell announced that B.C. was resurrecting plans to build the Site C dam, atmospheric scientist Andrew Weaver was along to lend support.
Well before he became an MLA, and later the leader of the B.C. Green party, Weaver used words to describe the controversial project that became a template for Liberal and NDP premiers to come:
Hydro power is “clean.” It is “zero-emitting” power. It “does not produce greenhouse gas emissions.” Therefore, it is good.
A study written for Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives by earth scientist J. David Hughes offered a conclusion on the success of neoliberal politics in Canada. Success, that is, for the corporate world.
A pull quote in the executive summary of the Hughes report provides the gist:
[Web page editor: Support for fracked LNG makes BC Premier Horgan a leading agent of climate disruption.]
Feb 15, 2019 - Measures to help build the $40-billion LNG Canada project will be introduced this spring, the B.C. government announced on Thursday.
Northern B.C. and rural communities saw little mention in the government's latest throne speech, read Tuesday afternoon by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin. However, the province dedicated five paragraphs to the liquefied natural gas industry and the LNG Canada project. Here's what was said:
Morneau may not have been fleeced, but certainly paid at the high end of the valuation scale, apparently assuming that everything would proceed smoothly
January 31, 2019
The sticker price Kinder Morgan put on the Trans Mountain pipeline when it entered negotiations with the federal government last year was $6.5 billion. Hence, finance minister Bill Morneau and his team thought they’d scored a bargain when they sealed the deal at $4.4 billion.
But it looks increasingly like he may bought a cat in a sack.
With Sheila Malcolmson’s big win in Nanaimo’s by-election yesterday, the BC NDP are no doubt walking a little taller today. After all, the governing party rarely wins by-elections. The BC Liberals poured significant resources into the riding. Malcolmson was behind in the polls. The Greens ran a strong candidate. For a safe NDP riding, many in the party weren’t really sure if they could pull it off this time.
Mid-mandate, this victory extends the tenure of the NDP minority government. Some in the party are probably feeling pretty confident.
