I am not prone to being confused – at least not yet – but there are times when our august governing bodies leave me feeling so.
One example is the newly re-elected BC Liberal government.
During the year-long re-election campaign Christy Clark promised one operational LNG plant on the North Coast by 2015 and three by 2020.
But, as I noted in an earlier column, when post-election she appointed Rich Coleman as LNG supremo that schedule was gone.
Which made perfect sense to me. Parties seeking to govern promise all sorts of things but if successful are often quick to forget those promises.
That, for better or worse, is politics.
Then the provincial government brought down its June budget update and went where even it had not bravely gone before when it came to projected dates for operational LNG plants in B.C.
I refer specifically to the top right hand corner of page 54 which I will quote at length.
“The Ministry of Natural Gas Development engaged independent consultants to conduct studies examining the potential employment impacts and new provincial revenues from LNG development in B.C.”
So far, so reasonable. Then came this.
“The studies assumed five LNG plants … and most plants fully operational by 2018.”
Let’s be kind and interpret “most” as being just three, the minimum number that allows you to use that word.
So we went from three operational by 2020 to three operational by 2018, two years earlier?
Huh? Did I miss something?
But the confusion level really cranked up when I read a submitted article by Supremo Coleman in the July 2 edition of the Kitimat Northern Sentinel.
Right now there are three proposed LNG plants in Kitimat: BC LNG, Kitimat LNG and Shell’s LNG Canada.
Coleman says BC LNG “could become the first facility to export LNG from BC’s north coast.”
I don’t disagree and it should be able to hit the new 2018 target with time to spare.
On Kitimat LNG Coleman describes it as “moving forward”, but sidesteps putting any date on it.
Let’s be generous and assume that Chevron/Apache are able to sign up customers and give the project the green light within the next 12 months. That should allow them to hit the target date as well.
Two down, one to go.
But that one – LNG Canada – will miss the target, according to Coleman.
“The facility could begin exporting LNG in 2019”, he says, but even then adds “provided all timelines are met.”
So logically the third-plant-by-2018 the budget update talks about must be in Prince Rupert.
That is one heck of a stretch given those proposals all have to get an export permit, get through the environmental assessment process, consult and accommodate First Nations, find customers and then build the facility.
And I don’t think for one minute Coleman believes that can be done in just five years, which is doubtless why he never mentioned the budget update target in his article.
So on the one hand the government through the budget update suggests one thing and the man in charge of actually bringing home the LNG bacon says another.
Hey, wait a minute, it’s not me that’s confused, it’s the government.
Which makes me feel much better.
Retired Kitimat Northern Sentinel editor Malcolm Baxter now calls Terrace home.
