....it was clear that a lot of work remains to be done before the Liberals can plausibly claim to have delivered on the vision of last year’s throne speech and election platform. Take the promise to develop a new industry based on the export of liquefied natural gas to Asian markets. LNG is central to one of the most grandiose promises made by this or any other B.C. government — namely, the vow to develop as many as five LNG terminals on the coast and use the revenues from same to establish a $100-billion prosperity fund, large enough to make the province debt-free. One doesn’t need to look any further than the Liberals’ own pronouncements to realize that they are behind schedule on the LNG file and time is running out. Three years ago, Clark herself warned that the province needed to get more aggressive if it were ever going to beat out rival jurisdictions in developing LNG for Asian markets: “If we don’t fight for this, we could lose it.” Two years ago, she professed to have put the LNG project on an accelerated schedule: “Three lines up and running by 2020, the first by 2015. They are clearing the land for the first one already. This is on its way to becoming a reality.” A year ago, her pre-election throne speech again warned that time was tight on the LNG file: “Fellow British Columbians, this is the opportunity before us, but only if we seize it. It is not years away; it is now. Our province faces fierce competition from Australia and other natural gas producers. If we do not win the opportunity now, there may be no opportunity to win tomorrow.” If that was now, then this must be tomorrow. Still, the Liberals are saying the delayed details of the promised tax and regulatory regime for LNG will not be set out in full before the fall of this year. As for the first down payment on that prosperity fund, Finance Minister Mike de Jong said last week that he won’t be booking any LNG revenue in the three-year fiscal plan he’ll be tabling in the legislature on budget day next week. Which means that natural gas won’t be flowing until the financial year beginning April 1, 2017 at the earliest, in contrast to the premier’s “up and running by 2015.” Still, talking to reporters in her office after the speech was delivered in the legislature, Clark professed not to be the least concerned that the window of opportunity was closing on the LNG file. “No, we are not getting ourselves behind,” she said. “Every day I get more confident that the likelihood that an LNG industry will be created in B.C. is stronger.” Another echo of campaign 2013 there, in the premier’s relentlessly upbeat approach, which overcame many a doubt, including the ones expressed in this corner of the newspaper. Apart from touting LNG, the unproven jobs plan and hold-the-line-on-program-spending, the government dipped its toe into a couple of speculative possibilities that might turn out something bigger in the months ahead. ...
Posted on: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:04:19 +0000
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