The odd thing about Premier Christy Clark鈥檚 decision to forgo a fall legislative sitting is that this is one time being in the legislature would actually work to the government鈥檚 advantage.
New Democrat Leader Adrian Dix and his question-period committee appeared forlornly at the doors of the legislature Monday on what would have been opening day of the fall session to point out the fact the room was empty. He said they had any number of questions to ask about issues of the day.
But there are no B.C. Liberals around to ask.
It was a curious call by Clark. The NDP may be bursting with questions, but this fall was a double-barrelled opportunity for Clark. She could have accomplished an important task and also shown her opponents off at a disadvantage.
The NDP made a series of miscalculations that blew a sizable lead in the polls. Their leader announced his intention to resign over the loss.
They鈥檙e in the middle of a protracted internal review of everything that went wrong. What better time to give them some face time in the legislature?
Opening the doors for a few weeks would have provided a fair amount of exposure to a party whose leader is checking out and whose leading lights are preoccupied with the question of whether they want to succeed him.
The Liberals would have to face a number of question periods as the official Opposition tries to do its job. But they鈥檙e very accomplished at ignoring or deflecting those queries. And the one area where they might be seriously exposed 鈥� the ethnic-outreach scandal that resurfaced last month 鈥� is under police investigation. By convention, that puts it off limits as far as the politicians are concerned.
The major task that needs doing relates to the jobs-and-prosperity push that contributed to Clark winning the election. It鈥檚 legislating a tax regime for liquefied natural gas exports. Her government acknowledges how important that is to get it done right, and get it done soon. But they decided to pass on the chance to do it this fall.
The minister responsible for LNG, Rich Coleman, illustrated how awkward that leaves things during a conference call Monday.
Discussing an upcoming LNG sales trip to Asia, he said B.C. will make the move to commit to a clear tax regime so all the interested parties know what what鈥檚 on the table.
He said the government will 鈥渓ock it down with some complex legislation so people know there is certainty around their investment in B.C., so somebody can鈥檛 just come in and arbitrarily change it after you鈥檝e made billions of dollars of investment, which has happened in some jurisdictions.鈥�
Knowing the rush that鈥檚 underway, the government initially wanted to do just that this fall. But it couldn鈥檛 get the bill drafted in time. So they鈥檙e going to release an outline of the tax regime before year鈥檚 end. That鈥檚 not the kind of certainty everyone, including Coleman, says is needed.
Outlining what a brand-new export tax might look like isn鈥檛 the same as introducing the tax in the house and making it the law.
Coleman also discussed some of the work going into that tax.
The final go or no-go decisions by various consortiums planning multi-billion-dollar plays are expected over the next year. Coleman said they will change the future of B.C.鈥檚 economy.
What the tax regime will look like is one of the key questions to be answered before those decisions are made.
Coleman said B.C. has been negotiating with the companies 鈥渙n a very detailed confidential basis鈥� to determine the most mutually advantageous rate.
On a game-changer of this magnitude, the sooner the results of those confidential talks get aired publicly, the better.
Just So You Know: Coleman also said that carbon emissions are part of those talks.
It鈥檚 almost impossible to imagine B.C. meeting emission-reduction targets if massive industrial operations spring up on the north coast.
Unless you get creative in your greenhouse-gas count. Said Coleman: 鈥淭here is some fair argument around the fact that if we send natural gas to Asia, particularly China, to replace coal 鈥� then we as a jurisdiction should get some credit worldwide for actually helping other countries.鈥�
