The sitting Liberal government of British Columbia, led by Premier Christy Clark, is facing an election on May 9, amid allegations of corruption – most recently, in “How Teck Resources benefits from being the largest BC Liberal donor” from West Coast Environmental Law (April 6). The Energy Mix reports that the Supreme Court of B.C. will begin a review of the government’s ties to Kinder Morgan, the company behind the Trans Mountain pipeline, on May 3rd . There are also wider, older allegations of “cash for access” and donation scandals – for examples, see the Dogwood Institute reports .
The election is full of contentious issues – follow “ B.C. in the Balance”, a special series of election reports by The Tyee , or DeSmog Canada , or the CBC Vancouver website for ongoing coverage. Context is provided by a CCPA-BC Policy Note (April 4), which summarizes the results of a recent survey of B.C. residents’ concerns: affordable housing and the cost of living (26%), the environment (24%), and jobs and the economy (15%).
For a climate change-related viewpoint, West Coast Environmental Law has published a comparison of the climate change-related elements of the platforms of the three parties, and a scorecard .
The Liberal party platform, released on April 10, states: “ To keep B.C.’s economy strong and growing, today’s BC Liberals will get Site C built – employing thousands, and guaranteeing a 100-year supply of clean, affordable, reliable power. And the platform outlines key actions to strengthen forestry, secure new mining investments, and grow B.C.’s energy sector, including LNG.” The Pembina Institute reaction speaks for most environmentalists in opposing the government’s continuing focus on LNG development: “The platform released today continues … doubling down on an LNG industry that would be responsible for 20 million tonnes of B.C.’s carbon pollution in 2050. B.C.’s legislated 2050 target for carbon pollution is 13 million tonnes. Clearly, LNG is not a climate solution.”
Irene Lanzinger, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour and member of Green Jobs BC is critical of the Liberal record on green jobs, in an April 13 article in The Tyee , and points to the Green Jobs BC priorities for green job growth: clean energy, transit, building retrofits and forestry.
The Green Party platform includes a statement on Building the New Economy, and the platform on climate leadership . The Green Platform is most notable for its pledge to increase B.C.’s carbon tax by $10 per tonne per year, reaching $50 per tonne by 2021. (as recommended by the shelved 2016 Climate Leadership Plan ). David Suzuki praises the Green platform but states: “Missing from this announcement are details of a funding framework for public transit infrastructure investment and a firm commitment to expand the use of low-impact renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and tidal power to achieve the province’s energy needs.” According to West Coast Environmental Law, neither the Green nor NDP platform makes any statement about fossil fuel subsidies.
The NDP platform is here , and was welcomed by the Pembina Institute on its release: “We are pleased to see the commitment to implementing the recommendations of the premier’s Climate Leadership Team, which plot a course to significantly reduce B.C.’s carbon pollution — in particular, the pledge to adopt the proposed 2030 target and sector-by-sector targets for emissions.”
