It looks as if the B.C. Liberals’ warm, cordial and respectful relationship with Green MLA Andrew Weaver has hit a rough patch.
“You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” Natural Gas Minister Rich Coleman told him in the house this week. “You know how to do research. Why don’t you do some? You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
That’s a bit of a departure from the goodwill the government has shown the Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA since he got elected in 2013. Liberals were delighted when he won, because they’re convinced that Green growth comes at the expense of the NDP.
So if losing former Liberal MLA Ida Chong was the price to pay for having a sole Green MLA around to bleed support away from the NDP, then so be it. They welcomed him enthusiastically.
There was a noticeable amount of courtesy and friendliness in most Liberal exchanges with Weaver in the house. There’s a fundamental disagreement about LNG, but Liberals just ignored Weaver’s assaults on their dream project and carried on making nice.
Until Tuesday afternoon. Debate was on a low-profile jurisdictional change on federal port lands that might be the site of future LNG projects. Weaver opposes the bill for fear it will weaken environmental controls, and also because he hates LNG in general.
It’s clear Weaver’s open-minded, bipartisan “we’re all here to solve problems together” approach is starting to fade after two years. He said the Liberal government now looks “like a pack of fools,” because there’s a gas glut, B.C. is a bit player and the Liberals “don’t have a clue how to negotiate with foreign entities.”
“This government is an embarrassment when it comes to the discussion on LNG. They’ve made a fool of us internationally.”
So much for the earlier “I’m not one to sling mud for the sake of it” approach.
It was a minor detail that triggered the real fight. Weaver complained about a briefing from government staff about the bill that didn’t happen. And off they went.
Coleman blamed the lack of a briefing on a simple schedule conflict. He said he didn’t mind if Weaver had changed “from a professional MLA to an insulting, demeaning MLA, who … uses flagrant language that insults people in government. That’s entirely up to you.”
But he said it “changes the relationship.” He told Weaver he can’t do that and expect the government to think it’s OK for him to say the things he does. The context makes it clear that it’s the Liberals’ self-interested regard for the Greens that’s in play.
He said the afternoon exchange was a game-changer. It “tells me we’ve changed the game for [Weaver].”
Weaver called for a point of order on the “vindictive personal attack” he’d just sustained, but didn’t get anywhere.
Two takeaways from the extended clash. One is that Weaver has condemned every aspect of the LNG play since he got elected and Liberals have managed to ignore the critiques. But calling them an embarrassing pack of fools over it seems to have exhausted the tolerance of the lead man on the file. Go figure.
The other is that it’s the first crack in the serene facade of confidence Coleman has maintained about the eventual success of the LNG venture. Through a year of mounting pessimism about the stalled global market, the time out taken by the lead proponent, Petronas, and the complaints voiced by the overall industry about the B.C. cost picture, Coleman has projected an air of conviction the industry will still go ahead.
He’s still confident, but Weaver (“This LNG emperor has no clothes”) has revealed that he’s a bit tense about it.
He said the Green MLA is “looking for grassy knolls” and his criticism of staff over the briefing was offensive.
Also noteworthy was that Weaver’s motion to stall the bill failed on a vote in which the NDP sided with the government.
Coleman got the final word, and it was about Weaver eating his.
“I know when the final investment decisions are coming . . . I will enjoy the meal, to watch the member eat his words in the next year or two.”
