Liquefied natural gas is all things to all people, and that includes former B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Wilson.
Premier Christy Clark brought the potential benefits of LNG development to the Vancouver Island Economic Summit in Nanaimo on Wednesday.
This week, the Canada West Foundation recommended downsizing expectations, saying B.C. should prepare for a more modest boom.
That advice was dead on arrival, as far as Clark is concerned. She was as wildly enthusiastic as ever at the summit, saying north-coast LNG benefits will extend to Island residents, and the Island could even wind up with an LNG plant of its own.
“I’m going to say many thousands of jobs on Vancouver Island as a result of natural gas if one of those projects go ahead,” she told reporters after her speech.
“It will change the face of Vancouver Island forever once those opportunities come here. Think about the impact that forestry has had over the years. This is going to be for Vancouver Island, I think, what forestry was 50 years ago.”
Campbell River and Port Alberni are being checked out as potential sites by Asian investors who are in the early stages, several years behind proponents of Kitimat and Prince Rupert sites.
But Clark stressed the benefits are so mammoth the whole province would gain, no matter where plants are built.
And leading the effort to disperse the benefits as widely as possible will be none other than Wilson, former leader of two parties (Liberal and Progressive Democratic Alliance), former New Democrat cabinet minister and former NDP leadership candidate.
The most relevant recent entry in his colourful political career was his sudden endorsement of Clark during last May’s election campaign.
Was that why he was picked out of nowhere to become the LNG-Buy B.C. advocate?
No, said Clark. It’s because “he is one of the greatest salesmen I have ever met.”
She said he understands public policy: “He gets it.”
He’ll be charged with travelling around B.C., talking to communities about the opportunities and urging thousands of companies to register for chances to supply the industry.
The LNG play is dominated by big multinationals who have established business relationships. But Clark said they want to put down roots and make new friends in B.C.
Wilson and Clark clashed in the legislature during his time as an NDP cabinet minister. Clark said the relationship wasn’t always sunny, but she has “put politics behind me.”
With all the emphasis on LNG in the future, there wasn’t much Clark could bring to the table in the here and now.
She wrangled $15 million for more Malahat highway improvements, but it was a pretty skimpy effort.
At a transportation forum, short-term problems and long-term visions were aired.
B.C. Ferries president Mike Corrigan put the best face possible on the ferry system’s financial picture. Smaller components of the enterprise — the vacation-package business, the drop-trailer enterprise and ancillary operations — are making money. And fuel consumption is down a bit.
But the big decision on which sailings to curtail in order to cope with the overall financial picture is coming soon from the government. It will be the culmination of the service-reduction process that has been underway for months, aimed at carving several million dollars in costs out of the corporation’s budget.
As a measure of how sensitive ferry decisions are, Corrigan noted the change to one of the smallest routes on the entire coast — converting the Denman Island run to a cable ferry — has faced considerable opposition.
But it will make for considerable savings, so he said the contract is proceeding. It’s only one of eight to 10 new ships that will be needed in the medium term, three of which will be tendered next year.
One of the bigger cost-saving moves under consideration is converting the fleet to natural gas. But Corrigan said the idea of converting current vessels has been put on hold until the technology matures.
Natural gas is still being considered for new ships.
