You have to wonder how executives around the Pacific Rim are responding to the new lineup Premier Christy Clark is fielding on liquefied natural gas.
Officials in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo have been working on the B.C. LNG file for a while now. So far they’ve been working with the professionals in the B.C. government. The government has a full complement of low-profile bureaucrats who have been handling all the nuts-and-bolts issues associated with starting up a brand-new industry.
Now the investors are getting a taste of how politics works in B.C. Two key appointments in as many weeks have been based on nothing more than patronage.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Ben Stewart gave up his Westside-Kelowna seat to make room for Clark after she lost her seat in the May election. He was widely expected to be recognized for his sacrifice. Last week, the expectation was fulfilled. Clark made him B.C.’s new Asian trade commissioner, with specific responsibility for LNG.
She followed that up with the quiet appointment of former B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Wilson as a Buy B.C. advocate for LNG, responsible for bringing off-shore investors together with B.C. suppliers keen on taking part in the opportunity.
Wilson’s appointment is utterly baffling to most British Columbians. So the officials who are tracking LNG development issues in B.C. from across the Pacific must be at least as perplexed.
Their first job will be to simply identify him. He was a colourful, high-profile politician in the early 1990s, but he dropped almost completely out of sight after his career derailed. He retreated to the Sunshine Coast and judging by his social media feed, has been living a genteel life as a hobby farmer and small businessman for years.
Their second job will be to ascertain why a crucial new job was suddenly invented and handed to him. He’s got a short-term appointment at present, but there’s potential for it to be extended into a $150,000-a-year-gig.
The only plausible answer seems to be his foray back into the political world last spring. He came out and endorsed Clark for premier, after publicly comparing and contrasting the Liberal and New Democrat policies.
Wilson’s endorsement — which included a couple of hard shots at his former colleague, NDP Leader Adrian Dix — was a pretty minor development during the campaign. But it must have meant something to Clark, because she rewarded him with a tryout for what could be a big job.
The one interesting aspect was his unique experience with both sides. He led the Liberal party, then formed his own party, then switched again and became an NDP cabinet minister, then entered the NDP leadership race based on one year’s seniority.
So with close experience in both camps, he gave Clark the nod last May and she gave him the nod right back. “One of the greatest salesmen I have ever met,” she said last week, defending the choice. And with a firm grasp of policy, to boot. “He gets it.”
He didn’t “get it” until recently. As Vancouver Sun colleague Vaughn Palmer wrote, he blogged very pessimistically about the LNG projects as late as April. (That blog is now closed to the public.)
But now, in November, he’s in charge of maximizing benefits he denied in April would ever materialize.
Stewart’s appointment is somewhat easier to understand. Take one for the team, the team pays you back. And his track record as a successful businessman deserves some credit.
But Clark was explicit in announcing his appointment that his primary advantage was being known for his “access to power.”
She wants people across Asia to see Stewart as someone with close personal links to the B.C. cabinet, who gets his phone calls returned.
Taken together, they represent a bit of a turning point on the road to LNG exports. The pros have done all the heavy lifting to this point. Now it’s time for the cronies to start showing up on stage.
