Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promised a new “one and done” approval process for industrial projects Monday, along with immediate approval of phase two of LNG Canada’s gas export terminal at Kitimat.
Joined in Terrace by local candidate Ellis Ross, who championed liquefied natural gas as Haisla Nation chief and then as Skeena MLA, Poilievre said his top priority for B.C. is to see LNG Canada’s second phase go ahead. A key to that is cancelling the Liberal government’s planned emissions cap for oil and gas production, Poilievre said.
“The project will not go ahead if it can’t run on natural gas,” Poilievre said. “It won’t happen.”
The proposed cap is only one obstacle for LNG Canada to double its capacity, he said. An increased industrial carbon tax would add more costs, making the project “impossible to finance.” And he predicted that the Liberal government’s Impact Assessment Act, which requires environmental, social, health and economic impact studies, would make industrial investors walk away.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers agrees that an emissions cap imposed on Canada or B.C. would hinder LNG development, as LNG Canada’s international partners consider a final investment decision.
“A sectoral emissions cap will impact investment and could jeopardize B.C.’s prospects of becoming a globally significant energy trading hub for Canada, limiting economic growth, government revenues, affordability and the standard of living for British Columbians,” CAPP president Lisa Baiton said in a statement to Northern Beat.
“Looking forward, natural gas is expected to be one of the fastest growing sources of energy globally for decades to come. With the right policies, B.C.’s industry can play a transformative role in addressing Canada’s productivity, competitiveness, and energy security challenges,” Baiton said.
Liberals will maintain emissions cap
Liberal leader Mark Carney initially said he would do away with the emissions cap, but Terry Duguid, his appointed environment and climate change minister, told Canadian Press in March that the cap would be maintained if the Liberals are re-elected April 28.
Poilievre said LNG Canada’s first phase went ahead only after the NDP government under John Horgan exempted its process from B.C.’s carbon tax. The consumer portion of that tax has now been eliminated by B.C. and Carney’s new federal government, as Canada grapples with imposed and threatened import tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The industrial portion of the carbon tax remains, which some environmental groups argue is necessary to fight climate change.
In March, B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix eased B.C.’s requirement for LNG facilities to become “net zero” in emissions by 2030, giving them an exemption on power use if they are not able to use B.C. Hydro grid electricity to power the refrigeration and compression required for LNG.
As B.C.’s first LNG facility moves into the testing stage with production expected to start this year, countries including the U.S., Australia, Qatar, Indonesia and Malaysia have opened numerous new LNG export facilities to supply Asia and Europe, where nuclear plants have been shut down and pipeline gas from Russia has been cut off following their invasion of Ukraine.
Poilievre promised approval of major projects such as mines and LNG in six months or less.
“In Germany, they built an LNG import terminal from concept to completion in 178 days,” he said. “That’s not the approval process, that’s approval and construction. That’s how things happen in the rest of the world. We’re in a parallel universe here, where it takes 14, 15 years to go through the bureaucracy.”