I was at a candidate meeting in Saanich-Gulf Islands on Wednesday night and I heard the New Democrat candidate Sabina Singh repeat several times that they are committed to end all subsidies of fossil fuels.
After a quick fact check, I found that this is indeed the latest position of the NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. Their ever-evolving policy on fossil fuels is confusing.
The next morning the Saanich-Gulf Islands candidates we’re back at it, this time on CFAX radio. The topic of LNG came up again and Singh’s response was something to the effect that the BC NDP and BC Green coalition supported LNG.
Every part of this statement is false. At a candidate luncheon later in the day, I brought this up with Singh and she apologized to me for the misinformation. I have been through election processes and I understand the pressure on candidates and the challenge of not always clearly articulating an answer. So, we move on.
However, I opened my phone up last night and there was a message informing me that perhaps another federal NDP candidate provided a muddy response about the BC Greens role in the LNG Canada project at another candidate meeting. So I feel that it’s important to provide clear and concise information on this important issue.
First, the BC NDP and BC Greens are not a coalition government. Federal NDP candidates should know that and they should understand the difference, especially as candidates of a party that may very well have to be part of a minority government.
Second, the BC Greens do not support LNG.
Last Spring, the BC NDP brought in a taxation Bill effectively making their $6 billion taxpayer-funded subsidy of LNG Canada law. The BC Greens did not support it. In fact, I and my colleagues forced 14 votes on this Bill. Each time, the BC NDP turned to the BC Liberals to support their efforts. Only the three Greens voted against it. Every time. The 41 BC NDP MLA’s voted with the 42 BC Liberal MLA’s not once, not twice, but fourteen times to push the subsidies forward. That is the truth. That is the record that NDP candidates are trying to obscure.
I voted 14 times against the BC NDP LNG Canada program!
It was a difficult week for the three BC Greens. It was a lot of work and took a lot of energy: physical, emotional and spiritual. That is why I become quite defensive when I hear political hopefuls whose own party-line is so confusing on fossil fuel policy, knowingly confusing the public with respect to the work of myself and my colleagues.
Let’s be clear. There are only three elected politicians in British Columbia that actually voted to stop fossil fuel subsidies.
So, when I hear federal NDP candidates claiming they will end the subsidization of fossil fuels, I wonder if their Leader Jagmeet Singh has actually spoken to Premier John Horgan. Premier Horgan’s LNG Canada program is dependant on the massive provincial corporate welfare package. It also includes a handsome package of goodies from the federal government including forgiving tariffs on steel and aluminium.
Let me sharpen this last point. The jobs rhetoric is one of the big reasons these governments supported LNG Canada. Yet, by forgiving these tariffs it has allowed the company to freely use foreign steel and aluminium and to fabricate and manufacture large portions of the project offshore and ship them here in components for assembly. Not only are the BC NDP and Liberals (federal and provincial) handing out these gifts to multi-national corporations, but they are not even forcing them to keep all the jobs in Canada. It’s mind-blowing.
As I lay this out, it’s easy to see why I want to have nothing to with this ridiculous program and also why I will protect our good work in the Legislature.
If you hear any federal candidate suggest the BC Greens are in a “coalition government” please correct them. We have signed a “Confidence and Supply Agreement” with the BC NDP.
Furthermore, if there is any suggestion that we support LNG and LNG Canada, please correct the record and let me know.
Photo credit: “SYMPHONIC BREEZE” by “kees torn” used under licensed “CC BY-SA 2.0“
Jagmeet continues to say that after this LNG no new fossil fuel projects will be built.
Are you getting any of my comments?
This is the fourth one.
It still says 0
????????
Can you elaborate the difference between a “coalition” and the agreement BC Greens have with the BC NDP?
My understanding is that a coalition would involve at least one ministry post, and consultation with the Green caucus on just about everything — in other words, a temporary merging of the two parties, from the point-of-view of governance.
In a coalition the BC Greens are part of government. Currently, the BC NDP are government with a Confidence and Supply Agreement with the BC Greens who are the opposition third party.
I want to hear him say he is against LNG. Not just fossil fuels. Because he was in support of the LNG.
Thank you for this post. I didn’t know it was called a “Confidence & Supply Agreement” so I found it online here:
https://www.bcgreens.ca/casa
Have there been any occasions where the Greens had to comply with their CASA even though they disagreed with the way the NDP were voting.
This website shows votes but not in the CASA context:
https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/legislation-debates-proceedings/41st-parliament/4th-session/votes-and-proceedings
Thanks in advance.
How does this fit into your narrative? This makes it even more confusing.
https://www.facebook.com/WaRDaNYo1980/videos/2402451279966963/
My narrative in this post is about my votes in the legislature. Those votes were misrepresented and the relationship between the BC NDP and BC Greens mischaracterized. So I set the record straight. With respect to Mr. Singh suggesting that he is not supportive of subsidies for fossil fuels, I am very skeptical about this promise because based on the amount of tension that we created around this all BC NDP MLA’s stood in support of LNG subsidies along with the BC Liberals and the federal subsidies are a major portion of the incentives that were developed to entice the industry here.
Thank you Adam and all the BC Greens that are taking a stand against this new industry of LNG.
Thank you for clarifying the position that was being muddied in the debates by those that should know better.
It grieves me that my tax dollars are doing something I so disagree with.
Especially how private companies are getting handouts and benefits that I am paying for to do something that will harm my son’s future.
It is not right.
Thank you for being my voice along side Andrew Weaver.
Jacob Enns
I heard a comment about this news on CBC radio this morning. How does that square with GP and your next actions to deal with LNG?:
https://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/news/northern-b-c-first-nations-sign-agreement-to-help-the-world-replace-coal-with-lng/
Response coming… sorry for the delay 🙂
Onni Milne my comment in your link. “It is quite false that NG is cleaner for the environment, it is only cleaner when you actually burn it, is the actuality. Anything else is shear bullshit but bullshit seems to be readily equated with money and prosperity”.