Sheila Gordon-Payne to focus on LNG opportunities as part of her campaign

Photo from Sheila Gordon-Payne website

While the news cycle of late hasn't been delivering any great movements forward on the LNG file, one Council candidate is looking to make it a high profile topic as we move into the final few weeks of the Municipal Election campaign.

Yesterday, Sheila Gordon-Payne's campaign provided some of that new focus through her website, with LNG becoming a key part of her message for November 15th.

Listed as one of her Primary Platform reviews:

Sheila’s objective as Mayor of Prince Rupert is to take advantage of the opportunity that LNG and other new industries present, to rebuild our economy, and improve the quality of life in our community. 

 The establishment of the Fairview Container Terminal and Pinnacle Pellet added hundreds of permanent jobs. These terminals and the businesses that support them signify growth; however, this growth has not kept pace with the loss of jobs in our fishing and forestry sectors. It has not replaced the lost revenue to the city from the closed fish plants and pulp mill. 

Our retail and service sector have not returned to the levels of fifteen years ago. Taxes for small business and residents have risen with no improvement in services or quality of life. We can no longer afford to be complacent. We need be seen as interested in rebuilding the industrial sector of our economy. 

We must make the LNG opportunity work for us starting now. For the city, even one LNG facility will provide hundreds of permanent well-paying jobs for our families, bring new tax dollars for improved services, attract people to the community, and create opportunities for small business growth.

You can review further background on the candidates position from the platform page of her website.

Her statement towards the proposed LNG opportunities for the region, came on the same day as the BG Group outlined how it was looking towards a prudent approach for its Prince Rupert LNG project.

Today, a number of Financial news services have reported that the Prince Rupert LNG project may be delayed by at least a decade.

For Ms. Gordon-Payne and the other challengers to Mayor Jack Mussallem, that cautionary note and the recent developments for the Pacific NorthWest LNG project offer up a real time lesson in the pace and shifting sand which makes up the LNG development path.

It also poses a pretty important question for those seeking a seat, whether in the Mayoralty or on Council as to what kind of Plan B they might have in mind in the LNG aspirations continue to shift on the North Coast.

While there is not much that a local council can do about larger international issues related to the prospects of the proposed plants, how the local issues are introduced and examined in the campaign could give us a glimpse into what the candidates may think when it comes to the ongoing dialogue required between the City and industry proponents.

You can review more items related to the 2014 Prince Rupert Civic Election from our archive page.