Russian Vodka, BC Pensions and Northwest LNG make for narrative for Monday's Question Period at the Legislature

Solidarity with Ukraine has been a dominant theme for the
British Columbia Legislature this week

With the Russian invasion and continued assault on the people of Ukraine serving as the backdrop to the Monday Question Period, MLA's from the two opposition parties raised a number of topics for comment from Premier John Horgan.

The opening moments of the Monday afternoon session set the tone for discussion, as MLA Karin Kirkpatrick from West Vancouver-Capilano noted of the recent suspension of Russian products in BC Liquor stores and then drew attention to how hundreds of millions of dollars for the BC government pension fund include investments in Russian state owned corporations, calling for the fund to divest of those holdings.

To that the Premier noted that it's a topic to be forwarded to the trustees of the fund.

With respect to the B.C. investment vehicles, these are not directed by government. These are directed by trustees of pension funds, and those trustees would have heard and seen the horrors that are emerging from Ukraine. And I would hope that they would take their authority and direct the finance administration to take steps to divest, but it's not a call by government. But it is, I suggest, a call that British Columbians would want them to respond to. It's in the hands of those who make those decisions, I'll leave it up to them to follow the ball and make the right choice.

A follow up question from Interim Leader of the Opposition Shirley Bond, observed as to how quickly other jurisdictions in Canada have responded to similar investment calls with a call for British Columbia to act as swiftly as others.

The ability for British Columbia to provide for alternative supplies of gas to the world to replace that of Russia also was featured large on Monday, with both MLA Ellis Ross from Skeena and Kamloops area MLA Todd Stone taking the lead.

For Mr Ross the question was simple is the BC government interested in accelerating LNG development in the province.

If the B.C. government wants to get serious about the grave situation facing Europe and the world, there are options at its disposal. Today, two major energy companies, BP and Shell, have made the enormous decision to cancel their energy investments in Russia. 

$3 billion, just for one company alone. Countries around the world are taking active steps the address this threat, and they're doing that by accelerating LNG development and production. 

My question is to the Premier. Considering the extraordinary circumstances and the obvious need of Canadian allies, will this B.C. government accelerate LNG development to supply secure and ethical energy for the world?

Towards a reply Mr. Horgan spoke towards the province's Climate action plan goals 

What I can say to the member is that British Columbia does have a storehouse of natural resources that have been, by and large, there to benefit British Columbians for many, many, many years. It is our intention, based on the plans that we have put forward, to make sure that that continues now and into the future, ensuring that we do so under the framework of a climate action plan that is world-leading — or, certainly, North America-leading. 

And I believe that we need to do all of those things at the same time. Issues like article 6, which was part and parcel of the Paris accords, are critically important to getting other jurisdictions off more noxious forms of energy, like coal and more carbon-intensive natural gas. 

British Columbia can play a valuable role there, but the international community, working in concert, needs to come to a place where we can do that. 

I'm hopeful that the premise of the member's question was just that: that perhaps the international community, in the current crisis, will understand that we have more than just the obvious crisis of a rogue dictator trampling on the rights of citizens of Ukraine, but also the consequences of climate change and a host of other initiatives that all of us collectively have to work on.

A follow up question from the Skeena MLA went directly to the stalled nature for most of the proposed LNG developments of the Northwest.

The crux of the question was whether or not this government will actually accelerate the development of LNG projects here in B.C., because Russia's greatest lever is the threat of cutting off energy supplies to Europe, specifically LNG, and Russia isn't going anywhere soon. 

The global liquefied natural gas industry is already close to producing its limits. They can't produce any more. But here in B.C., we have a huge source of clean, safe, ethical LNG. 

Clean LNG.  Even the United States declares that our LNG is clean. 

Right now, on the books for the last number of years, five years…. Nisga'a LNG; Woodfibre LNG; Haisla's Cedar LNG; Chevron's KLNG, which was recently bought by Enbridge; Skeena LNG; Totem LNG; Port Edward LNG are all projects waiting for permits. 

Seven LNG projects in B.C. that are waiting for permits here in B.C., all at a time when countries are crying out for a secure source of clean and ethical LNG. 

My question to the Premier: what is this B.C. government doing to make sure B.C. is part of the solution in terms of energy needs for the world?

Premier Horgan spoke to some general themes on resources in BC, before circling the conversation back toward the focus for the moment on the problem with Vladimir Putin.

One of the first things we did was put in place a framework for the largest private sector investment in Canadian history. I thought that would have been apparent to the member whose constituency is benefiting from that. 

There's a range of other initiatives that we're working on with our international partners and the federal government to make sure that Canada and British Columbia have a key role to play in the economic and energy future, not just here in North America, not just in Asia, but indeed in Europe as well. 

Events in Russia have materially changed decisions for the people of Germany, for example, who are now holding off on decommissioning their nuclear capacity, and there's a range of other initiatives that governments and peoples are going to have to make as a result of the appalling behaviour of Vladimir Putin. 

I think and I hope that the member is not leaning too hard in this direction. We started this question period together — 87 people. We need to continue to focus on the problem, and the problem is Vladimir Putin.

You can review the full back and forth of the energetic question period from the Hansard transcript here.

The video of yesterday's discussion is available here. 

More notes on the BC Legislature can be explored here, or through our political blog D'Arcy McGee and our Victoria Viewpoints feature.