North Coast MLA rather quiet on LNG discussion in Legislature

We're not sure how the NDP caucus allocates the speaking time in the Legislature, but when it comes to the topic of LNG development in the province, it would appear, at least from the Legislature draft minutes thus far, that the North Coast MLA isn't getting a lot of opportunity to share some thoughts.

Last week, the Legislature discussed a wide range of LNG issues during multiple sessions over four days, with Skeena MLA Robin Austin carrying the bulk of the discussion on behalf of the opposition.

Austin, of course, is an obvious choice to lead off the discussion for the NDP,  considering he has been named the opposition's Critic for Natural Gas Development.

And for a good period of the discussion in the Legislature, he carried the debate well for his party, offering up a number of themes for the chamber and asking a number of questions of the BC Liberals.

You can review some of those LNG themes from the Legislature drafts of the February 26th session, Mr. Austin's talking points on LNG and development in general start  just before the 15:40 mark

His contribution to the Legislature discussion can be also found on the Legislature Video Archive for the February 26th Afternoon session, he introduces his themes at the 127 mark of the video player.

Some of his key points culled from the draft minutes of the wide ranging and lengthy overview of the Northwest economic picture can be found below:

The big projects that are currently taking place are the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter rebuild; pre-work being done, particularly on one LNG site, between Chevron and Apache; and of course, the northwest transmission line. Those are the three large projects that at the moment are driving a resurgence in the Terrace and Kitimat economy. 

What people are seeing is workers coming from outside as a result of the fact there isn't enough skilled labour in our area. Now, we also have the highest unemployment rate anywhere in British Columbia still. We see workers coming from outside the region and a large pool of talent living locally who are not able to access these jobs. What do we see here? A government that says on the one hand that we're going to see a commitment to a ten-year skills-training plan in the throne speech but, in the budget that comes out a week later, a cut in the ministry for post-secondary education. 

Once again, what we see here is nice words — and throne speeches generally have lots of nice words — but the action to follow it doesn't give any of us who live in the northwest the confidence that we're going to actually not repeat what we're seeing today — which is that if we get a final investment decision on any of these large proponents, any of these large plants, what we're going to see in the years to come is more planeloads of people coming from outside the region while there are still people left unemployed and struggling in my communities. 

Now, I love the fact that we are going to be able to generate employment for British Columbians. That's a great thing. All of us here want to have employment for British Columbians. But as the representative for Skeena, I want to make sure that the jobs actually come first to the people who live in the local communities and then go to those who live in other parts of British Columbia. 

Then, if we can't find enough jobs for those people, then look to other Canadians — certainly, long before we bring in more foreign temporary workers. It is absolutely critical that we see this government understand that we are not going to have these proponents come in and make these decisions if they don't have access to skilled workers. In fact, earlier today I was meeting with one of the proponents. I've met with just about all of them, some of them several times. 

The proponents who I was meeting with earlier today were stating they had put together a large liquefied natural gas plant in Australia. That plant went over by $4 billion from the time it was started till the time it was finished. They actually alluded to another plant that they didn't build. Listen to this. This plant went over by $25 billion. 

When you ask them what the reason was, why these large capital projects went over, they stated: "Well, in the case of what happened in Australia, there simply wasn't enough skilled labour to do this. We had to bring in people from all over the world, and it became extremely expensive." That was one of the drivers that drove these projects to the point where this company…. And it's a very large company — so large it's one of the top 15 companies in the FTSE index, on the London stock exchange. 

They pointed out that Australia has now actually become completely uneconomic for any new LNG facilities because of the lack of skilled labour — just one of the reasons.

Austin spoke at length on many issues for the Northwest, raising concerns, offering insight and speaking at length on the impact of development in his riding.

Still, considering the importance of LNG terminal development to the North Coast, with a fair amount of our future development seemingly being attached to its prospects, you would think that the NDP would allow the North Coast representative to weigh in on the discussion.

Sharing with the Legislature and the folks back home on the North Coast some of her thoughts on the prospect of LNG development, where she stands on the topic and to relay any commentary from the North Coast riding to the theme.

So far, she's been very quiet when it comes to that topic, or much of any other it seems since the Legislature resumed. Her only mention in the Legislature records thus far her inquiries of February 17th regarding the status of a shuttle bus proposal for Highway 16.

Hopefully, the NDP will make some space in the speaking schedule for her to tackle some other items of interest to the North Coast, the ongoing LNG debate, as important as it appears to be to the economic future of the region, might be a good place for her to start.

For those with an interest in the work of our MLA in Victoria, we track on a weekly basis the events of the Legislature and any committee work with this Archive.

There are also more items of interest on the discussion and debate from Legislature on our Legislature Archive page.

SD52 tests the real estate market with Kanata School opportunity

Perhaps with an eye towards the current high level of interest in real estate and the increasing values that sales are providing for, Prince Rupert's School District 52 has apparently decided to test the market themselves and see what value they could get for their Kanata School Property.

The east side school and its property which was closed in 2008, (the start of  a wave of controversial school closings in the city), has quietly been put up for sealed bid. With the School District seeking interest from the public by way of a small advertisement in the weekly paper.

In their request for bids, the School District highlights the availability of the 6.23 acre site and its access to services in a residential area. Advising that there is municipal support for single and/or multi family development for the site.

Should the School District find a buyer for its property, it still has to go to the province to seek the approval of the Ministry of Education to complete any sale arrangements.

There are currently two other school properties no longer in use by the School District.  Seal Cove School also on the east side of the city was closed at the same time as Kanata and the more recently closed Westview School, which shut its doors in 2010.

Neither of those are available for sale by the School District, with their eventual fate possibly to revert back to the control of the Crown.

Sealed bids on the Kanata opportunity are being accepted at the School Board Office until noon of March 24th.

There is no indication of the School District's interest in the real estate market on the School District website.

Neither from the minutes of recent School District meetings (most recent archive that of January) , or in any general information format from their media release section.

Those that may have an interest in the property or require more information are asked to contact Cameron McIntyre at School District 52.

We have more items of note from School District 52 on our Archive Page

Mayor hints to progress on PILT and other items with the Prince Rupert Port Authority

The lines of communication between the City of Prince Rupert and the Prince Rupert Port Authority appear to be open and in frequent use.

During his Mayor's Comments of Monday nights Council session, the Mayor outlined some of the recent conversations that members of Council have had with Port officials, covering a wide range of topics.

While quite short on details, the Mayor advised that among the conversation starters in recent weeks were a look at future of the Port's plans for Export terminal developments, land for future development for port logistic centres, as well as a conversation on the theme of waterfront development.

Of particular interest was his short summary of discussions when it comes to the PILT  (Payments in lieu of Taxes) process. With the Mayor stating that the Port and City are still working through the process and that the Port had offered additional funds as part of the process.

Though he wasn't particularly clear as to whether the city had accepted the funds at this point, nor what amount the financial offer from the Port was.

Considering the importance that the City puts on the PILT monies during the budget forming months, a bit more of a public overview might be required, not only for the six councillors around the Council table but for the public as well..

With the City starting off with its early budget discussions on Monday night and with some of the confusion that a few  of the council members expressed on the path ahead, having the PILT funding included and highlighted for the council members (and public) might be useful.

Providing some background on the process and what impact that it may have in the city's funding requirements and on the tax load that they currently have in place for the city's residents.

The Mayor's short review of the Port discussions can be found from the City's Video Archive, it starts at the 3 hour three minute mark or so and runs for about a minute.

We have more background on city Council developments on our City Council Discussion Points Archive.

MLA Rice seeks BC Government commitment to Highway of Tears Shuttle

The British Columbia Legislature returned to work this month, a Speech from the Throne and Budge the launching point of the new session for 2014.

With the ceremonial and administrative items out of the way, the Legislature has returned to the day to day current of business, committees, discussion and debate and of course the always fascinating bit of theatre that makes up Question period.

The first few days of the new Legislative session have provided for morning and afternoon sessions in the Legislature and the North Coast's NDP MLA, Jennifer Rice, addressing her first concerns of the new Legislative session.

Ms. Rice made use of some of the Morning Question Period of Tuesday. to seek some answers from the Government on the topic of a shuttle bus between Northern BC communities.

You can review her questions from the Legislature record, her inquiry begins around the 1050 marker from the legislature Blues..

The proposal submitted by the Highway of Tears Symposium report (page 20), was mentioned as part of the Oppal Commission on Missing Women and Ms. Rice sought an update from the Justice Minister Susan Anton this week.
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Ms. Anton did not provide a particularly concise answer to the question, instead deflecting the theme toward a review of some of the progress that the BC Government has made on the issue, providing little in the way of background on her note, that the Government was "working with communities in the North to establish safer ways for people to travel."

We're not sure why an update on the shuttle bus initiative couldn't be outlined in response to the question, it being a topic that has been under discussion since the last election campaign came to an end.

It does seem like a fairly simple question to answer and for the Government side to just repeat some of the old lines of the last year doesn't seem particularly of use in solving the issue.

The Justice Minister may wish to seek out an update from her staff, as we suspect that the issue will be brought up for discussion again in the near future.

With the debut of the 2014 session of the BC Legislature, we will follow the work of the North Coast MLA through our MLA's Week Archives and from our anchor page on Legislature developments.

A new name at Economic Development?

Not that there has been any public announcement made by the Mayor or City Council, but it appears that Prince Rupert has finally settled on a new Economic Development Officer for the region.

Almost four months after the departure of Derek Baker from the office, a read through of this Globe and Mail article offers up the name of the new man for the job, with Paul Vendittelli apparently the successful applicant.

He will join the roster of a City Administration that has seen a fair amount of change in just the last year, with the comings and goings making updates to the City Hall directory a full time job.

In keeping with the theme of recent management announcements of late, the City has yet to officially reveal his arrival to the office to the public, though we imagine they settled on his appointment after discussions in one or two of the plethora of closed sessions that this council seems to hold.

It's a theme that we recently saw with the arrival of a new recreation consultant, a surprise hiring that was never advertised, nor mentioned as an urgent requirement in any previous council sessions.

Hopefully, the City gets around to the introductions at Economic Development at the next Council meeting on Monday.

And maybe, while they're at it, they could explain as to the lengthy the process that went into hiring the new Economic Development officer and offer up some thoughts as to what he may bring to the job in providing economic development to the region.

As for Mr. Vendittelli's job ahead, it's a rather ambitious task to take on, with the city cash strapped in recent years, funding for economic development initiatives in the past has been rather limited.

Offering up another talking point for the night for Council in public session. Where they could perhaps provide a review for the public, as to  how much funding they now intend to provide for the office and where they see the economic development office position evolving towards in the future.

Now that the position is apparently filled (with information delivered to the Local Governmernt Civic Info BC portal), we await the puffs of white smoke from City Hall and maybe a notice on their own website.

Or, maybe we'll just wait for details from another item in the Globe and Mail, some time in the future.

Nisga'a make entry into LNG discussions

We can add the Nisga'a Lisims Government to the list of those interested in seeking to bring LNG development to their community, with the Nisga'a reportedly putting up four potential sites for would be LNG developers to consider.

"The Nisga’a Nation is unique among Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. Because of our modern Treaty with the governments of Canada and British Columbia we have increased control of our land and our destiny and we are actively seeking opportunities for sustained economic development within our lands. 

LNG provides a long term future opportunity for both our Nation and for your company. We welcome your interest and invite you to visit our people, our communities and our lands.”  ---H. Mitchell Stevens President Nisga’a Lisims Government

In a Financial Post article from last week, the plans of the Nisga'a (and attention generated by them) to get their foothold on the percolating LNG scene on the North Coast are outlined.

Providing background on the four sites identified along Portland Inlet that the Nisga'a believe would offer a tempting option for LNG companies to consider.

The Nisga'a have listed the four potential development sites as Nasoga Bay, Wil Milit (Whiskey Bay), Sgawban and Xmaat'in (Dogfish Bay). All which they explain are suitable for either a Floating or Land Based LNG facility.

The main selling point of the Nisga'a options would be the geographical location of the proposed sited which would result in reduced pipeline costs and with treaty provisions already in place with the Nisga'a, negotiations with the Nisga'a nation already have a base from which any would be investors can proceed on.

Should the Nisga'a find success with their marketing plan and put their stake into the growing LNG presence in Northwestern British Columbia, the economic future for the communities of the Nass would be changed significantly.

It's anticipated employment prospects could see some 200 - 300 jobs generated should development come to just one of the parcels of land up for investment. Significantly more, should all four development sites find a receptive partner.

The Nisga'a highlight the opportunities available with their Portland Inlet sites through a 40 page review on the Nisga'a Lisisms Government website.

The full article from the Financial Post can be found here.

We have more items of note on proposed LNG development on the North Coast on our archive page

And the nominees are... Chamber announces nominations for Business Excellence Awards

At a Wednesday evening gathering, the Prince Rupert Chamber of Commerce revealed the list of nominations for this years Business Excellence Awards, a collection of new starts and established businesses that have caught the attention of Prince Rupert's residents over the last year.

The Nominees Reception took place at the Crest Hotel, with a two hour celebration of commerce in the city that highlighted the once again percolating business sector in the city. Once the nomination reception came to an end, shortly after 8 PM, the nomination list was released.

The voting opened up at just before midnight on Wednesday and will continue until the midnight hour of February 23rd and in between that time, Rupertites will have the opportunity to cast their ballot for the 2013 Business Excellence Awards.

The Gala and results of the balloting will take place on March 1st when Prince Rupert's Business Class gathers at the North Coast Convention Centre to honour the success of those who claim the titles of some 13 different categories.

You can review the listing of the Nominees here.

You can participate in the voting process through the Chamber of Commerce website