Premier Christy Clark let some of the air out of her game plan for liquefied natural gas Thursday, but still promised to take her province to the economic Super Bowl.
Clark said falling oil prices and a tough economy have altered the government’s LNG playbook, making it more difficult to predict which plants will go ahead or how. “We are still on track to meet our goal of [getting] three LNG plants up and running by 2020,” she said. “But it probably won’t happen in the order that we had originally anticipated it would happen, and that’s about being adaptable to change.”
She said some companies will be more affected by falling oil prices, while others may be attracted to B.C. by the prospects of a low Canadian dollar and a skilled workforce. The province, she said, will just have to “roll with the punches” and persevere. “So, do we still intend to win the Super Bowl? Absolutely. Has the playbook changed a bit on the way to get there? Yes, it has. Is that something we could control? No. But we need to be adaptable and stick to the plan.”
NDP critic Shane Simpson said Clark keeps moving the goal posts and can no longer be trusted, especially after she said during the 2013 election that the first plant would be up and running by 2015, that more plants, jobs and money would follow, and that B.C. would be debt-free by 2028.
“Obviously, none of that was true,” Simpson said. “Obviously, none of that was ever going to be realized even when circumstances were different than they are today. “She went so far out on a limb here when she put all these eggs in one basket. It was unbelievable then and frankly her comments are unbelievable today.”
Clark, who was in Victoria to speak to the Truck Loggers’ Association annual general meeting, insisted that B.C. remains in good shape. She said her government will balance its budget for a third consecutive year, in large part because of B.C.’s diversified economy. “We may be the only province that does balance this year and we’re real proud of that.”
She said the drop in crude oil prices will be bad for Canada, but will offer B.C. an opportunity to lure workers home from Alberta, upgrade their skills and link them with industries in need of help. The government is even thinking of buying advertising space in the Fort McMurray, Alta. airport to invite people home. “We’re not just asking them to come home,” she said. “We are prepared to present them with a welcome home basket when they come.”
