Recently, Premier Christy Clark was witnessing the signing of a so-called agreement between the Guangzhou Gas Group from China and a proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant to purchase LNG. But it is very important that citizens take a closer look at what was actually going on here.
This was a photo op, pure and simple. And just like all the other LNG photo ops, it will be loudly touted by Premier Clark. But it is a photo op of nothing.
This agreement is not really a deal in any normal sense of the word. The agreement is not in any way binding on either the seller or the buyer. Neither signatory has actually agreed to do anything. It is simply an illusion.
We are now in a pre-election year, so you can expect to see even more of these agreements that aren’t agreements and announcements that aren’t announcements. And you can expect to see a great deal of public money spent trying to convince you that it is all real.
Let’s remember the last batch of BC Liberal promises that we were fed prior to the 2013 election. We were promised that there would be 17 LNG plants, with the first to be up and operating by 2015. That never happened. Now we are promised that there will be LNG plants up and operating by 2020. Don’t believe it.
The BC Liberals also promised 100,000 new jobs in LNG. The current number? Zero.
The BC Liberals promised a $100 billion Prosperity Fund from LNG revenues. The actual revenue from LNG? Zero.
The BC Liberals promised to eliminate the provincial debt which was $36 billion when the BC Liberals took over and now, with contractual obligations, is up to $168 billion, with record debt coming in the next number of years if Site C goes ahead. The chance of getting rid of the provincial debt? Zero.
So as this election approaches, it is important to remember the illusion of doing something is very different from actually doing something.
Every four years, with each election, citizens have the opportunity to set the standard for our elected officials. We should insist that they are capable enough to keep themselves informed, and we should insist that they tell us truth.
And we should hold them accountable by not voting for them when they fail.
Norm Macdonald MLA Columbia River Revelstoke | 1-866-870-4188 | norm.macdonald.mla@leg.bc.ca
