NDP Energy Plan Leaves B.C. in the Cold

March 11, 2010
NDP Energy Plan Leaves B.C. in the Cold

VICTORIA – The NDP's branding of the natural gas royalty incentive program as “repugnant” is a slap in the face to northeast families and shows the NDP have no understanding of the sector’s importance to British Columbia, says Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom.

“This sector provides good, family-supporting jobs across the northeast and is the largest contributor of revenue to the provincial coffers to pay for services like health care and education,” says Lekstrom. “For the NDP to call out the sector and threaten those jobs and those services is what’s really ‘repugnant.’ The NDP plan to hamstring our competitiveness would leave hard-working British Columbians who depend on these jobs and this revenue out in the cold. We’re proud of the work being done in British Columbia and we’re going to continue to work towards making B.C. the most competitive natural gas jurisdiction in North America.”

Lekstrom was responding to comments from NDP energy critic John Horgan, who told CKNW the royalty program “is repugnant” and “bad politics” - though Horgan did concede the energy boom in the northeast is a main driver of economic growth in B.C.

“The NDP is putting their own politics against the needs of our families,” says Lekstrom. “Natural gas markets are incredibly competitive and producers have many options as to where to invest their capital. We want them to invest in British Columbia, we want the jobs and we want the revenues to pay for health care and education. The results of the royalty program are clear to everyone but the NDP – it works and British Columbia is the beneficiary.”

This is not the first time the NDP have announced a reckless policy that would cost rural communities thousands of jobs:

• The NDP has called for a moratorium on independent power projects

• The NDP planned a $1 billion levy that would have hit energy producers hard.

• The NDP oppose a streamlined environmental assessment process.

The new $120-million instalment of B.C.'s Infrastructure Royalty Credit program will encourage investment and infrastructure. Since 2004, B.C.'s Infrastructure Royalty Credit Program has allocated more than $485 million in infrastructure royalty credits to natural gas and petroleum companies operating in the province, resulting in 71 new road-based projects and 83 new pipeline projects. This represents new total capital investment in B.C. of almost $1 billion.

The Province gets an approximate return on investment of $2.50 for every dollar invested - revenue that would not have been collected otherwise. The program is designed to reflect the competitive challenges of enabling year-round activity and providing infrastructure that allows natural gas activity that would otherwise not take place.

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