Part two of two
While the important discussion on the future of Northern Gateway has now moved from public hearings and political backrooms to courtrooms, there is one political player left on the stage with cards to play and she's keeping them close to her chest.
On the surface, it looks like Premier Christy Clark's five conditions for support of Northern Gateway (or any other oil pipeline through B.C., she has pointed out) paints her into a tight corner. This is a woman who campaigned on "getting to yes" when it came to resource development and her five conditions appear to be obstacles for Enbridge. They are, in her own words:
1. Successful completion of the formal environmental review processes.
2. World-leading marine oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems for British Columbia.
3. World-leading practices for land spill prevention, response and recovery systems for British Columbia.
4. Legal requirements regarding Aboriginal and treaty rights must be addressed and First Nations be provided with the opportunities to benefit from these projects.
5. British Columbia receives a fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits of proposed heavy oil projects that reflect the risk borne by the province.
With Tuesday's approval by the federal government for Northern Gateway to proceed, subject to the completion of the 209 conditions set out in the final report by the joint review panel, Enbridge has met Clark's first condition. The other four conditions have not been met, as Clark and her cabinet ministers have stressed numerous times.
It appears she might be in a bit of a political pickle. If she doesn't help get Northern Gateway to the finish line, she might jeopardize her efforts to get the mining sector and particularly her beloved LNG projects from the drawing board to construction and operation.
Meanwhile, Enbridge has stated it is working hard to meet Clark's second and third conditions. Eventually, Clark will concede on those two fronts, probably in the next year or so.
Don't be fooled, however, by the opitcs.
The fourth and fifth conditions are where things will get interesting and that's where she's given herself a ton of wiggle room.
Treaty rights must be "addressed." No word on what that actually means. Addressed how? Is she demanding the federal government sign treaties with all of the B.C. First Nations currently without treaties? Our children will be grandparents before that day comes and that would be if talks started today. Is she just demanding a discussion or concrete action on treaty rights?
What she is really looking for is legal certainty, which would allow a clearer path forward for LNG development, proposed mines and another project dear to the premier's heart - Site C dam. Using the Northern Gateway case to get the federal government to move on this front would help Clark and every B.C. premier that comes after her.
The second part of that fourth condition is as blunt as the first part is vague. "Opportunities to benefit" is a polite way of saying that B.C. First Nations should get paid, both in cash and in jobs, for their support of Northern Gateway.
Which leads into the fifth condition, where Clark is saying "show me the money." Cleverly, she has not asked where the "fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits" will come from, nor does she care. At the end of the day, she's correct to demand that B.C. get paid for the risk of hosting a heavy oil pipeline and the supertankers that will transport that oil. Whether that comes from Enbridge, Alberta or the federal government, B.C. will get paid for Northern Gateway, in one form or another, as long as she's in charge.
If no one puts money on the table, those 60 or so permits Enbridge needs from various provincial ministries could be held up for God knows how long for further study, assessment, review, consideration, consultation and so on.
Ironically, many of the same people who despise the way Clark is using brass-knuckle power politics on public school teachers would like her to apply it with equal enthusiasm on Alberta, the Stephen Harper Conservatives and Enbridge over Northern Gateway.
How she will use her cards remains to be seen but she's made it clear to everyone that she's one of the players at the table.
