WATCH: MLA’s were back in Victoria today with a sole item on the agenda — debating legislation related to a proposed private investment deal that could see a $36-billion LNG export plant built near Prince Rupert. Keith Baldrey explains.
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s finance minister says he has introduced legislation that provides the blueprint for building and operating the province’s first liquefied natural gas plant.
Mike de Jong said Monday the proposed $36-billion facility on B.C.’s north coast would be the largest private investment in the province’s history.
He called the Liquefied Natural Gas Project Agreements Act a tool to grant investors certainty from targeted tax increases and environmental regulations.
Pacific NorthWest LNG, a joint venture backed by Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petronas, wants to construct a plant near Prince Rupert though it has not yet made a final investment decision on the project.
De Jong said legislation is the final piece of the puzzle that the government has been building for years to attract an LNG industry to B.C.
“This really is that final piece and following what I hope and believe will be passage of this legislation.”
He said all that’s left is a federal environmental certificate approving the project, adding Pacific NorthWest LNG is “anxious to begin.”
De Jong said the law provides the company with a 25-year assurance specific to LNG-related income and ensures that energy and environmental taxes do not increase while corporate and sales taxes could rise.
He said the guarantees against targeted tax increases are a tradeoff in exchange for thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in revenues that the LNG industry is expected to generate.
Premier Christy Clark has touted LNG as a way to boost the province’s economy.
“It really will be an historic debate, one that people will look back on for decades,” she said about the proposed law.
Opposition NDP Leader John Horgan said his party will vote against the legislation because the tradeoffs do not come with job guarantees for British Columbians.
“I certainly believe there should be guarantees in a project development agreement that’s giving a 25-year tax holiday to a foreign company, that we should get something back in return other than making a final investment decision in time for the next election.”
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