Mr. Cullen introduces the Social License

Go Local-- Offering training and jobs to the local workforce first, and keeping jobs in the area by adding value to natural resources.

Environment-- Protecting our land, air and water, and being accountable.

Accountability-- Having a good track record of protecting communities and the environment, and living up to promises made.

First Nations-- Holding meaningful consultations and respecting the rights of First Nations land, title and traditional uses.

Long Term Legacy-- Seeking long term positive impacts, and avoiding boom-and-bust economic models.

He asks for his constituents to examine how each project in their area scores to a total of 25.

Background on the Social License concept can be found below, click on each page of the household mailer icon to learn more about his proposal.

As the MP points out, the Social License process isn't a law and unless the local council's, whether Municipal or First Nation become involved in the concept, it would seem to be more of a political covenant between the industrial developers and those in the community that see things through the same prism as Mr. Cullen.

Even then, the Provincial Government is perhaps the level of government that will have the definitive word when it comes to large scale development, how they may react to the idea of Mr. Cullen's Social License remains to be seen.

We imagine more than anything else, at this point his mailer, is more of a conversation starter, rather than any kind of industrial blue print.

Whether it becomes a fixture of the Northwest development process, is something that will be interesting to follow along with, as we head into what may be years of unprecedented growth for the region.

Those that did not receive the mailer, can contact the MP's constituency office closest to them to seek out more information on the topic.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

North Coast route reductions among BC Ferries Cuts announced today

Travellers on the North Coast will feel the impact of cost cutting measures at BC Ferries, as the Skidegate-Prince Rupert run and Prince Rupert-Port Hardy route were both, part of  a number of coastal runs highlighted for reductions today.

The Port Hardy- Prince Rupert route will see a reduction of 39 round trips, for 2014 a 32 per cent adjustment from the current schedule.

The service between Skidegate and Prince Rupert which links Haida Gwaii with the North Coast was cut by 27 percent, which will see the number of sailings reduced by 52 round trips per year.

All of the changes will come into effect in April of 2014.

Details of the many changes ahead for BC Ferries users were released through this background piece from the Ministry of Transportation.

Below are the key aspects for the North Coast, regarding the breakdown of the cost cutting and anticipated savings from the announced changes today.

BC Ferries also announced a number of other measures designed to help assist their financial situation, among them a change for Seniors when it comes to travel on the ferry system.

The current free ride for Seniors ( a 100 percent discount which is offered Monday to Thursday on major and minor southern routes), pared back to a 50 percent discount for that same period of travel.

There will reportedly be no change to the 33 percent discount offered to seniors on the Northern routes.

The Ferry system will also consider the introduction of slot machines to some vessels, placing them in a secure and restricted area of the vessels, with a share of the potential revenues derived from them to be returned to the service.

Transportation Minister Todd Stone anticipates that today's cuts could save the Ferry System 19 million dollars. Overall, it's estimated that today's announcement accounts for an elimination of 8 per cent of all of BC Ferries sailings.

The major changes to the Ferry schedule come in part as the result of the findings of the BC Coastal Ferries Consultation and Engagement of the Fall of 2012, which we reviewed on the blog in March.

The cutbacks announced today, go against the advice that the BC Ferry Advisory Committee offered to the Provincial government. In October we outlined their concerns over what they called an "unnecessary crisis" regarding BC Ferries.

It's safe to assume that the nature of today's changes will most likely receive a sharp rebuke from that group as they review the listing of route change announcements made today.

Our past reviews of BC Ferries issues can be found here.

Some of the media review of today's decision can be found below.


CBC.ca-- BC Ferries to cut service, seniors' discounts and test casinos
Victoria Times Colonist-- B. C. government announces cuts to minor ferry routes, no more free rides for seniors and maybe gambling
Victoria Times Colonist-- Ferry cuts disastrous for coastal communities, critics warn
Victoria Times Colonist-- Loss of free passes outrage seniors
Vancouver Sun-- Ferry riding seniors first in line for 'tough decisions'
Vancouver Sun- Gambling considered as revenue source on BC Ferries
Vancouver Province-- House always wins: BC Ferries gambling on slot machines as it cuts services, hikes fares
Vancouver Province-- 'Our Ferries are not riverboat casinos' NDP Critic says in blasting BC Ferries slot-machines proposal
Haida Gwaii Observer-- Ferry Cuts to Hit Haida Gwaii hard
Georgia Straight-- Slot machines coming to BC Ferries?


Cross Posted from the North Coast Review

Enthusiastic group deliver their message to the Port on the prospect of oil tankers on North Coast

Prince Rupert 

Depending on who you are getting your numbers from, Saturday's Day of Protest participants numbered between 100 and 200, as those taking part in the Prince Rupert Defend Our Communities rally gathered in front of the Atlin Terminal offices of the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

Terrace

The noon hour protest, part of a Canada wide expression of concern, highlighted the belief of some local organizers that the Port Authority has developed plans to begin shipping oil by way of tankers, perhaps as early as 2015.

That was the suggestion of the protest organizer Luanne Roth, who offered up her thoughts to the Northern View on Saturday, explaining that local residents that share their fears, had gathered on Saturday to express their desire to stop any potential shipments from the North Coast.

Smithers

Across the Northwest, the province and the country, those taking part were quick to take to social media to share their activities.

The snapshots and vignettes of the day's events making their way to twitter, You Tube and Facebook.

North Coast NDP MLA Jennifer Rice, Skeena NDP MLA Robin Austin and NDP MP Nathan Cullen, took to the streets in Vancouver, taking a break from the ongoing BC NDP convention to share their support with the protest organizers.

Vancouver

Vancouver

You can review some of the thoughts of the day's participants from the Facebook page (North Coast) Facebook page (National) and twitter feed of the event.

Media accounts of the day's events around British Columbia can be found below.

CBC.ca-- Climate change rallies staged across Canada
CTV BC-- Pipeline protest goes Canada-wide
Terrace Standard-- Large anti-Enbridge rally fills up Terrace park
Prince George Citizen-- Protest march opposes pipeline
Opinion 250-- Sending the Message to Ottawa
Vancouver Observer-- Thousands protest Enbridge in Vancouver

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Mr. Cullen's LNG discussions underway in Northwest BC

The first of NDP MP Nathan Cullen's "Let's Talk LNG" sessions took place this week with two sessions in Northwest communities.

As we outlined on the blog back in October, Mr. Cullen has scheduled a string of information sessions for a number of Northwest communities, hoping to spur on discussion and the exchange of information on the proposed developments for the Northwest.

The first one took place in Terrace on Wednesday night, where the MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley was host to a number of panel participants who fielded a wide range of questions on the issue of LNG development and the impact it may have on their community.

Appearing on the panel were representatives of Shell Canada, Clean Energy Canada, the Terrace Chamber of Commerce and the Kitselas First nation.

Some background on that session can be found below.

CFTK-- Cullen Begins "Let's Talk LNG" Series of Forums in Terrace
CFTK-- Cullen LNG forum (video)
CFNR-- LNG Tour comes to Terrace

The second of the meetings was held on Thursday in Kitimat at that community's Mount Elizabeth Theatre, where much of the same themes of discussion were up for review.

Following those two sessions the MP took to his twitter feed to offer his thanks to all that participated in this week's forums.

For those in other Northwest communities however the opportunity to learn more will have to wait just a little bit. His proposed stops for Prince Rupert and Smithers were scuttled a few weeks back, owing to scheduling difficulties with the participating panelists.

Those sessions have been rescheduled for sometime in the New Year, with the confirmed dates still to be put in place.

You can keep an eye on both his website, facebook page and twitter feed for further details on round two of his "Let's Talk LNG" series.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Dan Miller's political chalkboard for the NDP

Former Premier Dan Miller has offered up some rather frank advice to his fellow NDPers on the current leadership discussion and his Tuesday review for the Vancouver Sun, may provide a mirror for the NDP that many in the party won't particularly enjoy looking into.

He suggests that the problems with the party may not be so much with the choice of leadership of the party, but with the party's overall vision itself.

In short, he advises that the party needs to make some hard decisions on what it wants to be, offering up some fairly well thought out criticisms of the party's recent approach to politics and more importantly what it now stands for.

The reading of his post election review highlights a number of worrisome path divergences that Miller sees for the NDP.

Changes in direction that highlight the nature of a much more splintered party of today, than that of his time as an MLA for the North Coast (1986-2000) and through his handling of internal political turmoil as Interim Premier.

It's from those lessons of the past, that Mr. Miller may be of some help when it comes to the current troubles that the NDP find themselves in.

In 1999 the party in the midst of crisis turned to Mr. Miller,  the longest serving member of the Legislature, to provide for the bridge upon the resignation of Glen Clark, and the selection of Ujjal Dosanjh as party leader in 2000.

As history has recorded, Mr. Dosanjh and the NDP went down to political defeat in 2001 and the party has not returned to the Government side of the Legislature since.

Key to Mr. Miller's review of the modern day NDP is the subject of the party's current disconnect,  not only with British Columbians, but with it's own membership.

Particularly when it comes to the issue of resource development, a theme that has resonated along the North Coast and no doubt is shaping up to be a major discussion point moving forward over the next four years of the Liberals electoral mandate.

The harshest commentary perhaps, his observation that the party is one that is letting the vocal few, set their agenda on development of the province's resources.

He observes that many are quick to criticize any plan to harvest the resources of the province, whether it is coal, mining or natural gas extraction, but at the same time make demands of government for additional monies for health care, social programs and infrastructure development to name a few of the current flash points in British Columbia governance.

It's a comment that should make for interesting review among the North Coast NDP membership, considering that the current NDP MLA for the riding would clearly be on the more environmental side of the party's divide when it comes to resources.

Whether the observations from Mr. Miller, are of interest to, or resonate with the current NDP MLA Jennifer Rice, could perhaps provide for an illuminating glimpse into where some of  those current  NDP cracks and crevices now radiate from.

The full article which can be found here, is well worth the read for all British Columbians, regardless of their political affiliation.

The NDP turned to Miller in 1999 and perhaps in their current state of disarray, should heed his counsel once again. From his vantage point as a long time North Coast MLA and party insider, Miller has offered  an impressive glimpse of the current political climate of the province and of party politics for his NDP.

Whether anyone in the party is taking notes, is all something that we'll all have to wait and watch for.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.

Nexen reaches agreement with British Columbia on Grassy Point location

"Through project assessment and stakeholder consultation we are committed to examining the potential to build a best-in-class LNG facility - one that creates jobs, delivers lasting economic and social benefits and is developed with the environment top-of-mind," -- Nexen CEO Kevin Reinhart, speaking on behalf of his company and the joint venture partners regarding plans for development of an LNG Terminal at Grassy Point.

Another step in the planning for an LNG future for the North Coast was announced on Tuesday, with Nexen, the company purchased  by the Chinese state owned energy company CNOOC, reaching terms with the Province of British Columbia on a 24 million dollar agreement regarding Crown Land for their proposed Terminal location.

The agreement between the Province and Aurora LNG is a sole proponent agreement, which provides the company with the exclusive right to move forward with the planning required to build LNG export infrastructure at the Grassy Point Location.

Aurora will pay 12 million dollars to the Province upon signing the sole proponent agreement, the remaining 12 million will be paid on or before the first anniversary of the agreement, as long as the energy company wishes to continue on with the arrangement.

The actual acquisition of the land in question for further development will remain a matter for long term negotiations, if Aurora chooses to move ahead with project, that 24 million will be subtracted from the final sale price.

Premier Christy Clark and  Rich Coleman, the Minister for Natural Gas Development announced that the planning for Nexen's Aurora LNG Facility will move forward, though they did stress that it is still very much a project that is only in the proposal phase. More on today's developments can be found here.

Nexen provided some background on the developments regarding their Aurora proposal with this item from their website.

Today's announcement is yet another step in the Expression of Interest process that was launched earlier this year regarding the Grassy Point area.

In their statement today the Provincial Government outlined that discussions are still ongoing with the remaining three proponents for an adjacent parcel of land at Grassy Point.

Nexen's proposal now joins those of Petronas and BG Group to be found in the active file, though no commitment to building the terminal and required pipeline infrastructure has been made from today's announcement.

It will be subject to the same regulatory approval process as the other proposals currently in motion for North Coast locations.

You can learn more about the Grassy Point region and of Nexen's recent moves from our archive page.

We will update the reaction to today's announcement with media reviews as they begin to come in.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Nathan Cullen to step away from BC NDP Leadership race

At the end of the day, Mr. Cullen it seems will stay in Ottawa.

After weighing his options for about a month now, Nathan Cullen has reached a decision and his political future will not involve the seeking of the BC NDP leadership.

Instead the NDP MP for Bulkley-Valley Skeena has decided to remain in Ottawa as a federal MP.

Just yesterday, Cullen had given an interview with CFTK, outlining some of the key issues that are on his mind and how they were shading his plans, adding that he was getting closer to a decision.

That decision apparently was reached within the last 24 hours with the delivery of his Friday afternoon announcement.

Word of his plans spread fast from Ottawa this afternoon, the details of his announcement posted to his facebook page.

From his social media page, he outlined that while humbled and inspired by the call from BC for him to consider the NDP leadership of the province, he instead believes that there is still important work to finish in Ottawa.

His decision may come as welcome news to those supporters of his on the North Coast, a group which values his work on environmental issues in Ottawa.

However there will be perhaps just as many that will be disappointed, as there was a fair amount of support for him to make the migration to the provincial scene.

He is the first of the high profile Federal NDP members in Ottawa, to make a decision to not seek the job that Adrian Dix will surrender next year.

You can review ome of the past commentary on his leadership ambitions from our archive page here.

Media reviews of his announcement can be found below, we will add to the listings as they become available.


CBC-- MP Nathan Cullen not running for B. C. NDP leadership
Vancouver Sun-- Nathan Cullen says he won't seek B. C. NDP leadership

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Prince Rupert Port Authority to be target of local protest on November 16th

Those opposing the prospect of pipeline development in Canada and in particular British Columbia, will be launching a cross Canada Day of Protest on Saturday, November 16th.

The mission statement, if you will, as taken from the Defend our climate website, calls for Canadians to "help build a united wall of opposition to pipelines, reckless tar sands expansion and runaway climate change at local events across the country."

In Prince Rupert, that would appear to be a planned protest to be held outside the offices of the Prince Rupert Port Authority in the Atlin Terminal, where organizers plan to link arms in protest,  to show their opposition to any proposals on oil tanker traffic on the North Coast.

A link to their planned protest, outlines that they have chosen the Prince Rupert Port Authority office, as they believe that the Port Authority is planning for the arrival of oil tankers in the Prince Rupert region.

They also offer up and update on their plans with a Facebook page on the theme which was created on November 1st.

The local protest is being organized by the Prince Rupert Environmental Society, those that wish to contact that group can get in touch by way of email at info@SaveourSkeenaSalmon.org

Both a Facebook page and twitter feed for the national day of protest have also been created to provide updates on national developments.

Some of other protests in the region that day are planned for Terrace, Kitimat and Smithers.

Media coverage of the planned protests for November 16th can be found below

Terrace Standard-- Anti pipeline rally planned in Terrace

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Nathan Cullen angry over BC/Alberta Pipeline Announcement

“I’m trying to pick my words carefully because I’m quite angry. The premier made some cold, calculated decisions to win the last election and then, as soon as that election was over, has decided that those promises didn’t mean anything.”-- Nathan Cullen, outlining his concerns over Tuesday's pipeline deal between Alberta and British Columbia.

Considering that by Monday evening dark clouds had been hovering over a scheduled meeting between Alberta Premier Alison Redford and British Columbia's Christy Clark, the surprise pipeline announcement from the two of Tuesday seems to have caught more than a few political observers off guard.

Word that the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia had settled some of their differences on the topic of pipelines, may have been lost in the developments out of Ottawa and Toronto on Tuesday.

But one person who found it amid the clutter of a busy news cycle was Nathan Cullen, the MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

Mr. Cullen was quick to react to the deal announced by two Premiers, making it clear to radio station CKNW that he plans to keep up his fight when it comes to the proposal to ship oil through British Columbia.

The announcement of Tuesday is also weighing on  his mind as he ponders what would be his best approach, when it comes to providing effective opposition to the plan. He suggested to CKNW that in light of the developments, he will be making his decision rather quickly now as to what his intentions are for the upcoming BC NDP leadership campaign.

You can review some of Mr. Cullen's comments from the CKNW Audio Vault (November 5, 2 PM Newscast)

Beyond Mr. Cullen's concerns, reaction to the Tuesday announcement has been mixed.

NDP Opposition Leader Adrian Dix expressed his belief that the Liberals misled the Province during the election on the issue of pipeline development.

CFTK TV reports that Coastal First Nations executive Director Art Sterritt called the agreement good news as it forces Alberta to recognize First Nations constitutional rights, though he did suggest to the Vancouver Sun, that perhaps Premier Clark may have "played" her Alberta counterpart a bit on Tuesday.

Many other observers suggested that in fact, the announcement today only moves the process ahead by a small margin, with both provinces still apart on a number of the issues that remain to be discussed. With progress still to be made on the five conditions that the Premier of British Columbia outlined as important regarding any pipeline development in the province.

Tuesday, the Premier expressed her belief that the fact that Alberta offered up its agreement  on the five conditions is an important step in the process.
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The British Columbia Chamber of Commerce hailed the announcement as a positive development, offering up the hope that it may make for new momentum for both the Enbridge and Kinder Morgan pipeline projects.

Some of the media review of Tuesday's announcement can be found below

Vancouver Sun-- B. C., Alberta deal could ease way for oil pipelines to the coast
Vancouver Sun-- Northern Gateway hurdles remain high despite friendly meeting, photo ops
Vancouver Sun-- A relationship that has been hot and cold
Victoria Times Colonist-- Clark, Redford maintain a united front
CBC-- B. C., Alberta premiers agree on pipeline framework
CBC-- Alberta-B. C. pipeline agreement divides key stakeholders
CTV-- B. C. Agrees Alberta royalties are off the table in oil pipeline talks
Global BC-- BC and Alberta Premiers reach pipeline agreement
Sun News Network-- BC, Alberta reach framework on pipeline deal
Calgary Herald-- Alberta, B. C. salvage deal on Gateway pipeline

Cross Posted from the North Coast Review