Skeena MLA keeps high profile on energy issues

Skeena's Liberal MLA
Ellis Ross is keeping
the focus on energy 

While the Legislature remains vacant through the final days of summer, Skeena MLA Ellis Ross is still finding ways to raise issues related to energy, with the recently elected Liberal member getting a fair amount of coverage in the provincial media in the post election period.

In his role as Liberal critic on Energy and Natural Gas development, Mr. Ross has had no shortage of early discussion topics to weigh in on, as the NDP seem to be making energy issues the main focus of their early days in office.

Such has been the volume of commentary so far, that the Skeena MLA's political star continues to rise around the province, providing for a fairly strong profile as the Liberals begin to work out their post Christy Clark era plans.

Earlier this month Ross's comments related to the NDP's energy policies were widely reported as he weighed in on such areas as the Pacific NorthWest LNG cancellation and the NDP government's ongoing approach when it comes to opposition to the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.

A recent decision by the NDP to cancel an upcoming major LNG conference in Vancouver has made for the latest of discussion topics for the Skeena MLA, with Ross providing some strong commentary for Brent Jang of the Globe and Mail, expressing his puzzlement over why the NDP would cancel the international conference that had been scheduled for the Vancouver Convention Centre from November 28 to 30th.

In addition to this thoughts on the NDP's strategies when it comes LNG and energy development, Ross noted that not all LNG projects are in the process of winding down in BC, highlighting how the LNG Canada project proposed for Kitimat remains an ongoing project.

As part of that review, the MLA for the Terrace/Kitimat region noted,  how some site remediation work is in the offing for the old Eurocan site that could be home for the proposed terminal.

Though to this point it should also be noted that the proponents of LNG Canada's Kitimat plans have yet to make any Final Investment Decisions related to their Kitimat project.

When it comes to bringing attention to political themes in BC, for the moment, it would seem that the Skeena MLA and the other 86 MLA's elected to the Legislature will have to continue to use the media to deliver their messages.

As we head towards September, the majority of the NDP government's moves have come through ministerial announcements, without the benefit of any kind of discussion or overview in the Legislature.

To this point of these early days of their governance, Premier John Horgan has yet to indicate when the government will call the MLA's back to their duties in the House and put the NDP's plans for the future to the test of the full membership of the British Columbia Legislature.

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Cross posted from the North Coast Review