An LNG Pushback?

Notice was delivered last week outlining that the comment period for the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project was now open, an opportunity for interested observers to provide feedback and express concerns over the proposed route of the pipeline to bring natural gas from Northeast BC gas fields to a terminal point at Lelu Island.

Open Houses are planned for communities across Northern British Columbia from June 16 - 25, where residents can learn more about the proposed pipeline development.

You can review their summary of their application for an Environmental Assessment certificate here.

And while the BC Environmental Assessment Office compiles that information, a much larger conversation is taking place in communities across the Northern region.

With the many proposed routes and growing scale of development in their regions, making for much in the way of discussion. Particularly among those with concerns over the entire subject of LNG and the impact that development may have on their communities.

The topic is of key interest among those opposed to the extraction of natural gas by way of fracking, or those with concerns over the proposed pipeline routes.

As both groups begin to mount pressure to slow down the frantic pace of proposed developments in their areas.

Both the Vancouver Observer news site and to a lesser degree the Tyee website, have been highlighting much of that push back in recent weeks.

As article after article provides background to some of the opposition to the plans and what it all may mean for the plethora of proposed terminal projects for the Northwest.

One article in particular, provided for what may turn into a fairly controversial aspect of LNG pipeline development.

As some members of the Gitxsan First Nation are suggesting that they're names have been used without their permission, offering up their endorsement of development when none was provided.

That concern began to gain some traction earlier this month, as the Vancouver Observer provided some background on the issue and the prospect of concerns, when it comes to past endorsements from other First Nation Communities in Northern British Columbia.

Beyond that controversial aspect of moving the pipelines forward, environmentalists and other citizens across Northern BC have also started to create awareness of their concerns and look to send their message to the provincial government that the path to LNG riches may not go quite according to schedule.

Some of those items of interest can be found below:

Without license: Many B. C. First Nations still oppose LNG
"Over my dead body": northern BC residents overwhelmed by massive LNG push
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition unites loggers, farmers, miners against rampant LNG development
Local company harassed for LNG work
Pipeline exploration work goes unattended on Northern BC rivers
Pipelines Risk "Social Peace": UN Envoy
Dear John Horgan: Oppose the Libs' Jobs Myth
Agricultural Land Reserve Changes Make Way for Pipelines: Conservationist
BC LNG Doesn't Have to Be a Massive Polluter
Defiant Northern Chief galvanizes BC First Nations against Premier's LNG plans
LNG coming to BC, big and fast. Are you ready?
Has LNG Become Political LSD in BC?

The issue of LNG development has been prominent at the Legislature in recent weeks with both North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice and Skeena MLA Robin Austin, outlining some of their thoughts on the theme and suggesting the time has come for more conversation on development issues.

A short review of some of our past items from the Legislature can be found below:

Land, LNG issues up for discussion for MLA in Legislature
Northwest MLA's look for more conversation on LNG in region
Skeena MLA raises concerns over LNG Development planning
Skeena MLA Austin seeks more info on LNG preparation in Northwest
Rice to Liberals: Risky to put all our eggs in LNG basket

The race against the clock to get even a few of the proposed terminals for the Northwest up and running is based on the ever changing and competitive nature of the LNG industry, which finds projects around the world proposed regularly.

Some of which eventually come on line, with others left on the drawing board with any number of factors to be reviewed, as to why they never quite made it to the completion phase.

How the discussions currently taking place across Northern British Columbia may impact on the proposed developments of the Northwest remains to be seen.

With jobs and economic development of the region the key aspect of the BC Liberals agenda for LNG in the North, the growing push back from some of the key areas of that development may find that the timetable that the province was working with may need to be adjusted.

On our archive pages, we have a full review of items when it comes to natural gas and the proposed LNG Terminal development in the region.

For items of a general nature on LNG see our  LNG overview page, for items related to a particular Terminal proposal see our Archive page on LNG here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.

Provincial Teacher's Dispute Backgrounder, Spring 2014

The acrimonious nature of discussions between the BCTF and the Provincial Government made another turn this week, with an escalation of labour action in the way of announced rotating strikes for May 26-29.


To provide some background on the path towards that development, we offer up some of the past items   from a range of sources on the dispute.  Our original items on the theme will be indicated by the NCR notation.

This archive page on the dispute will be updated as events move forward during the current negotiations.

May

May 21-- Premier Clark on CFOX regarding labour dispute (audio from CKNW 12:35-12:45 PM)
May 21-- Call in a mediator already and save us all the drama
May 20-- Rotating teacher strikes set to begin next week
May 20-- Rotating school strikes to start Monday
May 20-- With Teacher Ultimatum, BC Liberals Just Kicked the Hornet's Nest
May 20-- B. C. Teachers strike to start next week
May 20-- Rotating Strike for SD52 set for Tuesday, as BCTF announces rotating strike program from May 26-29   NCR
May 20-- BCTF escalating job action to include rotating walk-outs
May 20-- B. C. Teachers to begin rotating strikes next week
May 19-- "Unprecedented" number of B. C. teachers receive layoff notices
May 17-- Gov't Doles out Prizes, Punishments to Reach Teacher Deal
May 16-- Government proposes $1200 dollar teacher bonus; BCTF says no deal
May 16-- B. C. Teachers paycut threatened over limited job action
May 16-- Government Kills 10-Year Teacher Contract idea
May 15-- B. C. teachers to be offered 6 year term on new contract
May 15-- B. C. backs off for 10 year deal with teachers
May 14-- Employer's negotiator 'confrontational' at teacher bargaining session: union
May 13-- Rotating School Closures may be next in Provincial Labour Dispute NCR
May 12-- B. C. teachers' strike could escalate, parents warned
May 9-- Hundreds of Teachers across B. C. receiving layoff notices
May 8-- Education Minister shocked by teacher layoffs in SD43
May 8-- 630 Teachers laid off in Coquitlam
May 5-- Everything You Need to Know about BC Teacher Bargaining
May 1-- Re-engineering BC education amid bargaining strife
May 1-- B. C. Government raises stakes by forcing teachers' union to pay benefits during job action

April

April 30-- BCTF will have to pay teachers' benefits
April 30-- Delta teachers advised to cancel field trips for rest of school year
April 28-- Calls for 'big moves' at bargaining table, but no signs of deal in teachers' labour dispute
April 25-- Teachers fire back at employers' association
April 25-- Teachers' demands would put B. C.'s credit rating at risk: negotiator
April 25-- Teachers' union talks rotating strikes as negotiations stall

April 24-- Let's all do the math on B. C.'s teacher surplus
April 24-- Some school districts cancel recess during BCTF job action
April 23-- Teachers' Job Action starts today at B. C. Schools
April 23-- Teacher Job Action Begins Today
April 22-- Teachers and B. C. government must end ongoing bitterness with contract: parent
April 22-- Teachers Job Action Means No Recess for Students
April 22-- Prince Rupert Teachers' Union says cancelling recess unfair to students
April 21-- Limited Job Action by B. C. Teachers to begin Wednesday

April 21-- Teachers, employer threaten pressure tactics in contract negotiation
April 16-- BCTF waiting on LRB ruling on essential service levels 

March

March 10-- One of these wage offers is not like the others
March 7-- B. C. Teachers vote in favour of strike; province waiting for union to table demands
March 5-- Leaked document shows teachers preparing for B. C. wide strike, province says

Cross Posted from the North Coast Review

Rotating Strike for SD52 set for Tuesday, as BCTF announces rotating strike program from May 26-29

With a weekend to reflect on the lay of the land of labour between the province and the British Columbia Teachers' Federation, BCTF President Jim Iker took to the microphone today to express disappointment in recent developments in negotiations between the his union and the Provincial Government.

Heralding the retreat of the province on their expectation of a ten year deal as welcome, Mr. Iker then outlined how that hopefulness of progress, quickly gave way to disappointment based on developments later in the week.

"After sixteen months of negotiations, the Government is back to its old tricks, " --  BCTF President Jim Iker, reflecting on last week's developments in the ongoing labour discussions between the BCTF and Provincial Government.

During the course of his press conference Mr. Iker provided his take regarding the recent course of discussion which saw the province counter their olive branch of Thursday, with a larger stick of potential wage rollbacks should a disruption take place.

“Last week, teachers were hopeful when they saw the government and BCPSEA put out an olive branch by backing off the unrealistic 10- year term,” .. “But the next day, hope that this government would start negotiating in good faith faded when the employer announced a series of threats around wage rollbacks, lockouts, and attempts to divide teachers, parents, and students. -- BCTF President Jim Iker

With that as the scene setter, Mr. Iker then called on the province to reinvest in education. Providing a bit of background on how the BCTF views the recent tone of discussion and what they hope to engage the province to work towards.

Among those concerns, familiar ones that were again reviewed by the BCTF: class size and class size composition, the needs for better access to specialized assistance for students and unfair wage demands,.

He also reviewed the past moves by the provincial government when it comes to past collective agreements, reviewing how those moves had been deemed illegal in recent court rulings.

As for the recent carrot of a signing bonus in this current negotiation, Mr. Iker offered up the suggestion that the recent signing bonus would have been better directed towards the BCTF salary grid.

To give you an idea as to what that current salary grid looks like, this listing from the Make a Future career resources website offers up a benchmark as to what School District 52 Salary expectations were as of July 2010 (most recent info available from the site).

To close his fourteen minute summary of the recent negotiations and what comes next, Mr, Iker outlined that to move their message forward, the BCTF would now put in motion a second phase.

An escalation of the dispute which will see British Columbia's teachers now take part in rotating strikes, starting May 26th and continuing until May 29th.

That prospect of rotating strikes was first hinted at last week as we reviewed on the blog last Tuesday. The two sides return to the bargaining table this Thursday and Friday.

Any extension of the rotating job action schedule will depend on events that take part in those discussions.

As those rotating strikes take place starting Monday, the province has been divided in four school districts, with the North Coast to face the rotating strike action on Tuesday, May 27 .

You can review the BCTF press conference from this morning from the BCTF Video archive page.

More background on the proposed labour disruption (and the dates of rotating strike action in other Northwest School Districts) can be found from this news release. (A further update was provided later in the day, available here)

As the announcement was being released, traffic seeking further background from BCTF website served to crash the website in the mid-morning period.

For more details on the planned labour disruptions next week consult the BCTF Website once traffic subsides.

For further background on recent developments in the labour dispute see our archive of Education items.

As well to the local angle to education above, we have created an archive dedicated to the current state of negotiations between the BCTF and the provincial government, which will be updated as events warrant.

You can access that archive here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Province to make Planning Grant Funding available to Northwest communities

Friday was announcement day for the Provincial Government, as Coralee Oakes, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development outlined details regarding a pair of grant funding programs to be made available to communities across the Northwest.

Each of the programs that were outlined on Friday will provide up to 500,000 dollars to participating communities. Offering assistance for local government to update their bylaws and official community plans.

In addition, funding will be made available so that communities can review and assess their local infrastructure needs, in order to prepare for LNG developments and industrial expansion.

The program grants as reviewed on Friday, touched on many topics that the Mayor and Council have discussed in recent months, particularly when it comes to the prospect of increased economic development and the impact that it may have on the community.

The announcement made in Terrace on Friday, outlined the scope of the two programs.

“Our government is committed to ensuring local communities realize all opportunities afforded by major industrial developments. Preparing for economic growth is a good challenge to have - and these grants will augment the existing tools available to communities to ensure they develop and update community plans to build vibrant, sustainable communities well into the future.”-- Minister Coralee Oakes, outlining the Province of British Columbia's funding projects for the Northwest.

On the North Coast, the grants will be made available to three local governments,  City of Prince Rupert, District of Port Edward, Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District.

Funding will also be available for the City of Terrace and District of Kitimat and Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine.

The Asset Management Capacity Building Grant-- will support the review of infrastructure capacity (water, sewer, drainage, local roads) and assist communities in determining what additional services are needed for their specific growth needs.

The Community Land-Use Planning Grant-- will assist local governments to do the work required so that their land use bylaws, policies and plans align with the needs for industrial expansion and maintain community health and quality of life for existing residents.  Some items that the program may focus on are updating local official community plans or zoning bylaws or conducting new studies for targeted areas such as housing affordability.

You can review the backgrounder on the planning grants from the BC Government website.

And while the twin grants of 500,000 dollars will no doubt  make for some welcome funding.

One imagines that the various municipal and regional governments of the region will be looking for a more substantial delivery of funding, once those priorities and infrastructure concerns have been highlighted for the Province.

Land, LNG issues up for discussion for MLA in Legislature

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice joined in on discussions involving the Agricultural Land Commission Act this week, taking advantage of the topic to weigh in with some thoughts on land in Northern BC and the impact of LNG exploration and development.

For the majority of the discussion on the topic, those participating in Tuesday afternoon's discussion focused on matters of the Agricultural Land Reserve and potential encroachments on those lands.

Ms. Rice entered the discussion to express her objections to any proposed changes to the Bill in question, Bill 24.  Outlining her concerns that any change could have impacts on climate change and food security as well as concerns that it puts the provinces objectives and goals at risk..

 I rise today to also voice my objection to the proposed changes to Bill 24. My objections are threefold. I completely oppose the changes to the ALR being divvied up into two zones and the dismantling of how the ALC will operate under a new regional-based commission or commissions. I also just object to the lack of proper consultation and the confusion all around how the consultation process is or is not unfolding. 

Our ALR is considered one of B.C.'s biggest successes in land-use planning, and it is admired around the globe. The purpose of the ALR is to protect agriculture lands from other forms of development and encourage farming and to work with other governments to fulfil these objectives. I feel that the proposed changes we're debating right now are putting all these objectives and goals at risk, particularly in the day and age of global climate change. 

I'm on the backside of 40, and I have quite a contingency of young followers in my community that talk quite frequently about climate change and food security. I think it's an issue that is uppermost on many British Columbians' minds regardless of what part of the province or what part of the country that they live in. I think Bill 24 is disregarding this huge global concern of global climate change. 

I think protecting agriculture lands in this day and age of global climate change is more important than ever. I think that we should be taking steps forward in protecting our food security, not backwards and putting it at further risk in this day and age. I wasn't yet born when the ALR and the ALC became legislation. 

Nonetheless, I am grateful for the people who were looking out for me and my future in 1973. It is this type of forward thinking that we need more of, not less of. It's our duty as legislators to be thinking ahead and passing laws that consider the health and well-being of future generations.

She also observed some of the concern over any impact to food supplies in Northern BC with any potential change to the bill and highlighted some of those thoughts to the Legislature.

It's interesting to note that food security has been an issue that has come through my office door increasingly because of the threat of oil tankers to the north coast. People are fearful of their ability to harvest their own food. People in my community are very much a subsistence community, whether you're First Nations or not.

We have access to so much seafood, and in Haida Gwaii this is an issue that constituents raise with me frequently. They are fearful that the lack of ability to harvest healthy marine food further puts their lives at risk. If a may add, in the grocery store in Haida Gwaii a bag of stay-fresh salad is $8. Ironically, it's called stay fresh, because by the time it gets to Haida Gwaii, it's usually not very fresh, and it's semi-wilted.

And in my community, Prince Rupert, I can get two bags of that stay-fresh salad for the same amount — for $7.50 when it's on sale or $8 regularly.

So, again, food security is a big issue in the north, whether it's seafood or whether it's traditional farm foods.

As part of her review of the impact on proposed change to Bill 24, the North Coast MLA also managed to shoe horn in a reference to LNG development across the Northern portion of the province, suggesting that the moves by the BC Liberal government were designed to open up portions of Northern BC to make it more accessible for industrial development.

I think it's quite apparent what a lot of this bill is about, even though we're not having this dialogue or having this conversation, even though it didn't come about during the 2013 election. I think a lot of this is about opening up the northern part of the province, where I live, to make it extremely accessible and easy for industrial development, such as LNG, to occur.

 While we understand that the province is putting all of its financial eggs in the LNG basket, I think this is a detriment  LNG to occur. While we understand that the province is putting all of its financial eggs in the LNG basket, I think this is a detriment to the other sectors of our province, such as agriculture. I think it's a detriment to future generations. I think it's a detriment to our current farmers who are working very hard to make a living at farming.

The topic provided Ms. Rice with opportunity for one of her longer contributions to the Legislature this year, much more than some of the talking points that we have highlighted above.

Those wishing to review the full exchange can consult the Legislature Archive, her contribution runs from the 1715 to 1740 mark on the timeline.

The Video Archive also provides a snapshot of Tuesday afternoon's (May 13) discussion, you can view the conversation from the 226.00 mark of the Video Player or the 17:15 mark on the clock.

We have more on developments in Victoria available from our Archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

"Can the Minister of Justice explain who they have been meeting with?

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice turned up the heat on Justice Minister Suzanne Anton on Tuesday morning, speaking during the morning House Session, Ms. Rice returned to the theme of the Highway of Tears shuttle bus.

Calling attention to some recent comments from Mayor Jack Mussallem and Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council among others across Northern British Columbia, all of whom recounted that on the topic of the shuttle bus, they have not been contacted by the Provincial Government.

Her comments and question for the Justice Minister came as part of the Oral Questions portion of the morning session.

Yesterday I asked the Minister of Justice why the Transportation Minister said, "there have been a tremendous number of discussions and meetings that have been held" about a shuttle bus along the Highway of Tears. 

I asked because the mayor of Prince Rupert said: "I don't know who they've been talking to, but they haven't been talking to the mayor of Prince Rupert." I asked because Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council and the Bulkley-Nechako regional district chair also said they have not been approached by the B.C. Liberals. 

Ditto with the elected officials in Terrace, Smithers, Vanderhoof, Houston, Fraser Lake and Telkwa. 

If the B.C. Liberals haven't been meeting with First Nations leaders and mayors about the shuttle bus, can the Minister of Justice explain who they have been meeting with?

For her part, the Justice Minister returned to what appears to be the Liberal government's default position of late on the topic. Providing a review of the government's steps thus far, though she did not address the issue of the shuttle bus in her review.

The commission of inquiry into the missing women identified the need for safer transportation options along Highway 16 and all northern highways, with an emphasis on safety, and that's why there need to be two different ways of approaching this. 

One is through the transportation services, and the other is through other safety features along the highway, and government has been working on both of those. We invest $4½ million annually in public transportation options. That includes the Northern Health Bus, which takes people to medical appointments and which apparently was something that they did not know about — the members opposite — when they were up there. That is a very important service. 

There are local transportation services run by B.C. Transit, which are available to other communities when they wish to partner with B.C. Transit. But more important than that…. We are addressing safety for citizens along the highway. 

That is why the Carrier-Sekani were given a grant of $100,000 to conduct public safety workshops along the highway. That was one of the groups that was just identified. That is why we have invested $7 million with Telus on improved cell phone coverage, and that is why policing has been so significantly improved on all highways in British Columbia and, in particular, on northern highways.

The shuttle bus issue came back to the front of the news cycle this week, after a widely distributed article from the Canadian Press provided a review of the topic and highlighted the lack of progress or information on the theme.

As we outlined on the blog earlier this week, Prince Rupert Mayor Jack Mussallem was interviewed as part of the article, providing the comments that Ms. Rice relayed to the Legislature on Tuesday morning.

The short exchange in the Legislature can be found at the 1050 mark on the timeline of Legislature Blues.

As well a video review of the discussion of Tuesday morning is available on the Legislature House Video Archive, it begins at the 50 minute mark on the video archive timeline

You can find more on developments at the Legislature on our Archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Justice Minister Anton points to workshops, improved cel service as progress on Highway of Tears

The theme of issues surrounding the Highway of Tears continues to make for a hot topic for the Liberal Government, with Justice Minister Suzanne Anton providing the Government's latest reply regarding recent concerns over transportation issues on Highway 16.

As we outlined on the blog yesterday, Prince Rupert Mayor Jack Mussallem offered up the municipal review on the issue for Canadian Press, observing that so far the province has not made contact with northern municipalities on the issue of transportation concerns.

A theme that North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice picked up for the Monday afternoon session of the Legislature.

It's been a year and a half since the Missing Women Inquiry called for urgent action to bring in a shuttle bus along the Highway of Tears. When we asked why no action is being taken to bring in the bus, the Transportation Minister insisted that "there have been a tremendous number of discussions and meetings that have been held." 

Yet mayors and First Nations leaders in the region say the province has not met with them. Can the Justice Minister tell this House who is correct: mayors and First Nations leaders or the Transportation Minister?

For her part, the Justice Minister outlined some of what she suggests are the progressive steps taken by the Province so far to address some of those concerns.

Putting aside the suggestion that transportation options need to be addressed, offering up her review of the current options available.

Instead she observes that other actions taken by the province have improved the situation today from that of the past.

The piece of this that we need to remember is that the overarching conclusion for northern highways from Commissioner Oppal was that northern highways have to be safe. That safety is achieved through transportation: through the bus that runs along the highway, through the local transportation services, through the Health Bus, through the train. 

There is transportation. It is also achieved through other ways of making the highway safe, because they have to be safe at all times. That's why there's increased cell phone service. That's why there's improved policing. 

That's why there's a hitchhiking study underway. That's why we've given money to the Carrier-Sekani to do public safety workshops along Highway 16 — because those highways needs to be safe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The short exchange between Ms. Rice and the Justice Minister can be reviewed from the Legislature Archive at the 1420 mark on the timeline.

The Video Archive also provides coverage of the conversation in the Legislature Chamber.

The Justice Minister's comments in the Legislature of Monday afternoon, follow her thoughts of recent weeks when she proclaimed that Highway 16 has never been safer.  A comment that has for the most part provided a bit of a focus point for those looking for more action from the provincial government.

Highways 'safer' than in the past: B. C.  Liberals
Highway of Tears safe: B. C. Minister
Highway of Tears Safer Today, Minister insists Amid Criticism

For more items on developments at the Legislature see our Archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review