Tag Archives: Bruce Ralston

Environment

Site C a ‘horrible neighbour’

By Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Old Fort residents aired their concerns to BC Hydro last month about its shortcomings mitigating the impacts of Site C dam construction on their community, but the town hall ultimately did more harm than good, says the chair of the Peace River Regional District.

Brad Sperling, who also represents Area C which includes the riverside community downstream from the dam, attended the July 29 meeting in Fort St. John, and caught BC Hydro misleading residents by falsely claiming a community measures agreement had been made with the PRRD, offering compensation to residents.

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Energy

B.C.’s largest fossil fuel subsidy cost the province over $1B last year

By Cloe Logan, National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A B.C. program that has been referred to as a “tax loophole for fracking operators” cost the province $1.162 billion in royalty revenues last year.

That’s according to a Stand.earth analysis of the province’s 2021-22 budget. Sven Biggs, the organization’s Canadian oil and gas program director, said the money lost through the Deep Well Royalty Credit program represents a broken promise from the provincial government.

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Energy

Document reveals influence of oil and gas lobbyists on B.C. officials after Indigenous Rights ruling

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

In the wake of a precedent-setting Indigenous Rights case in June 2021, B.C.’s ministry of energy did something rather unprecedented: it immediately cancelled summer auctions for new oil and gas tenures.

This sudden closure of oil and gas opportunities in response to the Blueberry decision — a B.C. Supreme Court ruling, which determined the province violated the Treaty Rights of Blueberry River First Nations by permitting and encouraging damaging industrial development — sent a shudder through the industry that continues to reverberate across the country today.

Documents  released to The Narwhal through freedom of information legislation show  petroleum and natural gas (PNG) lobbyists told public servants that  B.C. could lose more than $90 million in annual revenue and up to 10,000  jobs as a result of the Blueberry decision. These stark warnings were  then passed on to senior B.C. government officials, including Fazil  Mihlar, deputy minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.

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Energy, Politics

BC Gas and Oil Lobbyists: Behind Victoria’s closed doors

The Wilderness Committee has just finished a survey that shows gas and oil company lobbyists are contacting the BC provincial Government two or three times a day. This is not new, they were also making overtures to the previous BC Liberal regime, but it does raise the question of whether they are shaping the policies that determine the future of all British Columbians. 

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