BC NDP moves fast to blunt damage from claims by lobbyist

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VICTORIA — Premier David Eby was in a congratulatory mood this week in greeting news of a go-ahead decision on a $3.4 billion LNG terminal for a site near Kitimat.

“It shows the confidence of investors in the economy of B.C. and how the future for the natural resources sector is bright,” declared Eby, referring to the final investment decision by partners in the Cedar floating LNG terminal.

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He further touted the project as the first in the world to be “majority owned” by an Indigenous nation. The Kitimat-based Haisla First Nation owns 50.1 per cent while the balance is held by Calgary’s Pembina Pipeline Corp.

Eby taped his statement of support because, as he explained, he was going on leave this week while he and his wife prepared for the birth of their third child.

“But I want to tell you how much it means to me that my kids will come of age at a time of true partnership with First Nations and the B.C. government.”

Adding to the endorsement was Energy Minister Josie Osborne. “Powered entirely by renewable electricity from B.C. Hydro, Cedar LNG will be one of the lowest emitting facilities of its kind in the world,” she said in a statement.

The New Democrats had approved the project despite “those who want us to say ‘no’ to all resource projects along with the good jobs and people that communities rely on.”

Some of those naysayers include former NDP supporters, disillusioned by the governing party’s support for increased production of fossil fuels when it was so critical of LNG development in Opposition.

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Cedar LNG is the third natural gas export project to be approved by the New Democrats since taking office in 2017. Premier John Horgan started the drive by announcing billions of dollars’ worth of tax and regulatory relief to encourage LNG development.

When Eby took over from Horgan, he suggested that the trend might be ending, telling reporters: “We cannot continue to expand fossil fuel infrastructure and hit our climate goals.”

But just in time for this week’s news, some video recordings have surfaced to suggest that the NDP has diluted its former opposition to LNG under the influence of a lobbyist.

The key speaker on the more than two hours of recordings was Liam Iliffe, an NDP staffer turned lobbyist and executive with TC Energy.

He spoke at internal “lunch and learn” sessions at TC energy earlier this year. The recordings, never intended for public consumption, were obtained by the National Post newspaper and the Narwhal online news service.

The techniques outlined included “planting company staff in events to ask politicians public questions, ghostwriting briefing notes for bureaucrats to give to cabinet ministers, and even an encounter with a top government official in a supermarket,” according to the Post’s Christopher Nardi.

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“He claims that the company’s efforts “dramatically” influenced B.C.’s carbon-tax rate adjustment in February 2023 and ultimately halved the operation costs of the province’s carbon tax on its projects.”

The lobbyist also claimed to have had a hand in drafting government policy.

“Public servants who are overworked, underpaid, and sometimes they just want the job done for them. We’ve been given opportunities to write entire briefing notes for ministers and premiers and prime ministers. And it gets stuck on government letterhead and put into an envelope into a briefing package that goes to that elected figure. There’s nothing more powerful than that.”

It would not be the first time that a lobbyist got carried away in boasting about his influence on government.

But Iliffe was not without valid connections. He served as a senior staffer in the NDP government, well connected to Horgan, before leaving for private industry two years ago.

When the existence of the recordings was made known earlier this month, the denials followed quickly.
TC Energy senior vice-president Patrick Muttart branded Iliffe’s claims as “exaggerated,” “untrue” or “completely unbelievable,” adding: “He is no longer with the company.”

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Iliffe, in confirming his resignation, now claimed that some of the approaches and events he’d described did not, in fact, occur.

“It would be remiss of me to suggest that anyone other than our elected representatives make decisions on behalf of British Columbians,” he said. Never mind, he had done just that.

The denials and resignation were not enough to placate the NDP government.

Fearing what some of their own supporters might conclude about the influence of industry on government policy, the New Democrats reached out to lobbyist regulator Michael Harvey.

“We understand a representative of TC Energy Corporation has made statements claiming TC Energy Corporation or its representatives significantly influenced government of B.C. decisions through their lobbying activities,” wrote Attorney General Niki Sharma in a letter to Harvey, obtained by the Narwhal.

“We have conducted an internal review and believe that these statements are untrue,” said Sharma.

Still, the claims could indicate “possible non-compliance with the Lobbyists Transparency Act.”

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The attorney general closed by thanking Harvey for “further looking into the matter,” no doubt hoping that nothing more will be said about this embarrassing fiasco until after the election.

vpalmer@postmedia.com

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