Rob Shaw: Cash-strapped Eby sees the light on LNG
Trump isn't the only thing driving the B.C. NDP to embrace the resource sector.
By: Rob Shaw
When Premier David Eby helped celebrate the opening of the $40 billion LNG Canada facility in Kitimat this summer, he appeared jubilant.
“I am so excited about this project and what it means for Canada, what it means for British Columbia,” said the premier, standing with a big smile outside the largest private-sector project in Canadian history.
You could almost believe him.
Publicly, Eby has become an LNG convert, hyping up the benefits of fracking B.C.’s abundant natural gas reserves, shipping it via pipelines to coastal terminals, liquefying it at extremely cold temperatures and loading it all onto tankers to sell to Asian markets.
Not that long ago, he and the B.C. NDP had a problem with pretty much every part of that process, as a party that criticized fracking, pipelines and the pollution caused by the immense energy (generated by burning natural gas) needed to create LNG.
So did the federal government under Justin Trudeau.
But Eby and current prime minister Mark Carney are now aligned on LNG. The premier lobbied Carney to include LNG Canada’s Phase 2 expansion in Ottawa’s first tranche of five major projects this month. LNG not only gets B.C.’s abundance of natural gas to overseas markets (generating considerable revenue in the process), it also bypasses the United States during a trade war with Donald Trump.
“I’ll speak bluntly: I think the project and phase two had lukewarm support under the Trudeau administration,” Eby said Sept. 11. “We struggled to get the federal government to the table to talk about this project. Since Prime Minister Carney was sworn in, we've seen real interest in the project, and the fact it's on the list is significant.”
Eby has milked the Canadian patriotism inspired by Trump after almost losing last year’s B.C. election. But on LNG, it actually makes sense.
“We've got to make sure that we're a country that can look after ourselves, and part of that means using our resources and getting to markets other than the United States,” he said at LNG Canada. “And there is no better example of the project at the scale that we need, at the time that we need, than this project right here.”
Ottawa was also quick to endorse LNG when B.C. approved the Nisga’a Nation’s $10-billion Ksi Lisims project on its northwest coast last week.
“Ksi Lisims LNG is exactly the kind of development Canada’s new government is championing, advancing and approving,” Energy Minister Tim Hodgson posted on social media. “This approval sends a clear signal: Canada is open for business, and committed to the long-term strength of our responsible, low-carbon export and natural gas sectors.”
That all sounds good, but let’s not be naive about another major factor here. It’s not just concern about Trump that is driving the B.C. NDP government’s embrace of LNG, mining and natural resource projects. The Eby government is also dead broke.
The province is on track for an $11.6 billion deficit this year, according to a budget update last week. It’s not only the largest deficit in history, but also a spectacular fiscal collapse from the almost $6 billion surplus left to him by NDP premier John Horgan in 2022. Provincial debt since Horgan has soared 138 per cent as well. None of that includes the impact of Trump.
Eby has refused to meaningfully cut government spending in response, saying that would impact frontline services. Instead, he’s pivoted to try and grow the economy to dig the budget out of the red. That’s meant throwing support behind sectors like mining, LNG and natural gas in an attempt to attract billions in foreign capital and investment.
“We think there's no better value proposition for the [LNG Canada] project proponents than what we offer here,” he said. “It'll bring huge benefits for Canadians and for British Columbians in terms of employment and revenues to support things like health care and services that British Columbians need.”
In pursuit of that money, the Eby government is willing to look past what would have been fatal concerns in past projects.
That includes opposition to the Ksi Lisims project from neighbouring First Nations and environmentalists, and resistance from the Tahltan Nation to the Red Chris gold and copper mine expansion in the northwest (which Eby also got Carney to add to his major project list).
Wrestling with the tradeoffs of the environment, economy and Indigenous approval has been the plight of B.C. premiers for decades. Horgan faced similar concerns when he approved the first phase of LNG Canada in 2018, angering much of the NDP’s base that considered natural gas an archaic, dirty fossil fuel contributing to climate change. Eby was amongst those unhappy. The Coastal Gaslink Pipeline to feed LNG Canada was protested by Indigenous nations, making New Democrats squirm.
“Of all the decisions we had to make as a government, LNG was the toughest,” Horgan said in his posthumous memoirs, set to be published in mid-October. “I did support making more money from our natural gas and creating jobs in the North rather than giving the gas to the Americans so they could liquefy it and make all that money.”
“For me that was a no-brainer,” Horgan added. “It may seem simple now, but at the time it was anything but.”
It’s still not simple. But years later, Eby has been convinced to follow the same path.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics. He now reports for CHEK News out of Victoria. He’s the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast and YouTube show Political Capital, and a weekly political correspondent for CBC Radio’s All Points West and Radio West programs. You can reach him at rob@robshawnews.com.
The Line is entirely reader and advertiser funded — no federal subsidy for us! If you value our work, have already subscribed, and still worry about what will happen when the conventional media finishes collapsing, please make a donation today. Please note: a donation is not a subscription, and will not grant access to paywalled content. It’s just a way of thanking us for what we do. If you’re looking to subscribe and get full access, it’s that other blue button!
The Line is Canada’s last, best hope for irreverent commentary. We reject bullshit. We love lively writing. Please consider supporting us by subscribing. Please follow us on social media! Facebook x 2: On The Line Podcast here, and The Line Podcast here. Instagram. Also: TikTok. BlueSky. LinkedIn. Matt’s Twitter. The Line’s Twitter. Jen’s Twitter. Contact us by email: lineeditor@protonmail.com.
The hypocrisy and opportunism of today’s politicians is astounding.
The Feds need to freeze their implicit guarantee of Provincial debt and limit the BoC's ability to purchase Provincial debt. The guarantee should decline by say 2% per year, forcing all Provinces to gradually delever. The status quo creates moral hazard of Provinces running up their debts knowing that the Feds will bail them out.