A shocking report in The Tyee reinforces an argument made in the preceding IN-SIGHTS article about the political evolution of the BC NDP. Under John Horgan and David Eby, the party has abandoned its social-democratic foundations, weakened its commitment to progressive policies, and moved toward a form of neoliberalism that privileges private industry.

The Tyee reports that LNG Canada has asked the BC Energy Regulator to permit the company to “continuously flare vastly more natural gas than its current permit allows.” The proposed limit would allow continuous flaring to increase by about 1,100 percent.

But another troubling detail in The Tyee story is this:

The requested limit would not include the much larger volumes of “non-routine” flaring that have dwarfed the facility’s continuous flaring levels since production began in Kitimat last fall. There is no regulatory limit for this category of flaring.

Having committed itself to promoting and subsidizing British Columbia’s fossil-fuel industry, David Eby’s government will not restrain a company planning to release substantially greater quantities of harmful air pollutants. Nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, fine particulate matter, and benzene will degrade local air quality, and these are associated with serious respiratory and cardiovascular risks.¹

This is neoliberalism in practice: government assumes the financial risks and tolerates environmental degradation, while private industry pursues profit with minimal regulatory restraint. Those who live closest to LNG facilities—and bear the greatest health and environmental costs—have little influence when these damaging policies are approved.

In 2016, when the BC Liberals were still in power, Adrian Dix confidently told me the government would change at the next election. The Official Opposition would not so much win, he said, as the government would lose.

He was right in 2017. On this, Mr. Dix may be proven right again in 2028.

¹Analysis of Flaring Activity at Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Export Facilities, Dr. Laura Minet (University of Victoria Clean Air lab), et al.