Natural-Gas-Industry-1-Million-to-BC-Liberals.jpg

Natural Gas Industry Donated Over $1 Million to BC Liberals Since 2013

The gas industry has donated more than $1 million to the BC Liberals since the last provincial election, according to a new analysis done by the Wilderness Committee.

The companies and industry groups are involved in extracting B.C.’s gas (via fracking) and building gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations.

Tweet: “Industry receives billions in BC tax breaks & subsidies from the very gov't they’re paying to elect” http://bit.ly/2mkCDUj @Climate_Pete“This industry receives billions of dollars in provincial tax breaks and subsidies from the very government they’re paying to elect,” Peter McCartney, climate campaigner at the Wilderness Committee, said in a press release.

Gas industry donations since 2013 total $1,007,456.

Totals were tallied from the Elections BC contributions database and the BC Liberal disclosure site.

The largest donor is Encana, a natural gas company with extensive fracking operations in B.C.’s northeast, which gave $338,041 to the BC Liberal party in the past four years.

Chevron, which owns a 50 per cent stake in the Kitimat LNG project and the affiliated Pacific Trails gas pipeline, donated $114,540. Woodfibre LNG, which recently received federal approval to export LNG from a facility in Squamish, B.C., donated $63,500.

Other industry donors include the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., FortisBC, TransCanada, Pacific Northwest LNG, AltaGas, Steelhead LNG and Imperial.

A Globe and Mail investigation published on the weekend revealed that lobbyists are illegally funneling money to the party on behalf of corporate and special interests. This practice conceals the true source of the money from the public and is now under investigation by Elections BC.

Corporations Can Donate Unlimited Amounts in B.C.

B.C., recently called the “wild west” of political donations by the New York Times, has long been criticized for its lax rules, which allow unlimited donations from corporations, unions, the wealthy elite and foreign interests.

Most other provinces and the federal government have caps on how much donors can give. The federal government limits individual donations to $1,525 and has an outright ban on donations by corporations, unions and foreigners.

The province of Quebec limits political donations to individuals and has a strict cap of $100.

Due to the fact B.C. has virtually no rules, the BC Liberal party is flush with corporate and foreign cash. Last year alone the party raised $12 million, more money than any other provincial party in power and two-thirds of what the federal Liberals collected from supporters across the country, according to the Globe article.

A recent New York Times feature said Tweet: .@NYTimes: “BC stands out for the unabashedly cozy relationship btwn private interests & gov’t officials” http://bit.ly/2mkCDUj #bcpoliB.C. “stands out for the unabashedly cozy relationship between private interests and government officials in the province.”

The piece noted what is considered standard political donation practice in B.C. is illegal in other provinces.

“When anyone anywhere in the world can donate as much as they want to the system, you have an even bigger threat to the system,” Dermod Travis, executive director for IntegrityBC, told the New York Times.

Tweet: “What it says to people is money talks and votes don’t.” http://bit.ly/2mkCDUj @ChristyClarkBC @BCLiberals #bcelxn17 #bcpoli #BanBigMoney“What it says to people is money talks and votes don’t.”

Travis, who has spent years documenting political donations and government contracts in B.C. recently wrote the B.C. government has turned the practice of returning favours to political donors into a refined art form.

Since 2013, Chevron’s Pacific Trails gas pipeline, TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink pipeline, TransCanada’s Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line, Woodfibre LNG’s export terminal, Pacific Northwest LNG’s export terminal and LNG Canada’s export terminal have received full or partial permitting.

In the lead up to the last provincial election, the BC Liberals campaigned on a LNG promise that pledged $1 trillion in economic activity, 100,000 high-paying jobs and the creation of a $100 billion B.C. Prosperity Fund.

The promise to have at least three LNG facilities online by 2020 was central to the party’s BC Jobs Plan and debt-reduction plan. Although both Pacific Northwest LNG and Woodfibre LNG have received permits, final and full investment decisions are still pending.

The companies behind the donations were poised to help the government deliver on the BC Liberal’s LNG promises. But those promises are looking harder and harder for the government to keep.

Image: Christy Clark announcing investment in the Woodfibre LNG terminal. Photo: Province of B.C. via Flickr cc

Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
So we embarked on a little experiment at The Narwhal: letting our investigative journalists loose to file as many freedom of information requests as their hearts desired.

In just six months, they filed a whopping 233 requests — and with those, they unearthed a veritable mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.

But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount of money.

As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to do hard-hitting journalism — and we do it all as an independent, non-profit news organization that doesn’t run any advertising.

Will you join the growing chorus of readers who have stepped up to hold the powerful accountable?
Threats to our environment are often hidden from public view.
So we embarked on a little experiment at The Narwhal: letting our investigative journalists loose to file as many freedom of information requests as their hearts desired.

In just six months, they filed a whopping 233 requests — and with those, they unearthed a veritable mountain of government documents to share with readers across Canada.

But the reality is this kind of digging takes lots of time and no small amount of money.

As many newsrooms cut staff, The Narwhal has doubled down on hiring reporters to do hard-hitting journalism — and we do it all as an independent, non-profit news organization that doesn’t run any advertising.

Will you join the growing chorus of readers who have stepped up to hold the powerful accountable?

In Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, an Australian-owned coal mine is quietly forging ahead

Raymond Hill has been traversing the wilderness on Grande Mountain near Grande Cache, Alta., on horseback for more than 40 years. He regularly encounters elk,...

Continue reading

Recent Posts

Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.
Investigating problems. Exploring solutions
The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for a weekly dose of independent journalism.
As The Narwhal turns five, I’m thinking about the momentous outpouring of public generosity — a miracle of sorts — that’s allowed us to prove the critics wrong. More than 6,000 people just like you donate whatever they can afford to make independent, high-stakes journalism about the natural world in Canada free for everyone to read. Help us keep the dream alive for another five years by becoming a member today and we’ll mail you a copy of our beautiful 2023 print magazine. — Carol Linnitt, co-founder
Keep the dream alive.
Join today
As The Narwhal turns five, I’m thinking about the momentous outpouring of public generosity — a miracle of sorts — that’s allowed us to prove the critics wrong. More than 6,000 people just like you donate whatever they can afford to make independent, high-stakes journalism about the natural world in Canada free for everyone to read. Help us keep the dream alive for another five years by becoming a member today and we’ll mail you a copy of our beautiful 2023 print magazine. — Carol Linnitt, co-founder
Keep the dream alive.