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B.C. offshore ambitions bolstered Prime minister dumps hard-line environment minister; industry sees successor as pragmatist Gary Park Petroleum News Calgary Correspondent
British Columbia’s hopes of moving ahead on offshore oil and gas development have received a lift from a federal government cabinet line-up unveiled July 20 by Prime Minister Paul Martin.
The pivotal shakeup for the petroleum sector is the axing of David Anderson as environment minister in favor of Stephane Dion, who has built a reputation in other cabinet posts as a skilled negotiator.
Industry leaders issued a resounding welcome to Dion, describing him as someone who is ready to listen, unlike Anderson, who took a hard-line over five years on the British Columbia offshore and the Kyoto climate-change treaty and showed little tolerance for anyone who disagreed with him, including other cabinet colleagues.
Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, told reporters that the change could be an opportunity to begin a new dialogue with a man he described as a skilled policy maker.
He said that in addition to Kyoto, Dion could play a key role in two issues of special importance to the industry: achieving cooperation with aboriginal communities in oil and gas areas and eliminating duplication between federal and provincial regulators.
David MacInnis, president of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, said Dion was a “pragmatist rather than an idealist” who was willing to listen to all sides of an argument before making a decision. Anderson cited knowledge gaps While there is no reason to believe that Dion’s appointment signals a softening of the Martin government’s pledge to implement the Kyoto Protocol, the bitter debate over ending the moratorium on British Columbia offshore exploration could be taking a new direction.
Anderson, despite representing a British Columbia area in the Canadian Parliament, had taken an unyielding line on opening the offshore, insisting there were too many “knowledge gaps” on the environmental impact of exploration.
During the spring federal election campaign, Anderson insisted there was little industry desire to explore and suggested the issue “appears to be more politically driven than commercially driven” — a direct slap at the British Columbia government of Premier Gordon Campbell which has targeted 2010 to start drilling.
“Why David Anderson would not want British Columbians to have the same opportunities as other people on the East Coast of Canada (which has an active oil and gas industry) is beyond my comprehension,” said British Columbia Revenue Minister Rick Thorpe.
Anderson had frequently been at loggerheads with Canada’s former natural resources minister Herb Dhaliwal, also from British Columbia and a strong advocate of the province’s offshore’s economic potential. Those clashes continued with the appointment of John Efford last December as Dhaliwal’s successor, a job he has retained in the latest cabinet shuffle.
Efford, a former member of the Newfoundland government, has been a fervent supporter of offshore development on both coasts during his short time in office.
He is believed to have other allies in the cabinet from British Columbia including newly appointed Industry Minister David Emerson and Jack Austin, the Government Leader in the Senate, who support drilling to find out what if any oil and gas exists in commercial quantities, but could also have a stern foe in Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, who was British Columbia premier in a New Democratic Party government before switching to the Liberals. The left-wing NDP is adamantly opposed to an offshore industry. Dion acknowledges importance of issue to province Dion, in a brief meeting with reporters July 20, said he is “well aware” of how important the offshore issue is to British Columbia and understands the challenges from his previous post as intergovernmental affairs minister. But he would not disclose his own preferences.
However, Martin said during the campaign that Canada’s West Coast should have the same oil and gas opportunities as the East Coast so long as exploration and development proceeded in an environmentally safe and sound manner.
British Columbia Energy Minister Richard Neufeld has said since the June 28 election that he plans to hold Martin “to his word.”
Anderson, meanwhile, faces an uncertain future, but hinted he will remain outspoken on the offshore moratorium.
“The issue of B.C. offshore oil and gas drilling is an issue that has once again come to the fore in recent years,” he said in a written statement July 20.
“I fully expect the government of Canada to continue its clear existing policy on this issue, which is to carry out relevant scientific studies to fill existing knowledge gaps before any decision on lifting the moratorium takes place.”
He promised Dion his “full support in fulfilling this commitment.”
On Kyoto, Anderson urged the government to implement a plan to reduce greenhouse gases. Dion said only that he would consult on a wide basis “with all of my colleagues and with all of our partners around the world because it’s a global responsibility.”
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