The federal and BC provincial governments made a big ballyhoo yesterday about the fact that a consortium of companies have come together to make a $40 billion investment in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in BC, and it’s a project that not only did Indigenous consultation correctly, but got buy-in from the communities. It’s seen as a study in contrasts for other pipeline projects – but it’s also worth noting that natural gas isn’t bitumen, and you’ve got vastly different environmental consequences to a spill or breach. It’s also a major energy project at a time when the dominant narrative is that we apparently can’t get anything built in this country, or that investment is fleeing (not actually true), and that what we need to do is to end carbon pricing (despite the fact that energy companies have been calling for it), gutting environmental legislation (never mind that the regime Harper put into place created far more problems than it solved), and that Indigenous consultation is just a fleeting goalpost that keeps shifting. This project seems to prove otherwise – even if BC promised breaks on provincial and carbon taxes to sweeten the deal (though one could say that it shows there’s enough flexibility in the system as opposed to the whole system being hopelessly broken). Suffice to say, it makes the Conservatives’ talking points far less tenable (not that the truth has really mattered to them).

One of the more interesting questions in all of this is how it will affect emissions – not only locally, but globally, and that’s really the big question. While the local emissions would be high enough that it appears that BC would likely need to virtually decarbonise their economy otherwise, there is the potential that this LNG would be a major help in reducing emissions in Asian economies that are reliant on coal-fired generation – but that’s only if the LNG displaces coal and not other renewables instead. In all likelihood, LNG would be used alongside renewables as a backup or stopgap, but it may be some time before we see if that’s really what happens. Suffice to say, it has the potential to have a major impact on global emissions, if applied in the right way.

More New NAFTA fallout:

• Justin Trudeau says that despite that notification clause in the new NAFTA, Canada will still pursue a deeper trading relationship with China.
• Kim Campbell says it’s a bit cheeky for the Conservatives to suggest that they could have gotten a better deal given the American leadership.
• In Vancouver, Bill Morneau praised the new NAFTA, but also said that dairy and steel sectors still need help. So, there’s that.
• The new NAFTA includes a specific clause to insist that Canadians not be able to watch the American broadcast of the Super Bowl. No, seriously.
• Here’s a deeper dive into the Supply Management issue as it relates to the new NAFTA, including the fears of hormone-laced milk coming in from the US.
• Here’s a look at the government’s efforts at trade diversification, given that NAFTA is more or less renegotiated.
• Here’s a look at next steps when it comes to ratification of the new NAFTA.

Good reads:

• The Environment Commissioner says the government needs to do more to protect endangered marine mammals.
• The Liberals are proposing 66 amendments to the electoral reform bill, while the Conservatives have proposed 204, which may be an obstruction tactic.
• Irregular border crossers shunted to hotel rooms are having their stays extended while longer term solutions are taking longer to materialize.
• The PBO will attempt to estimate the cost of the Phoenix pay system’s replacement, but that may be a bit of a mug’s game given we still don’t know the parameters yet.
• Five Arctic countries including Canada are signing a binding treaty to protect the Central Arctic Ocean from unregulated fishing.
• Canada faces a severe shortage of pilots and aircraft workers (and it’s not just in the military), which puts a lie to Leona Alleslev’s concern trolling.
• The Senate has confirmed the motion to strip Aung Sun Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship.
• Incoming Quebec premier François Legault insists he’ll use the Notwithstanding Clause to enforce secularism. His immigration “plans” are federal jurisdiction.
• Susan Delacourt looks at the difference between the free trade debates in Canada, thirty years apart.
• Robert Hiltz gives his wrap of the Quebec election, and a look at what François Legault has managed to accomplish.
• My column looks at how our Supreme Court nominations work in comparison to the partisan circus south of the border.

Odds and ends:

Canadian Donna Strickland won the Nobel Prize for her work with lasers, and is just the third woman to win the prize in its history.

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