Last week was quite the week for Canadian democracy.
To the east, in Alberta, the election of a New Democrat majority government overturned decades of Progressive Conservative rule. Its leader, premier-elect Rachel Notley, promising to “end the boom and bust cycle” and focus on heath care, education, and a value-added energy plan.
And it is that future energy plan that will most certainly keep northwest B.C. – and stakeholders in the area’s potential future resource projects – tuned east, waiting to see what the new government’s policy will mean for the region.
Tacking west, members of Lax Kw’alaams Band voted last week – the first in a series of non-binding votes – to oppose a $1 billion benefits agreement tied to the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal and Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project, citing concerns about the environmental impact of the terminal and its location on Lelu Island. Many are calling the $1 billion offer a “game-changer” in industry/First Nations relations – and while it has certainly shaken up the conversation, keep in mind that the project doesn’t hinge on the band’s approval of the agreement.
And overarching across the country, and anchored in Ottawa, Canadians last week saw the passage of the Conservative’s controversial anti-terror legislation, Bill C-51.
Democracy in action, folks.