Northern Beat Weekly
Explosions, policy contortions and misplaced priorities
Why hello there!
It was a week of political combustion. The BC Conservative caucus stood behind leader John Rustad (literally) amid sniping both internal and external, even as the OneBC party pitched explosive accusations his way. The BC NDP government continued talking about fast-tracking headline-grabbing mega projects as they deflected criticisms about the $1 billion one they just handed to China, while tripping over the fundamentals of actually governing.
Interior Health’s embattled CEO Susan Brown abruptly resigned following weeks of criticism, hospital ERs kept blinking on and off, and Premier David Eby torqued his position on pipelines so many times, it was like trying to cover the legislative version of Twister.
On the economic front, LNG Canada finally coughed up its first batch of liquefied natural gas, one decade and three premiers after the initial pitch. That gives Eby a big win without having done any heavy-lifting. Highland Valley Copper’s mine expansion was also greenlit in record time, part of Eby’s “fast-track” agenda, though some First Nations leaders say the government sprinted right past its own reconciliation commitments.
Meanwhile, NDP MLAs shut down their constituency offices after a device detonated, damaging the front door of Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma’s office, renewing conversations about political safety and the balance between public service and personal risk.
Add in a measles spike blamed on anti-vaxxers, the 40th ER closure in Lillooet, and the machete-wielding chaos in downtown Prince George, and you get a province that feels held together by toothpicks and duct tape.
What will next week bring – our money’s on a new pipeline position.
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- Rob Shaw
Northern Beat Roundup
Rustad holds caucus support despite attacks from ex-Conservatives
BC Conservative leader John Rustad survives another week and another test of his leadership, emerging from a high-stakes caucus meeting with support of his MLAs. But he still faces a rocky road ahead, with a protracted leadership review process and the OneBC party nipping at his heels. [Read more]
Misplaced priorities a hallmark of the Eby government
The Eby government has a habit of prioritizing political optics over practical outcomes, rolling out flashy initiatives while core services falter. It’s a pattern that suggests misplaced priorities are becoming a defining feature of its leadership, writes columnist Geoff Russ. [Read more]
The Legislature
Interior Health CEO resigns early, as critics demanded
Interior Health CEO Susan Brown abruptly quit on June 27, appearing to acquiesce to critics who’d called for her early departure due to ongoing crises like the closure of the pediatric unit at Kelowna General Hospital. Brown had been scheduled to retire in December, but Kelowna-Mission BC Conservative MLA Gavin Dew had publicly demanded she be fired for staffing shortages and failures in local healthcare delivery. Brown at first resisted calls, and then appeared to criticize her critics in an op-ed, which earned her no favours amongst medical staff in Kelowna.
“This is an overdue step in the right direction,” Dew posted on social media Friday, while suggesting it should have come weeks early in the form of a termination by Health Minister Josie Osborne.
The pediatric department at Kelowna General has been closed for more than six weeks. The health authority did not provide any new timeline for its reopening. Interior Health has also suffered repeated ER closures in rural hospitals. Brown will be replaced on an interim basis by CFO and vice-president Sylvia Weir.
LNG Canada starts producing natural gas for export
The $40-billion LNG Canada project in Kitimat produced its first liquefied natural gas for export this week, a milestone achievement in what is Canada’s first large-scale LNG facility. The inaugral export tanker is expected to dock at the terminal early next week and begin loading LNG for export to Asian markets.
“This is a very significant project for our province,” Premier David Eby said Wednesday.
“It is an example of what we are focused on as a government, delivering for British Columbians clean reliable energy to power growth, fast tracking projects to get them done, and using the revenues from those projects to strengthen the services that families depend on.”
LNG Canada is owned by a consortium of companies led by Shell Canada. Once operational, it’s expected to export 14 million tonnes of LNG per year.
The project dates back to former BC Liberal premier Christy Clark, who courted LNG development dating back to 2012. When John Horgan assumed power in 2017, he cut a new, more-favourable, deal with LNG Canada to secure a final investment decision. Eby, the third premier to touch the project, will now get to enjoy the economic benefits of the largest private sector project in Canada’s history, which alone will boost the country’s GDP by 0.4 per cent.
The B.C. government is moving to expand electrification to the north coast with the hopes Phase 2 of LNG Canada could be electrified to be made cleaner. A final investment decision on Phase 2 has yet to be made by the project partners, which include Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and the Korea Gas Corp.
Highland Valley Copper mine expansion approved
Teck Resources’ $1.5 billion expansion of the Highland Valley Copper mine project near Kamloops has undergone rapid approval by the B.C. government in the span of a mere week. The province issued an environmental assessment certificate on June 17, giving the green light to proceed on a project that will extend the life of the mine from 2028 to 2043. Just days later, Premier David Eby announced all provincial permits had been issued as well, as part of a one-window application system that he said sped up the process.
“By accelerating approvals for Highland Valley Copper's extension as a provincial priority, we are growing the provincial economy and creating good jobs, while doing our part to help Canada stand strong,” said Eby.
Eby had put the project on his list of 18 he intended to fast-track in February. But in reality, Highland Valley Copper was by then almost all the way through a review process that began in 2019.
Highland Valley Copper is Canada’s largest open-pit copper mine, and the expansion will generate $690 million in economic activity over the next 18 years. The project did pick up some First Nations support, but not all nations were in favour of the expansion, due to the fact it will result in 1,526 hectares of new land disturbance. The Union of BC Indian Chiefs and other First Nations leadership organizations had cited the project as inappropriate to fast-track due to a lack of consensus.
NDP MLA constituency office targeted with explosive
BC New Democrat MLAs closed their constituency offices on June 27 after Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma’s North Vancouver constituency office was targeted with an explosive device. Ma said no one was hurt, but the situation was frightening for her staff.
“We don’t have any information about motive but obviously this is profoundly concerning and troubling on a number of levels,” said Premier David Eby. “It is something that does strike at the heart of the job that Minister Ma and every elected official in this province is asked to do, which is to be available to the public, to have an office that is open and welcoming.”
BC’s position on oil pipelines, part 2,718
Another week, another stream of contorted policy positions by the BC NDP government on whether it supports a new oil pipeline from Alberta to BC’s northwest coast.
Premier David Eby, who has said he’s opposed in the past, went on national media outlets to say he is not in fact opposed, but only does not support public money being used on the project.
“We’ve supported Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, with a trade corridor from Manitoba right through to Prince Rupert,” said Eby on CBC. “It could include energy projects. It could potentially include a heavy oil pipeline project.”
Later in the week, he refused to speculate, saying only that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has not yet found a private proponent for a pipeline. Smith said she is weeks away from finalizing such a consortium.
Eby concluded the week telling CBC that he would not support Ottawa removing a federal tanker ban on oil tankers off the north coast — which would effectively render a pipeline meaningless because it could not export the oil to foreign markets.
What will his next position be? Tune in to find out.
Mind your own business, no you mind your business
Speaking of a twisty tale. The BC Ferries contract to a Chinese shipyard to build four new ferries keeps hitting another bend. The reported $1 billion contract was announced earlier this month following months of ‘Buy BC’ messaging. Several longstanding, NDP-leaning unions lashed out at the government for selling out Canadian workers and giving the contract to the “brutal, hostile and authoritarian Chinese regime.”
The Feds weighed in via a scolding letter from Transportation Minister Chrystia Freeland to BC Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth. Freeland didn’t threaten to halt the contract, but did raise concerns about inadequate Canadian content and awarding such a large contract to a quasi-hostile China, along with cyber security risks and geopolitical tensions.
Eby shot back, saying unless the west coast ferries get subsidized to the level of the east coast fleets, the Canadian government (and Freeland, it was implied) should just “mind your own business.”
That argument was imploded last week when the Globe and Mail revealed, well actually, the federal government did lend BC Ferries $1 billion through its infrastructure bank, about half of which is apparently earmarked for the Chinese shipbuilder.
Which knocks a crack in the high-ground vantage taken by Freeland in her letter, particularly when she asked BC Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth to “verify and confirm with utmost certainty that no federal funding will be diverted to support the acquisition of these new ferries.”
Does she mean besides the billion her government already lent them… to buy the ferries? It’s like neither of them were properly briefed on their BC Ferries files.
Rural Reads from Around the Web
Premier blames measles spike on ‘reckless’ anti-vaxxers
As cases rise, particularly in northern BC, Premier David Eby says the growing spread of measles across Canada is “the sadly predictable outcome” of the “recklessness” of anti-vaccination politicians. [CTV News]
Peace River North MLA calls for John Rustad to resign
He’s no longer a BC Conservative, and he didn’t join the new OneBC party, but Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy isn’t letting that stop him from making demands of BC Conservative leader John Rustad — specifically, that he should resign. Also, it’s probably unconnected, but Kealy says he would throw his cowboy hat into the ring to lead the party if Rustad steps down.
It’s not clear how that would work, given Kealy left the party and is sitting as an Independent. Although Kealy hinted at the solution in a June 25 X post directed at Rustad: “Apologize for lying and slandering my name, and I’ll even consider coming back to the BC Conservative Party.” Not to be negative, but Kealy should probably have a Plan B if he wants to regain his membership. [EnergeticCity.ca]
Lillooet ER closes for 40th time
Lillooet residents saw their ER closed for a 40th time in 2025, after yet another staffing shortage So far, the ER has been unavailable to residents a total of 971 hours, which by our calculations is 23 per cent of the year so far. [CFJC]
Machete-wielding man threatens PG business owner
When a downtown Prince George business owner inadvertently interrupted a robbery as she arrived for work, the would-be robber threatened her with a machete. Sue Bloomingdale says she was scared, but just “had enough” – so she called the police.
From there, a pattern of events ensued that is all too familiar to downtown business owners: Police arrest the man. Police release the man. Man walks free. Casualties of the revolving-door justice system.
“The police do the right thing and take them away, but after that something goes very wrong in our system and the criminals get out right away… That’s not right. There are no consequences,” says Bloomingdale. [Prince George Citizen]
Bonus
Quote of the Week:
“This was a decision that Susan made. It’s a personal decision that she made on her own, and the board supported her in making that decision.” — Dr. Robert Halpenny, the chair of the Interior Health board of directors on the sudden resignation of CEO Susan Brown.
Closing
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