Late last week the independent panel struck to determine the cause of the Mount Polley tailings pond breach released their report. It included a number of recommendations as to how we could modernize our B.C. mining sector. Unfortunately, instead of a collaborative effort to implement the recommendations, MLAs and pundits are trying to score political points off it.

Both the NDP and the Liberals voted to move Bill 6 – the Liquefied Natural Gas Income Tax Act to committee stage. In doing so, they voted for what I believe is ultimately a Generational Sell-out – one which will cost us the opportunity to forge a new path to develop a 21st century economy for British Columbia.

I stood alone and voted against this bill because it is fundamentally irresponsible.

B.C. finds itself at a crossroads.

It has a clear choice to make: do we support our government’s generational sellout to fulfill its hyperbolic election campaign promises — an all-in approach on LNG — or do we instead continue down the path we started to take in 2008 where we established our continent leading climate policies?

The B.C. Green Party welcomes the B.C. Government’s announcement of a three-person panel charged with undertaking an independent investigation of the Mount Polley mine tailings pond dam failure that occurred two weeks ago today. The panel will investigate all aspects of the dam’s failure and will report back to government with recommendations by January 31, 2015. The investigation will be paid for by Imperial Metals.

For immediate release
Aug. 7, 2014

VICTORIA, B.C. – In light of the tragic industrial disaster at Mount Polley Mine south of Quesnel, the B.C. Green Party is calling on the provincial government to require every mine in the province to undertake an independent engineering report of their tailings storage facilities.