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| BC Premier Christy Clark tours Petronas LNG plant in Malaysia, 2014 |
Premier doubles down more than
money on dicey LNG industry.
Bill Tieleman’s 24 Hours Vancouver /The Tyee column
Tuesday May
6, 2013
By Bill Tieleman
"The
descent of the university into the market place reflects the lie in the soul of
modern society."
- Harold
Innis, Canadian political economist, 1894-1952
The best way
to gamble is with other people's money. But as Premier Christy Clark doubles
down her bet on liquefied natural gas in a world market riskier than a casino,
it's not just your money she's gambling with -- it's also your children and
grandchildren's future education.
Clark's
recent, breathless photo-op announcement that energy firms Shell Canada,
PetroChina, Korea Gas and Mitsubishi have agreed to join something called
"LNG Canada" is nearly meaningless without signed agreements to
extract, process and export liquefied natural gas.
Even
LNG Canada CEO Andy Calitz admitted potential projects "are challenged by
significant financial investment and risks" and "a number of
uncertainties to overcome."
That's
a fracking understatement.
Recent studies
on the world LNG market are clear it's no sure bet B.C. will develop a
substantial industry.
Less reported
was that Shell Canada bought five per cent of both Korea Gas and Mitsubishi's
share in LNG Canada -- it now owns 50 per cent and PetroChina 20 per cent,
while Korea Gas and Mitsubishi have dropped to 15 per cent each, with Korea Gas
admitting its government ordered
the company to reduce its debts.
Did I
mention it's your money Clark is betting on LNG?
Then,
just last week, the B.C. premier made another announcement -- one related to
this industry plagued by "risks" and "uncertainties."
Clark's
government is forcing all post-secondary institutions to re-direct their
budgets to allocate 25 per cent into job training for "high demand"
occupations -- and you can wager that the three education initials it wants to
see are LNG, not PhD.
With
$1.9 billion currently budgeted in B.C. for post-secondary education and only
10 per cent currently earmarked for "high demand" fields, Clark's
move means radical, long-lasting change.
Pipe
fitters or poets?
Putting
more emphasis on trades training is good and long overdue.
But
that's because the BC Liberals' track record
on trades training is disastrous, having set back critical apprenticeships in a
wide range of occupations by a decade through political pandering to some
business allies.
B.C.'s
apprenticeship training completion rate
is about 40 per cent, compared to Alberta's 78 per cent and the national
average of 50 per cent.
Through
my work with unions and businesses in natural resource extraction and
construction, I know the negative results of that skilled trades shortage in
many areas, and strongly support more training.
Clark's
pledge to involve both unions and businesses in training decisions is a welcome
change from ex-premier Gordon Campbell's refusal to consult labour.
But
while LNG companies want very specifically trained workers, other employers say
a generalized education gives them the flexibility needed for an ever-changing
economy.
Jim
McNerney, CEO of Boeing, said
of the liberal arts in 2011: "Leadership is about the social and
interpersonal skills that these disciplines teach. The breadth of the education
experience is a primary source of leadership."
And a Harvard
University professor who helped submit a report to Congress on whether
government should support science and technology or the liberal arts was clear
on the value of arts:
"Students
should be prepared not just for their first job but for their fourth and fifth
jobs, as there is little reason to doubt that people entering the workforce
today will be called upon to play many different roles over the course of their
careers," Annette Gordon-Reed said.
"The ones who will do best in this new environment will be those whose
educations have prepared them to be flexible."
In
other words, educate both pipe fitters and poets.
The
house always wins
B.C. shouldn't
gamble with post-secondary education simply to provide workers for an unproven
industry with an unclear future and an unknown commitment to job creation.
Of
course, Clark disagrees. In February she said:
"I think we should be making sure we are providing programming in our
postsecondary institutions that provides people, young and old, with the
promise and prospect of prosperity when they graduate."
Clark,
who never graduated from university or earned a trade ticket herself,
desperately wants her big LNG gamble to pay off -- and taxpayers have to hope
it does, with our money on the table.
But when
betting in a casino, remember that while you are sometimes dealt a great hand,
in the end the house always wins.
4 comments:
It's been exactly a year---and that's it? That's all?
Jeez! We're screwed!
LNG is emblematic of what's wrong with the current iteration of the BC NDP. While the official party position is "We support LNG in BC", all you hear is NDP supporters and NDP politicians ridiculing and crapping all over the idea of an LNG industry in BC.
So even when the BC NDP theoretically support some form of major industrial development, in practice they can't help but drag themselves into the "no" camp. The BC NDP seem to have two potential positions on major economic development proposals: their favorite position - "No" and reluctant, unhappy neutrality that teeters towards "No".
Until the BC NDP finds a way enunciate some kind of simple, coherent and POSITIVE message on the economy, particularly on resource-based/major industrial economic development projects, their electoral prospects will remain remote.
wanting that much money to be allocated to an area, which may not get used, is simply a way of cutting academic budgets without saying that is what you are doing. She and her cabal are not proponents of university educations. Insisting money go into trades is simply a way to take money away from universities.
The lieberals don't want the post secondary education system producing anyone who might have a thought in their head, or learn to think. That is the danger of universities, revolution. Trade schools not so much. Of course the Polish revolution did get started by an electrician, in a ship yard.....
"The lieberals don't want the post secondary education system producing anyone who might have a thought in their head, or learn to think. That is the danger of universities, revolution. Trade schools not so much"
Must be a sample of that kind of thinking. Education in the Arts still exists, but face reality. History is not exactly a job creating industry. E.a.f is out of it once again. There's more to industry than just the trades. There's managers and office personnel, logistics managers, etc. etc.
The Left obviously doesn't want anyone who can think beyond the perpetual negativity that the Left seems to wallow in month after month.
BC was run by a guy who was a lawyer during the 1990s, and later on by another who was a business agent and hated business success.
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