The Aboriginal Cogeneration Corp. proposal for a gasification plant at Mission Flats provided material for a lively debate in the B.C. Legislature on Wednesday.
S. Simpson: The question in Prince George is why the minister did absolutely nothing for 18 months after he learned of this problem and ignored it until he got embarrassed into doing something a week ago. The people of Prince George aren't alone in their concerns about the performance of this minister. A gasification plant that will burn over 2½ million creosote railway ties over the next decade is planned and moving ahead in Kamloops. This is regardless of a unanimous opposition by the mayor and council and more than 800 people rallying at the office of the MLA for Kamloops–North Thompson. And what has the minister done about this? The minister has ignored the people of Kamloops and has ignored their concerns for over a year. This is a controversial issue. There's been no leadership from this minister to try to bring a resolution. Instead, the minister issues a permit without an environmental assessment and calls the people of Kamloops emotional because they're concerned about air quality. Tomorrow night, the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce is holding a forum on this issue of this plant. Will the minister finally talk to the people of Kamloops? Will he go to Kamloops tomorrow, and will he talk to the people at this forum?
Hon. B. Penner: Interesting questions, coming from a party that didn't lift a finger to fight the SE2 power plant proposal.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Continue, Minister.
Hon. B. Penner: When myself, the Attorney General, and the member for Abbotsford South were down in Washington State fighting that proposal which would have amounted to 330,000 cars' worth of pollution for Fraser Valley residents, the NDP was nowhere to be seen. Now, the member who just asked the question betrayed a certain amount of ignorance — at which I'm surprised, after the number of years he was the opposition critic for Environment — when he said the minister issued an air emissions permit. If he had been paying attention in the four years that he was the Environment critic, he would know that those decisions are made by professional public servants that work for the Ministry of Environment. In the case of Kamloops, those people that made the decision actually live in Kamloops, their children live in Kamloops, and their children breathe the air. Why would they make that decision? Well, because they're trained professionals. One is a chemical engineer with 14 years' experience. Another is an air quality meteorologist. They looked at the data and concluded that with respect to the proposal for Kamloops, the emissions would amount to that of a single wood-burning stove.
Mr. Speaker: The member has a supplemental.
S. Simpson: If the minister believes any of the stuff the public affairs bureau has written for him, does he have the courage to go to Kamloops tomorrow night and talk to the people of Kamloops about this? For 18 months in Prince George, 20 times the allowable formaldehyde levels were ignored by this minister, when he should have taken action. For almost a year in Kamloops, the city council and citizens were stonewalled by this minister on their concerns about air quality. Sadly, the Liberal MLAs from Prince George and Kamloops did nothing to stand up for their communities. We know there's a lack of courage. The question now is: is there negligence, and is there incompetence? Will the minister stand up for these communities and stand up for air quality once?
Hon. B. Penner: Over the last number of years, our government spent more than $20 million on air quality improvements, and that's a record that our government is proud of. Now, as the former Environment critic hyperventilates and flusters, he portrays his ignorance and lack of understanding when he suggests politicians should be the ones issuing technical permits. In my case, I just have a bachelor of arts degree in economics and political science and a law degree. But I would rather put the trust of these decisions in the hands of people who are chemical engineers, air quality meteorologists, master's degrees in meteorology and a bachelor of science in chemistry with 25 years of experience. Those are the people in the Ministry of Environment who made the decision for the air emissions permit in Kamloops. Would you rather put your judgment in place of theirs?
N. Macdonald: The minister is a politician — it's true — and he has a clear responsibility to do his job as minister. The people of Kamloops are meeting. They're going to be talking on this issue. Does the minister have the guts to go to Kamloops and speak to the people directly? That's his job. Is he going to do it?
Hon. B. Penner: I think it's appropriate that the people who make these decisions engage with the community and explain them, and that's what our staff in Kamloops have done. They are professional public servants. They have tremendous expertise. They live there. Their children live there. They breathe the air there, and they made the decision to issue the permit. For the benefit of the members who perhaps don't understand the law in British Columbia, it is the law that decisions about air emission permits are not made by the 79 or 85 people sitting in this chamber but by professional public servants. That is the law of British Columbia.
Mr. Speaker: Member has a supplemental.
N. Macdonald: The minister is publicly responsible for his ministry. This is a minister who stands in Victoria and calls the people of Kamloops "emotional." My question: is the minister going to go to that meeting, that chamber of commerce meeting in Kamloops, and explain to them why he describes them as emotional? Or is he going to go and do his job and explain to the people of Kamloops why he is pushing this through the way he is? Does he have the guts to go to Kamloops…
Mr. Speaker: Member.
N. Macdonald: …meet with the people of Kamloops and explain his decision?
Mr. Speaker: Member.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Members. Member, I allowed it the first time, but be very careful with your language, please.
Hon. B. Penner: I'm having a hard time giving a basic law 101 class to the opposition, but I'll try again. Under the Environmental Management Act, decisions about air emissions permitting are left to the regional managers of the Ministry of the Environment.
Interjections.
Mr. Speaker: Sit down, please. Continue, Minister.
Hon. B. Penner: I'm trying to clear the air about how the law works in British Columbia. Our government can't take credit for the fact that regional managers are entrusted to make these decisions. In fact, it's been the law in British Columbia for decades that decisions around air emissions permitting are made by professional public servants. Kudos to previous governments that put that into legislation. We've kept that in legislation. It's in the Environmental Management Act. Again, I would rather trust professional public servants who have chemical engineering degrees or professional meteorologists who work in the field than any one of the 85 elected people here. I think we just heard a new NDP policy announcement, which is a rare thing, though we had one yesterday. The NDP has just announced that from hither forth, it will be members of this Legislature, if they were to form government, that would issue air emissions permits. That's what I think I'm hearing. That's wrong-headed public policy. Let's trust professional public servants to make the right decisions — who is have the degrees to back it up.
