Political landscape on the Raven Project

Federal

• Harper Government
  The Harper government is solid on resource extraction, and has proved that it will, if necessary, change legislation to pursue it.
• NDP
  The federal NDP has not as yet been challenged to state its position on the Raven mine; however, it opposes the Harper government’s short-sighted approach to resource development in Canada.
• Liberals
  A debate on the Liberal position on mining may emerge during the leadership race launched by Justin Trudeau, but it’s likely to be couched in general terms such as Kyoto and resource extraction.
• Greens
  Though not yet directly queried on their position, it is expected that the federal Greens would be against the coal mine given the party’s position supporting renewable energy and cuts to subsidies for fossil fuels

British Columbia

Election 2013

The imminent election in May 2013 may be the pivot on whether the Clark Liberal government approves or rejects the application to mine. Or it may not.

Depending on the course of the environmental review, the decision may be made by the next government. There are two big If’s: Date and Winners.

Date:
If Compliance Energy Corp. submits its application (the Environmental Impact Statement) before mid-October, the usual time frame (up to six months) for review of the application, including a 45-60-day public comment period, could mean it would fall to the current Liberal government to  make the decision on the whether to approve or reject the application. If Compliance submits it after mid-October, it becomes less likely that the Raven decision will be made pre-election by Christy Clark’s Liberals.

Winners:
If the decision on Raven is made after the election, it could be made by Liberals, but just possibly by the NDP.See more below.

• Liberal Government
  Their decision, whether made before or after the election, will almost certainly be an approval, given the Clark government’s record on resource extraction and the “benefits” of new mines.
• NDP
  In 2011, the provincial NDP passed a resolution asking for comprehensive mapping and modelling of aquifers in the Baynes Sound watershed before the project is given further consideration, and asked for an independent, objective and expert review to assess the project.  The resolution also expressed concern about the mine’s threat to the mid-Vancouver Island shellfish industry. When running for the NDP leadership, the NDP House leader and energy critic John Horgan said, “Let me cut to the chase. It is my position that unless and until it can be clearly shown that these substantial concerns and risks can be mitigated to public satisfaction, and meet the requirements of a new and improved environmental assessment process, the Raven Coal Project is not supportable.”
• Greens
  Though not yet queried as to their position, it can be expected that the provincial Green Party would be against the mine, given its policy to strengthen environmental assessments and standards and move to local control of the environmental assessment process, to take subsidies away from industries whose activities harm the environment and communities, and to invest in generation of green energy.