A delegation of Northern B.C. mayors plans to press federal officials for help developing the province’s LNG industry.
Seven mayors, including Phil Germuth of Kitimat, Carol Leclerc of Terrace, and Dale Bumstead of Dawson Creek will be in Ottawa Wednesday and Thursday this week for meetings with the federal government.
A news release from the delegation says they plan to outline the benefits of LNG development and what they say is broad-based support for the industry.
But the key push will be an attempt to get Ottawa to exempt imported LNG modules from the fabricated industrial steel components (FISC) tariffs. The mayors say FISC tariffs on LNG modules from Asia make proposed B.C. projects less competitive and less likely to get off the ground.
“Fabricated industrial steel components (FISC) tariffs are intended to prevent Asian markets from dumping subsidized products into Canadian markets in order to protect our producers. However, it is absolutely necessary for LNG proponents in B.C. to import large fabricated modules to develop their liquefaction plants”, emphasized Mayor Phil Germuth in a news release. “We feel it would be an absolute shame if our country missed out on this once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure billions of dollars of investment. We need to create a level playing field in order to be competitive on the global stage, so that we don’t see Canadian investment and jobs disappear.”
The mayors say they intend to meet with a variety of key representatives from the federal government during their trip, although none have been specified.
