SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2013 | WWW.PGCITIZEN.CA News 5 Report warns that LNG may only be a modest boom HANDOUT PHOTO B.C. Minister of Natural Gas Development Rich Coleman (right) stands with PetroChina vice president Yiwu Song while Coleman visited Asia to promote B.C. natural gas earlier this month. Matt LAMERS, William STODALKA Alaska Highway News FORT ST. JOHN — British Columbia isn’t necessarily behind schedule, but the province is playing catch-up in its bid to supply Asia’s growing economies with natural gas. Not only is B.C. behind other natural gas producers who have their sights on Asian markets, but supply is expected to grow to twice the demand in 2021, when the province’s LNG export terminals would begin to come online. The warnings come despite high hopes for the provincial government for the LNG sector. “Stakeholders in Asia want to diversify their energy portfolios and B.C.’s natural gas is in high demand,” said natural gas minister Rich Coleman, while visiting a tour to promote the gas industry earlier this week. “We are strengthening relationships and securing investments to make it happen, which will create unprecedented economic wealth and jobs for the people of our province.” The provincial government also said that these export creations could employ 100,000 people, cumulatively adding $1 trillion to gross domestic product over the next 23 years. Those warnings were delivered to the province’s regulators and gas producers in the report Managing Expectations, by the Canada West Foundation, a Calgary-based think tank, and the Centre for Natural Resources Policy. The report goes on to warn that B.C. should prepare for a more “modest” boom, and that they have to make sure B.C. remains cost competitive with other countries. The report identified 23 liquefaction plants that are within range of Asian markets in which construction has already begun, putting them years ahead of British Columbia’s proposed LNG terminals. They are located in Angola, Algeria, Australia, Iran, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Russia. Another 12 plants have completed Front-End Engineering and Design that are within range of potential customers in Asia. Those are also ahead of B.C.’s proposed sites in Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Kitsault. Len Coad and Pawel Mirski authored the report, which assessed the potential of B.C.’s LNG industry, particularly the projected supply and demand on the downstream end of the equation. Coad, who is also director of the Centre for Natural Resources Policy, told Pipeline News North that B.C. is neither ahead nor behind in the big picture of exporting gas compared to its competitors. “Our message clearly is that B.C. is coming late relative to a lot of other projects,” he said. Oversupply is another area of concern. But because the industry is based on long-term contracts, B.C.’s pipeline and gas terminals won’t get the go-ahead without those deals in place well before construction begins. Asia’s natural gas demand is predicted to reach 400 million tonnes per year (mtpa) by 2021, and surpass 500 mtpa by 2025. Supply, on the other hand, would increase much faster: to 800 mtpa by 2021 and almost 900 mtpa by 2025. “By the time the British Columbia projects are able to deliver LNG to Asian markets, Asian markets will look substantially different than they do today,” said Coad. “There will be LNG and pipeline projects that will compete with British Columbia projects. And some of those projects are more advanced than the B.C. projects are today.” To not fall further behind, Coad said there’s a need for coordination across the value chain - up-, mid- and downstream. “I don’t think there’s a clear definition of too late,” he said. “I think that it’s more a question of what the competitive pressures will be when the project arrives. “The LNG projects that are unable to successfully negotiate attractive contracts would not proceed to the construction stage. So as the B.C. projects and the competing projects go into the market to negotiate those contracts, we’ll start to get a clearer picture of who’s got the advantage and who doesn’t.” Despite these warnings, North Peace MLA Pat Pimm remained optimistic about LNG’s future. He said that BC “is acting very quickly already” to secure natural gas opportunities. “It’s a huge opportunity for us,” he said, noting that plants in development could produce billions of cubic feet of natural gas. “The bottom line is Asia is going to need gas long term,” he said when asked about the possibility of the natural gas supply for Asia overshadowing demand. “I’m not concerned at all ... if we don’t get LNG to the Asian market, it’s not going to have a home.” Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier also expressed the need for B.C. LNG to get to Asian markets. “We have a great opportunity in B.C. for natural gas,” he said. “[Asian companies] are looking for a good supply of natural gas.” Bernier also said that the provincial government recognizes that “we don’t have the ability to wait too long” to get LNG to Asia. He added that he’s “not right now worrying” about the possibility of Asian supply overshadowing Asian demand. “There’s a lot of demand out there,” he said. “We’re a prime target for investing.” Bullied transgender girl switches to school with LGBT policy Amy SMART Victoria Times Colonist VICTORIA — A Comox transgender girl has started classes at a new school this week after a series of bullying incidents led her parents to remove her from her old school. The transfer comes just days before her former school board considers implementing anti-discrimination policy that her family believes would have protected her. Harriette Cunningham, 10, went into emotional crisis after a boy “outed” her to a new friend at ecole Au-coeur-de-l’ile, declaring that Harriette was “really a boy,” her father, Colin Cunningham, said. Harriette is transgender, which means her gender identity differs from the sex she was assigned at birth. The incident was one in a string that were dealt with inconsistently, Cunningham said, because there was no policy outlining how to handle discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. “She was just exhausted. I’ve never seen her like this. It just really felt like the last straw,” Cunningham said. Although Harriette has left the school, staff at the francophone school board plan to present the first draft of a new policy to the board Saturday, superintendent Mario Cyr said. He expects it to be overwhelmingly approved. “We’re really saddened by Harriette’s case,” Cyr said. “[The trustees] were all in agreement that we needed to act.” A 30-day review process will follow the first reading, involving consultations with principals, teachers and parents. The policy could be in place by January. If it passes, the francophone school board will join 26 others, out of a total 60, that have already implemented LGBT anti-discrimination policies. If it does not, the Cunningham family plans to file a complaint. “We’re still passionate to see this policy through to pave the way for future students,” Cunningham said. “That’s the reason Harriette wanted to go public in the first place.” Harriette’s experience is not uncommon, according to Egale Canada Human Rights Trust. “We quite regularly hear from families who have taken their kids out of school... or even move to find a school community that’s supportive,” said Ryan Dyck, the group’s director of research and policy. Five of 12 Vancouver Island school boards lack a policy directed at LGBT students. However, three superintendents said their schools are in the process of developing one. Lawrence Tarasoff, superintendent of school district 84 (Vancouver Island West), said bullying is dealt with through the school’s code of conduct, which upholds the B.C. Human Rights Code. But Dyck called explicit anti-discrimination “hugely important.” “Homophobia and transphobia are still very much a core part, unfortunately, of our communities and our societal attitudes,” he said. That makes the proactive adoption of policy important, he said. “If you just reference a human rights code, rather than naming the grounds, most people won’t read that as including sexual orientation or gender identity.” Harriette returned from her first day at ecole Robb Road on Wednesday optimistic — she didn’t have to field a single question about her gender. Her classmates had already been educated on transgenderism, with a meeting held before she started and letters sent home to parents. “The only question they really asked me was: ‘What other school do you come from?’ And my dad told me at the little meeting with all the kids in my class, the two main things were, ‘Is she coming on the field trip?’ and ‘Does she have a locker?’” Prisoner says he escaped with friend to keep eye on him Louise DICKSON Victoria Times Colonist VICTORIA — A former William Head inmate says he only broke out of prison to keep an eye on a friend who was intent on escaping. At his sentencing hearing Thursday, Dean Benton said he had already talked his friend Brian Patrick out of escaping once. But on the night of Sept. 6, the two men decided to swim away from William Head, a minimum-security, waterfront prison in Metchosin. The escape of Patrick, 44, who is serving a life sentence for murder, and Benton, 56, who is serving an eight-year sentence for robbery, prompted a massive manhunt. Benton was sentenced to another 10 months in prison for the escape. A nervous Benton told Judge Wayne Smith that when he arrived at William Head, he ran into Patrick, who was an old friend. “When I got there, Brian was in crisis. I’d always known he’d suffered a brain injury and had been suffering grand mal seizures. He’d had one 24 hours prior to him telling me he was going to leave,” said Benton, who appeared by video in Western Communities provincial court. “I talked him out of it Thursday evening. But the Friday evening when he came to me, he was adamant. He was my friend. I was worried for him. So he told me he was going to swim away. I didn’t want to leave him alone so I followed him... I didn’t have any plans to escape. It was just my intention not to leave him alone.” Patrick and Benton went down to the water about 8:30 p.m. and stripped to shorts and T-shirts. They put dry clothes in plastic bags, which they used for flotation. They swam to land near Pearson College, then went their separate ways. Patrick was arrested the next day about 11 a.m. on the Galloping Goose trail, near Belmont Secondary School. mI didn't want to leave him alone so I followed him... I didn't have any plans to escape. — Dean Benton Benton, who had only been at William Head for three weeks, was arrested on Sept. 8. At Patrick’s sentencing hearing, prosecutor Carmen Rogers said Patrick had escaped because he was coming up for parole and was not ready to be released. “He said he had no family. He had nowhere to go. He’s been in and out of jail since he was 14 years old. He was going to end up in a halfway house, but really wasn’t looking forward to the prospect.” During his short-lived freedom, Benton did not try to change his appearance. When RCMP Const. Mark Hall spotted him in Hatley Memorial Gardens, Benton told him who he was. “It was just a bad situation I didn’t want to make any worse,” Benton said. “I knew I’d be charged and sent back to higher security.” Patrick pleaded guilty in mid-September to escaping lawful custody and was sentenced to one year in prison. Benton, who has been in 23-hour lockdown at Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Facility in Saanich, pleaded guilty Thursday. “I will give you full consideration for the matter in which you have been held in remand and protective custody,” Smith said. “That will be deducted from what would otherwise be an appropriate sentence of 12 months. You will serve 10 months for this particular offence. It’s obviously required for the deterrence of not only you, but other individuals.” Shoestring ethnic publications say they need federal support: survey The Canadian Press OTTAWA — A new study says Canada’s ethnic newspapers and magazines are on the financial brink - and their owners are calling for more federal support. The survey of 22 publishers and editors for the Canadian Heritage Department found that ethnic publications are shoestring operations, often courting bankruptcy and relying on volunteer labour. Free information on the Internet is posing challenges, as the traditional role of carrying news from home countries is undermined for these Canadian publications.