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Letter: Corporate versus public good

Letters to the editor
By Letters to the editor
October 24th, 2018

To The Editor:

The B.C. government passed an amendment to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act on March 14, 2018 that protects corporate confidentiality.  Ministry of Finance officials say the new confidentiality provision prevents them from disclosing what individual fossil fuel companies pay in royalties.

Billions of dollars of lost revenue from decreased royalties are not available for health care improvements, affordable housing and innovative renewable energy projects to meet climate change obligations.

The confidentiality provision in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Act must be reversed so that the public may know how royalty fees are calculated and the royalties that are actually paid.

The total subsidies and tax breaks that are being offered by B.C. to corporations involved in the LNG project must be disclosed.

Subsidies and foregone royalties to fossil fuel companies discourage government and corporate accountability. We can no longer do business as usual.

The B.C. government can do better – must do better for its citizens.

Rob McClure, Kaslo, BC

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