MLA Guy Gentner stepped up his assertion that Premier Gordon Campbell was in a conflict of interest by providing the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, Paul Fraser, with an addendum to the original documents regarding Order in Council 787 filed May 27, 2008.
The addendum, sent to the Commissioner June 12, 2008, contends that in 2006 the Premier had signed another Order in Council (OIC 96) which changes the natural gas extraction industry to be a “manufacturer” and exempt from provincial sales tax. “This change is only applied to natural gas industries. Other extraction industries such as forestry and farming need not apply,” said Guy Gentner, who is very concerned about the inequity of benefits provided to BC’s primary resource industries.
“There is a disturbing pattern emerging here,” states the member for Delta North. “First we find out that Campbell held shares in an energy company [Terra Energy] that were not held in a blind trust. Then we find out he signed an OIC that potentially benefits that company with royalty credits. Next he and his government ignore ongoing resident complaints regarding health concerns from that company’s extraction of soar gas. And now we find another OIC that gives tax exemptions to one specific primary industry – natural gas extraction – which coincidentally benefits that same company. All this while he still owned shares in that company.”
Gentner went on to say that making a profit is not a bad thing, but making a profit where there is a clear bias is a major problem and needs to be investigated thoroughly. “Without doubt, the OIC that the Premier signed was very specific to the natural gas industry. So if Campbell wasn’t demonstrating a clear bias then why would other primary extraction industries, such as logging, be excluded from a tax benefit? What are the criteria here?”
Above all, says MLA Guy Gentner, “is that Campbell, by signing these OIC’s, has willingly compromised the integrity of BC’s highest public office for an industry in which he had a pecuniary stake.”
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