A potentially damning report by the auditor general on the provincial government's controversial carbon-neutrality policies is being withheld from the public, pending a probe into a breach of parliamentary procedure.
The report was supposed to be released Tuesday, but House Speaker Bill Barisoff ruled he would not release the report until he had discussions with Auditor General John Doyle about information related to the report that was leaked to the press.
A number of letters addressed to the B.C. government from parties who were not happy with the direction Doyle was taking in his review of the government's carbon neutral policies were leaked to the press. But those letters are not part of Doyle's report.
As far as the auditor general is concerned, nothing that has been "leaked" is from his report.
"There has been no premature disclosure of the report," Doyle told Business in Vancouver. "No one that has written any of those letters has had any access to the report and therefore they would not know what's in the report.
"There's no reason whatsoever why the report can't be tabled because even if there had been a premature disclosure, it doesn't affect the body of the report at all, therefore there's no reason it should be held back. In fact, if anything it's a good reason why it should be released."
One of the letters that was leaked was from James Tansey, CEO of Offsetters Climate Solutions Inc. (TSX:COO), which buys and sells carbon offsets.
According to information obtained by Business in Vancouver, Tansey's company has received $2.7 million from the Pacific Carbon Trust (PCT) for a variety of projects that Offsetters has been involved in.
In one of the letters leaked to the Canadian Press, Tansey reportedly suggested to Attorney General Shirley Bond that Doyle's report should be amended before releasing it, and warned that failing to do so could be costly for the government.
In an interview with Business in Vancouver, Tansey denied that he wanted the report withheld, but confirmed that a damning report could result in his company suing for damages.
"I wasn't asking the attorney general to block it, nor did they chose to in their response," he said. "I was saying, 'Please be aware that, because of the way the auditor general has undertaken the report, it represents a financial risk to the province.'
"He refused to accept the advice and opinion of at least nine international organizations and experts. If none of the validators and verifiers will operate in the province anymore – because they have this risk of an AG going rogue and second-guessing their professional integrity – then we would seek compensation from the province for those losses."
Calculating the potential carbon emissions reduction of programs such as carbon sinks (through reforestation or forest conservation) is complex and follows protocols established by the Verified Carbon Standard. Independent validators are hired to verify the validity of carbon offset projects.
Bob Simpson, the Independent MLA for Cariboo North – who has called for the PCT to be dismantled – said the auditor general is not obliged to follow the protocols established by outside bodies in his reviews of government operations.
"They're arguing that you can only ask the people who believe in Catholic indulgences whether Catholic indulgences are appropriate or not," Simpson said.
A key component of the B.C. government's carbon-neutral strategy is the Pacific Carbon Trust, which has taken $52 million so far from public bodies, like school districts, that have not met carbon-neutrality targets to fund private-sector projects, many of which are questionable.
As detailed in a series of stories by Business in Vancouver, some of the projects funded by the PCT appear to fail the organization's own additionality test, which is intended to fund only those carbon reduction projects that would not have otherwise gone forward.
http://www.biv.com/article/20130219/BIV0114/130219939/0/SEARCH/TimberWest-and-nature-conservancy-received-$10-million-in-carbon-credits
