James Steidle, the BC Green Party candidate for Prince George-Mackenzie in the Oct. 19 provincial election, is calling for stronger conflict-of-interest regulations and says he fully supports his party’s policy to require lobbyists to serve a mandatory two-year stand-down period before they can run for office.
Steidle took aim at his BC Conservative Party opponent, Kiel Giddens, a former lobbyist for TransCanada Energy, who he says has been listed 29 times in the BC Lobbyist Registry from 2021-23.
Steidle says Giddens does not include his lobbying work in his campaign profile and is calling for mandatory disclosure of those activities to prevent what he perceives as Giddens’s lack of transparency.
“Our focus is on rebuilding trust in our political system,” said Steidle, in a media release. “Kiel Giddens' lobbying work, much of it recent and tied to the oil and gas industry, highlights why this reform is necessary. We need to close the revolving door between lobbying and public office to ensure candidates are truly working for the public, not for corporate interests.”
The Green Party created its policy on lobbyists to prevent unchecked corporate influence in government from newly-elected individuals who become part of the governing party.
Giddens says he has nothing to hide from his past as an advocate for the oil and gas industry, which he says is a vital component of BC’s economy.
He was with Trans Canada Energy during the time of construction of its Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline from Dawson Creek to Kitimat that will soon be exporting natural gas to Asian markets and vows he will continue to push for developing the province’s natural resources to create jobs and tax revenue to benefit British Columbians.
“I’m proud to have worked on the largest private sector investment in Canadian history,” Giddens told The Citizen. “That work has included engaging with local and provincial government officials, post-secondary institutions, Indigenous training organizations, labour unions, construction associations, chambers of commerce, and citizens across Northern BC from the Alberta border to the coast.
“When engaging with provincial officials, there is a registration process for businesses, non-profits, chambers of commerce, and stakeholder associations. Groups like the Dairy Farmers of BC, the YMCA, the BC Chamber of Commerce or businesses making multi-billion dollar investments all have to register under the BC Lobbyists Registry to do provincial lobbying. Part of my role as a senior leadership team member in the LNG industry was to advocate for jobs and opportunities for British Columbians.
“An MLA needs to do the exact same type of work in advocating for their constituents.”
