There are wild claims flying about as proponents of the liquefied natural gas industry attempt to convince the federal and British Columbia governments that fabricated steel products for potential LNG plants here simply have to be built in China.

Not only is that untrue, it also represents a serious threat to our existing vibrant steel fabrication industry in B.C. — which supports 5,000 direct and thousands more indirect jobs, with annual revenues of $1.5 billion. And across Canada it’s a $5 billion industry with 40,000 jobs.

Unfortunately, both LNG Canada (which is considering a $40 billion LNG plant in Kitimat) and Woodfibre (with a possible $1.6 billion project in Squamish) claim that LNG steel modules simply cannot be produced in Canada.

So they want the federal government to exempt it from anti-dumping duties of up to 45.8 per cent on fabricated steel components from China.

But Canadian steel fabricators can build those modules — and create good jobs and investment here in B.C.  And we will do the job right the first time, something that Chinese steel has repeatedly failed at.