Earlier, we reported just two major provincial companies attended the recent western climate initiative meeting in Portland - a number dwarfed by corporate delegations from some of the American states. Asked about the matter, Business Council of British Columbia executive policy vice-president Jock Finlayson said, "Those who weren't present in Portland did have an opportunity to patch in by phone and be part of the deliberations. And we did that. We had staff people who were plugged into the major sessions that took place in Portland. And I know of a couple other industry representatives from B.C. who were plugged-in as well."

"So, although the low turnout is fair comment, we weren't shut out of it to quite the degree that might suggest. We were plugged-in. And, from our point of view, we were able to get a pretty good sense of what transpired. And we're doing some additional work to make sure we're briefed and up-to-date on what actually happened down in Portland. So we're comfortable where that stands. Although the speed with which the whole thing is moving does create some challenges."

Furthermore, said Mr. Finlayson, the council is pleased to see "more focused consultation between government - the climate action secretariat - and some of the major industry sectors in B.C. that are responsible for part of our emissions inventory" - referring to upcoming climate action sectoral symposiums. "So, for a while, there wasn't a lot of structured consultation - it was a bit more ad hoc. But now there's a more of an organized activity taking place in terms of meetings which we're not directly engaged with because we're not a sector. But a lot of our members will be in some of the industries that have a lot of questions and a lot of issues they want to put on the table. So, hopefully, within the next month or two that piece will come together to a greater extent then we've seen."