Skeena – Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen said he is unimpressed with details on the proposed sale of Ridley Terminals brought to the government this week.
"The criteria in the act is too vague. It talks about open access, but not equal access. It also does not guarantee we will get a good price for the terminal or that it will be sold to a Canadian company, and based on the Nexen incident I don't have a lot of confidence this government is looking out for the best interest of Canadians," he said.
"There are too many loopholes in what they have announced... On all levels, there is more cause for concern than hope with this."
Minister of State for Finance Ted Menzies and Minister of State for Transport Steven Fletcher announced the government's intention to sell the terminal on Dec. 13, 2012. Although nearly six months have passed since the announcement, Cullen said he still doesn't understand why.
"The government has not answered the first question, and that is the need to sell it at all. Canadians have put millions of dollars into the terminal and it is now beginning to make money for taxpayers, so why sell it now? If it is just because the government continues to run deficits and wants to fill some of those holes then that is worrisome," he said.
"These things are not clear in the document."
T`he Canada Development Investment Corporation, the group responsible for the sale, did not immediately return a requests for comment.