British Columbia Premier Christy Clark says her province could see 100,000 new jobs with the development of liquefied natural gas industry.
Clark and four of her ministers are heading to Ottawa this week, where they hope to convince the federal government to give the issue more attention.
"We have to be competitive on the price, we have to get there quickly on the environmental approvals, and most importantly, we have to have our act together on skills training," Clark told CTV's Question Period in an interview broadcast Sunday.
She said there's a healthy demand for B.C.'s natural gas in Asia, and a need may also be emerging in Europe, where Russia supplies much of the natural gas.
"Everybody around the world now is looking for more dependable suppliers of natural gas," Clark said. "What's happening in Crimea and the Ukraine has really highlighted that for Europeans."
She said she has already spoken to French and British officials about "Europe's emerging needs."
Similar to the way the oilsands have bolstered Alberta's economy, Clark said natural gas has the same potential to "transform our country."
Asked about potential opposition to the pipelines that would be needed to transport the commodity, Clark said there isn't strong opposition, as natural gas is "pretty low risk" to move.
