In politics, timing is everything.

Today, B.C. environmental groups are celebrating the Great Bear Rainforest agreement after years and years of negotiations.

Forest companies are comforted by having security of tenure in 15 percent of an area the size of Switzerland.

And media outlets are highlighting the triumph of Premier Christy Clark in protecting 85 percent of the old growth forest over this massive swath of territory along B.C.'s central coast.

It helps that this story also enables everyone to run photos of the magnificent spirit bear, which has become an anchor for a growing tourist industry.

The Globe and Mail even featured an interview and photos of the premier as she hung out with First Nations people in the region. It likely cost the newspaper a fair amount of money to fly a reporter and photographer around to chronicle Clark's encounters with indigenous people in this part of the world. The images that accompanied the piece are a government publicist's wet dream.

Meanwhile, First Nations leaders are thrilled over the prospect of sharing carbon credits with the B.C. government, which is an important yet under-reported aspect of this deal.

So why was it announced today (February 1)?

I suspect it's because tomorrow, the B.C. Liberals face the unpleasant prospect of losing two by-elections.

By focusing attention on the environment, the premier can ensure that even if her party gets slaughtered in Vancouver–Mount Pleasant and Coquitlam–Burke Mountain, there will be a residue of goodwill toward the B.C. Liberals. This will prove useful when the losers face the media after the polls close tomorrow night.

I wouldn't be surprised if the B.C. Liberal candidates in these constituencies have been coached to mention the Great Bear Rainforest in their concession speeches. And if by some miracle the B.C. Liberal wins Coquitlam–Burke Mountain, this agreement will be invoked to explain how the party has turned a new leaf.

At the very least, the Great Bear Rainforest story will have enough legs to generate some chatter on the Tuesday radio talk shows.

Politics is a cynical game. Sometimes, it takes a certain degree of skepticism to cover it. So far, some of that skepticism has been lacking in the reporting of this landmark agreement.