LIBERALS APPROVE B. C. LNG PROJECT
RICHMOND, B.C .• The federal government has given conditional approval to the massive Pacific NorthWest LNG project planned for B.C.’s northwest coast.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc were in Richmond, B.C., on Tuesday to announce the government’s acceptance of what is expected to be one of the largest infrastructure investments in Canadian history.
There are 190 legally binding conditions attached to the approval, McKenna said.
“This project was subject to a rigorous environmental assessment and today’s announcement reflects this commitment,” she said.
The Petronas- led $ 36- billion liquefied natural gas project on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert, B. C., would ship 19 million tonnes a year of liquefied gas to markets in Asia while pumping more than five million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually into the atmosphere. That would make it one the largest single greenhouse gas emitters in Canada, according to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
The government’s conditional approval sets the table for an autumn of more crucial decisions on a national climate- change plan and energy sector infrastructure.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean the massive LNG project will ever get underway.
Low global oil prices and an increasing supply of natural gas have depressed international prices for LNG, making the economics of the project less certain than they were when it was announced in 2013.
A spokesman for Pacific NorthWest LNG said Monday that any decision to begin construction would still have to go to the company’s shareholders if Ottawa approved the plan.
Nonetheless, the decision by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet signals the course the Liberal government will navigate among competing interests on the energy and environment files.
Environmentalists and First Nations have denounced the LNG project over climate change and salmon habitat, while prodevelopment advocates, including the B.C. government of Christy Clark, have called it a key economic driver.
Even before the government said it was pulling the trigger Tuesday, a group of six First Nations from the Skeena corridor issued a release saying the project “does not meet the test” for respecting indigenous rights and would be challenged in court. “Providing a green light for this project at this time will only lead to protracted litigation which benefits no one,” said the Skeena Corridor First Nat i ons, whose t raditional lands include Lelu Island.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said he and other i ndigenous l eaders have repeatedly voiced their opposition to Trudeau and McKenna. The LNG project would “obliterate” the Skeena River sockeye salmon fishery, the second-strongest sockeye run in B.C., he said. “Clearly we have grave concerns about this project being approved,” Phillip said Tuesday before the conditional approval was announced.
“What’s at risk here is the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the indigenous people that came out in unprecedented numbers, being inspired by the promises and commitments made by Mr. Trudeau during the last federal election.
“We’re moving toward an extremely litigious and very conflictual relationship with the Trudeau government.”
He said he believes there has been behind- the- scenes negotiation between the B.C. and federal governments over certain projects, including the Site C hydro-project and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
“There’s a lot of backroom dealing going on that connects all of these projects,” Phillip said.
He said B.C.’s chances in the global LNG industry are “some pipe dream” that has been carried forward by Clark and her government.
New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen, whose riding would be home to the proposed LNG project, said a number of First Nations chiefs are wondering what’s different between the Liberals and Conservatives. Cullen expects Trudeau will run into years of court battles over projects such as Pacific NorthWest LNG.
“It’s a total betrayal of a very big and sacred promise that Trudeau made to First Nations to be better, to be different, to gain the social licence to start a new relationship,” he said in an interview before the announcement. “He has done none of that.”
Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said in Ottawa that Trudeau had only one decision he could make on the project, and the prime minister now needs to “champion the project” to help make it a reality.
“He needs to make this project important, not only for British Columbians, but for all Canadians,” Ambrose said, citing the job creation and investment potential.