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Critics pounce on report focusing on Indigenous LNG equity stakes
Gary Park for Petroleum News
No sooner was a Canadian study released drumming up a case for the benefits of LNG development to Indigenous communities than it was being shredded by environmental organizations opposed to any commercial use of natural gas.
The Conference Board of Canada report, commissioned and funded by the Canadian LNG Alliance, was adamant that LNG exports from British Columbia would raise the standard of living for First Nations.
It said projects would generate “sustainable economic growth … (and) contribute to the long-term process of reconciliation” between Native people and Canada’s non-Indigenous population.
The First Nations LNG Alliance and the First Nations Major Projects Coalition, both of which contributed to the study, support LNG Canada, a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell that is building an C$18 billion export terminal near Kitimat, British Columbia, that is scheduled to start exports in 2025.
Terminal on traditional territory The LNG terminal is being built on the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation, whose chief councilor Crystal Smith said the relationship with LNG Canada is positive and includes training and employment of her community members.
She said the Conference Board findings confirm what the Haisla Nation already knew “that LNG is a big driver of opportunity for Indigenous communities.”
A spokeswoman for LNG Canada said Kitimat has so far awarded more than C$2 billion in contracts to Indigenous and local businesses.
But these positive signs have failed to sway project opponents, such as the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, which has warned about methane leaks from the production of LNG feedstock natural gas, and Stand.earth, which challenges claims that LNG can displace coal and power plants in Asia.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis has also challenged Conference Board estimates that about 96,550 direct and indirect jobs could be created annually if proposed projects in British Columbia achieve their full potential over the next 44 years.
Complications The Conference Board said that although LNG Canada’s related Coastal GasLink pipeline has reached benefits agreements with 20 elected First Nations councils along the route and has awarded C$870 million in employment contracts and funding to Indigenous communities, lingering opposition to the project poses complications such as “discussions about territorial rights, benefits and impacts.”
The report also noted that four Indigenous leaders have formed the First Nations Climate Initiative as a British Columbia-based think tank to promote “the role of Indigenous people in climate change mitigation and poverty alleviation. The group promotes LNG development as a solution to both problems.”
In addition, the Conference Board noted that a First Nations Limited Partnership is a C$500 million commercial entity that has signed a commercial First Nations benefits pact, while HaiSea Marine, a joint venture between the Haisla Nation and Seaspan, has been awarded a C$500 million contract to provide 70 marine and onshore tug services to LNG Canada.
- GARY PARK
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