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First Nations feud over LNG
GARY PARK For Petroleum News
Battle lines are hardening within British Columbia’s First Nations over the future of LNG, nowhere more clearly than in the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation which presents the most formidable barrier to the C$36 billion Pacific NorthWest LNG.
The feuding is starting to wear thin on British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, who visited the front lines in late April to make clear she will not indefinitely tolerate opposition from what she has characterized as the “Forces of No.”
Clark’s mission was seen as attempting to build on signs of growing support among First Nations for LNG.
The battle also extended to Canada’s federal parliament, where members of Parliament from the defeated Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper along with mayors from five of northeastern British Columbia’s natural gas-dependent communities put more pressure on the Canadian government to speed up LNG approvals.
Todd Doherty, who represents a constituency in Prince George, demanded to know when federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Rayboud, the first aboriginal Canadian to hold that post, would “break her silence and push her colleagues” to give the green light to Pacific NorthWest.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna intervened on behalf of Wilson-Rayboud by repeating a message she’s been sending to those, including the Clark government, who have been lobbying for the project.
“There’s no point in pushing me because we make environmental decisions based on evidence, facts and science,” she said.
Rob Fraser, Mayor of Taylor, one of the mayors’ delegation, said “we presented a strong unified message that our citizens and businesses are experiencing an economic downturn of grave severity, with massive job losses and business failures.”
Fishery a concern But a delegation of aboriginal leaders made their argument to officials in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office that Pacific NorthWest would “decimate” a salmon fishery in the Skeena River, the second largest in British Columbia and a vital source of the salmon catch in Alaska.
That delegation underscored the depth of the rift within Lax Kw’alaams, whose Mayor John Helin has strongly backed Pacific NorthWest plans for an C$11.4 billion liquefaction plant and tanker terminal on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert. (Lax Kw’alaams represents six allied tribes and 3,200 people).
Helin sent a letter to McKenna in March telling her his council endorsed the Lelu plans provided an environmental performance committee was appointed to oversee the project.
The British Columbia government has added to that argument by estimating Pacific NorthWest would create 18,000 jobs in the northwest region and generate billions of dollars in revenue.
But Garry Reece, who was defeated by Helin in last November’s mayor race, said the mayor has overstepped his authority in declaring the Lax Kw’alaams council’s support for exporting LNG from Lelu, noting that the community voted unanimously a year ago against a C$1.14 billion benefits package from Pacific NorthWest.
Numerous agreements signed Those who argue for the project say all but three of 20 First Nations along the proposed natural gas pipeline route to Prince Rupert and all but three of the 19 whose traditional territory flanks a planned pipeline route to Kitimat have signed benefit-sharing agreements.
Overall, 62 agreements have been signed by 29 First Nations with the Clark government.
However, it has been clearly demonstrated in British Columbia that even one holdout can stall construction on a resource project or tie progress up in court.
Roland Willson, chief of the 544-member West Moberly First Nation, was unmoved by a government statement that in return for its signature his community would receive an initial payment of C$201,000, C$1 million if construction started and C$1 million once a pipeline was in service, plus an undetermined share of C$10 million in ingoing benefits.
“There is absolutely no need to rush the process,” he said, defying threats by Malaysia’s Petronas, operator of Pacific NorthWest, that it will not wait much longer for final approvals. “What (Pacific NorthWest) is trying to do is get so far down the road that we can’t turn back.”
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