Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Terrace, B.C., on Thursday and announced that two major projects in the province are being forwarded to the Major Projects Office for consideration.
The first, the Ksi Lisims LNG project, is a proposed 12-million-tonne-per-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) initiative on Pearse Island, close to the Alaska border.
It is located on treaty land owned in fee simple by the Nisga’a Nation. The Nisga’a Nation backs the project but it is opposed by other First Nations in the region.
It is a partnership between the Nisga’a First Nation, Texas-based Western LNG and Rockies LNG Limited.
Both the provincial and federal governments have signed off on the facility.
“The Nisga’a people are a remarkable and dramatic example of strength and resilience and fortitude and their work in government and in economic development is a testament to that,” B.C. Premier David Eby said at a press conference on Tuesday.
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“This project will create 800 jobs during construction, more than 200 jobs ongoing at the site, $17 billion in contribution to the Canadian economy over the lifetime of the project.
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Four of six other First Nations asked to provide consent did not grant it, and numerous environmental groups are also opposed.
In a statement on its website, Ecojustice, on behalf of the Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research, the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition and the Wilderness Committee, said it participated in several public comment periods ahead of the decision, “pointing out serious flaws with the assessment of the Ksi Lisims LNG project, including a failure to adequately assess its climate impacts and the effects of powering the project with electricity.”
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The second project is the multi-billion-dollar North Coast Transmission Line.
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The line would double the amount of electricity flowing from Prince George to Terrace, allowing for the expansion of LNG and other resource projects on the North Coast and at Prince Rupert’s port.
Construction could get underway as early as next summer, with the line set to be fully operational by 2034.
The NCTL is one of 18 priority projects identified by the provincial government as “essential” to expanding B.C.’s electricity grid and supports the development of new mines, LNG facilities and port expansions.
Carney announced the first five projects the government was submitting for fast-track consideration two months ago. Conservatives called the projects on the first list “low-hanging fruit” because their development was already well underway.
That list included a Montreal port expansion, a small modular nuclear plant in Ontario, a liquefied natural gas facility expansion in British Columbia and two mining projects in Saskatchewan and B.C.
The new list of projects includes the Crawford Nickel Project in Ontario and the Iqaluit Nukkiksautiit Hydro Project.
Carney said that just because projects are forwarded to the Major Projects Office, it does not mean they will be approved.
-with files from Uday Rana
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