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Leaders of two key communities on British Columbia’s north coast met with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith this week to discuss economic opportunities and remind her of their long-standing opposition to an oil pipeline through the region.
“More than a decade ago, the Kitimat community voted to oppose the Northern Gateway project,” said a joint statement from Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth and Haisla Chief-Elect Maureen Nyce.
The leaders referred to a 2014 non-binding plebiscite held in the context of the now-scrapped energy project that would have sent bitumen from Alberta to Kitimat.
“The Haisla Nation, which was strongly against that proposal at the time, still maintains the same position today regarding a pipeline and export facility on its territory. This position was clearly expressed to Prime Minister Smith during the meeting,” the statement read.
Smith’s meeting with the two leaders came two days before Premier Mark Carney’s expected announcement of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alberta, including federal support for an oil pipeline through northern British Columbia.
Germuth and Nyce also said the meeting focused on areas where they align with Smith, including developing a liquefied natural gas industry in the area.
Expanding Canada’s only liquefied natural gas terminal tops Prime Minister Mark Carney’s list of projects his government would help accelerate, but as the CBC’s Lyndsay Duncombe explains, several key factors are standing in the way.
Projects like LNG Canada, which ships natural gas to the region via pipelines, managed to gain Haisla’s support and faced less opposition than pipeline proposals along the same route.
In part, this is because natural gas evaporates, reducing concerns about the impact on the environment in the event of a spill.
The Power Panel is looking at the politics at play surrounding a memorandum of understanding between Ottawa and the Alberta government that could pave the way for an oil pipeline to the coast of British Columbia that is expected to be announced Thursday.
Coastal First Nations say opposition remains strong
The letter is a reminder of the heated opposition to a pipeline to the British Columbia coast, which came to a head in the 2010s through protests and court cases that ultimately led to Northern Gateway (and the idea of any pipeline in the region) being treated as a failure by many politicians and industry leaders over the past decade.
But Alberta has consistently pushed for such a project to happen.
With renewed emphasis on Canadian resource development due to economic threats from the United States, public support for a new pipeline has become more favorable.
However, opposition has not abated among key groups, including Coastal First Nations.
An organization representing the Gitga’at, Gitxaała, Haida, Heiltsuk, Kitasoo Xai’xais, Metlakatla, Nuxalk and Wuikinuxv First Nations on Wednesday criticized any talk of reviving a pipeline.
“We are here to remind the Alberta government, the federal government and any potential private proponents that we will never allow oil tankers to reach our shores. coast, and that this pipeline project will never happen,” “Heiltsuk First Nation Chief Marilyn Slett said in a statement.
“While the details of this MOU remain to be seen, under no circumstances can it override our inherent and constitutional rights and titles, or deter our deep interconnectedness of mutual respect for the ocean.”
Kitimat mayor focuses on other opportunities
British Columbia Premier David Eby has also consistently voiced his opposition to such a project, arguing that it would undermine existing economic projects already being developed alongside First Nations, including those on the North Coast.
In an interview with BC today Host Michelle Eliot, Germuth said those were the type of projects he and Nyce focused on during their meeting with Prime Minister Smith, adding that the meeting had been planned long before any talk about a revived pipeline.
“The meeting was actually to introduce Kitimat to Prime Minister Smith,” he said, adding that the focus was on its position as a port community.
“We talked about natural gas, we talked about ammonium, we talked about food products… it was more of a meeting just to get to know each other.”
Senior Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton talks to Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth about the new LNG plant expected to begin production soon and the region’s industrial history.
Germuth also said he would have limited power to stop a pipeline if the federal government pushed for it, and that he would be willing to consider a new proposal.
“If the project was done the same as Northern Gateway, it would most likely be a ‘No,'” he said.
Nyce said she was “disappointed” that the mayor was not as firm in his opposition, and that she might have walked out of the meeting if she had known his views beforehand.
But he also called the conversation with Smith productive overall.
“She was interested in what we were interested in,” he said.
