Prime Minister Carney was in Terrace yesterday, where he announced the federal government will try to ‘fast-track’ the American-owned Ksi Lisims LNG project, as well as the North Coast Transmission Line, to power the terminal with renewable electricity.
He was good enough to take a question at the podium from Dogwood News.
I asked, “Western LNG is the owner of the Ksi Lisims terminal. And it would be built in Korea with Korean and Chinese steel. So how much taxpayer money are we prepared to invest in a project that is American-owned and foreign-built?”
Carney nodded along, but then struggled to answer the question.
“There is d– uh, look, there are different aspects of the project, as I said. Um, there is ah, the PRGT pipeline, which is necessary, which is Canadian-owned,” the PM began.
To clarify, the Nisga’a Nation has partnered with Texas-based Western LNG on the pipeline, but all the investment so far has come from Wall Street firms, and the company contracted to build it is American.
“There is the associated transmission line,” Carney continued. “There are structures that come with projects that ensure there is returns to taxpayers, um, through the tax system as well. And the structure of the financing is a decision that we take with the full information.”
Carney didn’t confirm any federal money for the gas terminal. But he did announce a $140-million loan to BC Hydro to start work on the transmission line. Clearly, Ottawa is hoping it will be a positive signal for the American billionaires deciding whether to invest in Ksi Lisims.
“These projects are in the interest of Canada…” Mark Carney said, without producing any evidence.
Profits from this project and others like it will go to its owners and shareholders. Once construction of the floating terminal is complete in Korea, Ksi Lisims will add maybe 200 jobs to B.C.
These projects are also in the interest of Indigenous peoples, Carney insisted. Outside the gates of the substation, surrounded by RCMP officers, Gitanyow, Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en leaders held their own press conference, reaffirming opposition to Ksi Lisims and PRGT.
“This is environmental racism happening right in front of us. All these projects are being pushed through Indigenous communities,” said Drew Harris, a Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan youth organizer. “Part of our ways is to always be a good neighbour. You don’t want to mess up your neighbours upstream or downstream by harming them or polluting them.”
Carney claimed that fast-tracking the gas terminal would help Canada build “a more sustainable society.”
Did the Prime Minister of Canada just tell us to our faces that more fracking and methane will build a more sustainable society?
Communities burned to the ground. Houses flooded or sliding down hillsides. Sea water rising and polluted air making our kids and elderly sick. This is the Canada Carney will build if he sticks to industry talking points instead of facing the reality of LNG.
Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’moks summed it up: “When they destroy things, they call that the cost of doing business. But our pride, our dignity, our future has no price tag.”
