Category Archives: Energy

Energy, Indigenous Nations

BC and First Nations unite to defend tanker ban

 Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

The BC coast is “not for sale.”

BC Premier David Eby and coastal First Nations sent that message to Ottawa on Wednesday as they called on the federal government to uphold the oil tanker ban on the province’s north coast.

Eby and First Nation leaders stressed oil spills would cause irreversible environmental harm, the destruction of critical marine ecosystems and significant economic damage to First Nations and coastal communities.

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Energy, Indigenous Nations

Sentencing of land defenders tests Canada’s commitment to Indigenous rights

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Three Indigenous land defenders are set to be sentenced this week for blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on their nation’s unceded territory in northern British Columbia. 

Hereditary Chief Na’Moks said the defenders from the Wet’suwet’en Nation are standing on the right side of history. He called their efforts an act of care for the land, water and air that sustain everyone. “They are simply protecting what is right for this entire planet,” he said.

Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, Shaylynn Sampson and Corey “Jayohcee” Jocko were convicted in January 2024 for defying court injunctions that aimed to end blockades against pipeline construction in 2019. The sentencing hearing for the three begins today in Smithers, BC. For the community, it’s raising fundamental questions about how Canadian and Indigenous law coexist.

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Energy, Politics

Feds, BC are shifting LNG risks to public purse, report claims

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Ottawa and the British Columbia government are shifting financial risks of LNG companies onto the public purse while weakening commitment to the “polluter pays” principle, a new report suggests.

The federal and provincial governments are on track to provide almost $4 billion in support for fuel expansion of LNG exports on the West Coast, despite forecasts that global demand for the fossil fuel will peak well before most projects come online. 

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Energy

BC’s Cedar LNG subsidy courts financial liability

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The BC government’s $200-million subsidy to electrify the Cedar LNG project is drawing sharp criticism as a fossil fuel handout and an unwise investment that also opens up potential legal risks after a new International Court of Justice ruling.

Premier David Eby and Energy Minister Adrian Dix said the public funding will go to the electrification of the Cedar LNG terminal, a floating liquefied natural gas facility co-owned by the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation near Kitimat that is expected to come online in 2028. 

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Energy

B.C. town ‘built by industry’ adjusts to life with LNG

Matt Simmons – The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

For the past few months, the buzz in the small coastal community of Kitimat, B.C., has been all about the flares. 

LNG Canada, the newly completed gas liquefaction and export plant, began firing up its smokestack last fall, lighting the skies with a flame that got as tall as 90 metres at one point. That’s roughly the equivalent of four 18-wheeler trucks, stacked end-to-end on top of each other. It could be seen from more than 50 kilometres away. 

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