All FNs On Board With Coastal GasLink
Canadian pipeline developer TransCanada said September 13 all 20 BC First Nations along the route of its Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline serving the LNG Canada project in Kitimat have signed community and project agreements.
The agreements with CGL – now facing a jurisdictional challenge from a BC environmentalist – exemplify the 100% support that the BC First Nations have shown the project, CGL president Rick Gateman said.
“This is an important milestone for the Coastal GasLink team,” Gateman said. “When we first began this project over six years ago, our goal was to build more than just relationships with First Nations communities in BC; it was to build trusted partnerships and that has made all the difference. We are grateful to these First Nations communities for this opportunity and appreciate the incredible support they have shown us over the years.”
The benefits and opportunities outlined in the agreements were designed specifically for each FN community along the route, providing indigenous groups with job opportunities and sustainable revenue sources over the life of the project. Support comes from elected leaders as well as from traditional hereditary leaders within the communities, Gateman said, and CGL continues to hold discussions with some hereditary governance groups, with the hope that additional agreements may be reached in the near future, should the project receive a positive final investment decision from LNG Canada.
“Today’s announcement is a testament to what we can accomplish when industry and First Nations work together,” Witset First Nation councillor Gary Naziel said. “This project will provide jobs, contracts and financial benefits that Witset First Nation can use to enhance programs and initiatives for our citizens, such as language and cultural programs.”
In addition to the community support agreements, CGL has awarded some $620mn (US$480mn) worth of conditional contracting and employment opportunities to indigenous businesses in northern BC. Another $400mn of contracting opportunities could be available during the construction period.
The 2.1bn ft3/day CGL pipeline – expandable to 5bn ft³/day – will deliver gas from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in northeast BC to the 13mn metric tons/year LNG Canada liquefaction plant in Kitimat, on BC’s northern coast. It has received all required major permits from provincial regulatory agencies, should see a construction early next year, pending a positive FID from LNG Canada’s joint venture participants, and is expected to be in service in 2023.