Leadership & Legal False Statements Of Claim
April 13th 2015
BC Premier Clark : LNG & Bumpy Road Ahead
CP Geordon Omand
April 13th 2015
BC Premier Clark : LNG & Bumpy Road Ahead
CP Geordon Omand
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
"BURNABY, B.C. – B.C. Premier Christy Clark insists the possible
rejection by a First Nation of a liquefied-natural-gas terminal is
nothing more than a bump in the road for a multibillion-dollar pipeline
project.
Clark says she believes reaching a negotiated agreement
with the 3,700-member Lax Kw’allams First Nation, on whose territory the
terminal would be built, is only a matter a time.
Pacific NorthWest LNG wants to transport natural gas from the
northeast corner of the province to an export facility on Lelu Island,
just south of Prince Rupert.
Band members have been asked to vote on a $1.15 billion offer over 40 years in exchange for their consent for the project.
“It’s
always a bit of a bumpy road to get to a negotiated agreement but I
think we’ll get there,” said Clark about the possibility of a No vote.
“It’s part of the process.”
Lax Kw’allams band member Malcolm
Sampson was present for the initial two votes in Port Simpson and Prince
Rupert and said both sessions resulted in unanimous rejection from
members.
The same outcome is expected for the third and final vote in Vancouver on Tuesday, said Sampson.
The
band’s primary concern relates to the project’s potential impact on
Flora Bank, an underwater area immediately adjacent Lelu Island where an
abundance of eel grass provides vital habitat to maturing salmon in the
Skeena watershed.
Pacific NorthWest LNG responded to concerns by
proposing to build a 1.7-kilometre suspension bridge that would bypass
the sensitive underwater ecosystem. The span would be anchored by a pair
of support towers, one planted on the edge of Lelu Island and the other
just outside Flora Bank.
A trestle would then carry the pipeline
the remainder of the nearly three kilometres to LNG carriers waiting at a
deep-water berth.
The company recently submitted additional
documents requested by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans related to
the updated infrastructure proposal.
Observer and energy lawyer
David Austin wonders why the band is set on holding a vote without all
the information on the table, calling the move premature.
“The full impact is still unknown,” said Austin, who is with the firm Clark Wilson.
But rejection wouldn’t necessarily scuttle the project.
Lelu
Island is Crown land managed by the Prince Rupert Port Authority, which
means the province technically has the authority to push ahead without
support from the Lax Kw’allams.
Even if the First Nation band
proves it has aboriginal title — which would require proving it has had
exclusive occupancy of the territory — Supreme Court precedent gives the
province the right to override that claim.
“From a legal
perspective it would be very complicated to proceed with the LNG
terminal without (First Nation) support,” said Austin. “But if the
circumstances were right not impossible.”
The length of time
required to sort out the legal uncertainty resulting from a lack of
First Nations support might encourage LNG developers to go elsewhere
with their investments, he added.
The B.C. government said it has
reached 54 pipeline-benefits agreements with 28 First Nations across the
province. Of the 59 First Nations along the natural-gas pipeline ending
at Lelu Island only five have publicly announced signing agreements
with the government."