Pacific Northwest LNG submits Environmental Impact statement to Government Agencies

Heralding the announcement as "a significant milestone in the life of the project," Greg Kist, the President of Pacific Northwest LNG, outlined the background on the Environmental Impact Statement submitted to both the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office.

The filing of the Impact statement to both agencies launches the next stage of consultation and feedback for all interested parties in the project.

Once the Environmental Impact Statement has been accepted by the regulatory agencies and reviewed by their officials and First Nations representatives, a public comment period will get underway starting in the Spring of 2014.

As part of that process, there will be open houses, working group meetings and opportunities for direct comment from the public on the Statement submitted today.

Pacific Northwest LNG has already made some changes  to the design of the proposed facility, having taken into account some of the feedback already received through exchanges with local residents and stakeholders.

Among some of them:

The raising of the height of the proposed Lelu Island bridge and a section of the jetty trestle for marine users

Committed to a 30 m tree and vegetation buffer around most of the island to provide for a natural sound and light barrier

Construction of a materials offloading facility on Lelu Island itself to minimize heavy truck traffic

Changed the location of the proposed main flare stack, so as to decrease the visual impact for residents of the Port Edward area

And removed a bunkering fuel facility and propane storage site from the product design.

You can review the full media release from Pacific Northwest LNG here, the complete Environmental Impact Statement will be made available on their website once approval for it has been obtained from the two Government agencies.

Copies of the Impact statement will also be available for review at the Pacific Northwest LNG offices on Third Avenue in Prince Rupert.

For those looking for more information on LNG developments on the north coast, we have a wide range items available on our LNG Archive page


Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Petronas makes plans to take on more minority partners on proposed LNG project in Prince Rupert

The development of LNG terminal projects on the North Coast is becoming more and more of a global effort, as Petronas, the Malaysian energy giant with plans for an LNG export terminal on Lelu Island continues to look to Asia for more partners.

As we outlined on the blog on February 13th, Petronas has been discussing potential investment options with Indian Oil, with the potential that the Indian energy player may take on a 10 per cent interest in the project.

In today's Globe and Mail, the expanding nature of those discussions is reviewed, with Petronas also investigating the possibility of a Chinese investor, which could take a fifteen percent share in the project.

As the Globe outlines in their story, that could bring a total of four partners on board with Petronas by March, making for an investment to a total of 38 per cent of the proposed development.

You can review the full Globe article here.

And while Petronas continues to build industrial alliances for its project, the Globe outlines that the Malaysian company still intends to hold majority interest in the project.

However, there may still be room for other investors to claim the remaining 11.9 percent of the minority interest in the development plans.

Next up on the agenda for Pacific Northwest LNG, was the filing of environmental impact statements with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and with the B. C. Environmental Assessment Office.

That procedural effort took place today, with Pacific Northwest outlining the path forward with a media release.

The next stage of the project, which will see more Open Houses held in both Prince Rupert and Port Edward as part of the consultation process.

On Monday night, Mayor Jack Mussallem provided a thumbnail sketch for City Council, on the latest news from Pacific Northwest LNG. Outlining the projected employment numbers that the project could bring to the region, once the final decision to go ahead with the development is made.

With a timeline of construction of 48 to 52 months, the number of construction jobs generated by the Pacific Northwest project would be some 4,000 people from start to finish.

Upon completion of the project , the Mayor quoted numbers that suggest there will be direct employment for 330 people from the export terminal, while the number of indirect jobs related to the development is projected to be around 300.

You can review more of our items of note on the LNG industry in the Northwest from our LNG Archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

With survey in hand, Prince Rupert Mayor heads off to the BC Ferries Committee

As part of his closing thoughts at Monday's marathon council session, the Mayor outlined the latest developments in the city's quest to address the upcoming service cuts that BC Ferries is preparing to put in place in April.

The Mayor is to meet with representatives of the Ferry Advisory Committee for the North and Central Coast, as well as with representatives of BC Ferries over the next week, looking to impress on both groups, the concerns of the City of Prince Rupert regarding the planned service cuts.

During his "Mayor's comments" of Monday night, Mayor Mussallem outlined the process ahead and touched briefly on a survey that the city conducted, designed to gauge the impact that those cuts may have on not only the North Coast and Haida Gwaii, but across northern British Columbia.

One interesting note from that survey can be found not from the council minutes or agenda for the night, but from the Information to Council package provided to Council on February 19th, where the actual survey is outlined.  ( Item 10  )

As well as the background on the nature of the survey questions, in a bit of a surprise note, we learn that it was not a member of city staff that conducted the survey for the city.

Instead, those duties were apparently tasked to Bruce Wishart, the one time head of Tourism Prince Rupert, who departed from that post last year, when Tourism Prince Rupert decided to reconfigure its operations.

For his efforts on behalf of the City of Prince Rupert and through letterhead of Northern BC Tourism, he provided an outline of the City's request for assistance in learning more on the impact of service cuts by the Ferry Corporation.

The three questions for respondents to answer being:

1. Will the projected cuts threaten your ability continue your business, or impact your lifestyle as a northern resident?

2. What impact do you feel these cuts will have on your community as a whole?

3. Do you have any further comments?

And while Mr. Wishart no doubt did a fine job of compiling information for the Mayor. There is some background on the survey that should be explained a bit more fully from Council.

Since it does not appear to have been an in house, city staff project.  The Mayor or someone on Council, should probably have been a bit more transparent about some of the background on the study and brought the theme up for discussion in public session.

Mainly so as to provide information as to what, if any, the cost of conducting the survey may have been to the City and whether the City had put the project out to tender. Allowing for a number of proposals from interested local applicants to be considered.

That kind of background information and process, is fairly common in other locations. As is the opportunity for council members to discuss the cost, the process involved in completing the job and what they hope to gain from the exercise

None of those basic principles however, appear to have received that much of a work out from Council on this particular item.

Perhaps those are the kind of details that City Council explores in one of the many closed sessions that the city seems to hold. Though one imagines that providing background on an item such as this, is something that should be delivered in the public forum of the regular council session.

As for the Mayor's overview of the City's planned response to the Province's Ferry cutback plans, it can be reviewed from the City's Video Archive. 

The Mayor's talking points on the subject start up at the 3 hour 6 minute mark and carry him through to the end of the night's session.

As the Mayor prepares to take the findings of his survey to the BC Ferries Committee meetings, perhaps when he returns and delivers his next report to Council on how those meetings turned out, he could offer up a bit more of a back story when it comes to his survey as well.

You can find more background on the Ferry Cuts issue from our Transportation archive page, we have more on items from City Council on our Council Discussion Points Archive page


Cross Posted from the North Coast Review

A BG Delay on a final decision on LNG for Prince Rupert?

As we're quickly learning on the North Coast, the landscape of the still incubating LNG industry on the North Coast can change fairly quickly.

Less than a year ago we were looking at the prospect of two potential projects for the North Coast, now we have four projects in different stages of evolution, with varying estimates of time lines for any kind of decision making.

And now, for one of the more prominent of North Coast proposals, some messages it seem are being sent that there may be a delay on making a final decision on a go ahead.

It's been but four days that have passed since the representatives of the BG Group provided Prince Rupert city council with a bit of an international primer on the LNG industry, with the BG representatives outlining that an investment decision on the North Coast project could be made by 2016.

However, in the fast paced world of the LNG industry, things change fast and that may already be an out of date timeline.

As the Financial Post reported Wednesday, the British energy giant may be considering a delay of at least a year before they make a final decision on whether they will go ahead with their 16 billion dollar Prince Rupert export terminal decision.

The Financial Post suggests that instead of 2016 for a decision date, that  the new target date for a final go ahead could be 2017, with the first shipments of LNG then shifting to the year 2022 at the earliest.

The article also highlights a number of factors that could have an impact on any decision to move forward,  high among them concerns of LNG companies regarding British Columbia's proposed LNG tax.

The province has apparently heard that message pretty clear, with plans to work out a compromise still in development out of Victoria.

Also in the mix of issues that could weigh over any decision, are lower commodity volumes. lower prices and the ability to line up contracts with Asian buyers.

The cautionary note that should give North Coast residents cause to not get too caught up in the LNG euphoria just yet, comes from oil industry observer Robert Desbarats of Calgary. Who provides a bit of balance to the current anticipations of boom times for the region.

“The fact that they’re spending money out there today, which they are, and it’s big money, doesn’t guarantee that they’re going to make an investment decision to go forward with the project.”

Some wise counsel we imagine to keep handy over the next few years, as plans in progress and final decisions come to move forward... or not.

You can review our complete collection of items on the LNG industry on the North Coast from our Archive pages.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Two for the road?

With the prospect of some Caribbean travel on the agenda for Council members, two city councillors were quick to outline that they were interested in taking up the offer of the BG Group for a visit to their LNG facility in Trinidad and Tobago.

The topic was introduced to council on Monday night by City Manager Robert Long, who advised Council that the BG Group had issued an invitation for one Council member to make the trek to the Caribbean.

A journey to the Caribbean Islands that would be paid by the BG Group and as the Mayor put it, not  cost the city any money.

Councillor Garon was the first to advise that she had responded positively to that request, an announcement that appeared to come as a surprise to Councillor Carlick-Pearson, who inquired as to how the process of selection had taken place.

That made for a rather uncomfortable silence in the Council chamber, the first true moment silence of the three hours to that point. Leaving viewers of the council session to hear nothing but the hum of the air circulation unit, all be it for a few seconds, before Councillor Garon tentatively outlined her timeline of interest regarding the proposed trip.

The Mayor then weighed in with a potential solution to the Trinidad standoff, wondering if perhaps two councillors could be dispatched to visit the BG site, going so far as to suggest  to City Staff that they investigate that possibility further.

During the course of her review as to how she came to be the selected councillor for the trip, Councillor Garon mentioned the trip which the Mayor made to the same facility last fall.

A reference to the surprise announcement from the Mayor, who reported back to Council on his trip which was also paid for by the BG Group, offering observations which we reviewed for the blog back in October here and here.

Interestingly enough, as the conversation between Councillors Garon and Carlick-Pearson continued on the over theme of the proposed trip, courtesy of the BG group, none of the other Councillors around the council chamber offered up any thoughts on what Council might hope to learn from another trip.

Particularly from a journey that would take place so soon after the Mayor provided his background report from his visit to Trinidad and Tobago.

It was a lack of discussion, which could leave casual observers to wonder if another such trip is even required at this time at all.

It is worth noting that the subject of communities in British Columbia accepting these travel opportunities has become something of a bit of controversy in recent months.

With more than a few observers suggesting that it places council members into areas of perception problems and according to some academics, into a potential conflict of interest situation.

The best review of that theme coming from Gordon Hoekstra of the Vancouver Sun, who in December outlined some of those perception problems that come from these trips, using the trips of the fall of Mayor Mussallem and Port Edward officials as part of his theme.

We offered up our some background on his piece for the Sun here.

You can review the short discussion on the theme of Council travel from the City's Video Archive, the conversation starts at the 2 hour 57 minute mark and lasts but two minutes.

We have background on more items up for discussion on Monday night from our Archive of the February 24th session.

As well more items of note on municipal issues can be found on our Discussion Points from Council archive.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

BG Group provides LNG primer for Prince Rupert City Council

Representatives of the BG Group provided an LNG primer for Prince Rupert City Council on Monday night, a thirty six minute overview, that offered up a wide range of background on the LNG industry in the world view and BG's place in that global industry.

Dr. Andrew Walker and Miss Madeline Whittaker joined BG's local representative Herb Pond at the council table to provide the snapshot look at what the LNG industry looks like at the moment and where the company sees the industry over the next ten to fifteen years.

There was a fair amount of review on the nature of supply and demand and where Canada may find itself in that global supply situation over the next decade and beyond.

Following that LNG review, Council members were offered the opportunity to ask questions of their guests, seeking to find more insight into the industry and BG's plans for development of it's Ridley Island terminal location.

Councillor Kinney was the first to ask a question of the guests, inquiring what they would expect from the City of Prince Rupert. Dr. Walker outlined that projects such as these require a push to get them into existence, getting stakeholder alignment is key and that the project has to work for both BG and the community.

He suggested that the community should take the lead towards that alignment. He observed that over the years he had seen many of these supply chain projects fail owing to lack of alignment with the community that they are looking at.

Councillor Cunningham asked how many LNG projects that BG believes may be sustained in the area.  Speaking as to the buyer behaviour aspect of the question, Dr. Walker observed that the likely outcome would be that the province would see three LNG projects in the region by 2025, but not on the same timeline as the province has outlined.

City Manager Long offered up his thanks for the guests attendance to City Council and for the scope of the answers that were provided.

Councillor Cunningham followed up with a question on the progress of BG's Environmental Assessment. Miss Whitaker provided the timeline moving forward with a filing anticipated towards the summer.  To his question as to when a start up may be, Miss Whitaker outlined that depending on the process ahead, a final investment decision could be made by 2016 with a potential start up of operations by 2021.

Councillor Thorkelson had questions on employment regarding the proposed development, asking if BG had any plans to bring in any temporary workers from out of country. Miss Whitaker took to the microphone again, advising that the first preference of BG was to hire local workers as possible, and that the company was working with the Premier's working group on labour to maximize the benefits for the local region first.

Councillor Thorkelson followed up with a question as to when that employment plan would be outlined allowing the city to make plans for housing and other services that may be required.

Miss Whitaker advised, that the modelling on employment requirements work is still underway, BG anticipates coming back to the community later in the summer to outline some of their findings on the theme of a workforce for the project.

The Mayor advised the BG group that their information on employment requirements would be appreciated and that the city has already tasked staff with the prospect of making plans for future growth and service requirement that may come from the development of LNG facilities in the community.

Mr. Krekic, the city planner asked a question of Dr. Walker, inquiring as to the market dynamics in place and how BG would gauge the LNG industry compared to the oil industry.

Dr. Walkers' answer provided a bit of a comparison between the two industries and the variety of factors that could impact on price points and supplies, with gas being more of a diversified market.

Following that exchange, the Mayor thanked the BG guests for their contribution to the evening.

You can review the LNG lesson for yourself through the February 24th edition of the City of Prince Rupert Video Archive.

The session starts up at the three minute mark and continues on until about the 39 minute mark.

We have more on LNG development proposals for the North Coast on our LNG archive page.

Cross Posted from the North Coast Review

Provincial Government to extend Municipal terms of office to four years

Municipal politicians across the province will soon be running for a four year term, as the Province of British Columbia sets in motion legislation to extend the terms of municipal office holders.

Come November, the call on election night will be "four more years", as British Columbia brings its municipal election cycle into line with the rest of Canada, where municipal elections take place every four years.

The new election cycle will include all elected officials in municipalities, regional district and school districts.

The proposal to extend the terms has been under discussion for the last year and is part of a package of planned local election reforms planned for the 2014 Legislative session, with more change on the way to modernize election campaign financing rules before the November 2014 municipal elections take place.

The topic of electoral expense reform was the subject of discussion Prince Rupert City Council in January, it also has come up for discussion at School District 52 sessions.

You can review some of the proposals for Election expense limits from this discussion paper.

There shouldn't be any complaint from municipal politicians over the extra year of service, at the UBCM sessions of 2013, delegates endorsed the resolution in support of the extension of one year to municipal mandates.

You can review some of the background on the issue from the BC government website

 Cross posted from the North Coast Review

BCTF calls for strike vote, set for the first week of March

Things appear to be going from bad to worse with relations between the Province and the members of the British Columbia Teachers Federation, with the BCTF making plans to hold a strike vote during the first week of March.

“Teachers care deeply about our schools, our students, and our communities. We don’t take a strike vote lightly,” said Iker. “However, this government seems incapable or unwilling to let the BC Public School Employers’ Association negotiate fairly with teachers. Christy Clark, her government, and BCPSEA are insisting on rollbacks, freezing wages, and ignoring the Supreme Court of British Columbia.” -- BCTF President Jim Iker outlining some of the concerns of the BCTF

In a press conference Tuesday and through a press release, BCTF President Jim Iker outlined some of the concerns that his membership has with the current state of negotiations with the Liberal government of Christy Clark.

Offering up the thought, that behind closed doors the Government was acting in bad faith. Suggesting
that in the opinion of the teachers, the government was continuing to provoke the teachers.

BCTF President Jim Iker

He added that the Provincial Government was conducting negotiations, as though the recommendations from the recent Supreme Court victory by the BCTF never were made.

Among those many issues that are of concern to the BCTF, one that would appear to be non starter from this point on; are the plans of the BC Liberals to have in place a ten year contract with the teachers of the province.

That proposal from the Liberals was rejected last June by 96 per cent of the BCTF membership. And judging by the comments of Tuesday, that won't be much of a discussion point moving forward.

In wrapping up the surprise announcement of Tuesday morning, Iker explained the mechanics of the province wide strike vote, which will be conducted March, 4, 5 and 6.

With results to be announced in the evening of March 6th.

The BCTF outlined that Job action, if recommended by its membership would take part in a number of stages. But would not impact on the following areas:

--result in immediate school closures or disruption for students.
-- stop teachers from participating in extracurricular activities
-- affect report cards or communication with parents

The final comment on the situation from the BCTF was that any escalation of job action would depend on whatever progress takes place at the negotiating table.

You can review more of the BCTF position points from the Tuesday press release.

Video of the BCTF news conference can be viewed here.

The British Columbia Government and Ministry of Education has not offered comment yet, on the latest twist in the deteriorating nature of labour relations between the province and its teachers.

As developments continue to evolve towards the March strike vote, further background on the issue will be updated on this article on the blog through the week and beyond.


February 27-- Global BC-- Tough talk on the BCTF bargaining table (video)
February 27-- Van Province-- B. C. Teachers' union needs to name its price now
February 27-- CBC Radio-- The Toxic climate in the BCTF B. C. Government dispute (audio)
February 27-- CBC Radio-- Government Negotiator with BCTF (audio)

February 26-- Van Sun-- BC Liberals hire legal superstar, upping the ante in festering teachers dispute
February 26-- Canadian Labour Reporter-- B. C. Teachers' Federation calls for a strike vote
February 26-- Victoria T C-- B. C. Teachers union announces strike vote for next week

February 25-- BCCPAC-- B. C. Teachers' Federation calls strike vote
February 25-- CKNW - Interview with Jim Iker (audio Vault 12:15 PM to 12:45 PM)
February 25-- CBC-- B. C. Teachers' strike vote to be held  in March
February 25-- The Tyee-- Teachers hiding behind "rhetoric": government negotiator
February 25-- The Tyee-- Stalled negotiations driving teacher strike vote: union
February 25-- Globe and Mail-- BC Teachers to take strike vote as negotiations with province grow more tense
February 25-- CTV News-- B. C. Teachers' union to hold strike vote next week
February 25-- Global BC-- B. C. Teachers to take strike vote next month
February 25-- Van Sun-- Peter Fassbener responds to BCTF strike vote announcement
February 25-- Van Sun-- Public bargaining between teachers, government leads to predictable results
February 25-- Van Sun-- BCTF calls for strike vote in March
February 25-- Vancouver Courier -- B. C. Teachers' Federation to hold strike vote

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

MLA Rice seeks BC Government commitment to Highway of Tears Shuttle

The British Columbia Legislature returned to work this month, a Speech from the Throne and Budge the launching point of the new session for 2014.

With the ceremonial and administrative items out of the way, the Legislature has returned to the day to day current of business, committees, discussion and debate and of course the always fascinating bit of theatre that makes up Question period.

The first few days of the new Legislative session have provided for morning and afternoon sessions in the Legislature and the North Coast's NDP MLA, Jennifer Rice, addressing her first concerns of the new Legislative session.

Ms. Rice made use of some of the Morning Question Period of Tuesday. to seek some answers from the Government on the topic of a shuttle bus between Northern BC communities.

You can review her questions from the Legislature record, her inquiry begins around the 1050 marker from the legislature Blues..

The proposal submitted by the Highway of Tears Symposium report (page 20), was mentioned as part of the Oppal Commission on Missing Women and Ms. Rice sought an update from the Justice Minister Susan Anton this week.
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Ms. Anton did not provide a particularly concise answer to the question, instead deflecting the theme toward a review of some of the progress that the BC Government has made on the issue, providing little in the way of background on her note, that the Government was "working with communities in the North to establish safer ways for people to travel."

We're not sure why an update on the shuttle bus initiative couldn't be outlined in response to the question, it being a topic that has been under discussion since the last election campaign came to an end.

It does seem like a fairly simple question to answer and for the Government side to just repeat some of the old lines of the last year doesn't seem particularly of use in solving the issue.

The Justice Minister may wish to seek out an update from her staff, as we suspect that the issue will be brought up for discussion again in the near future.

With the debut of the 2014 session of the BC Legislature, we will follow the work of the North Coast MLA through our MLA's Week Archives and from our anchor page on Legislature developments.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Waters off Prince Rupert and Kitimat destined for more environmental surveillance

Aircraft from the National Surveillance Program

North Coast residents may soon see  more frequent appearances of that bright red Transport Canada plane over the skies of the region, with an announcement from Wednesday regarding aerial surveillance for Coast British Columbia.

The Federal Government is making plans to increase funding for marine pollution surveillance, another part of their efforts towards preparations with the prospect of increased shipments out of the North Coast.

Wednesday's announcement outlined how funding allocations are set to double over the next five years, with Transport Minister Lisa Raitt  explaining that funding for the aerial surveillance program will increase from the current level of 5 million dollars a year, to ten million dollars.


“Our government has zero tolerance towards polluting Canada’s marine environment. That is why we have doubled the funding for surveillance and monitoring of ships to detect pollution in Canada’s waters.” 

 “Tanker traffic has increased, and through our government’s plan for Responsible Resource Development, we are ensuring the safe and reliable transport of energy resources through our waterways.” --- Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport on the increase to funding for the aerial environmental surveillance program


The program which makes use surveillance aircraft will see air time expanded on the West Coast, with a two stage approach that will see planes in the air for 700 hours per year until 2017-18, at that time the hours will almost double to 1,200 hours in the air per year.

A significant increase in the work load for the one surveillance plane that is currently tasked for British Columbia and the North Coast, a region that Minister Raitt indicated will now receive much more attention.

The move by the Federal Government did not offer up much comfort to those that oppose such projects as the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and the plan which would see Alberta crude oil shipped out of Kitimat.

Project opponents suggest that the best environmental program, would be one that does not involve the shipment of bitumen through the waters of the North Coast. With Art Sterritt of the Coastal First Nations calling the announcement of Wednesday as window dressing.

The full text of the announcement can be found from Transport Canada website.

more on the National Aerial Surveillance Program can be found here.

CBC-- Aerial Surveillance to monitor oil spills in B. C.
Victoria Times Colonist-- Ottawa boosts ship surveillance
Global News-- Federal Government doubles funding for aerial water pollution surveillance
CTV News-- Ottawa to double spending on marine pollution surveillance off Canadian Coasts
Globe and Mail-- Ottawa aims to calm fears over oil-tanker safety
Global Post-- Ottawa woos oil export support with spending on ship pollution surveillance

 Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Nisga'a make entry into LNG discussions

We can add the Nisga'a Lisims Government to the list of those interested in seeking to bring LNG development to their community, with the Nisga'a reportedly putting up four potential sites for would be LNG developers to consider.

"The Nisga’a Nation is unique among Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. Because of our modern Treaty with the governments of Canada and British Columbia we have increased control of our land and our destiny and we are actively seeking opportunities for sustained economic development within our lands. 

LNG provides a long term future opportunity for both our Nation and for your company. We welcome your interest and invite you to visit our people, our communities and our lands.”  ---H. Mitchell Stevens President Nisga’a Lisims Government

In a Financial Post article from last week, the plans of the Nisga'a (and attention generated by them) to get their foothold on the percolating LNG scene on the North Coast are outlined.

Providing background on the four sites identified along Portland Inlet that the Nisga'a believe would offer a tempting option for LNG companies to consider.

The Nisga'a have listed the four potential development sites as Nasoga Bay, Wil Milit (Whiskey Bay), Sgawban and Xmaat'in (Dogfish Bay). All which they explain are suitable for either a Floating or Land Based LNG facility.

The main selling point of the Nisga'a options would be the geographical location of the proposed sited which would result in reduced pipeline costs and with treaty provisions already in place with the Nisga'a, negotiations with the Nisga'a nation already have a base from which any would be investors can proceed on.

Should the Nisga'a find success with their marketing plan and put their stake into the growing LNG presence in Northwestern British Columbia, the economic future for the communities of the Nass would be changed significantly.

It's anticipated employment prospects could see some 200 - 300 jobs generated should development come to just one of the parcels of land up for investment. Significantly more, should all four development sites find a receptive partner.

The Nisga'a highlight the opportunities available with their Portland Inlet sites through a 40 page review on the Nisga'a Lisisms Government website.

The full article from the Financial Post can be found here.

We have more items of note on proposed LNG development on the North Coast on our archive page

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Petronas looks to India for North Coast LNG investment

As the planning for the Pacific Northwest LNG project continues, Petronas, the Malaysian based energy giant is looking for India for further investment into the Lelu Island project.

They recently brought in Japan Petroleum Exploration and Petroleum Brunei as partners over the last year and in recent discussions have begun to woo the Indian Oil Corporation, looking to bring that company in as investor and customer.

A collection of partners that provides a sample of the international flavour and attention that the percolating LNG industry in British Columbia is attracting.

According to a report in the Globe and Mail, Indian Oil is giving consideration to acquiring at least a 10 per cent interest in Pacific Northwest LNG.

It's expected that Petronas will make its final investment decisions regarding Pacific NorthWest LNG
by the end of this year.

The Pacfic Northwest project is one of four that have been announced for the North Coast, with all of them in varying degrees of progress towards final decisions and the possible start of the planning and construction phases.

Further background on the latest of items from Petronas below

Globe and Mail-- Petronas Courts Indian Oil for B. C. LNG investment
Wall Street Journal-- Indian Oil Close to Buying Some Petronas Canadian Assets
FMT News-- Petronas nears deal with Indian Oil Corp
NDTV-- CCEA defers approval to Indian Oil stake purchase in gas assets: report

Our Archive page on Petronas/Pacific Northwest LNG items can be found here.

You can review our full collection of LNG files from our archive page.

 Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Gitga'at First Nation to hold meeting on Joint Review Panel and Northern Gateway

Members of the Gitga'at First Nation will have two opportunities to review information on the recent  decision of the Joint Review Panel, as well as to discuss the Northern Gateway Enbridge Project and the impact that it may have in their region.

The Council of the Gitga'at First Nation has scheduled sessions in Prince Rupert and Hartley Bay, on February 16th and 17th, with the Prince Rupert session set for the Highliner Inn's Ridley Room on the 16th from 6 to 9 PM.

The Hartley Bay session takes pace at the Wahmodmx Cultural Centre on February 17th from 6 to 9 PM.

The meetings are closed events, with admittance available only to those who are 19 years of age and members of the Gitga'at First Nation.

The Gitga'at Nation sessions are but two of many being held across Northern British Columbia by First Nations governments and band councils, as they look to provide more information on the two issues of the last year and to make further plans on how they intend to proceed on the issues.

You can review some of our background on both topics from our archive pages below.

Joint Review Panel

Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project

 Cross posted from the North Coast Review

North Coast MLA tops NDP Expense list for 2014

As our Provincial MLA's return to their duties at the British Columbia Legislature, the final tabulations have come in from the NDP as to what amounts and categories that NDP MLA's allocated their reported expenses towards in 2013.

To his credit, NDP Leader Adrian Dix introduced the NDP expenses listings to the BC NDP website in July of 2013, providing a snapshot of the kind of expenses incurred by his caucus in Victoria.

Not surprisingly, in most cases, the further away an MLA is from the Legislature, the higher the expense listings become, with North Coast MLA, Jennifer Rice topping the NDP's listings for 2013.

Ms. Rice reported $27,579.11 in expenses from July to December, some $2,629.65 more than the next nearest NDP MLA, Doug Donaldson of the Stikine riding, who reported $24,949.46.

Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons checked in at number three, with $18,498.53,  Kathy Corrigan of Burnaby-Deer Mountain was fourth highest with $17,551.55 and Robin Austin of Skeena riding rounds out the top five of the NDP list, with $17,404.63 reported for the year.

For Ms. Rice, the majority of her expenses involved airfare, with $14,983.68 claimed from July to December.

Accommodation was the next highest category for the North Coast MLA, who reported expenses of $6,697.19 for her six months of service for 2013 in Victoria.

MLA Per Diems accounted for $2013.00, Misc Transport options provided a claim of $1852.47, Taxi Expenses were reported at $933.65.

Meal Expenses were reported at $1047.50 and Misc Expenses accounted for $51.64.

The most expensive month for Ms. Rice was July, with $9283.74 in expenses claimed, which as we outlined on the blog at that time, became a bit of tempest for the newly arrived MLA's to deal with.

August and September's numbers were relatively light, with expenses of $2949. 95 and $3011. 66 respectively.

The Fall saw the numbers climb a bit, with October's numbers at $4788.43, November $4741.21 and December $2804.22.

The majority of the expenses submitted were incurred while the Legislature session in Victoria had come to an end.

There were no legislative sessions taking place in Victoria from July 26th through until yesterday's Speech from the Throne, which commenced the Legislature's business for 2014.

The theme of MLA expenses, particularly those for accomodations, for such short sessions of Legislature work was reviewed by the Victoria Times Colonist in September see here and here.

For those looking for a further breakdown on the NDP expenses, the full reports for all NDP MLA's can be found from their website.

So far, the BC Liberals have not followed the NDP lead when it comes to MLA expense reporting,.

With a new session of the Legislature now underway, the NDP template should be something that the Christy Clark Government may wish to look at, if they are inclined towards more accountability and transparency in provincial politics.

We have more on provincial politics and the NDP MLA for the North Coast on our archive page

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Enbridge Northern Gateway proponents take message to social media and YouTube

While many British Columbians enjoyed the Family Day weekend with their friends and family, some of the media team at Enbridge/Northern Gateway were busy taking to twitter and YouTube, providing content to a number of social media outlets.

Sunday, tweets started appearing on twitter taking issue with a number of points that opponents of the Enbridge Northern Gateway project have been pursuing in recent months.

One tweet in particular, seems to have set the theme of the new social media campaign that we imagine will surely engage the population of the province in the discussion.

As well as that opening salvo of a renewed media campaign, Enbridge's social media team took to You Tube providing a number of videos to make their side of the story, a project that appears designed to woo those that have yet to develop a hardened position on the project.

The most recent of the videos added to that YouTube feed, takes on a number of claims by Northern Gateway opponents.


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Many of the tweets and You Tube presentations direct readers and viewers to the gatewayfacts.ca portal, which explores more of the message that Enbridge is putting out when it comes to the Northern Gateway project.

If the wish was for further engagement of the public on the topic, Enbridge may be getting its money's worth from the media campaign, many of the tweets have been countered by those with concerns over the project, offering up alternative opinion and directing those viewing the Enbridge efforts with other information portals to review as well.

Whether all of this information flow makes the issues of the Northern Gateway any more understandable remains to be seen, but for those that find social media to be a useful forum for information retrieval and engagement, the discussion is there to be joined.

The new media campaign has not gone un-noticed by the media in southern locales, as they review the background of the new and fairly vigorous approach to information delivery.


Vancouver Sun-- Enbridge claims environmental poll wording about Northern Gateway is misleading
News 1130-- Enbridge lashes out at environmental groups over poll

You can find more on the debate over the Northern Gateway Pipeline from our archive page

Cross Posted from the North Coast Review

Gitga'at First Nation creates website on Resource development

The information flow on resource development on the North Coast just added one more portal to the growing list of sites, as the Gitga'at First Nation introduced its newly designed information link for members of the North Coast First Nation.

Found at www.gitgaat-resources.ca the portal offers up links for comment on major projects, as well as a link for a survey of Work Force Skills Training. 

An information gathering project, which will provide the First Nation with the some background as to what kind of training will be required for members of the Gitga'at First Nation.

Once the surveys are completed, the band will develop an inventory of training needs and work with training institutions to offer the requested courses.

The Gitga'at also plan on hosting Information sessions on the Skills and Training initiative through February and March, with session to be held in Hartley Bay, Prince Rupert and Terrace on days yet to be announced.

The home page of the website provides some background on a number of issues for the First Nation, as well as offering up the main links for Members to update their information and seek out further information.

 Cross Posted from the North Coast Review

Full Speed Ahead for BC Ferries Northern Route cuts

For North Coast ferry users, the final word on Ferry service cuts was delivered on Wednesday

As Transportation Todd Stone announced that proposed route cutbacks to BC Ferries runs, including those on the North Coast and Haida Gwaii will go ahead as planned, with the first of the service changes set for April.

Details of the Governments intent was relayed through the BC Government website with the Transportation Minister outlining the decision.

As we outlined on the blog in November, the Government's course will see a number of reductions to service on the North Coast, affecting both the Prince Rupert to Haida Gwaii run and the Prince Rupert to Port Hardy route.

More on the review and the cuts to come can be found here.

Since the report was delivered, a number of groups on the North Coast had offered up their concern over the direction that the Government was taking, appearing at consultation sessions and taking more personal approach with the Province.

Prince Rupert Council ready to take BC Ferries battle to the Premier
North Coast residents can share their BC Ferries thoughts in December 
NDP send out an SOS on Ferry Services

All it would seem with little sway to their eventual decision.

Though some progress was made for those that live at Bella Bella and Bella Coola where the nature of the cutbacks were scaled back by a small measure, with BC Ferries planning to provide for three to four sailings in the summer, with a further review of the impact on the tourism industry to those communities apparently to come.

Still, the reaction from the North Coast has been quick as local politicians voice their concerns over the pending changes and the impact that they will have on communities and their local economies.

CFTK-- Prince Rupert's Mayor Angry As Province Presses Ahead With Ferry Cuts
CFTK-- Ferry Cuts proceed (video)
N View-- Prince Rupert Mayor waiting for more information before reacting to ferry cuts
N View-- Haida Gwaii leaders lash out at government after cuts to ferry service proceeding as planned
HG Observer-- Little relief for Haida Gwaii in Minister Stone's Announcement

So far, the only reaction from North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice has been a short comment posted to her MLA facebook page.

The BC NDP caucus did however make a more detailed response to the Province's decision, posting this item to their website on Wednesday.

The first of the changes takes effect on April 1st, a date that won't be lost on many travellers and those that rely on the BC Ferry service for more than just the occasional trip.

Victoria Times Colonist-- Government moves ahead with cuts to many B. C. Ferries routes
Vancouver Sun-- B. C. Government to proceed with cuts to BC Ferries service
Vancouver Province-- B. C. Ferries 'minor' route cuts will take effect April 28
Globe and Mail-- BC Ferries service cuts will proceed, minister says
CBC-- BC Ferries cuts $19M in Services
CBC-- BC Ferries to cut sailings, seniors discounts, add slot machines
CTV News-- Government to press ahead with cuts to BC Ferries service
Global BC-- Government confirms BC Ferries service cuts, reduction in service and seniors discount

Cross Posted from the North Coast Review

Negotiations between Government and BCTF postponed

It will take a bit longer than planned for the two sides to return to bargaining, as negotiations between the Government and the BCTF will take a short break.

The cause of the most recent delay in discussion is that  both sides are awaiting a facilitator to move their talks forward.  Though while they wait, they now have a new theme introduced to their agenda, that being the prospect of a new appeal to the recent court decision from the BC Supreme Court.

Monday, the Provincial Government announced that it was planning to go back to courts and appeal that recent decision of Madam Justice Griffin, which provided a court room victory to the Teachers' union in the long running legal sessions between the two sides.

Education Minister Peter Fassbender made his announcement of the planned appeal on Tuesday, outlining why the Province was not willing to accept the decision of the courts.

He expanded on the topic Wednesday morning with Bill Good on CKNW (8:30 to 9:00 AM February 5 audio vault)

As might be expected that decision by the provincial government  has not been received well by the BCTF.

Wednesday, the lines between the two sides perhaps hardened even further if possible, providing for just another challenge to negotiations, as the two sides await their facilitator.

B. C. Teachers' bargaining dates postponed until facilitator available

The need of a facilitator is something that will clearly be required with the two sides far apart on pretty well every issue and with the lines of communication between the two sides seemingly rather limited.

Among the more controversial of topics that may be under discussion when the two sides return to the table will be the idea of a ten year contract as desired by the BC Liberals.

Something which at this point would seem to be a non-starter and perhaps now to be rendered to the land of fanciful thinking, a place perhaps where it was destined to begin with.

As though to highlight the current course of discussion (or lack there of) a small scale twitter war appears to have broken out this week as the BC Liberals highlight some of their talking points, quickly answered by the BCTF)

As the tweet and re-tweets continued through the day, the North Coast was well represented on the twitter feeds, with Prince Rupert's Joanna Larson offering some thoughts on the ongoing theme.

Considering all of the current back and forth of the last few days, it all might suggest that it's going to be a fair amount of time before all the rhetoric dies down and any sense of constructive dialogue is taking place.

With another lengthy appeal process now underway and positions on both sides becoming even more polarized than before.

It would seem that education will remain the hot button issue in the province for the foreseeable future.

Some reviews of the recent developments can be found below:

Vancouver Sun-- Government documents hidden from public view
Vancouver Sun-- Government's appeal of court ruling makes fiscal sense
Vancouver Sun-- Approaching bargaining table with dirty hands
Vancouver Province-- 'I'm not declaring war'
Vancouver Province-- Back to the barricades - Where will B. C. Teachers' court victory take us?
Victoria Times Colonist-- BCTF ruling interpretations complicated
Victoria Times Colonist-- Teachers have advantage in negotiations
Globe and Mail-- B. C., teachers going back to war
Surrey Now-- BC Liberals' war on union smay create a new tax
The Tyee-- Minister says appeal of BCTF court win will protest students, taxpayers
The Tyee-- Enough, BC Libs! Quite Making Up the School Rules
BCCPAC blog-- Government's appeal sparks more education conflict

Cros Posted from the North Coast Review