City's LNG resolution discussion deferred until November

The opportunity for Prince Rupert residents to get a better understanding on what positions the City's council members may have on the theme of the Lelu Island LNG project will have to wait at least two weeks, with Council members voting on Monday night to defer their discussion on the topic until November.

The decision to move the topic off of Monday's agenda came due to the absence of Councillor Joy Thorkelson, the sponsor of the resolution, who had taken sick on Monday and was not in Council Chambers for Monday's session.

Councillor Cunningham, noting the importance of the issue to Councillor Thorkelson, suggested that the proper approach to the agenda item would be to hold it over until Council's November 7th session.

"I know that this is very important to her and I think out of respect to her we should table this until the next meeting when she is here" -- Councillor Barry Cunningham moving that a resolution related to the Pacific NorthWest LNG project at Lelu Island be deferred until the next council session.

As we noted on the Blog earlier this month, Councillor Thorkelson first notified Council of her intent to raise the issue at the October 11th Council session. Her motion would have City Council discuss and vote on the resolution, which calls for the City to withhold its support for the proposed development, unless six conditions set out by the City of Prince Rupert are met by Pacific NorthWest LNG.

Those conditions included:

1. The project is relocated to another area not in the estuary of the Skeena River. One industry should not put another at risk of our City should remain with a diversified economy. 

2. The project must consult with the area’s local governments and our residents as well as with First Nations. 

3. The City’s water supply is monitored and a specific set of responses, agreed to by the City, are in place to rectify any increase in acidification or eutrophication. 

4. Negative economic or social consequences will be identified by the City and PNW LNG prior to the project going ahead and solutions agreeable to the City are identified. 

5. Adequate contributions, agreed to by COPR, for rebuilding and maintaining Prince Rupert’s infrastructure are identified and scheduled. 

6. Alternate forms of clean energy are identified and their development are committed to by PNW LNG.

Should all go as it should, the topic will return to the Council agenda on November 14th and Prince Rupert's council members will then be able to offer up any of their own thoughts related to the Pacific Northwest LNG proposal and put themselves on the record when it comes to Councillor Thorkelson's resolution.

The short discussion of the topic can be reviewed from the City's Video archive starting at the 59 minute mark.





An extended look at the topic can be found on our City Council Timeline here.

For more items related to Prince Rupert City Council see our Discussion Archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review