B.C.’s so-called climate plan is a fraud. It borders on a criminal betrayal of the health and welfare of future generations and the natural world. A credible plan would act decisively to rapidly reduce the extraction, export and use of fossil fuels.
In August, federal fisheries minister Dominic LeBlanc announced a renewed commitment to acting on the Cohen Commission’s recommendations, as well as the government’s 2005 Wild Salmon Policy. He also confirmed that Ottawa will restore protections to salmon habitat that were removed by the previous government.
On the surface, this sounds like good news for B.C.’s wild salmon, including the Skeena population that is threatened by the Petronas liquefied fracked gas plant proposal.
But is it?
The devil is in the details—and LeBlanc confirmed this by revealing the government would take time to consult on how it would restore protections to habitat. It could be years before the resulting legislative and regulatory changes come into effect. And who knows how strong the protections will end up being?
The Wild Salmon Policy alone should provide ample reasons to reject Petronas. The policy dictates that:
In any sane world, Ottawa’s Wild Salmon Policy would make the Petronas proposal a non-starter.
The plant would be right in the Skeena River estuary, which acts as a nursery for up to a billion young salmon during their migration to sea. There is an extremely high risk that destroying this critical habitat would collapse the Skeena population and the $110 million Skeena salmon economy.
Few coastal areas in B.C. are more critical to the survival of the Skeena’s salmon than the Flora Bank eelgrass beds. Situated right off Lelu Island, where the Petronas plant would be built, Flora Bank offers rare and critical habitat for more than 40 populations of salmon and other species such as halibut.
Lelu Island was already assessed and rejected as a development site in 1975 because this habitat is too important to risk.
First Nations throughout the watershed have already gathered together in opposition to the plant by signing the Lelu Island Declaration.
It’s always been clear that the right thing to do is to reject Petronas. If the federal government’s commitment to protecting wild salmon is real, it has no choice but to say no.
Prime Minister Trudeau’s watershed moment is coming in the coming weeks. He will need to choose: the profits of a foreign multinational versus B.C.’s iconic wild Pacific salmon, the economy they support and the future livability of our climate.
Featured image by Al Harvey.
The federal government’s approval of construction permits for the $9 billion Site C megaproject is a cowardly betrayal, says Sierra Club BC.
“The federal government’s decision is an affront to First Nations and to the scientific work that proves Site C is the most destructive project ever reviewed in Canadian history,” said Sierra Club BC’s Peace Valley campaigner Ana Simeon. “Prime Minister Trudeau has said honouring First Nations rights is a ‘sacred obligation’ not an inconvenience. But this decision is a profanity that clearly views those rights as nothing more than an inconvenience to be swept aside.
“The same goes for science: yesterday’s decision continues the previous government’s appalling practice of suppressing and ignoring inconvenient findings. This is a cowardly decision and a betrayal of the principles the federal government has claimed it wants to restore to Ottawa: respect for First Nations rights and science-based decision making.”
The B.C. government will shortly reveal its climate plan, which is expected to announce plans to electrify any LNG plants that are built. This will make Site C a climate disaster, enabling the export of massive emissions to Asia.
“We all share the same atmosphere and whether LNG is burned here or overseas it will have the same catastrophic effects on our climate,” said Simeon. “Ottawa will soon announce its decision whether or not to approve the Petronas plant in Prince Rupert. It’s another watershed moment for Trudeau. In combination, greenlighting Site C and Petronas would be a crime against our climate and against Canada’s second largest salmon run.
“This is not the end of the fight. Donate now so that Sierra Club BC can pursue all possible peaceful, legal avenues to stop Site C.”
Appalling decision signals Ottawa supports B.C.’s plans to electrify LNG industry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2016
VICTORIA—The federal government’s approval of construction permits for the $9 billion Site C megaproject is a cowardly betrayal, says Sierra Club BC.
“The federal government’s decision is an affront to First Nations and to the scientific work that proves Site C is the most destructive project ever reviewed in Canadian history,” said Sierra Club BC’s Peace Valley campaigner Ana Simeon. “Prime Minister Trudeau has said honouring First Nations rights is a ‘sacred obligation’ not an inconvenience. But this decision is a profanity that clearly views those rights as nothing more than an inconvenience to be swept aside.
“The same goes for science: yesterday’s decision continues the previous government’s appalling practice of suppressing and ignoring inconvenient findings. This is a cowardly decision and a betrayal of the principles the federal government has claimed it wants to restore to Ottawa: respect for First Nations rights and science-based decision making.”
The B.C. government will shortly reveal its climate plan, which is expected to announce plans to electrify any LNG plants that are built. This will make Site C a climate disaster, enabling the export of massive emissions to Asia.
“We all share the same atmosphere and whether LNG is burned here or overseas it will have the same catastrophic effects on our climate,” said Simeon. “Ottawa will soon announce its decision whether or not to approve the Petronas plant in Prince Rupert. It’s another watershed moment for Trudeau. In combination, greenlighting Site C and Petronas would be a crime against our climate and against Canada’s second largest salmon run.
“This is not the end of the fight. Sierra Club BC will pursue all possible peaceful, legal avenues to stop Site C and with our allies and common sense British Columbians we will prevail against this abomination.”
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Media contact:
Ana Simeon
Peace Valley Campaigner, Sierra Club BC
778-677-4740
In May Sierra Club BC launched a letter writing campaign encouraging Prime Minister Trudeau to reject the Petronas liquefied fracked gas terminal at Lelu Island. Over 11,000 supporters took the time to write to the Prime Minister to make it clear that he must say no to the project.
At the peak of this campaign, his office was receiving 1200 letters a day from concerned citizens. More than 350 people followed up their letters with a phone call to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna to let her know the many reasons we don’t want the liquefied fracked gas plant built:
Prime Minister Trudeau is going to decide whether to approve the Petronas project in the fall. This is Trudeau’s watershed moment and the first real test of his commitment to climate action. Will he side with the salmon and a liveable climate? Or will he side with foreign multinationals who just see B.C. as a place to exploit for profit?
Before he makes that decision we have to leave him in no doubt that British Columbians are firmly opposed to the fracked gas terminal at Lelu Island.
We have plans to push that point home hard, but we need your help now to reach out to more British Columbians. Your donation will help us to encourage more and more people to raise their voices and speak out every day until the decision comes down. We must not give up!
Your gift of $200 helps us reach 3000 new people, $125 reaches 1000 new people, $35 reaches 100 new people.
If you haven’t sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau, please take action today.
In August 2015, Steelhead LNG announced their Malahat floating LNG natural gas liquefaction terminal proposal for Bamberton in the Saanich Inlet. In our climate constrained world, we must be making every effort to move towards green, clean energy as rapidly as possible. Projects like Steelhead’s LNG project that take us in the wrong direction, are impossible to accept.
The proposed terminal would liquefy six million tonnes per year of fracked gas from northeastern B.C. for up to 25 years, filling about 2 Asian-bound carriers each week.
The project would also require building a 53 kilometre-long pipeline from Sumas to Cherry Point in Washington State, and a 75 kilometre sub-sea line from Cherry Point through the Gulf Islands to the Saanich Inlet. This “Island Gas Connector” was proposed in the early 2000s but failed as the “Georgia Straight Crossing”.
The Saanich Inlet is a unique deep-water fjord that is home to eelgrass beds, spawning salmon, and recently welcomed returning humpback and orca whales. The floating terminal plans to return warm “processed” (i.e. chlorinated) water back into the inlet. But in the Saanich Inlet, the water only flushes out completely about twice a year, meaning even slight changes in temperature would have serious impacts on marine life. Also, terrestrial life and the surrounding community would have to deal with air, light and noise pollution, which would also pose serious economic impacts on thriving real estate and tourist markets.
On March 1st, 2016 the Chiefs of the four WSANEC First Nations on the Saanich Peninsula (Chief Rebecca David – Pauquachin, Chief Don Tom – Tsartlip, Chief Harvey Underwood – Tsawout, Chief Tanya Jimmy – Tseycum) held a press conference where they unequivocally stated Steelhead LNG “does not have the consent to operate in our territory and must cease operations immediately.”
Furthermore, they told the National Energy Board and Province that the “export license was issued last year to the proponent without even notice to us, let alone engagement seeking our consent. We stand together to also put the government of British Columbia on notice that they do not have jurisdiction to interfere with the continuity of our treaty rights and will incur liability and put any LNG project at significant risk of cancellation should they choose to provide permits and authorizations to the proponents without our consent.”
Grassroots groups are also coming together to oppose this project. The Saanich Inlet Network has been working to get people informed of the threats posed by this proposal.
LNG is not the solution that our government claims it to be—not for B.C. and not for Asia. When the business and environmental cases are examined, there are no good reasons to build these expensive, unneeded fossil fuel projects, especially in sensitive habitats like the Saanich Inlet or Lelu Island. It’s important that we continue to support the opposition to these projects, for the climate burdens around these projects make our climate targets totally impossible to meet, while not providing the jobs that proponents use as justification. Meanwhile, rather than helping the developing world transition to green energy, we’re locking them into decades of greenhouse gas emissions.
Featured image by Wilf Matchem
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