After a long rest, our newsletter is back. We’ll aim to keep it up on a regular basis.
Congratulations to Susannah Pierce
Our best wishes to Susannah Pierce, a long-time friend and supporter of the Alliance, as she settles into her new role: Shell Canada country chair, and in charge of decarbonization efforts for Shell in the Americas.
On March 31, her last day as director of corporate affairs for LNG Canada, she spoke to our Alliance board, looking at the Alliance, at LNG, and at the future:
“There’s still very much going to be a demand for LNG in the course of the next 20-30 years. And the reason for that is because, despite all of the efforts to meet net-zero commitments and decarbonization, and to meet Paris Agreement commitments, there is still going to be a need for natural gas. In particular, natural gas that is produced with the lowest amount of carbon emissions per tonne.
“When we look into the future, LNG customers, and that might be Japan, or Korea or China, are actually asking the question: ‘Tell me what your footprint is.’
“And not only do they mean your footprint in terms of decarbonization or how much greenhouse gases you have per tonne of cargo of LNG, but they also want to understand your relationships with people, and relationships with Indigenous communities, and the whole concept of ESG, environment and social and governance.
“The way we are doing it, we are recognizing the importance of involvement and engagement and participation of Indigenous communities. So there’s still very much a role for the Alliance.”
The Alliance now is working to formalize its working relationships with such entities as LNG Canada, Coastal Gas Link, and the First Nation Major Projects Coalition.
Two Nations now have LNG plans
The latest is the Nisga’a Nation, which is taking the first steps to look into a big project, Ksi Lisims LNG, with a floating plant on tidewater in the Nass Valley region.
Eva Clayton, the nation’s president, says the proposed location is on Portland Inlet, near the Nass River, north of Prince Rupert, and 15 km from the village of Gingolx.
The Nisga’a hope to produce some 12 million tonnes of LNG per year, generate 4,000 construction jobs and offer “significant benefits over the project for Indigenous peoples, local governments and Canadians from coast to coast.”
That 12 million tonnes would compare with 3-4 million tonnes from Cedar LNG, a project planned by the Haisla Nation, with a floating LNG plant on Kitimat Arm, Douglas Channel. It would get its natural gas from the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is being built to feed the LNG Canada plant that is under construction at Kitimat.
Cedar LNG’s planning is more advanced than that of the Nisga’a, in that the Haisla have a federal export licence, and submitted in 2019 a detailed project description to federal and provincial governments.
The Alliance congratulates the Nisga’a Nation, and has invited President Clayton to attend our next online board meeting.
Drivers need those BC licences
Driver licences are essential for First Nations people to get work, especially in remote and northern regions. But in many Indigenous communities in BC, the number of people with licences is well below 50 per cent; and in some, as few as five per cent. Compare that with 75 per cent in BC over-all.
The worrisome issue is firmly out in the open, thanks to the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and Lucy Sager (above), founder of the All Nations Driving Academy.
The UBCIC has released a discussion paper by Ms. Sager that says in part:
“For many years, the leadership of Indigenous communities have identified a driver’s license as a key barrier to meaningful employment, and the inequity in access to a driver’s license continues to impact the ongoing safety of Indigenous women and girls as well as access to traditional territories.”
Also in the news:
Construction is beginning on a new river-water intake pipeline for the LNGCanada project: ly/rh3n50Ef2G6
- Kitimat mayor unfazed by Chevron shelving Kitimat LNG. And BC Hydro continues work for the project. ly/MHpm50EeoTa
- Video interview: Our Alliance CEO, Karen Ogen-Toews, talks with Maggie John of ‘Context Beyond the Headlines’ on why many First Nations people support LNG: be/QtPE-lckbZc
- LNG in BC could boost jobs across the country, and total wages in Canada by over $6 billion. Watch this Zoom discussion: ly/3w227rj
- ‘Capital markets are looking for certainty. UNDRIP provides investment certainty.’ — Mark Podlasly of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition: ly/31CbfoA
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