Company values start at the top

Woodfibre LNG is owned by a notorious billionaire, Sukanto Tanoto, whose companies have a history of tax evasion and profit shifting, environmental destruction, human rights violations, and animal rights violations (LEARN MORE).

Corporate ownership is structured so that Woodfibre LNG may never declare a profit in Canada—instead, profits will likely flow offshore to Singapore and/or offshore tax havens.

The fake Final Investment Decision

Woodfibre LNG made a fake Final Investment Decision (FID) in November 2016, two days prior to the BC Liberal convention to help prop up Premier Christy Clark's re-election hopes, and just two weeks after Sukanto Tanoto and Rich Coleman signed secret documents that the government still refuses to release.

This calls into question the reliability of Woodfibre LNG’s public statements, and whether future FID announcements are to be considered reliable or genuine.

Illegal donations linked to political favours

In 2017, a Globe & Mail investigation revealed that Woodfibre LNG and its staff, Byng Giraud and Marian Ngo, had illegally donated more than $201,434 to the BC Liberals and BC NDP, while the project was undergoing its environmental assessment.

This calls into question the integrity of BC's environmental assessment process, and raises concerns that Woodfibre LNG bought a rubber stamp approval, along with many other political favours for key permits, tax breaks, and subsidies.

Bulldozing democracy through fake "grassroots" groups

In 2022, My Sea to Sky helped to reveal how Woodfibre LNG "was covertly behind the website Squamish Forward."

The goal of this fake "grassroots" group was to undermine trust in local government and influence the 2022 local election in Squamish.

Woodfibre LNG needed a pro-LNG council that would give them a sweetheard deal on taxes and approve key permits. Thankfully, My Sea to Sky exposed this dirty tactic and mobilized the public to elect climate leaders instead.

References

Alecci S 2020. Paradise Papers pulp giant faces profit-shifting accusations. International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, published 2020-11-05.

Coca N & Simangunsong T 2023. Exposed: The links between Indonesia’s deforestation and Xinjiang. Aljazeera, published 2023-04-14.

Simangunsong T 2022. ‘We Hide While Working’: The Life of Children Spraying Poison on a Pulp Plantation. Vice, published 2022-05-04.

Jong HN 2021 Deforestation of orangutan habitat feeds global palm oil demand, report shows. Mongabay, published 2021-06-24.

Prystupa M 2017. Did Christy Clark Pull a Too-Fast PR Stunt on LNG? The Tyee, published 2017-01-04.

Mackin B 2017. Why won’t Rich Coleman release Singapore-signed LNG deal with a party donor? The Breaker News, published 2017-02-23.

Tomlinson K 2017. British Columbia: The 'wild west' of fundraising. Globe & Mail, published 2017-03-03.

McKenna C 2022. In this B.C. town, big money is bulldozing democracy. The Breach, published 2022-10-07.