Woodfibre LNG: Whose side will Trudeau take?

March 17, 2016

Will the Prime Minister side with our community? Or will the government ignore that lack of permission and give a permit to another reckless foreign resource company?

For most of my neighbours, it’s a no-brainer. The idea of jamming an LNG liquefaction plant – replete with noise and water pollution, a flaring methane tower, and gargantuan super tankers into the postcard splendour of Howe Sound – is so obscure that if you stopped someone on the seawall in West Vancouver and told them about it, they’d laugh out loud. “Are you kidding me?”

Sadly, we are not kidding. Premier Christy Clark desperately wants at least one “win” in the LNG arena, and this relatively low-output plant is low-hanging fruit. The clock is ticking, and to say that local residents are on the edge of their seats is an understatement. All eyes are on Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister, Catherine McKenna. This month at an event in North Vancouver she confirmed this is ultimately a political decision, to be made by her and her cabinet colleagues.