Don't undermine local jurisdiction


647 signed. Let's get to 1000.

The BC government is undermining local jurisdiction to fast-track Woodfibre LNG's floating workcamp.

This local jurisdiction and oversight is critical, because the District of Squamish is addressing key issues raised by the community that slipped through the cracks in the provincial and federal regulatory processes.

Tell the Ministers to respect local government jurisdiction.

Take action! Write or call the Ministers!

Minister Osborne promised not to interfere between the District of Squamish and Woodfibre LNG. But now the BC government appears to be undermining local jurisdiction to fast-track Woodfibre LNG's floating workcamp.

This local jurisdiction and oversight is critical, because the District of Squamish is addressing key issues raised by the community that slipped through the cracks in the provincial and federal regulatory processes.

Please take a moment to write a letter or call the Ministers' offices. We need you to help us make some noise and tell the Ministers to respect local government jurisdiction.

How to call the Ministers

It only takes a minute to call the Ministers office and leave a message. Say your name, why you're calling (e.g., I'm calling to ask you not to override the District of Squamish' jurisdiction on Woodfibre LNG's floating work camp.), and a number to call you back on.

The Honourable Josie Osborne
Minister of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation
Phone: 250 953-0900

The Honourable George Heyman
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Phone: 250 387-1187

What is happening?

Woodfibre LNG has been found to be non-compliant with its Environmental Assessment Certificate, for unlawfully housing hundreds of workers in Port Mellon and Squamish, contrary to the project’s amended Certificate.

The company is using the order from the Province to install the floatel without a permit, and withdrew its application to the District of Squamish on Tuesday.

READ SQUAMISH CHIEF ARTICLE #1

WATCH THE COUNCIL MEETING

Corruption within the regulator?

Earlier this year, our friends at Justice for Girls filed a complaint about Woodfibre LNG housing workers in Squamish. Following an investigation, the BC Environmental Assessment Office ruled that “The use of the Floatel is restricted until the [District of Squamish] permit is granted and plans satisfied.”

But now the regulator has contradicted its former ruling, and backtracked on statements that the Province would respect the District’s regulatory process.

So what changed? Woodfibre LNG didn’t get the permit it needed from the District of Squamish.

LISTEN TO COUNCILLOR JENNA STONER ON CBC's EARLY EDITION

READ SQUAMISH CHIEF ARTICLE #2

Seeking clarity

My Sea to Sky and Justice for Girls sent a letter to Minister Osborne and Minister Heyman to clarify the intention of the non-compliance order.

Is this intended to override the jurisdiction of the District of Squamish? Or is this a stop-work order for Woodfibre LNG until they go through the proper permitting process and approvals?

For now, the floatel is still located near Nanaimo. Even if it does move into Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound, Woodfibre LNG still requires several other permits from other regulators before it can become operational.

Woodfibre LNG must stop construction until it has resolved its local permit issues and responded to the concerns of Squamish residents.

READ THE LETTER

*******

Why is the floating work camp a problem?

See a few of the issues below...

This does not fit our Official Community Plan

This is a rezoning application to allow a temporary workcamp in an industrial area. This does not fit our official community plan. Council can and should deny the permit.

Missing reports and unanswered questions

Woodfibre LNG’s TUP application is missing key reports, and several questions remain unanswered. How can council make an informed decision without this information?

Process concerns

The District of Squamish has failed to follow its own process and policies. Before making a decision, council must ensure that the following assessments be completed:

Pressure tactics

Woodfibre LNG committed to this $100 million floatel as early as August 2023 before it had received its Provincial or Federal approvals in November 2023. The floatel arrived in Vancouver in January 2024, and the company appears to be using its investment to pressure the District of Squamish.

That's a risk that Woodfibre LNG knowingly chose to take. The District of Squamish is under no obligation to approve the Temporary Use Permit for Woodfibre LNG's floatel.

No legacy for the community

In 2014, the community told Woodfibre LNG that there is no housing available for its workers in Squamish. The company ignored our concerns.

The community asked Woodfibre LNG to build permanent housing that could become a legacy benefit for the community. Woodfibre LNG has had since 2015 to make a safe plan to house its workers and has failed to do so.

Instead it has invested in a cheap and temporary solution that fails to leave a legacy for the community. Imagine if Woodfibre LNG had invested $100 million in affordable housing to demonstrate its commitment as a good corporate citizen?

Human rights impacts

There is a clear connection between violence and work camps for resource extraction projects. Woodfibre LNG is making empty promises to protect the community but there is no transparency about what they are proposing, and no accountability mechanisms in place. Woodfibre LNG is still failing to protect women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people from sex trafficking and sexual assault.

"Trust us" is not good enough. Council must ask for a public review of Woodfibre LNG's draft Gender and Cultural Safety Plan.

Children’s rights

Consideration of the rights of children and youth are enshrined in the Squamish Children’s Charter, including the right to participate and to be heard. The District of Squamish does not appear to have considered this human right.

Traffic safety concerns

Woodfibre LNG's workers will be accessing ferries via Site B, which is already a dangerous intersection on Highway 99. This is the same intersection that hundreds of FortisBC workers and subcontractors will be using to access the pipeline route and its proposed workcamp via the Mamquam Forest Service Road.

Recently, a worker from one of FortisBC's subcontractors attempted an extremely dangerous u-turn on Highway 99, resulting in a serious car accident that severely injuring three people, two of them Squamish locals.

It is well documented that traffic accidents increase near workcamps, yet there are no accountability mechanisms in place to hold FortisBC or Woodfibre LNG accountable for the actions of their workers or their subcontractors.

Waste disposal

Woodfibre LNG still doesn’t have a clear plan for how it will dispose of sewage, grey water, and solid waste. No plan? No permit.

Lack of consultation

Despite Woodfibre LNG’s assertions that they have undertaken “extensive consultation” with the community about the floatel, the only public engagement was one three-week consultation that was held in December 2019. Instead, their consultations have involved small meetings with hand-picked stakeholder representatives who have no mandate to speak on behalf of our community generally, and no accountability to us.

Council addressed this issue in 2023 with Woodfibre LNG directly who said they would consider holding a public consultation. However, it appears they chose not to.

Woodfibre LNG is promoting the floatel as a solution to the community’s feedback but they did not engage the community in developing the floatel as a solution. This is a solution that benefits industry—not communities or individuals.

Worker safety

Woodfibre LNG’s floatel is located less than 200 meters from the mouth of Woodfibre Creek and downstream of Henriette Lake Dam. As per BC Dam Safety Authority, Henriette Lake Dam's Consequence of Failure Classification is 'Extreme' and Failure Probability is ‘Moderate.’

When the project was originally assessed in 2015, Woodfibre LNG was required to upgrade the dam prior to the start of operations. But now more than 650 workers will be living on a floatel for up to six years during construction.

Like any other residential area, a Hazard Assessment must be completed to ensure the safety of workers living in this location before council can consider Woodfibre LNG’s floatel TUP.

Community capture

Woodfibre LNG has been trying to capture the community since 2014 with pocket change donations to local organizations and sports teams to buy silence and consent. Their latest donation of $900,000 to buy a CT scanner is a fraction of what Woodfibre LNG should be contributing to cover the impacts of its LNG export facility and FortisBC's pipeline project on our local healthcare system, which is already overwhelmed.

*******

References