Fast-tracking of Ksi Lisims LNG project renews debate over B.C. resource extraction

Environmental groups are retaliating against the government’s announcement of its fast-tracking of two major B.C. projects.

Premier David Eby took a victory lap of sorts on Friday following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announcement that the Ksi Lisims LNG project and the North Coast Transmission Line will be considered for fast-tracking.

“The recognition that British Columbia will be the economic engine of the new economy we’re building is growing,” Eby said during a Friday news conference.

Carney’s announcement comes amid a trade war with the U.S. that has caused significant economic concern and prompted the federal government to create a list of so-called “nation-building” projects aimed at reducing Canada’s dependence on the United States.

But the federal approach is prompting a larger debate about resource extraction in the province.

“Virtually every project on this list has already been approved,” Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas with the Wilderness Committee told CTV News on Friday.

“So this whole fast-tracking, major projects seems more of a performance than anything. But it’s nonetheless concerning that our prime minister thinks that it’s important to be touting fossil fuels projects, these destructive projects.”

Concerns from environmental organizations and some Indigenous organizations have been mounting.

“I think we’re seeing consultation being abused when it comes to the relationship between provincial, federal governments and local titleholders and actual governance structures,” said Jesse Stoeppler, the co-executive director of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition.

But the fact the prime minister feels the need to get involved in order for these projects to go ahead speaks to a larger issue of cumbersome regulation, according to some business groups.

“Ksi Lisims means thousands of construction jobs, hundreds of long-term operating jobs, billions of dollars in capital investment in a part of the province that really feels it when investment dries up,” said Jairo Yunis, the director of policy for the Business Council of B.C.

While there’s an acknowledgement that during construction these projects will create thousands of jobs, some are skeptical about the long-term economic impact.

“A growing body of evidence shows Canada’s LNG business case is weakening, and every dollar poured into LNG is a dollar pulled away from building the clean-energy economy that will drive future growth,” said Ecojustice lawyer Imalka Nilmalgoda in an email statement to CTV News.

“Expanding fossil fuels as Canadian communities experience escalating climate-driven costs and risks is simply a decision to forgo environmental accountability under the guise of ‘nation-building.’”

Even with the government’s announcement, the owners of the Ksi Lisims project have yet to make a final investment decision on whether to move ahead.