In northwestern British Columbia, two First Nations are suing the Canadian government to overturn the approval granted for the Ksi Lisims floating natural gas facility and marine export terminal close to Prince Rupert. The Lax Kw’alaams Band and the Metlakatla First Nation have separately filed legal challenges in Federal Court, claiming that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change disregarded their objections regarding the negative impacts of the extensive LNG project.
Last month, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada declared that the minister had given the green light for the facility off the northwest coast of British Columbia. Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson praised the decision as an illustration of the federal government’s “one project, one review” approach, which relied on provincial assessment.
The Metlakatla First Nation argues in court filings that the decision was based on hypothetical economic justifications for the project’s adverse effects and disregarded increasing indications of its economic unfeasibility. On the other hand, the Lax Kw’alaams Band claims in court documents that the project encroaches on its traditional territory, posing a perpetual threat to its Aboriginal rights and title.
Both applications emphasize that the Metlakatla First Nation and the Lax Kw’alaams Band hold unresolved Aboriginal title claims for the Mylor Peninsula in British Columbia Supreme Court, where the construction of a transmission line is required to power the natural gas facility. The government and the Ksi Lisims project team have yet to respond to the allegations in court.
The project aims to establish two large floating facilities off Pearse Island in northwestern British Columbia, with the capacity to process two billion cubic feet of gas daily and export 12 million tonnes of LNG annually. In September, two additional legal challenges were initiated in British Columbia, asserting that the pipeline necessary for the project had not been substantially commenced, contradicting a provincial government decision from June.
Although the Gitanyow hereditary chiefs attempted to challenge the Ksi Lisims project in court in September, they were unsuccessful in their claim of inadequate consultation. The project is a collaboration between the Nisga’a Nation, Rockies LNG Limited Partnership, and Western LNG, with project assets set to be built, owned, and operated by wholly-owned subsidiaries of Western LNG, headquartered in Houston, Texas.
