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Ottawa is putting up $275 million in federal support for LNG Canada’s $40-billion liquefied natural gas development in Kitimat as an investment in “cleaner technology” to get Canadian resources to new markets.

The contribution will include $220 million to help LNG Canada buy more energy-efficient gas turbines to power its natural gas liquefaction plant, and $55 million to replace an aging highway bridge in Kitimat on the road that leads to the town’s industrial area.

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Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau travelled to Kitimat on Monday for the announcement, where he said the project, the largest private-sector investment in the country’s history, would diversify Canada’s trade, grow the economy and create middle-class jobs.

“It’s a vote of confidence in Canada’s resource industry and is good news for Canadians right across the country,” Morneau said in a written statement.

To B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver, however, the move is another burst of corporate welfare to subsidize the fossil fuel industry a week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government declared a climate emergency and re-approved the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.