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B.C. First Nations (generally) love LNG

There’s an easy rule of thumb to figure out what a First Nation thinks of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion: If they’re a short drive from Fort McMurray they probably support it, but if they’re near the Pacific Ocean they probably hate it. The reason is one of simple economics. For First Nations around Northern Alberta, the oil sands represents jobs, investment and a ready market for a host of Indigenous-owned contractors. “If it weren’t for the oil, my people would be in poverty right now” Fort McKay chief Jim Boucher told an Assembly of First Nations gathering in 2016. Whereas in coastal B.C. the only benefit First Nations can expect to see from the Trans Mountain pipeline is some money from mutual benefit agreement: No ownership stake, no long-term jobs and a catastrophic blow to their tourism and fishing industries if anything goes wrong. The equation is flipped when it comes to LNG. Not only are the environmental risks lessened, but rather than merely receiving the occasional cheque, First Nations are looking at full employment, substantial ownership stakes and, eventually, total financial independence from Ottawa. “We saw LNG development as a path to reconciliation,” wrote former B.C. premier Christy Clark in these pages in April. “Thus, we made First Nations support for its development a singular priority from the get go.”

Photo by Robin Rowland for the National Post

But … an LNG tanker can still wipe out a killer whale just the same as an oil tanker

“It’s clearly not about the orcas,” wrote the aforementioned Deron Bilous in a tweet this week. And he has a point: LNG will bring slightly more marine traffic into B.C. waters than Trans Mountain ever would. Once fully operational, the completed Trans Mountain expansion would bring about 300 extra vessels per year into B.C. coastal waters. LNG Canada, meanwhile, is expecting about 350 vessels per year. One of the factors driving the recent federal court decision holding up the Trans Mountain pipeline was the fate of the Southern Resident Killer Whales, an endangered group of only 78 orcas in the Salish Sea. Among activists, the claim isn’t so much that the whales would be done in by an oil spill, but that the mere presence of more oil tankers would kill them with noise pollution and marine collisions (setting aside the thousands of other vessels that already cruise the area). Under these parameters, an LNG vessel is just as dangerous to a killer whale as an oil tanker. The only difference is location: Trans Mountain ships would take a southern route, while LNG ships would go north through the territory of the Northern Resident Killer Whales, a population that is merely “threatened.” Still, it’s worth noting that while Ottawa has no problem filling the northern B.C. coast with LNG tankers, they’re simultaneously considering a permanent oil tanker moratorium for that same stretch of water.

Photo by AFP Photo/Roslan Rahman

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