B.C. green lights controversial LNG megaproject on North Coast

The $20 billion Ksi Lisims LNG project will be located about 100 km north of Prince Rupert and will be powered through the BC Hydro grid.

The B.C. government has greenlit a controversial LNG megaproject on the North Coast.

The $20 billion Ksi Lisims LNG project will be located about 100 km north of Prince Rupert and will be powered through the BC Hydro grid.

It is also a partnership between the Nisga’a First Nation, Texas-based Western LNG and Rockies LNG Limited.

Both the provincial government and the federal government have signed off on the facility.

“The Nisga’a people are a remarkable and dramatic example of strength and resilience and fortitude and their work in government and in economic development is a testament to that,” B.C. Premier David Eby said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“This project will create 800 jobs during construction, more than 200 jobs ongoing at the site, $17 billion in contribution to the Canadian economy over the lifetime of the project.

“It will help young people build a future in the Northwest. It creates education, training, and other opportunities that wouldn’t exist in the absence of this project. It helps keep Nisga’a people on their land connected to their communities with employment and cultural opportunities that would not otherwise be there.”

However, four of six other First Nations asked to provide consent did not grant it, and numerous environmental groups are also opposed.