New list of projects to be expedited includes fossil fuel expansion and greenwashing

VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh AND səlilwətaɬ TERRITORIES — Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the second round of so-called “Projects of National Interest” in Terrace, B.C. today. Included on the list of projects to be expedited is Ksi Lisims LNG, a US-owned fossil fuel project, with an export capacity of 12 million tonnes of fracked gas per year — the second largest LNG facility in B.C.

This Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline, which will feed the Ksi Lisims terminal, received its substantial start recognition earlier this year, despite opposition from First Nations whose territories will be impacted.

The Ksi Lisims project and its associated infrastructure threaten to carve through critical salmon habitat and watersheds, while fuelling climate pollution. These projects also bring significant health and safety risks for local residents, while bringing few long-term jobs or economic benefits.

“The federal government is calling these projects ‘in the national interest’, but whose nation and whose interests are we talking about?” asked Climate Campaigner Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas. 

“Prime Minister Carney and other politicians are pushing US-owned fossil fuel projects that threaten our climate and communities. Climate pollution funded by public money and sold as patriotism isn’t in our best interest,” she added.

The list also included the North Coast Transmission Line, a BC Hydro project that the BC NDP government has also introduced legislation to fast-track. The Wilderness Committee has criticized the line as a subsidy for fossil fuel projects and other corporate interests such as mining.

“New electrical infrastructure like the NCTL should power people — homes, transit and communities — to make life more affordable for everyday people,” added Siu-Zmuidzinas. “Instead, this line will greenwash fossil fuel extraction, further driving profits to corporations and their ultra wealthy CEOs”

This latest list of projects to be fast-tracked continues the trend of the federal government doubling down on unsustainable resource extraction in the name of bolstering the Canadian economy. The move is enabled by Bill C-5, which was rushed through parliament in June despite broad opposition from Indigenous leaders, environmental organizations, the legal experts and others.

“Laws protecting species at risk, ecosystems and the rights of Indigenous Peoples exist in Canada to prevent political opportunism like this — and Bill C-5 is designed to jump right over them,” said Conservation and Policy Campaigner Lucero Gonzalez. 

“These legal protections against relentless extractivism belong to the people, to the more than 5000 species at risk in Canada and to the planet. They do not belong to private industry or whichever party happens to be in power. Mark Carney and his government should remember this before throwing out another list of privately owned mega-projects in the name of the national interest,” she added.

The Wilderness Committee will continue to work with partners and communities to oppose the backsliding on the environment and climate change by the federal government and other levels of government.

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For more information please contact:
Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas | Climate Campaigner
781-572-2795, isabel@wildernesscommittee.org

Lucero Gonzalez | Conservation and Policy Campaigner
604-700-3280, lucero@wildernesscommittee.org