Finn, Spratt and Darwish at the public forum in Ladner. Photo by Brigette DePape.
Vancouver-based Council of Canadians regional organizer Leila Darwish is on a four-community tour opposing LNG pipelines and export terminals in British Columbia. On October 22 she spoke at a public forum in Ladner, on Sunday afternoon she spoke in Powell River, tonight she will be in Courtenay, and on November 26 she will be in Victoria.
Ladner
The public forum in Ladner was organized by our Delta/Richmond chapter and along with Darwish featured Eoin Finn from Save Howe Sound and Susan Spratt. It was co-facilitated by Council of Canadians organizer Brigette DePape and chapter activist Stephen Collis. The chapter has noted, “We have learned that FortisBC plans a $400 million expansion of its Tilbury [LNG] facility [in Delta], and that a major new LNG port, capable of shipping 3 million metric tonnes of gas per year, has been proposed by WesPac Midstream LLC., to be built on the Fraser River next to the plant.”
After the event, chapter activist Cathy Wilander noted, “Great event last night here in Ladner! We are a frontline community fighting: port expansion, loss of farmland, coal trains and now a proposed LNG terminal.”
The Raging Grannies at the public forum in Powell River.
Powell River
The forum in Powell River on Sunday afternoon was organized by the Council of Canadians, Salish Sea Marine Sanctuary, Powell River Voices, Sierra Club Malaspina and Dogwood Initiative. It also featured Finn as a co-speaker alongside Darwish. About 75-80 people were in attendance at this event, including 5-6 city councillors and candidates. It was recorded by CJMP (Powell River Community Radio) and can be heard here. The next day Darwish and Finn met with Powell River mayor Dave Formosa.
Powell River is home to LNG Buy-BC advocate Gordon Wilson. He was appointed by BC Premier Christy Clark to connect businesses with LNG ‘development opportunities’. In late-October he told the local Chamber of Commerce that, “A community like Powell River is well-suited for domestic development because we sit on a natural gas pipeline. We’re really no different than Campbell River, Port Alberni or Woodfibre.”
Local organizer Tricia Sharpe notes, “Thank you so much to everyone for coming out and spending 2+ hours of your Sunday with us to learn and discuss this important issue! it was amazing to hear all of the thoughtful questions and see 75 people out & engaged! …Huge thanks to all the dedicated volunteers and organizations who helped make this event possible. Especially Leila & Eoin! We learned so much from you and feel honoured you made the trip to share with us.”
Courtenay
Tonight’s public forum is being organized by the Comox Valley chapter of the Council of Canadians and features Darwish and Finn. The chapter is concerned about fracking and LNG projects across the province, including LNG projects close to Courtenay including in Howe Sound, Delta, Campbell River and Alberni Inlet. It is hoped that members of our Campbell River chapter may be able to attend this evening’s forum. This past July Calgary-based Quicksilver Resources Canada filed an application with the National Energy Board for an LNG export terminal just north of Campbell River. The company owns natural gas reserves in the Horn River basin in northeastern British Columbia and wants to start exporting about 20 million tonnes of LNG annually starting in 2021.
We’ll have more on the Victoria event soon and we’re hoping a public event may also be organized in Nanaimo later this month too.
This 4-city speaking tour follows our LNG Pipedreams, Fractured Futures and Community Resistance counter-summit in Vancouver in May and the LNG and Petro-State Politics forum in Squamish in September. Squamish is the site of the proposed Woodfibre LNG processing and export terminal on Howe Sound.
For more on our campaign against LNG pipelines and terminals in British Columbia, please click here.
