The Council of Canadians Victoria chapter was at a noise demonstration against the proposed Pacific Northwest liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on Lax U’u’la (Lelu Island) earlier today. Our chapter made noise outside the Union Club in Victoria to support the Hereditary chiefs as government and industry representatives met inside at an LNG luncheon. Both Chief Yahaan Wesley from Lax U’u’la, and Richard Wright from Madii Lii spoke at today’s protest.
People at the protest dressed as salmon and held placards in support of salmon. That’s because the proposed LNG terminal, which would be situated at the mouth of the Skeena River, threatens the second largest wild salmon run in British Columbia. Bloomberg has reported, “The Lax Kw’alaams group has raised concerns including the potential destruction of salmon habitat, the lack of access the community would have to harvest traditional plants near the terminal, and the risk that its seafood resources would be contaminated.” The Malaysian-based corporation Petronas is seeking to have the terminal operational by 2018.
The Council of Canadians stands in solidarity with the Gitxsan house group of Luutkudziiwus which has been turning away TransCanada contractors from their Madii Lii territory camp for over a year, preventing them from starting construction on the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline that would supply fracked gas to the Petronas LNG terminal. For more on that, please click here.
We are opposed to LNG/ fracking projects because they: contribute to climate change; consume massive amounts of water; cause ecosystem destruction and disrupt communities; often violate the rights of Indigenous peoples; mean a high number of LNG tanker ships impacting marine safety, fishing areas and local wildlife; impact air quality, notably the plants emit sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide; require huge amounts of electricity and/or burn natural gas to generate power; could result in a disastrous LNG spill in an ocean passage; and may power destructive projects in other countries.
We will also be at the community noise demo ‘Making Some Fracking Noise’ outside the International LNG in BC Conference on October 14 in Vancouver. That protest starts at the Olympic Cauldron then makes its way to Canada Place where the conference is being held. The Facebook event page for that protest is here.
Further reading
Petronas LNG: “Not a done deal,” says Maude Barlow (June 2015 media release)
Lax Kw’alaams First Nation rejects LNG terminal, BC premier says it’s only a matter of time (May 2015 blog)
Council of Canadians opposes LNG agenda in British Columbia (November 2014 blog)
DePape speaks against Petronas LNG project outside their office in Vancouver (October 2014 blog)
Council calls on Petronas to stop its Pacific Northwest LNG project (September 2014 blog)
Gitxsan say no to LNG pipeline on their territory (August 2014 blog)
Photos: Victoria chapter protests the proposed Pacific Northwest LNG terminal today. Photos by Greg Horne.
