Squamish council backs former mayors’ criticism of province over Woodfibre LNG

Former mayors Patricia Heintzman and Karen Elliott raise alarm over what they see as regulatory gaps, earning the support of current local leaders.

Squamish council members are throwing their support behind two former mayors who have penned concerns related to Woodfibre LNG and associated government regulation in a joint letter. Former mayors Patricia Heintzman and Karen Elliott wrote to provincial leaders on May 28 expressing concern about “a number of recent issues” regarding Woodfibre LNG. This letter was copied to council and attached to the July 7 council agenda.

The issues raised in the letter included FortisBC’s non-compliance on water discharge from its tunnel, BC Hydro's changed powerline plans that now see the transmission line route through backyards in Brackendale, a lack of an independent assessment on the health impacts of the oil and gas sector, and, the recent statement by federal Minister Tim Hodgson that WLNG plans to expand its export capacity. This statement came “despite years of denial of any expansion plans by the proponents and senior orders of government,” the letter states. Both former mayors also expressed concerns about the project throughout their tenures at Municipal Hall.

“We have a unique perspective of its evolution, and a front row seat to the commitments made to Squamish by the proponent and the various ministers who oversaw the Environmental Assessment of the Woodfibre LNG and the (Eagle Mountain-Woodfibre Gas Pipeline) projects. We have both resisted commenting during the construction phase of the project, however, in light of these recent developments, we felt compelled to jointly voice our deep concern,” the letter reads. “Our underlying hope is that this letter serves as a reminder of this project’s complicated and often divisive history in our community, and a harbinger of the need for senior orders of government to rebuild the public’s trust in the institutions intended to protect our economic, environmental and social interests.

This includes fulsome and transparent environmental assessment and approval processes that don’t backtrack on promises or move goal posts, and that protect public assets for future generations. This includes regulatory bodies that hold proponents to account and that substantially penalize bad actors with real consequences,” the letter continues. “At a time when the social contract and trust between politicians and the citizens they purport to serve is being systematically eroded, our regulatory bodies, and the federal, provincial, municipal and First Nations governments involved in this project, need to do much better to hold the proponents to account and improve openness, transparency, and enforcement.”

Coun. Chris Pettingill said the letter aligns with his perspective. “I think the request that the province do a much better job in terms of paying attention to cumulative impacts, to holding proponents to account for commitments and promises and assertions they make during engagement is really important because that's the premise on which the public response and feedback is given.

And if all that changes, the feedback has to be reconsidered,” he said. He also took the opportunity to take aim at paid Woodfibre LNG advertising seen in The Squamish Chief. “There's a recent Woodfibre (LNG) ad in (The Squamish Chief)

I've seen, and it's a local family speaking about why the project is so valuable because they don't have to go away to camp,” he said. “And I don't want to begrudge someone in that circumstance who's able to stay close to home. I think that is a wonderful thing.

It's what we're trying to do with a walkable community. But what that advertising conveniently ignores is the opportunity for that family and a handful of others like them to do that reliant on 1,900 plus other people being away from their community in a camp,” he said, adding he would like to see the provincial government require "accurate and wholesome information." Coun.

Lauren Greenlaw said she was considering engaging with the professional oversight body Engineers and Geoscientists BC over what she called a lack of regulatory oversight. She referenced the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) which last week approved FortisBC’s request for a permit amendment to allow them to release more water discharge into Howe Sound. Coun.

Jenna Stoner said she appreciated the mayors' letter as part of the public record. “I think it's an important piece of the record mostly from an institutional and community ... meandering history that this project has had in our community,” she said. “And it reminds us of the important call of the role of senior orders of government in the trust that the public really does need to hold in the institutions and how that is being eroded.

So I think I will further work with Coun. Greenlaw on opportunities to either engage the regulatory bodies and/or the professional associations to see where there's further effort to either build relationships and or trust.” Stoner also said she would like to invite BCER representatives back to Squamish to explain their role and answer questions.

Mayor Armand Hurford echoed his colleagues. “One line, ‘the conclusion was a significant lack of confidence in the provincial regulatory bodies tasked with monitoring the project,’” he said, quoting the letter. “I think that sums up a lot of the experiences that we've had ... that we're having currently.

And I think that there's a tremendous amount of room to do better. And I think that's a fair expectation. And I think that's a lot of what our advocacy and our asks have been and continue to be."

The Squamish Chief has reached out to the Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions for comment on the former mayors’ letter and will update this story when we hear back. Words missing in article? Your ad blocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.

Watch the exchange for yourself on YouTube at the 2:44:34-mark.