Development pits jobs against the environment in B.C.'s Howe Sound

. . . Seven major projects worth an estimated $9 billion – including an LNG facility, a gravel mine, an industrial waste energy plant, a ski resort, and housing developments for an estimated 10,000 new residents – are proposed on the shores of Howe Sound.

For development proponents the area is ideal, with improved highway access and deep water passage for tankers. And unlike in pristine areas of B.C. it bears the scars of past industrial developments. While the projects offer the prospect of renewed economic growth there has been a dramatic demographic shift over the years and now the promise of jobs is increasingly being weighed against questions of environmental risk.