British Columbia

Kinder Morgan is not a ballot-box option in this federal election, and there is no referendum on its proposed Edmonton-to-Burnaby pipeline—but in B.C., the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is on voters' minds.

That's especially true in the federal ridings around Burrard Inlet, such as Burnaby North-Seymour and North Vancouver, where political pressures have been building over tanker, spill risk and democratic concerns.

In November 2014, more than 100 citizens were arrested while protesting the company's drill tests on Burnaby Mountain.  

The Squamish First Nation has given the green light to the $1.7 billion Woodfibre LNG project in the form of a Squamish environmental certificate.

Squamish council has issued an environmental certificate to Woodfibre LNG, but has yet to give one to FortisBC, which would build the pipeline infrastructure needed to supply the plant with gas.  

However, both FortisBC and Woodfibre have agreed to all 25 conditions that the Squamish have set out for approving the project.

A public workshop on the future of the Columbia River Treaty held in Osoyoos has found that the Treaty must be modified to meet the needs of First Nations, growing population numbers, increasing competition for water; fisheries health and environmental values, as well as negative impacts on Canadian agriculture and the impact of a changing climate.

Organized by the Canadian Water Resource Association (CWRA) and the Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT), the workshop took place on Wednesday, October 7th at the Sonora Centre.

The province faces a new First Nations legal challenge to an element of the Pacific Northwest Liquefied Natural Gas project just as it prepares to open its major annual conference aimed at promoting the prospects of its still nascent industry.

The Harper government’s already strained relationship with First Nations that oppose oil sands pipelines is being put on trial this week.

Eight B.C. First Nations are in federal court to launch a legal attack on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. The coalition hopes to overturn Ottawa’s conditional approval of the project, which would deliver Alberta crude to B.C.’s north coast.

“Anybody but Harper.”

Grand Chief Phillip Stewart didn’t mince words when it came to the message he has for Okanagan voters.

“Clearly, after nine and a half years of fighting, the Harper government has demonstrated that the Conservative Party of government is very hostile and adversarial to First Nation rights and interests,” he said, Thursday.

“Right from the time they took power, they completely trashed the Kelowna Accord, which presented $5.1 billion in funding for desperately needed new health, education, housing and infrastructure.”

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says Kinder Morgan Inc. may need to move the proposed terminal for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to win support for the project.

Speaking at a Bloomberg Live conference in New York, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Notley said it could be better if the terminal were shifted further south rather than following the current pipeline’s route through Burnaby in British Columbia’s lower mainland.

[Webpage editor's note: This article is part of a series on water supply and use in British Columbia published in the Vancouver Sun daily. This article addresses the water use and abuse by the natural gas fracking industry in the northeast of the province, incluidng the huge expansion of water abuse if plans by the industry to create liquefied natural gas production (LNG) on coastal BC are successful.]

The Lax Kw’alaams First Nation is seeking aboriginal title to Lelu Island and Flora Bank, creating a legal obstacle for a Malaysian-led consortium that wants to build an $11.4-billion terminal to export liquefied natural gas from British Columbia.

The aboriginal group will file a notice of civil claim to launch the legal action next week in the B.C. Supreme Court, Lax Kw’alaams Mayor Garry Reece said in an interview on Friday.