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Speak now or hold your peace

It’s easy to believe that your opinion, your questions and your concerns will have no effect on whether Squamish becomes home to a liquefied natural gas plant or not.
LNG
An artist's rendition of the liquefied natural gas plant planned for Howe Sound near Squamish.

 

It’s easy to believe that your opinion, your questions and your concerns will have no effect on whether Squamish becomes home to a liquefied natural gas plant or not. After all, it appears that both the federal and provincial government leaders, as well as a host of other people who don’t live in Squamish – including the Indonesian billionaire owner – have made the decision for us, and they’ve decided that this is the right place for the LNG export plant.

They cannot answer the questions of whether the massive tanker ships will damage the nascent tourism industry here, even when Howe Sound is full of kiteboarders, kayakers and seals (and occasionally dolphins).

The latest news this week that B.C.’s Christy Clark government has selected Woodfibre as one of only three proposed LNG plants likely to reach a project development agreement seems like another slap in the face to Squamish residents, another reminder that what we have to say will have no bearing on the way things work out from the public consultations currently underway. According to reports, the agreement would provide Woodfibre LNG with long-term certainty on such things as tax rates and gas royalties.

In this light, it’s easy to see this as a done deal and disregard your opportunities to ask questions regarding the LNG proposal and associated FortisBC natural gas pipeline expansion.

But the opportunity has never been better to speak out. Currently, both the proposed LNG plant and the pipeline expansion projects are in the Environmental Assessment (EA) phase, and the public has until March 23 to respond and ask questions regarding the WLNG assessment and until March 27 to comment or ask questions regarding FortisBC. It’s fair to assume that even if you have not read the more than 10,000 pages of the proposals, you can ask questions and express concerns; indeed, it’s part of their role to explain the plan to you. You can submit your questions at www.eao.gov.bc.ca.

The District of Squamish council is part of the EA process, so it has now set up its own consultation process to gather public opinion and questions before making its submission. The survey remains open until March 23; go to squamish.ca.

If you don’t ask questions and make comments right now, you might need to hold your peace for the next 25 years.

- Christine Endicott

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