Representatives from local governments, the province, the federal government, First Nations, and around 100 protesters were in Squamish Jan. 27 for an update on the Woodfibre LNG project.
The closed meeting was an opportunity for the company to “give a project update, but more importantly to talk about communications plans and communication tools moving forward to increase the level of transparency about all the environmental conditions,” Byng Giraud, vice-president of corporate affairs, said afterward.
Giraud also said the company has created a beta version of a web portal that, once it goes live, will offer updates, and information on permits and authorizations as construction begins and the project progresses.
Ian Winn, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) director for West Howe Sound, was one of the elected representatives at the meeting. Also present were MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones and her North Van colleague MP Jonathan Wilkinson, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy.
Leaders from the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations were invited, but only the Tsleil-Waututh attended, according to Winn.
Winn told Coast Reporter that as well as getting an update on Woodfibre LNG’s progress in meeting approval conditions set out in the environmental assessments and by the Squamish Nation, much of the meeting dealt with finding better ways to get information out to the public.
“What I was looking for from that meeting was a one-stop shop so that when people say to me, ‘What’s happening with Woodfibre LNG?’ I can direct them to one website, and that one website is consolidated, informative, transparent – all of the things that people want.”
Winn acknowledged that the idea is similar to the website Giraud previewed at the meeting, but he thinks having the site created and hosted by the company has drawbacks.
“People have an issue of trust,” Winn said. “And you have to overcome that hurdle. Trust is a big issue when it’s the proponent that is putting forward all the information.”
Winn said he wants to see something that’s a collaborative and cooperative effort of all the agencies involved.
“That’s one of the problems with where [Woodfibre] is located in Howe Sound – there are so many different groups, municipalities, governments that are impacted by it that there is no one stop for people to go to get the information they want.”
Winn added that by the time the meeting broke up he had the feeling the idea of the “one-stop shop” had support, but it could take some time, and likely another meeting of the key stakeholders, to pull it together.
The protest outside the meeting was organized by the group My Sea to Sky. Co-founder Tracey Saxby said, “This is the first time that all of these local, provincial and federal leaders are here in Squamish and we want to make it loud and clear that we do not support Woodfibre LNG and we are asking them to do everything they can to stop this project.”
The next regulatory step for the project is the amendment to the environmental assessment to allow a change from water-cooling to air-cooling at the LNG plant.
The application was filed Jan. 27, and the public comment period on the amendment should be confirmed soon.
– With files from Squamish Chief
