As Lax Kw’alaams nears final vote, B.C. touts new LNG agreements

At issue in Lax Kw’alaams: a critical salmon habitat over which the project’s pipeline must pass.

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Plus, Stockwell Day on the NDP’s Alberta upset, and the City of Vancouver wants a restaurateur

No means no
The provincial government has signed revenue-sharing agreements with 28 First Nations that clear the way for natural gas wells and pipelines supplying prospective LNG terminals in northern B.C.—or so the province’s minister for aboriginal affairs, John Rustad, revealed on Sunday. And while eight of those have already been announced, the details on the other 20—including the names of the First Nations that have signed them—are confidential, as they are still in negotiations. (Vancouver Sun)

That disclosure comes as the remaining members of the Lax Kw’alaams band are set to vote on whether to consent to Pacific NorthWest LNG’s $36-billion LNG terminal—the last and largest piece in the puzzle. For context on why Lax Kw’alaams members have twice rejected a $1.1-billion revenue sharing agreement, check out the Globe and Mail’s dispatch from the community north of Prince Rupert. 

Refinery talk
Stockwell Day sees “room for optimism” in the NDP upset win in Alberta last week. That’s if his proposal for an oil refinery in Prince Rupert gets the go-ahead (disclosure: he’s the chair of the advisory board for the company behind the proposal, Pacific Future Energy). In an editorial in Monday’s Calgary Herald, Day made the case for a refinery on the B.C. coast and not in Alberta: 

“Alberta New Democrats like the idea of building refineries in Alberta, but it would be much more costly to build our project inland. Moving those massive modules (which are manufactured in Asia) across the Rockies to Alberta would be impossible. Building a refinery without them would add 50 to 100 per cent to the cost of construction.”

Note: a coastal refinery would still require a pipeline to carry bitumen across B.C.

Private patio, public park
The City of Vancouver has plans for a new three-storey restaurant in a Coal Harbour park and is on the hunt for a restaurateur to run it. The 6,400-sq.-ft. space, yet unbuilt, lies at the foot of the staircase that connects the convention centre plaza with the park and float plane jetty below. The request-for-proposal calls for an experienced operator to build and run the restaurant, on a ten-year leaseback arrangement with the city, similar to the Cactus Club locations on English Bay and next door.