Indigenous communities across British Columbia are playing a critical role in building the foundation for LNG—from natural gas supply to pipeline corridors and export terminals—helping drive momentum as Canada’s LNG export sector takes its first steps.

A growing role for McLeod Lake Indian Band

One of these communities is the McLeod Lake Indian Band. Part of the Tse’khene group of Aboriginal peoples, McLeod Lake is located about 150 kilometres north of Prince George in the Montney natural gas region.

“McLeod Lake Indian Band wants to create a business environment within its traditional territory that is conducive to the responsible development of the area’s natural resources,” said Jacob Albertson, CEO of the Duz Cho Group of Companies, which is 100 per cent owned by the band.

Jacob Albertson, CEO of Duz Cho Group of Companies.

Since 2018, the bustling business has seen revenues surge nearly tenfold, from $14.5 million to $134 million annually.

‘Canadian gas is Indigenous gas’

Albertson recently joined the board of the First Nations Natural Gas Alliance (formerly the First Nations LNG Alliance), which has member organizations from B.C., Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Canadian natural gas is Indigenous natural gas,” said Alliance CEO Karen Ogen, who served as elected Chief of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation from 2010 to 2016.

Ogen’s goal is to inspire and support more First Nations engaging in discussions with industry and government about potential resource opportunities.

Karen Ogen, CEO of the First Nations Natural Gas Alliance.

“We can show the world that Canada’s natural gas can be developed responsibly and advance economic reconciliation for the benefit of our citizens and those around the world who need an alternative to coal,” she said.

The Alliance’s work helped advance the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is now delivering natural gas from northeast B.C. to the LNG Canada terminal at Kitimat, in the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation. 

“Attitudes have changed as knowledge has improved,” Albertson said. 

“That’s why I’m excited about the future and how the people of this region can benefit from it.”

A bigger voice for First Nations in B.C.’s interior

McLeod Lake was one of 20 Indigenous bands along the route whose elected leadership signed agreements with the pipeline project. 

Albertson sees joining the Alliance’s board as a chance to amplify the voice of B.C.’s interior Nations like McLeod Lake, whose traditional territories host much of the natural gas that feeds coastal LNG exports.

It’s important for community members to understand both the impacts and benefits of development, he said.

Business transparency helps builds support

To keep members better informed about local projects, Albertson began sharing Duz Cho’s monthly reports with the band’s 550 members, along with quarterly meetings in Prince George, Vancouver and Calgary.

“That transparency is very important,” Albertson said. 

“We’ve really focused on reporting about the benefits of these projects as well as the impacts. It’s helped the membership realize these projects are good for the community.”

Duz Cho now seeks job creation opportunities and equity partnerships rather than simply collecting royalties from industry.

“We restructured some of the agreements so members would have those opportunities,” says Albertson.

“There is a real value to hiring community members, who have firsthand knowledge of the projects they work on and can share that within the community.”

Duz Cho sign in Chetwynd, B.C. Photograph for Canadian Energy Centre

Education key to energy expansion in B.C. 

Improving understanding of resource projects is critical as Canada looks to expand its energy exports through B.C., Ogen said. 

“Those types of education and awareness need to happen, not only for LNG, but for oil,” she said. 

“I think that the process that we did helped us inform a lot of people.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

Wayne Rothlisberger, a member of the Doig River First Nation in the heart of the massive Montney natural gas play, has spent three decades working in the energy sector.

He’s now vice-president of business development with ÚÚJǪ Developments LP, the business arm of the northern B.C. Nation, and it’s a busy job. 

“ÚÚJǪ has seven equity partnerships in energy, aviation and banking, and we probably get two proposals a month given the interest in working in the Montney shale,” Rothlisberger says. 

He was intrigued when he first learned about a new technology developed by Calgary-based Kathairos Solutions to reduce or eliminate methane emissions from oil and gas well sites.

“Energy companies operating in this region have come to realize the importance of working with First Nations and economic reconciliation,” he says. 

“But Kathairos made sense on another level because they are providing an environmental solution that helps both locally and globally. And that’s something that we value, too.”

Oil and gas producers on both sides of the Montney play have made significant progress reducing methane emissions. 

In Alberta, producers met the target of reducing methane emissions in the province by 45 per cent below 2014 levels three years ahead of schedule in 2022 — and surpassed it in 2023 with a 52 per cent reduction.

Meanwhile, in B.C., producers achieved a 51 per cent reduction over the same period. 

But there is more work to do.  

Kathairos’ technology uses liquid nitrogen as a replacement for the methane or natural gas normally used to power the pneumatic devices that serve as the nerve centre for oil and gas production wells. 

Pneumatic devices regulate flows, separate liquids and perform other critical functions by making valves move. 

Conventionally, every time a device is actuated, a small amount of methane is emitted into the atmosphere. 

By replacing the methane or natural gas with nitrogen, when the valves powered by the pneumatics are actuated, an inert, clean gas is emitted. 

The liquid nitrogen is stored in cryogenic tanks at the well site.

“Similar tanks have been safely and effectively used for decades in other industries, such as health care or beverages,” says Kathairos spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson. 

“But it was our company founder Dick Brown who saw the potential to apply them to well sites to solve the problem of venting methane.”

Peterson says the company has more than 2,400 units operating across North America, with 179 in Alberta and 36 in B.C. 

Through three offset programs at 125 separate facilities, Kathairos has been independently verified to have mitigated more than 44,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. 

The solution was impressive enough for ÚÚJǪ and Doig River to invest.

“We are a shareholder and ÚÚJǪ is self-funded so we need to invest wisely,” says Rothlisberger. 

“There will be employment opportunities in the future as Kathairos establishes itself and scales up in Canada.”

Kathairos, which employs about 70 people with field offices throughout North America, welcomed the opportunity to partner with ÚÚJǪ and Doig River.

“We were looking for investors and engaging in the Indigenous communities whose traditional lands we were working on,” says Peterson, whose company has a similar agreement with the Halfway River First Nation. 

“As we grow in the Montney region, we will further these relationships with employment opportunities and direct investment back in their communities.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

Indigenous communities across Canada need access to natural gas to reduce energy poverty, says a new report by Energy for a Secure Future (ESF).

It’s a serious issue that needs to be addressed, say Indigenous community and business leaders in Saskatchewan.

“We’re here today to implore upon the federal government that we need the installation of natural gas and access to natural gas so that we can have safe and reliable service,” said Guy Lonechild, CEO of the Regina-based First Nations Power Authority, on a March 11 ESF webinar.

Last year, 20 Saskatchewan communities moved a resolution at the Assembly of First Nations’ annual general assembly calling on the federal government to “immediately enhance” First Nations financial supports for “more desirable energy security measures such as natural gas for home heating.”

“We’ve been calling it heat poverty because that’s what it really is…our families are finding that they have to either choose between buying groceries or heating their home,” Chief Christine Longjohn of Sturgeon Lake First Nation said in the ESF report.

“We should be able to live comfortably within our homes. We want to be just like every other homeowner that has that choice to be able to use natural gas.”

At least 333 First Nations communities across Canada are not connected to natural gas utilities, according to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER).

ESF says that while there are many federal programs that help cover the upfront costs of accessing electricity, primarily from renewable sources, there are no comparable ones to support natural gas access.

“Most Canadian and Indigenous communities support actions to address climate change. However, the policy priority of reducing fossil fuel use has had unintended consequences,” the ESF report said.

“Recent funding support has been directed not at improving reliability or affordability of the energy, but rather at sustainability.”

Natural gas costs less than half — or even a quarter — of electricity prices in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, according to CER data.

“Natural gas is something NRCan [Natural Resources Canada] will not fund. It’s not considered a renewable for them,” said Chief Mark Fox of the Piapot First Nation, located about 50 kilometres northeast of Regina.

“Come to my nation and see how my people are living, and the struggles that they have day to day out here because of the high cost of energy, of electric heat and propane.”

According to ESF, some Indigenous communities compare the challenge of natural gas access to the multiyear effort to raise awareness and, ultimately funding, to address poor water quality and access on reserve.

“Natural gas is the new water,” Lonechild said.

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

Even while working as a crane operator to help build and maintain oil sands facilities in the late 1970s, Dave Tuccaro always had an entrepreneurial bent.

He started businesses including a janitorial services company, bought two taxis while working at sites, and owned an auto repair shop and a bakery at different times.

In 1993 Tuccaro took over Neegan Development, with its small heavy equipment fleet and a contract at Syncrude’s Mildred Lake operation.

Over the past three decades the Mikisew Cree First Nation member’s leadership of the growing company has earned him countless accolades. The latest came on December 18, when Governor General Mary Simon appointed Tuccaro to the Order of Canada.

“I’m very proud, obviously, and thrilled to be in the company of so many esteemed Canadians,” says Tuccaro, who served as the Mikisew Cree’s band manager prior to launching his business career.

“I see my responsibility as using this recognition to better our people moving forward. Indigenous people are in the best place we’ve ever been in Canada. We need to step up and be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us.”

When Tuccaro took over Neegan Development, the company was going broke.

“We had too much heavy equipment that wasn’t being used,” says Tuccaro.

He approached Syncrude with the issue and says the company worked with Neegan to change the scope of its contract, allowing it to reorganize and survive.

“It really helps to have clients who will work with you, particularly as an Indigenous-owned business. It was rare then,” Tuccaro says.

Neegan has since blossomed into five companies under the umbrella of the Tuccaro Group, providing clients across the oil sands with everything from waste water removal to laboratory and geoscience services to on-site supply management.

In addition to building his own empire, Tuccaro has also helped foster other Indigenous owned businesses.

He co-founded the Northeastern Alberta Aboriginal Business Association (NAABA) in 1993, which represents more than 90 Indigenous-owned businesses with another 90 non-Indigenous associate members.

“When we started NAABA, our goal was to work together as a group of Aboriginal-owned businesses to create jobs and training opportunities for the betterment of all people in Wood Buffalo,” says Tuccaro, who also served as a panelist advising aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs for the second season of the popular APTN show Bears’ Lair.

“I’m so proud of what NAABA has grown into and this next generation of Indigenous entrepreneurs.”

As well as recognizing his role in elevating Indigenous business and contributing to the growth of Wood Buffalo’s economic growth, Simon’s announcement of Tuccaro’s appointment cited his support and guidance for numerous community initiatives.

“We’ve seen the importance of contributing to the community where we operate and are major donors to the Northern Lights Hospital Foundation and Keyano College,” says Tuccaro, who donates more than $200,000 annually to nonprofit organizations and causes in the region.

“That’s what owning a business can do and that’s why I hope to see more First Nations do that…It’s vital for those communities to generate revenue so they look after themselves and build the elder’s centres, schools, hockey rinks and other infrastructure that’s needed.”

Tuccaro’s appointment was hailed as worthy recognition for his impact on industry and the Wood Buffalo region by Jim Carter, the former president of Syncrude who worked with Tuccaro when he first took over Neegan.

“We could tell he was going to get things done and succeed,” says Carter, who was appointed as an officer in the Order of Canada in 2014.

“It was so great to see him grow his business and fully engage his own community while doing that. Dave has fully earned this recognition. It is a fitting tribute for what he’s accomplished for the oil sands, the region and Indigenous people.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

The journey from Fort McMurray in northern Alberta to Rideau Hall in Ottawa covers nearly 4,000 kilometres through boreal forest, rocky Canadian Shield, expansive Prairie and northern Ontario’s muskeg.

That trip for Nicole Bourque-Bouchier was realized on December 18, when Governor General Mary Simon appointed the Fort McMurray resident as a Member of the Order of Canada for advancing the role of women in business and being at the forefront of Indigenous economic development in Alberta.

It’s the latest in countless accolades for the co-owner and CEO of Bouchier Group, which she and husband David Bouchier have grown from a single used Caterpillar bulldozer into one of the leading contracting companies in the oil sands sector.

But the phone call last fall from an unknown number with an Ottawa area code took Bourque-Bouchier by surprise as she watched her youngest son play hockey in Edmonton.

“It was not the call I expected. I was a little taken aback, almost in shock. But after that passed, I felt a sense of almost relief and gratitude,” she says.

“Being a female in this environment and an Indigenous person, you have to go against some perceptions about being able to run a successful venture. But we’ve achieved so much with a great team through organized growth. We set out to be a great business and have worked with our heads down to grow organically. This kind of recognition is a way of saying you are moving the needle.”

The Fort McKay-based company has grown into a powerhouse in the oil sands.

Bouchier now employs more than 1,200 people at several major oil sands sites working in civil contracting, facility services and logistics.

The Mikisew Cree First Nation member has previously received several honours, including the Indspire Award in 2018, the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business’s Indigenous Women in Leadership Award in 2019 and the RBC Canadian Women of Excellence CEO of the Year for 2022.

She admits the company did not go out of its way to celebrate its Indigenous roots at the start.

“In establishing our business, we didn’t see ourselves as an Indigenous organization. We wanted to get work because we were the best contractor for the job from the perspective of being safe, cost-competitive,” says Bourque-Bouchier.

“We began to focus more on our Indigenous roots in the past five years, celebrating them inside and outside of the company. It’s elevated our business to a whole new level.”

Hiring practices reflect that commitment, with 40 per cent of Bouchier employees self-identifying as Indigenous from 80 different communities across Canada. The same percentage of leadership roles within the company are filled by Indigenous employees.

“Our success shows what’s possible when you bring diverse voices and perspectives to the workplace,” she says. “People feel welcomed and valued, whether they are employees, clients or members of the larger community.”

That commitment was recognized globally by energy giant Exxon Mobil, which bestowed Bouchier with its 2024 Diverse Supplier Award earlier in December.

That honour is based on several metrics including competitiveness, sustainability, service quality and safety, health and environmental performance.

“This is a global award that puts our region on the map and specifically the Kearl oil sands site. We worked hard to be the diverse contractor of choice by celebrating the people who work for us regardless of their background,” Bourque-Bouchier says.

“It’s particularly meaningful for me because when I started out in this business looking at project line ups, there wasn’t a lot of people who looked like me wearing hard hats. Our success demonstrates what’s possible when you bring diverse voices and perspectives to the job site.”

Away from the workplace, Bourque-Bouchier has left a deep imprint on the region with her philanthropy. More than $11 million has been donated to different nonprofit groups and causes between Bourque-Bouchier, her husband and the company. It reflects a love of the region where she has grown up and thrived.

“Any time I can provide a positive outlook for the Wood Buffalo region, I take that opportunity. It’s so important because there’s often negative news that doesn’t reflect this region or this industry,” she says.

“I’ve made it my mission to showcase [Wood Buffalo] in a positive light and being appointed to the Order of Canada helps that.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

The head of the National Coalition of Chiefs (NCC) says Ottawa’s proposed oil and gas emissions cap couldn’t come at a worse time for Indigenous communities.

Dale Swampy says the cap threatens the combined prospect of higher costs for fuel and groceries, along with fewer economic opportunities like jobs and revenues from involvement in energy projects.   

“Any small fluctuation in the economy is affected on our communities tenfold because we rely so much on basic necessities. And those are going to be the products that increase in price significantly because of this,” says Swampy, who founded the NCC in 2016 to fight poverty through partnerships with the natural resource sector.

He says that of particular concern is the price of fuel, which will skyrocket under the emissions cap because it will force reduced Canadian oil and gas production.

Analysis by S&P Global found that meeting the cap’s requirements would require a production cut of over one million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2030, and 2.1 million boe/d in 2035.

“Production gets reduced, and the cost of fuel goes up,” Swampy says.

“Our concern is that everything that has to do with both fuel for transportation and fuel to heat our homes is amplified on First Nation communities because we live in rural Canada. We live in isolated communities, and it costs much more for us to operate our daily lives because we have to travel much further than anybody in a metropolitan area. So, it’s going to impact us greatly.”

Indigenous communities are already stretched financially, he says.

“What you could buy in 2019 terms of meat and produce is almost double now, and even though the inflation rate is trending downwards, we still haven’t gotten over the impact of what it costs for a bag of groceries these days,” Swampy says.

“In our communities, more than half are under the age of 21, so there’s a lot of bigger families out there struggling to just get food on the table.”

The frustrating timing of the cap is that it comes amid a rising tide of Indigenous involvement in Canadian oil and gas. Since 2022, more than 75 Indigenous communities in Alberta and B.C. have agreed to become part owners of energy projects.

Three major projects – the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, Coastal GasLink Pipeline and LNG Canada export terminal – together have spent more than $11 billion with Indigenous and local businesses.

“We’re at a turning point right now. There’s a real drive towards getting us involved in equity opportunities, employment opportunities, and contracting opportunities,” Swampy says.

“Everybody who didn’t talk to us in the past is coming to our front door and saying, ‘Do you want to work with us?’ It couldn’t come at a worse time when we have this opportunity. The emissions cap is going to reduce the amount of activity, and it’s going to reduce the amount of investment,” he says.

“We’re part of that industry now. We’re entrenched in it now, and we have to support it in order to support our people that work in this industry.”

Economic growth, and more time, is needed to fund development of low emissions energy sources without ruining the economy, he says.

“I think we need more consultation. We’d like to see them go back to the table and try to incorporate more of a sustainable strategy for emission reductions,” Swampy says.

“We’re the only country in the world that’s actually incorporating this type of legislation. Do you think the rest of the world is going to do this type of thing? No, they’re going to eat our lunch. They’re going to replace the production that we give up, they’re going to excel in the economy because of it, and they won’t talk about significant emission reduction initiatives.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.

There is a winter spiritual tradition among the members of the Gitxaala Nation of taking a plunge into dark, swirling waters of the Pacific Ocean off Dolphin Island in northern British Columbia, their ancestral home for tens of thousands of years.

“Cold water baths is one of our ways. It feels like millions of needles hitting you at once when you jump into the ocean,” says Chief Clifford White, a hereditary leader and former elected chief councillor of the Gitxaala Nation. “If you don’t work with the elders to prepare for that, going into the water could induce a heart attack, shock, and even kill you.”

White, a board director with the First Nations LNG Alliance, sees parallels with the industry’s development in the region requiring the same kind of rigorous preparation, both in First Nations communities as well as head offices of resource companies and government regulators.

“Our settlement of Gitxaala is the oldest Nation on the coast and is surrounded by the pristine sea, so what happens in the ocean is very concerning for our members. We, as Gitxaala, still consider the ocean as our fridge. During the worst of the Great Depression, our community didn’t experience hunger,” says White of the settlement about 60 kilometres south of Prince Rupert and home to about 500 of the nation’s 2,000 members.

White sees the need to educate communities in the region about LNG development.

“Natural gas isn’t crude oil and it’s important people understand the difference in risks. We also need to think about protecting the environment globally as well as locally. Developing natural gas to displace coal, oil, wood, and other forms of energy with much bigger environmental impacts is a risk worth taking to help the world,” says White.

“And even within our communities, we need to look at the impact of burning wood or oil, which is far more harmful than using natural gas. That’s an education piece for our people, who have been used to using these types of fuels.”

White also has highlighted opportunities for members of the Gitxaala Nation and other Indigenous communities throughout the province.

“I see a real opportunity for our young people to get trained and work in monitoring, research and continuing our ancestral responsibility to ensuring the environment is protected. There are many opportunities to work, such as tugboat operators, environmental management, and as power engineers as projects begin operations,” White says.

“We have seen a lot of people come into the region from outside of B.C. to build this infrastructure and it’s important our people have the opportunity to participate in that activity as well as operations.”

White has spent a long time working to include First Nations in shaping policy decisions in British Columbia. He served as chair of the First Nations Advisory Committee for British Columbia, working with the provincial government to ensure First Nations are included in the key decisions that affect their territories.

“A good example of the work we did was with B.C. Infrastructure Benefits. When the provincial government built highways, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure in specific territories, it’s important to connect, collaborate and work with the First Nations in their respective areas for co-development and co-management,” White says.

“That wasn’t always a given. It was important to make sure First Nations have opportunities at procurement and employment for all major projects within their traditional territories. And it was also important to make sure the First Nations have the training to take advantage of those opportunities.”

His work has extended to a board role on the B.C. Industry Training Authority to work with companies and trade unions on Indigenous workforce development in the province.

White has also worked with the 26 Indigenous Skills, Employment and Training (ISETS), sponsored by the Indigenous Services Canada and supported by the provincial government. They have brought together unions, corporations and government to understand the roles and responsibilities of the ISETS and how they could partner with each other.

“Partnerships are critical for trades training and other academic opportunities. ISETS work directly with unions, colleges, universities, and [the British Columbia Institute of Technology] to ensure qualified and credible training is afforded to Indigenous peoples,” he says.

“We will need skilled trades, whether it’s to help build the LNG industry or critical infrastructure for our communities.”

Most importantly, White wants the legacy to include the environment that his ancestors have fished and hunted on for generations.

“Indigenous people, are the caretakers of this planet and we can be a part of making effective change,” he says. “For our children and our children yet to be born, it’s important to have these opportunities and to maintain the same pristine environment for them to at least the seven generations to come.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.

Growing up in the 1980s, Crystal Smith felt supported and nourished by her community, the Haisla Nation along the shores of Kitimat, British Columbia. But at the same time, she also sensed the outside world had placed some limitations on her future. 

“I enjoyed a wonderful childhood with a solid foundation and lots of love, especially from my grandma Cecilia Smith. She raised me because I lost my mother and stepdad at a young age. But it wasn’t popular to be Indigenous when I grew up,” says Smith.  

“A lot of people would talk about how Indigenous people were not expected to be successful. That kind of talk really affected my confidence about what I could be.” 

Smith, now the Haisla Nation’s elected chief councillor, never wants children in her community to feel those constraints.  

Her community has seized on a major opportunity to build prosperity and resiliency for future generations. The Haisla Nation is a partner in the proposed $3.4 billion Cedar LNG project, the world’s first to have Indigenous ownership. A final go-ahead decision for the project to proceed is expected by the middle of this year.  

Smith, who has served as board chair of the First Nations LNG Alliance since 2019, has already seen tangible changes in her community since the project was announced. 

“It’s hard to put into words about the impact on the ground in terms of how this opportunity has affected our members in their lives,” she says.  

“We were just interviewing candidates to serve as board directors on our economic development corporation and one candidate, who is from our community, just amazed me with how far he has come in terms of pursuing his education and how much his career has progressed.” 

Of her own career, Smith says she knew since college that her future was in serving the community. She started working in the Haisla band administration in 2009 and was first elected chief councillor in 2017.  

“I was lucky because my family really pushed me to seek an education after high school, so I took the business program at Coast Mountain College. I also helped that I had mentors in my community, including my father Albert Robinson, who served as an elected Haisla councillor, and Ellis Ross (now an elected MLA in B.C), who was very inspiring in terms of his vision as chief councillor and encouraged me to take the step into elected office,” Smith says.  

“When I came back to the community from school, I knew I would end up working in our band office. I wanted to see more opportunities for people in my community and LNG provides that.” 

She already sees the benefits of the development, as well as the Haisla Nation’s participation in the LNG Canada project, within her own family including for her grandsons.  

“Xavier is six and he goes to the same school I attended as a child. He gets to learn parts of our culture, our teachings, as well as the value and importance of family and community. There’s more of an emphasis on our language and culture in the curriculum, which really makes me happy. Luka, who just turned two, will also attend that school when he’s old enough,” Smith says.  

“I want programs and services to meet our needs, not the level of government’s needs. And we need to make sure that it is sustainable not just for my grandsons or their peers but for seven generations beyond this one.” 

Cedar LNG is coming closer and closer to fruition, with all permits in place and early construction underway.  

An eight-kilometre pipeline will be built connecting the recently completed Coastal GasLink pipeline to deliver natural gas to the floating Cedar LNG terminal located along the Douglas Channel near Kitimat.  

The facility will be capable of producing up to three million tonnes of liquefied natural gas every year, which will be transported by carriers through the Douglas Channel to Hecate Straight, using the existing deepwater shipping lane, to reach customers in the Asia-Pacific region.  

Powered entirely by renewable energy from BC Hydro, Cedar LNG will be one of the lowest carbon intensity LNG facilities in the world. Its so-called emissions intensity will be 0.08 per cent CO2 per tonne, compared to the global average of 0.35 per cent per tonne. 

 Up to 500 people will work on the project during the peak of construction. Approximately 100 people will be working at the facility full-time during operation, which is expected to start in the second half of 2028.  

Smith says the benefits of the project will extend beyond the 2,000 members of the Haisla Nation. 

“This work has really helped us reconnect with other Indigenous communities along pipelines and shipping routes,” she says.  

“When I was growing up, our communities never had the opportunity to come together because we were separated by the territorial boundaries imposed by the Indian Act. And we were fighting each other for financial scraps from Indian Affairs.  

“Now we are working together to make our own opportunities as owners and developers of the resource. That’s very empowering and the most important part. Participating in developing these resources provides independence. It’s the only solution for my nation and other Indigenous communities.” 

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.  

Protecting Canada’s waterways is a key priority for the Trans Mountain expansion project, which has doubled marine spill response capacity on the west coast.

It’s the largest expansion of oil spill response capability in Canadian history.

The 1,150-kilometre pipeline project, which runs from Edmonton to an export terminal at Burnaby, B.C., went into commercial service on May 1, significantly increasing Canada’s ability to ship oil to global customers.

The Trans Mountain system has operated for over 70 years without a single spill from marine tanker operations. But with an increase in tanker traffic, a main focus of the expansion was enhancing marine safety.

Michael Lowry, spokesman for Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC), said everything is in place now and “we’re ready to go” to respond to any incidents, large or small, on the coastline of British Columbia.

The WCMRC’s geographic area of response covers all 27,000 kilometres of western Canada’s coastline, extending to the 200-nautical mile limit.

“We spent a lot of time when we were first doing this expansion going out to the communities – Indigenous communities, coastal communities, Gulf Islands, all those places – and asking people about what their concerns were,” Lowry said.

“We heard that people, communities and First Nations wanted to be more involved in spill response. They wanted to have equipment closer to where their territories and their communities were. And they wanted it to be just a more transparent, inclusive process. I think a number of things have happened since then that have gone a long way to address those concerns.”

The number of WCMRC vessels has doubled from 44 to 88. Today, the organization also employs just over 200 people.

Canada’s largest-ever marine spill response vessel is now on the coast of British Columbia. The vessel – as long as a ten-storey building and as heavy as about 50 Boeing 737 airliners – will reduce response time to within six hours, compared to the current turnaround time of up to three days.

The K.J. Gardner, named after WCMRC president Kevin Gardner, who led the capacity expansion, is based at Beecher Bay on Vancouver Island and is operated in partnership with the Sc’ianew First Nation.

It was one of the final pieces of the $150-million marine spill response expansion program.

Peter Luckham is chair of the Islands Trust Council, a government-mandated organization tasked with preserving and protecting over 450 Islands in the Salish Sea.

He said the amount of work, effort and resources that have come into play through the WCMRC, which is funded by industry, is significant.

“We’re in much better shape than we have been,” he said, adding that the impact on the socioeconomic environment of the southern Gulf Islands would be huge in the unlikely case of a major incident.

“But that said, WCMRC is very well prepared.”

Sc’ianew First Nation (Beecher Bay) chief Russ Chipps, in a video posted by Trans Mountain, said it was important for the Nation to participate as an equal partner in the response plan.

“We started having a growing relationship, sort of a mutual understanding of what’s going on,” he said.

“When we discovered that we were 72 hours away from a spill response, the only thing I had in the toolbox to use to look over the Bay . . . was a phone call. Now we’ve got a full toolbox with ships, trained people, the science around how to protect and I guess the education on how to deploy those booms and when to deploy those booms.”

WCMRC, and its predecessor Burrard Clean, have been around since the mid-1970s.

When Trans Mountain indicated it wanted to expand the existing pipeline, Lowry said one of its first tasks was to determine how best to protect sensitive coastal environments with an increase in tanker traffic.

Lowry said due to the uncertain nature of marine spills, the company dialed in on things it could control and set to improve those.

“And really what that is in our business is your response times, because the quicker you can get to a leaking vessel, the quicker you contain it and the more it can mitigate the damage and the impact,” he said.

“That’s really the name of the game here. It’s minimizing the possible impact and then cleaning it up.”

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.

While many are celebrating the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project for its benefit of delivering better prices for Canadian energy to international markets, it’s important to reflect on how the project demonstrates successful economic reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

It’s easy to forget how we got here.

The history of Trans Mountain has been fraught with obstacles and delays that could have killed the project, but it survived. This stands in contrast to other pipelines such as Energy East and Keystone XL.

Starting in 2012, proponent Kinder Morgan Canada engaged in consultation with multiple parties – including many First Nation and Métis communities – on potential project impacts.

According to Trans Mountain, there have been 73,000 points of contact with Indigenous communities throughout Alberta and British Columbia as the expansion was developed and constructed. The new federal government owners of the pipeline committed to ongoing consultation during early construction and operations phase.

Beyond formal Indigenous engagement, the project proponent conducted numerous environmental and engineering field studies. These included studies drawing on deep Indigenous input, such as traditional ecological knowledge studies, traditional land use studies, and traditional marine land use studies.

At each stage of consultation, the proponent had to take into consideration this input, and if necessary – which occurred regularly – adjust the pipeline route or change an approach.

With such a large undertaking, Kinder Morgan and later Trans Mountain Corporation as a government entity had to maintain relationships with many Indigenous parties and make sure they got it right.

It was the opposite of the superficial “checklist” form of consultation that companies had long been criticized for.

While most of the First Nation and Métis communities engaged in good faith with Kinder Morgan, and later the federal government, and wanted to maximize environmental protections and ensure they got the best deal for their communities, environmentalist opponents wanted to kill the project outright from the start.

After the government took over the incomplete expansion in 2018, green activists were transparent about using cost overruns as a tactic to scuttle and defeat the project. They tried to make Trans Mountain ground zero for their anti-energy divestment crusade, targeting investors.

It is an amazing testament to importance of Trans Mountain that it survived this bad faith onslaught.

In true eco-colonialist fashion, the non-Indigenous activist community did not care that the consultation process for Trans Mountain project was achieving economic reconciliation in front of their eyes. They were “fair weather friends” who supported Indigenous communities only when they opposed energy projects.

They missed the broad support for the Trans Mountain expansion. As of March 2023, the project had signed agreements with 81 Indigenous communities along the proposed route worth $657 million, and the project has created over $4.8 billion in contracts with Indigenous businesses.

Most importantly, Trans Mountain saw the maturing of Indigenous capital as Indigenous coalitions came together to seek equity stakes in the pipeline. Project Reconciliation, the Alberta-based Iron Coalition and B.C.’s Western Indigenous Pipeline Group all presented detailed proposals to assume ownership.

Although these equity proposals have not yet resulted in a sale agreement, they involved taking that important first step. Trans Mountain showed what was possible for Indigenous ownership, and now with more growth and perhaps legislative help from provincial and federal governments, an Indigenous consortium will be eventually successful when the government looks to sell the project.

If an Indigenous partner ultimately acquires an equity stake in Trans Mountain, observers close to the negotiations are convinced it will be a sizeable stake, well beyond 10 per cent. It will be a transformative venture for many First Nations involved.

Now that the Trans Mountain expansion is finally completed, it will provide trans-generational benefits to First Nations involved, including lasting work for Indigenous companies. It will also demonstrate the victory of good faith Indigenous consultation over bad faith opposition.

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to Canadian Energy Centre Ltd.