BC First Nations Shocked By Pacific NorthWest LNG Agreements

The leadership of Treaty 8 First Nations says it is astounded by the Province of British Columbia’s announcement of a project development agreement (PDA) and long-term royalty agreement (LRTA) with Petronas, for the company’s proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG development, saying that at no point were the Treaty 8 First Nations consulted on the agreements.

If that facility is built, it will cause significant and irreparable harm to the ability of Treaty 8 First Nations to practice their Treaty rights, the First Nations said in a release.

The trillions of cubic feet of natural gas used to supply Pacific NorthWest LNG will be extracted by Progress Energy Canada Ltd. from the Montney gas play in northeast BC and Treaty 8 Territory. That area is already suffering extreme and unsustainable cumulative impacts from existing oil-and-gas and other industrial development, according to the Treaty 8 First Nations.

”The government of British Columbia has never consulted us about the potential impacts such an LNG project and the related upstream development could have on our rights under Treaty No. 8,” the Treaty 8 First Nations said.

”The BC government has not been transparent about the nature, degree, scope, and duration of the impacts from extraction activities in Treaty 8 territory throughout the life cycle of the proposed project. These Treaty 8 nations are not opposed to sustainable and responsible natural resource development, but we must be fully informed and involved in the decisions that will determine the future of our territory.”