When we think about environmental protest, an image of marches, banners and placards usually comes to mind. But we should be equally aware of a different kind of environmental activism.
Some refer to it as ‘lawfare,’ the use of legal systems and institutions to damage an opponent, or to deter an individual’s use of his or her legal rights. For those who watch the energy sector, the tactic is alive and well in Western Canada.
It’s part of an all-out political assault on Canadian liquified natural gas, an industry that could help provide a secure supply for global markets that rely on Canada to help fuel their societies. It could also provide Canadian jobs, add a significant boost to local economies and contribute more tax revenue for services like schools, hospitals and roadways.
What’s strange, though, for environmental opponents, is that the assault is against Canadian energy that could reduce alternate supplies from other LNG suppliers with longer shipping distances. That makes the no-jobs, no-economic inputs, no-diversification-benefits stance of the local anti-LNG community perplexing.
Take the historic resource industry town of Squamish, B.C. just North of Vancouver, where decades of mining, logging, pulp milling and sawmilling is giving way to far other sectors like tourism and hospitality, transportation and energy production.
It’s in that final category – energy production – that Squamish could make huge gains for its local residents as well as British Columbians at large given the project’s impact on jobs, the tax revenue and the faster delivery of LNG for the world alongside displacement of other sources.
But Squamish city council has, so far, refused all arguments regarding LNG’s role in diversifying energy sources and suppliers. Consider the world’s four largest coal consumers are China, India, the U.S. and Germany – three of these are potential Canadian LNG customers and we can help the world with more diversified sources of energy supply.
LNG at Squamish’s Woodfibre project would be an important source of new global supply with shorter shipping distances to Asia.
A letter from a member of the city’s council to the Squamish Chief, a local newspaper, even urged young people to sign an activist petition she was promoting on behalf of a lawfare organization that’s affiliated with staunch anti-development groups. It’s part of a trend globally to access as many tools as activists can deploy in their fight against growth and human progress.
Woodfibre LNG has a strong agreement with Squamish First Nation and it partners with non-profits across the District of Squamish, Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation. But city council is missing an opportunity.
Rather than spend all their energies fighting jobs, tax revenue and diversified global energy supply from Canada, Squamish city council should join with its First Nations local government and support the project to completion.
Cody Battershill is a Calgary realtor and founder / spokesperson for CanadaAction.ca, a volunteer-initiated group that supports Canadian energy development and the environmental, social and economic benefits that come with it.
