Prince George Citizen -Industry and Trades Spring 2026

INDUSTRY AND TRADES

SPRING 2026

BC Natural Resources Forum Highlights

• Post-secondary education is key to industry growth

• BC Hydro moving full speed ahead with North Coast Transmission Line and more...

Trans Mountain Expansion providing Canada its return on investment

BC Hydro moving full speed ahead with North Coast Transmission Line

BC Natural Resources Forum has its biggest attendance yet

First Nation ramps up monitoring with approval of Mount Milligan expansion 1 1 Centerra Gold outlines plans for Mount Milligan mine

12 BC made small gains on emissions - but the province is scrapping climate measures 14 Reclaiming the land with native plants 15 Coalition launches campaign for changes to BC forestry practice 16 Province looks to Indigenous-led businesses to expand resource industries 18 Challenges and opportunities: Forests minister offers industry update

20 Province, BC Hydro sign agreement on Ksi Lisims LNG project

21 Why 90-metre flames kept lighting up the night over Kitimat LNG Canada has been flaring up to 15 times more gas than expected, documents reveal

AND TRADES - SPRING 2026 Published by: Prince George Citizen

AVENUE, PRINCE GEORGE BC 250.562.2441 frontdesk@pgcitizen.ca www.princegeorgecitizen.com 04 Post-secondary education is key to industry growth, forum panel hears

Cameron Stolz Editor: Kennedy Gordon

April 21st

Post-secondary education is key to industry growth, forum panel hears

Grads and students in the are filling positions and providing research to major players

Natural resources industries face challenges filling positions and keeping those positions filled. Often, these jobs require specific expertise and training, and require graduates to move great distances from family and friends to fill their new roles. However, for post-secondary institutions in the North, many of these industry opportunities are right in graduates’ and students’ own backyards, leaving many in the industry to invest in these communities and post-secondary institutions

One of the panels held at the 2026

Natural Resources Forum was Building Talent and Innovation for BC’s Resource Future: Post-Secondary Leadership in Action, a panel dedicated to bringing together post-secondary leadership and industry experts to discuss building talent for the industry.

Panelists discussed filling vacancies in the industry, building communities and careers, and providing specialized education to those in the North. One of the panelists, UNBC provost and vice-president academic Michel S. Beaulieu, spoke about how programming at the university is evolving to meet community needs.

“Programming that has existed since we began in the mid-’90s is going into a

new phase of evolution,” said Beaulieu. “That’s coming from discussions that have occurred by all of you within this room. How can we change to meet the needs of our communities today, and how can we set the stage for what the needs of the communities are in the future? One example that comes to mind is the work that our faculty of business and economics has been working on. Returning unique programming when it comes to undergraduate business degrees and the MBA program to be responsible for what we’ve heard from the chambers of commerce, what we’ve heard from many of the industry partners around here, but also ensuring that the notion of environment, sus-

tainability and resilience is throughout the entire curriculum.”

During the panel, Northern Lights College president and CEO Todd Bondaroff also gave his opinions on building and training people, and how this not only builds industries but the communities that surround them as well.

“When education and training, upskilling, are delivered locally, when that training is aligned with the needs of the communities we’re serving, when it’s aligned with the research sector, we can see that,” said Bondaroff. “People are excited and interested in being involved in engaging in that program. They’ll train locally, they’ll build careers locally and ultimately establish

families locally. When that happens, it’s that perfect mix of wanting to stay in the North.”

Andrew Czornohalan, director of energy and watershed partnerships at Rio Tinto, has seen firsthand how a lack of capacity building can impact smaller Northern communities, and hopes to work with local First Nations and communities to prevent this in the future. “My community, we’ve really turned our minds to how we build for the future, how we build capacity for the North,” said Czornohalan. “In Kitimat, we seem to have around 50 to 70 vacancies at any one time. We are always looking for talent. We’re always looking to grow that next generation of talent. I think now more than ever, there’s a huge opportunity for us to work together with the post-secondary education system, with those providers, to provide those direct pathways to employment. I’m very keen to work with First Nations and work with the local communities on how to keep the talent from the North able to study in the North, and then return to career pathways in the North as well. So I think there’s a huge, huge opportunity for us in this group to come together to see that in the very near future.”

Panelists also discussed First Nations involvement in post-secondary research options provided to students on Northern projects, and the investment made in these institutions by industry partners such as Rio Tinto.

The Citizen caught up with Beaulieu following his time on stage and discussed how these industries are supporting UNBC and how the university is building into these partnerships. “We already are,” he said. “One of the things we do have at UNBC is not only in our current undergraduate and graduate programming, but also our research is very much integrated with both local as well as provincial and national industry. For example, the Rio Tinto research chairs that we have. That’s a perfect example of work that’s being done with a major industry

player within the province, and the work that we’re doing and our researchers are doing, which is involved in graduate programming. I also think about the support we’ve received from Canfor, as well as other aspects of the lumber industry, which influences and provides in terms of what we’re doing in our undergraduate programming and forestry, as well as the environmental programs. So it’s definitely there.”

In addition to building partnerships with industry and providing a pipeline from UNBC to national and provincial industries, Beaulieu explained that the university is looking to expand its partnerships with these industries to provide new opportunities for students.

“What we’re looking at is actually expanding those types of partnerships, and also expanding them in ways that match when their industry is expanding,” said Beaulieu. “To be quite honest, the conversations we’ve been having, even over the last couple of days with some longstanding partners and some new partners, have surrounded how they want to talk about the entire life cycle of a major project.

“We know a mine opens up, it begins with a 25- or 50-year lifespan. But the conversation has moved away from just providing the engineers and other support relating to the construction or the initial development of it. It’s also moved to how we can continually supply all the different aspects, from HR professionals to health professionals to even the folks that would be involved in environmental sustainability or working within First Nations, for example.”

Beaulieu added that this new desire to build into support positions as well has led to revisions being made to curriculum within undergraduate and graduate programs, and has been influencing what the university is doing in terms of research.

He also said that the programming at UNBC is specifically designed to serve the communities it builds into and to ensure resilience for those communi-

ties

“What we’re doing programming-wise is meant to serve our communities,” said Beaulieu. “To build capacity, make sure they’re sustainable and make sure they’re resilient, our programming surrounds that super-central idea. The other aspect is that our dedication, and part of our mandate, is the environment and sustainability.

“What we’re doing and how we’re working with communities, how we’re working with industrial partners, all surrounds that as well, where we are working with them — not just companies that already have a fantastic track record in terms of their work with the environment and sustainability, but we’re also working with different partners and industries where they’re looking to UNBC and the expertise that our faculty and staff have in how they can become more environmentally sustainable, but also how they can better react to larger issues.”

In addition to building community

REFUELING TANKS

capacity for industry through post-secondary programs, UNBC also wants to ensure that students are well prepared for whatever circumstances may be thrown at them through changing markets or industry priorities.

“At UNBC, we’re student-centred,” said Beaulieu. “Anything we are doing in terms of research, anything we’re doing programming, is always centred on this — what opportunities are we providing for our students to make sure that during the course of their degree, and following their degrees in many cases, they are successful.

“Making sure that we put them with the best step forward in an economy we know is increasingly changing. You go out with an idea of one job and you find yourself 10 years later changing jobs. That’s what UNBC is increasingly looking at in our programs, to ensure that we’re educating people to be prepared for what we do know, as well as what we don’t know.”

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Trans Mountain Expansion providing Canada its return on investment

Trans Mountain president and COO Michael Davis and moderator Laura Jones, Business Council of BC president and CEO, discuss the Trans Mountain Pipeline and the future of resources during lunch at the BC Northern Resource Forum Wednesday, Jan. 21. Citizen photo by Chuck Nisbett

Capacity-building pipeline paid back $5 billion last year in taxes/ royalties to federal government that rescued project in 2018

the more poignant in this geopolitical situation we’re in. Canada has to reshape its trade patterns.”

Michael Davies was in Burnaby on May 22, 2024, to watch the first oil arrive in the pipeline to fill a tanker bound for China.

It was a proud day for the president and chief operating officer of Trans Mountain, the corporation behind the Trans Mountain Expansion Project that twinned its existing pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby.

“I remember at the time thinking, wow, what’s next? Surely we’re not going to have to do this again right away,” said Davies, addressing the crowd at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre on Wednesday afternoon as the keynote speaker at the BC Natural Resources Forum.

“Later that week the phone started to ring, and it was people interested in how do we do more. How do we get more capacity out of this for our shippers, our shareholders and others — it’s been very gratifying.

“The realization of the benefit of this project and the importance of it to Canada and the access to world markets it provides came so quickly. It’s made all

Original pipeline owner Kinder Morgan began construction of the 1,180-kilometre project to increase the capacity of oil flowing to the coast from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 bpd. The project came to a halt in April 2018 when Kinder Morgan announced it had suspended all non-essential work due to political uncertainty and opposition from the BC government. With no private investors willing to take on the risk, the federal government bought Trans Mountain from Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion. Completion costs grew significantly beyond initial projections, and by the time it was finished the government had paid $35 billion.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved. The project reflects the expectations of Canadians as manifest in the regulatory environment we have in Canada today,” Davies said. “It unquestionably took longer and cost more than what we expected. But it was done without any compromise to quality, the environmental protections or the promises that were made in developing the project.

“Our project was informed from the

very beginning by deep and meaningful engagement. I travelled from Stony Plain, Alta., to Anacla, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and we listened to people and adjusted our design in order to accommodate the concerns that we heard. One of the tenets of our project was Indigenous economic reconciliation and ensuring we had meaningful content for Indigenous communities that were affected by it.”

Trans Mountain Expansion spent $6 billion on more than 1,000 Indigenous businesses involved in building it along its path through 81 communities. Eleven per cent of the project’s labour force was Indigenous.

The expansion has significantly improved Western Canada’s marine safety and spill response capacity, exceeding Coast Guard requirements. Trans Mountain invested $200 million in new bases and new vessels, which now benefit all traffic that goes through Canada’s largest port. Trans Mountain started out supplying motor fuel to the Pacific Northwest, and its first pipeline to the Burnaby refinery was completed in 1953. It now ships crude oil and batch refined products to Pacific Rim countries, which represent 10 per cent of what it puts into its pipes.

The other 90 per cent goes to the United States at below-market cost.

“We have an immense wealth of resources in Canada, but it’s not helpful if we can’t get it to market, so linear infrastructure like our pipeline brings great economic benefits,” Davies said. “The foundation of society is reliable energy. Everything in this room is made from reliable energy. In a nutshell, I see our role at Trans Mountain as ensuring those economic benefits are delivered without any of the potential harm that can come from pipelines or tankers.”

The Western Canadian Select crude oil produced in Alberta has a high sulphur content that requires more refining and processing, and because of higher transportation costs and the fact there is essentially only one buyer — the U.S. — it is sold at discounted prices.

“The reason for Trans Mountain Expansion is because we as Canadians don’t have any meaningful capacity to trade with any other partner,” Davies said. “Any other country that has the endowment of resource wealth that we have has access to tidewater and the ability to trade with various partners and avoid becoming a market hostage in terms of being a price-taker.

“

In the 15 years that Trans Mountain Expansion was being built, there was $50 billion lost because of the lack of market egress and the lack of market diversification. That’s rent the U.S. was able to extract from Canada. It should have stayed in Canada as a higher price for the commodities we produce

“In the 15 years that Trans Mountain Expansion was being built, there was $50 billion lost because of the lack of market egress and the lack of market diversification. That’s rent the U.S. was able to extract from Canada. It should have stayed in Canada as a higher price for the commodities we produce.”

Davies referred to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in which he spoke of a new world order where bullies are trying to flex their muscles at the expense of smaller countries. Davies also brought up the history of Canadian Pacific Rail and how the rail line bisects the Westridge Marine Terminal in Vancouver, where tankers are filled.

“This 51st state problem is not a new thing,” Davies said. “The CP Railway line that crosses our nation-building project was built, and the southern route was chosen in order to create east-west trade in Canada, not north-south, to attenuate the fear back in Confederation that we would be absorbed by the United States. It’s not a new problem.”

“Canada has all the makings of an energy superpower. We have the fourth-largest oil reserves in the world. We are a major

five million barrels a day. Of that, four million barrels a day are exported.”

The return on the Trans Mountain investment has already been significant. In the first year of operation, the pipeline brought $13 billion in revenues, or 0.25 per cent of the country’s GDP, and that stays in Canada, resulting in $5 billion in taxes and royalties that go to the federal government. A further $1.7 billion has been returned to Ottawa in distributions, debt and service fees.

Now pumping at its current capacity of 890,000 barrels per day, the Trans Mountain line will add another 300,000 barrels of capacity by 2029 with the addition of 25 new pump stations and an additive that reduces friction of the products in the pipeline, at a total cost of $3 billion. Beyond that, there is no way to increase shipping capacity until more pipelines are built. For that to happen, investors need the promise of a streamlined process. Davies said Trans Mountain Expansion required 2,000 provincial permits. Each permit had a technical aspect as well as a consultation element, which delayed completion considerably. Collectively, it cost the company $1 billion. He said it is up to companies to conduct

regulations, but that is contingent on governments speeding up the process. Otherwise, there will not be any willing suitors stepping up to take on capacity-building projects like the Alberta–North Coast oil pipeline Carney has identified as a priority, or a revival of the cancelled Energy East project to Ontario.

“Canada has the resources, we have the expertise, we have the experience, and in order to get the linear infrastructure we need, we need certainty and better regulatory processes,” he said. “Capital seeks certainty, and our regulatory process today doesn’t support that. We have too many layers of regulation.

“In terms of Indigenous reconciliation, it’s the challenge of the generation. It’s something we need to embrace and move forward with. It creates quite a bit of uncertainty today, and that is one of the biggest challenges in attracting capital.

“As Canadians, we don’t see the political risk that’s involved in investing in Canada the way others do. Indigenous economic reconciliation — we need to move from dependence to participation. We’re in the middle of that now, and we need to keep going. We need to get that resolved.”

BC Hydro moving full speed ahead with North Coast Transmission Line

BC Hydro president and CEO Charlotte Mitha announces an agreement between BC Hydro, the BC government and the Nisga’a Lisims First Nation to develop the Ksi Lisims LNG project during the BC Natural Resources Forum at the Civic Centre on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Citizen photo by Chuck Nisbett

Six-year project to twin existing line from Prince George to Terrace will create thousands of jobs

Forum, which wrapped up Thursday, Jan. 22.

Sometime this summer, construction will begin on BC Hydro’s North Coast Transmission Line (NCTL) twinning project to add a new 500-kilovolt line that, when complete in 2032, will run 450 kilometres from Prince George to Terrace. Phase 1 of the project will connect the Williston Substation southeast of Prince George Airport to the Glenannan Substation at Fraser Lake, with Phase 2 to extend from Glenannan to the Skeena Substation in Terrace.

Building the first two phases of NCTL is expected to take six years at a cost of $6 billion.

No cost estimate has yet been attached to the third phase, which would extend the line north from Terrace 350 kilometres to Bob Quinn Lake to supply power for several proposed mining projects in northwest BC. The Phase 3 extension is also expected to be complete by 2032. “The North Coast Transmission Line will double capacity to the North Coast — so up to 2,600 megawatts of firm energy — and we can even go higher than that,” said BC Hydro president and CEO Charlotte Witha, in Prince George this week to attend the BC Natural Resources

“Right now the coast has 500 or 600 megawatts, so there’s lots of room to bring in all these mines, port expansion and projects like Ksi Lissims LNG. There’s more than enough on this twinning of the line to serve more than Ksi Lissims.”

Earlier this week in Prince George, BC Hydro, the province and the Nisga’a First Nation government signed a memorandum of agreement to advance the plan to develop Ksi Lissims LNG on the coast at the northern tip of Pearse Island, near the Nisga’a village of Gingolx, 150 km northwest of Terrace.

BC Hydro, which employs a staff of 250 people in Prince George and 800 in northern BC, will need hundreds of contract workers to get the line built, including electrical contractors, road builders, heavy equipment operators, tradespeople and engineers, and the project will create work for hundreds of service industries.

“We currently estimate a peak workforce of about 1,400 to 1,600 people for NCTL Phases 1 and 2 combined, and employment numbers for other projects will be confirmed as the projects advance,” said BC Hydro spokesperson Saudamini Raina.

“For each job created working directly on the proposed projects, there are other indirect and induced jobs created to support project activities or from spending of money earned by employees. The proposed projects will also support creation of jobs in the industries to which we’ll supply power, all of which will be in the North Coast area.”

Since announcing last July its interest in securing electricity-purchase agreements for clean and renewable electricity projects, BC Hydro has received proposals for nearly twice as much power as it was targeting. Independent power producers throughout BC submitted 14 proposals that would total 9,100 gigawatt hours per year, which would increase capacity by more than 3,000 megawatts — enough to power 900,000 homes annually.

The proposals include 13 wind projects and one solar project. Two are in the central Interior, four are on the North Coast, three are in the Peace, and five are in the southern Interior.

Ten of the proposals exceed 200 megawatts. Unlike the previous year’s call for power, there was no cap on the size of each project. The 14 proposals range from 63 to 496 MW.

“The level of interest that we’ve received shows that BC is ready to lead the next

wave of clean-energy development,” said Witha. “These projects will play a key role in delivering the reliable, affordable and clean electricity our province needs to drive economic growth and strengthen communities.”

The province has also changed project ownership requirements. Where the 2024 call for power required majority First Nations equity ownership, that was reduced to a minimum of 25 per cent for the 2025 project proposals.

Witha, formerly Hydro’s vice-president of operations, took over her new position in August 2025 from Chris O’Riley, who retired after 35 years with the company.

“I know the province well and know how the grid operates, and I’m really excited to see this expansion of the grid,” Witha said.

“Besides the extra power to support the economic development of the North, it’s also about reliability. When you have the second line, it gives you a lot more ability to handle planned outages and forced outages.

“We’re really proud of the reliability we have in these areas. There’s a lot of investment in substations and local distribution as well.”

BC Natural Resources Forum has its biggest attendance yet

Matthew Hillier Citizen Staff

The BC Natural Resources Forum set an attendance record this year, with more than 1,700 registered delegates filling the Civic Centre from Tuesday, Jan. 20 to Thursday, Jan. 22.

That success set the tone for a week focused on collaboration, practical solutions and relationship-building across the sector.

For Sarah Weber, chair of the BC Natural Resources Forum Advisory Committee, the strong turnout was the most rewarding outcome after a year of planning.

“The highlight was the number of people who came this week,” Weber said. “They came with a ton of enthusiasm and energy, ready to work together.”

Weber said the warm reception from the host city also stood out, with many del-

egates commenting on Prince George’s hospitality and how smoothly the forum ran. She believes the growing attendance reflects heightened global interest in British Columbia’s natural resources and the province’s role in sustainable development.

With strong representation from both provincial and federal governments — including eight BC cabinet ministers and participation from Natural Resources Canada — discussions extended beyond local issues to global markets, Indigenous partnerships and how major projects can move forward responsibly. Weber emphasized that hosting the forum in the North, rather than the Lower Mainland, is key to its success.

Prince George’s accessibility, proximity to resource communities and strong Indigenous and local government participation — including representation from more than 49 Indigenous com-

munities and the Alliance of Resource Communities — create space for candid, solutions-driven conversations.

“I’m a huge believer in getting people out of the city and into resource communities,” Weber said. “This is where people really understand what these projects mean on the ground.”

That collaborative spirit was visible throughout the trade show floor, which featured more than 70 booths from across the natural resources sector.

Among them was Ecofor, an environmental and cultural heritage consulting company focused largely on field work for resource development projects.

Ecofor archaeologist Viveka Jensen, a University of Northern British Columbia graduate, said the forum provided valuable opportunities to connect with both construction and development companies. Since entering the profession in 2021, Jensen has worked across

BC conducting archaeological impact assessments — often the first step before development begins.

Her work helps companies understand the cultural and historical context of project areas, ensuring compliance with the Heritage Conservation Act while supporting responsible development.

“If there’s nothing there, it helps a project move forward,” Jensen said. “And if there is something there, we can still work together — it just takes more care and time.”

As the forum concluded, Weber said seeing long-standing delegates return year after year — alongside new connections, partnerships and ideas — underscored the event’s value.

“It’s inspiring to see so many leaders collaborating on solutions,” she said. “It’s been a great way to kick off 2026.”

First Nation ramps up monitoring with approval of Mount Milligan expansion

Project set to extend operations to 2035, expand its footprint and increase production

Sonal Gupta

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A First Nation in British Columbia says it will step up its own environmental oversight after the province approved a major expansion of the Mount Milligan mine — a project that has long shaped both the economy and the watersheds within its territory.

Colleen Erickson, chief of Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation said recent provincial approval allowing the Mount Milligan mine to extend operations to 2035, expand its footprint and increase production has revived concerns about whether environmental protections are keeping pace with the project’s growth. “It’s in the last pristine watershed in our territory,” Erickson said.

The Mount Milligan copper and gold mine, located about 155 kilometres northwest of Fort St. James in the traditional territory of the Nak’azdli Whut’en, has been a part of the region’s landscape since 2009. Operated by Thompson Creek Metals Company Ltd., a subsidiary of Centerra Gold, the open-pit mine sits amid a network of forests, lakes and waterways.

The Nak’azdli Whut’en strongly opposed the Mount Milligan mine when first proposed. Community members held annual walks to the site protesting environmental and social impacts, lack of consultation and disregard for their Aboriginal rights and title after the operations began. In a 2012 letter, the Nation said it was not notified of a sewage spill in the winter of 2011 or a diesel spill later that summer

and was excluded from cleanup efforts, learning about both incidents on its own. Since then, the Nation has signed an agreement with Centerra Gold and now plays an active role in environmental monitoring.

On January 5, 2026, the province’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) approved amendments allowing Mount Milligan to operate until 2035, expand its footprint by roughly 80 hectares, increase ore production from 60,000 to 66,500 tonnes per day and raise the height of its tailings storage dam by more than 100 metres.

EAO said the amendment went through a comprehensive review and was treated as a priority project, allowing it to be coordinated with permitting decisions from the ministries responsible for mining and the environment. The province has said the expansion could bring more jobs and generate up to $450 million in economic benefits for the region if further approvals are secured.

Erickson said the Nation continues to engage with the company in good faith, acknowledging the mine’s role as a major regional employer, including nation’s members. “We have many members of Nak’azdli who work there, supporting their families,” she said.

However, the approval has deepened concerns about long-term water quality after the Nation learned that mine effluent has been moving through groundwater into nearby creeks and lakes, with some discharge permits issued after the fact. That revelation has raised bigger questions about how environmental oversight

actually works once a project is operating, she added.

According to a press release from the nation, the mine, originally approved as a closed-loop system with no effluent discharge permit, is now releasing about two million cubic metres of water each year.

The Nation is concerned that this water, high in sulphate, was never permitted under the original certificate and has caused elevated sulphate levels at nearly double that permitted under BC guidelines.

“By retroactively approving activities that violated the original Environmental Assessment Certificate, the Province is signalling that these conditions are legally meaningless,” Erickson said in the press release. “That undermines the integrity of the Environmental Assessment process and public confidence in environmental protection.”

The nation was not fully aware of the extent of the effluent impacts during consultations on the mine extension and is now collecting independent data to understand current conditions and potential long-term risks to the watershed. “We have to make sure that we hold them to the environmental standard that they espoused in the beginning,” Erickson said.

During the mine’s life-extension review in 2025, provincial ministries and the EAO met monthly with Nak’azdli Whut’en, which raised concerns about gaps in baseline data and limited Indigenous input. Following those meetings, she said the operator will be required to integrate Nak’azdli environmental guardians into monitoring efforts.

“We’re going to be ramping up our

monitoring and expanding our guardians to make sure that we carefully monitor the discharge of effluence because we’re protecting a pristine watershed,” Erickson said.

While Mount Milligan conducts its own monitoring, industrial oversight cannot replace generations of land-based knowledge. The nation will partner with Keyoh holders (hereditary stewards) to protect the Nation River Watershed, she added. “When mine water use dries up a spring, as it has in the past, company monitors may not notice,” Erickson said in the press release. “Our knowledge holders do.”

Nikki Skuce, director of Northern Confluence Initiative, said communities in the area have long worried about how the mine affects local creeks and its heavy use of groundwater, so having Indigenous guardians on the ground is essential — especially as climate change continues to strain water supplies.

She added the risks to water in the region can’t be viewed in isolation, but instead as part of a broader picture that includes years of forestry and mining activity across the watershed. Given those pressures, protecting the nation’s intact watersheds is far more effective than attempting costly and difficult restoration after damage has already occurred.

“Concerns around impacts to water are important and it’s sort of a bare minimum that they agreed to have the Nak’azdli guardians on site,” Skuce said. This story originally appeared in Canada’s National Observer.

Centerra Gold outlines plans for Mount Milligan mine

The company also has plans to reopen the Kemess mine

Ted Clarke Citizen Staff

Fueled by high commodity prices that continue to set new records and a streamlined permitting process introduced last year by the BC government that has radically shrunk the time it takes for project approval, Centerra Gold is moving full speed ahead with plans to expand operations at two gold-copper mines near Prince George.

At a presentation at the BC Natural Resources Forum Wednesday, Jan. 21 at the Prince George Convention and Civic Centre, Centerra president and CEO Paul Tomory revealed details of the company’s objectives to extend the life of Mount Milligan mine into 2045 and reopen the Kemess mine, which has been shuttered since 2011.

“That experience on Mount Milligan permitting gave us the confidence to seriously consider another major investment here in British Columbia and (on Tuesday) we put out the results of a preliminary study on the reopening of the Kemess mine,” Tomory said.

“This would be a billion dollars in investment developing open-pit and underground infrastructure and opening up what is one of the biggest mills in Canada. It’s a 50,000-tonnes-a-day concentrator and we’re envisioning there a minimum 15-year mine life.”

Tomory said BC has set an example for the rest of the world to follow in the way the Eby government aligned all regulatory pieces needed to compress permitting approval times for companies looking to invest in the province.

“This is a best-practice area,” Tomory told

the audience in a panel discussion. “I’ve operated in dozens of countries around the world, most provinces and the states with that type of mining, and this expedited permitting that we just went through with Mount Milligan is a best practice, and hopefully the province can replicate that for other mining projects.”

Centerra now has all the authorizations needed to continue operating Mount Milligan, 155 kilometres northwest of Prince George, until 2035, which will allow the company to firm up plans to expand the mine to continue producing through 2045.

“What this is really doing is allowing us to continue operating because at the moment the existing permits for the tailings facility only go until 2029,” said Karina Brino, Centerra Gold’s vice-president of regulatory and public affairs. “We can continue operating now until 2035, until a new tailings facility is built.

“At Mount Milligan we are now in the process of doing all the work we need to do to go through the regulatory process, consultation, and do all the engineering and technical work to extend the mine life to 2045. From today, there are 20 more years of mine life at Mount Milligan.”

In addition to the Mount Milligan extension, Centerra is working out details for a $1 billion reinvestment to reopen Kemess mine.

Located north of Mount Milligan, 550 kilometres driving distance from Prince George, Kemess was closed in 2011. Vancouver-based Centerra bought Kemess from AuRico Metals in 2018 and is now advancing technical studies on the copper-gold open-pit mine, which could pave the way for reopening for a 15-year mine

life. A feasibility study is expected to be complete in 2027.

Brino said she expects a two-year permitting period and that it will likely take five years to begin production at Kemess.

“We issued a preliminary economic assessment a couple of days ago indicating we have the resource, it’s economically viable, and we talked to the nations as well to let them know we have what it takes to work on a restart for Kemess,” Brino said. “We’re looking at a 15-year mine life and likely 500 employees.”

Mount Milligan currently has 1,600 fulltime workers and 300 or 400 contracted positions.

Centerra also owns the Kemess Underground Project, a deposit in the Toodoggone District near the Finlay River that has not yet been developed.

“Because Kemess is a brownfield operation it can help unlock some of the other small projects that are in the Toodoggone area as well, so there are other projects in the queue,” Brino said. “Getting Kemess up and running again brings the region into an active state.”

Centerra also owns Endako mine near Fraser Lake, which ceased production of molybdenum and went into care and maintenance in July 2015. Low prices for molybdenum, an alloy steel hardener, prompted the closure.

“Endako is still an attractive asset for the company. However, the moly business for the company is in the states. We’ve invested recently in the U.S. for the moly business, so it’s going to be a while before we look at Endako again,” Brino said. Commodity prices have skyrocketed as world investors worried about geopolitical instability shift their money to the relative

safety of precious metals. Gold (US$4,745 per ounce) and silver (US$93 per ounce) have hit record highs this month, and copper, which sold for less than US$4, is now at US$5.86.

“This is the time to be doing the work,” Brino said. “There’s no better time to be in mining in terms of the cycle we’re in and the prices, but also the need for critical minerals. Everything we produce and all the minerals that we have in British Columbia are part of the energy transition. Essentially, economic growth in BC is dependent on natural resources.”

“It’s record time”

Mount Milligan was among four existing mines Premier David Eby selected last year for expedited permitting approval to extend their lifespans. The others were Highland Valley Copper near Logan Lake, Red Chris, a copper and gold mine near Kitimat, and Eskay Creek, a gold and silver mine near Kitimat.

The simplified permitting process made all the difference for Centerra.

“Right from the beginning we were clear, and government was clear to us, about timelines, schedule and the scope of the review,” Brino said. “What really made a difference to us was the co-ordinated approach. We needed three phases of permitting, and in the old world of permitting they would have been three separate processes. This time they were all brought together — concurrent permitting — which brings all the agencies together. “It also brings the consultation together as well. For the nations it means a co-ordinated approach, and obviously it’s also more efficient in terms of resources and capacity.”

BC made but the province measures

Pollution declined by 4% in 2023, meaning emissions are now 9% below the 2007 baseline

Rochelle Baker Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

British Columbia’s modest climate gains are at risk after a wave of policy clawbacks this past year.

According to the province’s recent accountability report — which reflects BC’s climate data on a two-year lag — carbon pollution declined by four per cent in 2023, meaning emissions are now 9 per cent below the 2007 baseline. The province has also nearly halved methane emissions in the oil and gas sector from 2014, meeting this year’s target two years early.

However, many climate measures that are just beginning to bear fruit, or will soon — such as the consumer carbon tax, electric vehicle rebates and sales mandates and net-zero requirements for liquified natural gas (LNG) projects — have been pruned back or chopped entirely in 2025. What’s more, the province scrapped the promised oil and gas sector emissions cap and never delivered a clean transportation plan although fossil

fuel vehicles continue to account for 41 per cent of the BC’s carbon pollution. As a result, the accountability report looks back at progress resulting from policies that now no longer exist, said Jens Wieting, senior policy and science advisor at Sierra Club BC. Yet the province doesn’t detail how it plans to drive down carbon pollution and its impacts on people’s health and pocketbooks as climate disasters including record wildfires and floods, which recently devastated farmers in Abbotsford for the second time in five years, continue to occur, he said.

Last year’s accountability report already indicated BC wasn’t on track to meet its 2030 carbon pollution target — a reduction of 40 per cent — yet the province has still slashed climate policies.

“It’s irresponsible to leave people in the dark about what actions will be taken to get us closer to the 2030 targets, because climate change is a life and death issue, and that’s not reflected in this report,” Wieting said.

A “shocking” detail in the report was the

amount of carbon pollution being generated by the increasingly severe wildfires fuelled by drought, he said.

Wildfire emissions in 2023, the worst season on record, were six times higher than BC’s total carbon pollution for the year. The province tracks wildfire emissions but they aren’t included in provincial carbon pollution totals because BC, like other national and international jurisdictions, consider wildfires to be natural rather than human caused — a policy that is heavily criticized by climate experts.

“Wildfire” carbon emissions in 2023 added up to over 400 million tonnes, which is almost incomprehensible,” Wieting said, adding the figures underscore the urgency of delivering carbon pollution reductions that limit global warming below catastrophic levels. The province highlights its work to reduce carbon pollution in the forestry sector with measures such as using waste wood more efficiently, or tree planting, but it fails to mention any steps or climate benefits tied to protecting old-

growth forests that trap large amounts of carbon while protecting biodiversity, he added.

“There isn’t any reference to protecting forests as part of climate action and that’s a huge concern,” Wieting said. “It would be one of the most effective, most immediate benefits for the climate to keep those enormous carbon pools protected in standing old growth forests.”

Aside from limiting efforts to reduce carbon pollution, BC’s climate rollbacks have additional drawbacks, said Tom Green, senior climate policy adviser at the David Suzuki Foundation. Nixing the consumer carbon tax and the associated rebate means there’s less incentive for households and businesses to make the switch to EVs and heat pumps or invest in cleaner fuels or technology instead of burning dirty fossil fuels, he said.

Weakening BC’s EV standards to match pending national policies also doesn’t make sense given the province’s former rebates and sales mandate drove one

small gains on emissions — province is scrapping climate

“One thing I don’t think the government is taking to heart anymore is that climate action is good for affordability. It’s good for jobs, good for quality of life

of the fastest uptakes of clean cars in the country, Green said, noting nearly 200,000 EVs are in use on BC roads.

“We’re ahead of the curve; we don’t want to try and match northern Saskatchewan,” he said.

The modest emissions reductions in the accountability report don’t demonstrate climate policies don’t work, but rather, that they do and the province needs to truly double down, Green said.

“I think the message is when we put in place good climate policy and we don’t sabotage it, change it and weaken it due to industry pressure, then we get results,” he said.

The province’s push to develop LNG export projects while backtracking on

carbon pollution rules will also wipe out any climate gains, and move the province in the wrong direction from both a climate and economic standpoint, Green said.

“We’re trying to bring down carbon emissions across the economy but we’re growing this massive LNG export industry which is going to blow any ability to meet climate targets out of the water and lock us into long-term fossil fuel infrastructure,” he said.

Previously, proposed LNG projects like the Cedar LNG now under construction, or the massive Ksi Lisims LNG proposal awaiting a final investment decision, were required to have net-zero emissions by 2030 to get provincial approvals.

But in March, Energy and Climate Solutions Minister Adrian Dix rolled back the pollution rules, stating LNG proponents only have to “provide a credible plan” to reach net-zero if they can’t plug into BC’s electrical grid by that date. In a related move to clean up carbon pollution by electrifying LNG production and export projects along with mining sites, the province is fast-tracking the $6-billion North Coast Transmission Line. But LNG projects will demand a substantial amount of energy and poten-

Last year’s accountability report already indicated BC wasn’t on track to meet its 2030 carbon pollution target, yet the province has still slashed climate policies.

tially divert resources from the electrification efforts that truly curb global warming, Green said.

“Any progress we’re making is largely because we’re electrifying the economy by adopting heat pumps and EVs or making homes more energy efficient,” he said.

“But, if we don’t have electricity for all that because we’re giving it to LNG, we’re going to face challenges.”

Jeremy Valeriote, BC Green Party MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky said the province needs to show more political courage and vision to address climate change effectively.

The boom in renewable technologies such as solar panels, which are increasingly affordable, as well as the uptake of EVs worldwide, is disrupting the myth that shifting to a clean economy is unaffordable.

“Conservative operators might continue to try and use [that narrative] but it’s going to be much more difficult,” Valeriote said.

The province needs to do more to demonstrate the savings and advantages tied to the long-term life cycle costs of EVs or heat pumps over gas-burning cars and furnaces, which appear cheaper

due to their initial cost, he added. In addition to continuing their fight against LNG and the proposed Alberta oil pipeline, the Greens will be pushing the NDP to start accounting for the long-term social and economic costs associated with carbon pollution and new oil and gas projects, including rising insurance, food, healthcare, housing and infrastructure expenses, he said.

“Liabilities associated with some of our fossil fuels are going to come back to bite us,” Valeriote said.

“People talk about fiscal responsibility, and I really think it’s important to remember that the best fiscal responsibility is avoiding some of these catastrophes.” Green agreed. The government’s decision to weaken climate policies despite the economic benefits of climate action is disappointing, he said.

“One thing I don’t think the government is taking to heart anymore is that climate action is good for affordability. It’s good for jobs, good for quality of life,” he said.

“It’s discouraging that despite all these good reasons to continue the course, we have a government that’s lost interest.”

This story originally appeared in Canada’s National Observer.

Reclaiming the land with native plants

Nursery helps nature recover after industry comes through

Christine Dalgleish Citizen Staff

Tucked away in the far corner of the Prince George Civic Centre exhibitors’

EMPOWERING OUR WORLD

FROM THE GROUND UP

space, with more than 1,600 delegates in attendance at the BC Natural Resources Forum on Wednesday, Jan. 21, were representatives from Langley’s NATS Nursery, BC’s largest native plant nursery.

“We have experience growing more than 500 species of native plants and the expansion of the company is now quite significant, primarily through our Indigenous relations and partnerships,” Ron Jacobson said.

“Through our alliances with First Nations, we are the main grower for reclamation projects such as the Trans Mountain pipeline. We’re growing plants for Coastal GasLink, Site C and many mine projects as well in British Columbia and the Yukon.

“Now most of our seeds and berries are collected through our First Nations partners and alliances,” Jacobson said.

“They collect their native plants from within their region and send them to us to process and grow, and then they get shipped back and replanted right where they should be to reclaim disturbed lands by pipelines and other things.”

In some circumstances, the plants are dug up before the disturbance takes place and then replanted, he added.

“It’s important that it be reclaimed to potentially avoid an invasive species coming in, so we are basically helping nature reclaim the land more quickly with the appropriate species used for Indigenous medicinal use and also to help maintain the wildlife in that area,” Jacobson explained.

“It means a lot to the staff at NATS —

many of us have been around for many years — and we feel good about doing good for the environment. And personally, I find it really rewarding working with the First Nations to help them reclaim Mother Earth. We’re a business, and I think we’re one of the good guys trying to re-green and bring back the native plants that were there and should still be there.”

NATS Nursery’s most recent project is called Gather & Grow, designed to grow a new generation of Indigenous seed-harvesting enterprises across British Columbia. It offers four weeks of practical, hands-on seed-collection training on location at NATS Nursery in Langley and on the land.

“We had 15 Indigenous students and people who worked for Indigenous companies, and they spent 16 days over four weeks learning native plant identification in the field and then learned how to collect the seeds and berries at the right time for the purpose of propagation, which can be different from harvesting for food and medicinal purposes,” Jacobson said.

“It went really well, and after 16 days over four weeks we graduated all 15 students, which was really successful, and we’re hoping to do that again in September.”

NATS is a longtime exhibitor and sponsor of the BC Natural Resources Forum. For more information on NATS Nursery, visit https://natsnursery.com.

Coalition launches campaign for changes to BC forestry practices

Ted Clarke Citizen Staff

A broad coalition of forestry workers, community leaders and industry representatives has organized a petition asking the public to support their push for the provincial government to take immediate action to address the current challenges faced by an ailing forest industry.

The group has launched a new province-wide platform called Forestry Is a Solution to ask British Columbians to show their support for forestry workers and their families.

“British Columbia has the forests, the workers, and the expertise to lead the world, yet the sector currently faces significant headwinds from global competition, challenging operating conditions, and damaging U.S. trade actions,” the coalition states in a press release. “This campaign is about homegrown solutions that use our resources to solve our most urgent challenges, from building affordable housing to reducing wildfire risks in our backyard.”

The website portal at forestryisasolution. com will allow supporters of the initiative to sign the petition and engage directly with the province’s decision makers with a letter that will be sent to MLAs, the Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar and Premier David Eby, to help spur immediate action to strengthen the forestry sector.

The campaign has identified as its top priority that the provincial government expedite permits and project approvals to speed up access to economic fibre. It also

seeks to improve the competitiveness of BC’s forest industry by reducing administrative barriers and regulatory burdens.

The coalition says it’s time to fix BC Timber Sales and its policies to ensure a reliable and competitive supply of logs for mills and secondary manufacturing. It also wants to increase First Nations partnerships and provide those groups the tools and capacity needed to facilitate referrals and increase revenue sharing opportunities.

The ultimate goal of the coalition is to protect 10s of thousands of forestry jobs and ensure rural, urban and First Nation communities that depend on forestry remain economically strong, its press release states.

“Forestry is a strategic asset for all British Columbians,” the coalition added. “We are calling on the government to provide a clear path forward that allows this industry to reach its full potential as a provider of low-carbon building materials and a backbone of our provincial economy.”

The coalition partners include: BC Council of Forest Industries (COFI), Truck Loggers Association, Alliance of Resource Communities, ResourceWorks, Interior Logging Association, Interior Forest Labour Relations Association, BC Pulp and Paper Coalition, Private Forest Landowners Association, Woodlots BC, Council on Northern Interior Forest Employment Relations (Conifer) and the North West Loggers Association

For more information go to the website, forestryisasolution.com.

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Province looks to Indigenous-led businesses to expand resource industries

First Nations are leading the way in new opportunities, says minister of Indigenous

relations and reconciliation

Tahi Buhn and K’ómoks/Qualicum.

One of the topics of conversation this year at the Natural Resources Forum was the development and expansion of First Nations-led industry in the province, particularly businesses in the natural resources industry.

These businesses often revolve around forestry, mining, renewable energy and ecological restoration, among others.

Examples of these businesses include Fort Nelson First Nation, which is developing an Indigenous-owned geothermal facility with the goal of powering 10,000 homes, and Kwiakah Indian Band, which is working toward creating a regenerative forestry pilot program to quantify carbon storage in local forests.

Many First Nations also hold extensive woodland licences, including Huu-ay-aht, Wei Wai Kum, Hupacasath, Tseshaht, Canim Lake, Lheidli T’enneh, Lake Babine, Nee

Closer to home in Prince George, Tano T’enneh Enterprises works as the business and economic arm of the Lheidli T’enneh and holds the largest First Nations Woodland Licence in BC, with exclusive timber harvesting rights to more than 217,000 hectares.

During the Natural Resources Forum, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Spencer Chandra Herbert said many nations are expanding business opportunities and that he feels optimistic about the future.

“I’ve found that First Nations-led companies are in many cases leading the way on development, jobs and new opportunities,” said Herbert. “In some cases, they’re looking very much for partners and so partnering with industry. In other cases, they just lead the way themselves. It’s just so exciting. The number of new businesses and businesses that are being purchased and revitalized by nations is truly exciting.”

Chandra Herbert also outlined several projects he has seen that have been led by First Nations businesses and industry.

“We’ve just issued a couple of calls for power for the first time since I was in my early 20s,” said Chandra Herbert. “I’m now in my mid-40s, and they are partnerships with First Nations equity partners running wind power projects, bringing us electricity that we desperately need for mining, forestry and other uses as well. That’s through BC Hydro. That’s one avenue. I see it in tourism as well, whether it be ranches or other opportunities, revitalization and back-to-the-land tourism opportunities. I’ve also been hearing about projects that haven’t been announced yet, but are in the planning and development stages with major mining companies and local First Nations, and in some cases restoration work as well.”

One aspect of Indigenous-led business that Chandra Herbert said is particularly evident is the value creation that stems from First

Nations involvement in projects across the board.

“What I hear consistently, whether it’s from First Nations or really anyone, is that they want to make sure that when our natural resources are used, they leave prosperity behind,” said Chandra Herbert. “That it’s not the boom-and-bust that we’ve come to know. Whether it’s a mining project where you leave a community with people who now understand how to work in mining, and then they can take that skill and move into another mine down the road, or the skills they’ve learned in drilling and turn that into geothermal and other opportunities, or administration — people need good administrators in all fields, and if you can operate a mine as an administrator, you can get a job in most places.

“I think that’s really what I hear. It’s let’s use natural resources, absolutely. Let’s make sure we’re value-adding all we can so that it’s local people getting to work where that’s possible, and that those local

I

think

that’s

really

what I hear. It’s let’s

use natural resources, absolutely. Let’s make sure we’re value-adding all we can so that it’s local people getting to work where that’s possible, and that those local people are then able to turn those skills into other opportunities, new jobs and new options

people are then able to turn those skills into other opportunities, new jobs and new options.”

BC is looking to increase its involvement in First Nations-led businesses, and one of the priorities is increasing investment in skills training.

Skills training ensures that these businesses not only have the expertise to take on new contracts and seize new opportunities, but also to build local knowledge and industrial capacity for future projects.

“Skills training is obviously one of the huge things,” said Chandra Herbert. “Investing in skills training so that people have the skills to take the jobs that are coming.

Equity financing so that First Nations companies can purchase and be part of a mine, part of an energy project — maybe not the whole thing, but part of it — and that then brings that knowledge into that community as well. So

we’re in the final stages of developing our equity financing program for First Nations. We also know the federal government is moving into this field as well, which is great for rural BC because a lot of those nations are in rural BC and they’re looking to grow businesses in their home communities, not having to rely on expensive companies that fly in and fly out. That builds local resilience. That’s what we want.”

Herbert said he is optimistic about the future of Indigenous business in the province and pointed to several programs that have helped bring more First Nations staff into industry development projects.

“Through the Ministry of Finance, the equity financing program that we’re developing is going to be a big help as well,” said Chandra Herbert. “Within First Nations, there is the Major Projects Coalition, as well as several other groups — the forestry council and

the mining council — working to help grow expertise within First Nations communities to answer those questions. But also look at the number of mining companies that are partnering directly with First Nations to ensure they have the skills, and partnering with their businesses to deliver a huge chunk of what they need.

“Whether it’s on the ground itself, whether it’s driving the trucks, bringing in mine reclamation crews or drilling crews, you see it in every aspect now. Many of the companies I’ve been talking with are operating with 25 to 30 per cent of their staff from local First Nations, which is a marked change from 10 years ago, when the numbers were much lower. To me, it shows it’s working — doing work with the community pays off. I’m optimistic, if I haven’t made that clear enough.”

Challenges and opportunities: Forests minister offers industry update

Mayor Simon Yu (left) listens as BC Forests Minister Ravi Parmar addresses members of the local media after a meeting with mayor and council at city hall on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Citizen photo by Chuck Nisbett

Ravi Parmar was in Prince George for the BC Natural Resources Forum

Matthew Hillier Citizen Staff

Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says restoring confidence in BC’s struggling forestry sector is a top priority as communities across the North face mill closures, job losses and ongoing trade uncertainty.

Parmar, in town for the BC Natural Resources Forum at the Civic Centre, and Mayor Simon Yu spoke to the media on Tuesday, Jan. 20 after a meeting about forestry operations in the area and ongoing efforts to support workers and communities.

“I’m certainly looking forward to the conversations not just with mayors and councillors but with First Nations partners as well as industry partners over the course of this week and well into 2026 around how we can restore confidence in this sector,” said Parmar to reporters at city hall. “How can we stand up and ensure that we’re delivering for workers in every part of this province. Forestry is a key part of the economy, not just here in Prince George but the central Cariboo region as well as north of us as well, when I think of communities like Vanderhoof and Houston that have seen considerable losses over the course of last year. It’s my job as minister of forests, in the marching orders that the premier has provided to me, to restore confidence in this sector.” He added that he views Donald Trump’s

presidency as the biggest economic threat to the industry and hopes to work with those in the North to better embrace opportunities in the natural resources industry to reduce the impacts of an escalating trade war.

Parmar said he’s also planning to leverage Prince George’s central location in BC to help facilitate wildfire-fighting efforts in the province and spoke about the opportunities to position more wildfire-fighting resources in the area.

“Prince George has always been a community that steps up to help support others,” said Parmar. “I’ve certainly seen that in my time visiting this community and we certainly experienced that over the course of last year with another challenging wildfire season. I spoke to the mayor and council about the work that we’re doing to ensure that we support northern communities, in particular the northeast. I think there’s a huge opportunity for us to leverage the location of Prince George as a community that is almost at the centre of our province. There are huge opportunities for us to ensure that we’re positioning more resources here, and I’ve shared with the mayor and council that for the BC Wildfire Service and organization that I’m responsible for, we’re going to be taking some steps over the course of the next year to ensure that we’re better positioning resources and equipment to help ensure that we can fight fires quicker

and faster and do the important work of helping to protect communities in the long run.”

Communities in the North, particularly those impacted by recent sawmill closures and curtailments, are also a focus of Parmar’s, and he hopes to help these struggling communities find new outlets for their products and opportunities.

“I think at the outset, what we are focused on every single day is making sure that we can keep operations going,” said Parmar. “We’ve taken a number of steps to be able to help get fibre into the hands of those companies whenever possible, but also finding opportunities through programming that we have in the provincial government to help diversify, so many of these companies are less reliant on the United States as a trading partner.

“I think it’s important to mention that the duties and tariffs environment is challenging, but really one of the biggest challenges that we’re facing right now here in BC is the fact that our lumber prices are really low and the futures don’t look great for the first quarter of 2026, so we’re hoping in the second quarter things will pick up.”

Parmar added that he understands the impact of forestry losses.

“My heart is with those communities,” said Parmar. “I think 100 Mile House in particular has just lost its last sawmill just a few months ago. We are having conversations around how we can take advan-

tage of the forestry infrastructure that already exists in those towns and how we can ensure that forestry can have a bright future. We know that whether it’s duties and tariffs, but also the impacts of the end of the pine beetle kill as well as wildfires, that there are some really difficult conversations happening in those towns. But whether it’s 100 Mile, Quesnel, Mackenzie or Vanderhoof, I’m focused every single day on making sure we’re protecting those communities and protecting those workers as well.”

He also emphasized the need for changes to BC’s forest tenure system to ensure stability for major forestry companies.

“I think there are some steps that we have to take to govern and properly manage the strategic economic assets that we have,” said Parmar. “I’m certainly going to be focused every single day throughout 2026 on steps we need to take to be able to move from volume-based tenures to area-based tenures and really to full-rotation management. I believe that we can take some steps forward that will eliminate the need for cutting permits in forestry and move toward not only full-rotation management but full operational plans that provide the stability and certainty that companies like Canfor, West Fraser, Dunkley and Sinclair are looking for.”

One particular aspect of his job that Parmar also plans to focus on is the delicate

At the end of the day, the job that the premier has provided to me, and the expectation that all British Columbians have for me, is to strike a balance, and that is toward economic prosperity, protecting workers,

balancing act between the needs of the environment and the needs of the industry, particularly when it comes to the uncertainty caused by old-growth protection.

“At the end of the day, the job that the premier has provided to me, and the expectation that all British Columbians have for me, is to strike a balance, and that is toward economic prosperity, protecting workers, while also protecting our environment,” said Parmar. “That’s what I hear back at home in Langford — the need for us to be able to have a strong, prosperous forest economy that allows us to protect workers and deliver for workers while at the same time looking after our environment and making sure that we have a sustainable sector.

“I am proud of the work that we’ve done as a government over the course of the last number of years in striking that balance. Some may argue that we haven’t struck that balance, but I’m not going to govern in extremes … I often get messages and emails from people saying, you’re cutting too many trees down, and others saying you’re not cutting enough trees down. There are definitely opportunities for us to strike that balance, and that’s what we’re

Parmar was also impressed with the status of the forest industry despite ongoing hardships and shared his thoughts on the recent completion of the review of BC Timber Sales.

“We’ve made some really considerable progress,” said Parmar. “In September, UBCM and Victoria announced the completion of the review on BC Timber Sales. That has led to, I think, 54 recommendations total that my team has been busy reviewing. We have accepted all of those recommendations and are developing an action plan that we’ll be rolling out in the weeks ahead.

“In the interim, what I’m really proud to share is that, because of the hard work of the public service, in particular the Forest Service in places like Prince George, Vanderhoof and elsewhere, we’ve seen a nearly 30 per cent increase year over year in BCTS sales. I think it was about 28 per cent in total. And when you think of the environment that forestry is operating in right now, with duties and tariffs, the low price of lumber, as well as the impacts we’re seeing with the drop in demand, to be able to see a nearly 30 per cent increase year over year, just in one year, is pretty incredible.”

While many are uncertain about Prince George’s role in the forestry industry in the coming years, Parmar said, he sees the city continuing to play a major role as an industry hub and looks forward to working with the mayor and council on furthering the area’s industry.

“I think Prince George is going to continue to be a hub for forestry in Canada,” said Parmar. “I think there are going to be some steps that the mayor, myself and council are going to be walking together on over the course of the next number of months and years toward how we can paint that prosperous vision.

“I see a future for Prince George that maximizes every value of the fibre that we take out of the bush, and I also see a huge opportunity for us in the Prince George timber supply area to move toward full-rotation management, to do more commercial thinning so we can leave a healthier province and a healthier forest economy, not only for jobs but also for sustainability and the environment as well. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to work with Yu and council on that vision.”

Province, BC Hydro sign agreement on Ksi Lisims LNG project

Nisga’a Nation confident investors will back $10-billion plant for coast north of Prince Rupert

Ted Clarke Citizen Staff

The province, BC Hydro and the Nisga’a Lisims First Nation government have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large-scale liquid natural gas terminal on BC’s north coast. The proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project consists of two floating liquid natural gas platforms capable of receiving up to two billion cubic feet per day of pipelinegrade natural gas. It would export as much as 22.4 billion cubic metres per year of natural gas, mostly to Asian markets.

Minister of Energy and Climate

Solutions Adrian Dix signed the MOU Tuesday, Jan. 20 on behalf of the BC government, along with BC Hydro president/CEO Charlotte Mitha and Nisga’a Lisims president Eva Clayton at the BC Natural Resources Forum at Prince George Convention and Civic Centre.

“We hope to be approaching a final investment decision,” said Dix. “We need to take steps as a province and BC Hydro needs to take steps, as BC Hydro has always done, which is to drive economic development across BC.

“This new agreement will deliver up to 100 megawatts of clean electricity to the proposed floating LNG facility on

Nisga’a’ tribal lands, enabling the largest industrial project in the region. (The MOU) is not the decider, the decider will be made by Nisga’a First Nation, but it is a necessary step to that success.

“Once operational, Ksi Lisims is expected to attract $13 billion in investment, create thousands of skilled careers and strengthen Canada’s position as a global LNG exporter. It’s our expectation in 2030, with existing projects, that we’ll be sixth in the world in LNG export production, as a province.”

Estimated to cost $10 billion to build, Ksi Lisims LNG is not yet funded, but Clayton is confident investors will get

behind the project to make it a reality. Nisga’a Nation, Rockies LNG Limited Partnership and Western LNG LLC are partnered in the proposed liquifiednatural gas processing plant and marine terminal at the northern end of Pearse Island, 56 kilometres north of Prince Rupert.

If it’s built, the terminal would be hooked up to the North Coast Transmission Line the BC government is building with BC Hydro. Construction of that project is slated to begin this year, with the northern segment of the line expected to be in place by 2032.

Why 90-metre flames kept lighting up the night over Kitimat LNG Canada has been flaring up to 15 times more gas than expected, documents reveal

To compensate for an “integrity issue” with its equipment, LNG Canada has been burning significantly more gas than planned, according to documents obtained through freedom of information legislation. CCTV footage / BC Energy Regulator

Matt Simmons

Lauren Watson

Local Journalism Initiative Reporters

In the fall of 2024, LNG Canada fired up its flare in Kitimat, BC for the first time, burning off gas to test its systems. By December, company officials knew something was wrong.

Residents were also concerned, but had little explanation as 90-metre-high flames lit up the night sky and a deep roaring sound permeated the town.

More than a year later, complaints escalated enough that Kitimat District council sat down for a special meeting with Teresa Waddington, the deputy chief operating officer at LNG Canada. About an hour into the meeting, councillor Terry Marleau asked specifically about flare tips. The response from Waddington was jumbled.

“Uh, I’d say we’re, we’re reviewing the flare tips design,” she said. “We are looking long term at what else could we do other than just reduce flaring in order to make sure that we get to a better place.”

A couple of minutes later, Marleau leaned into the mic: “So, is there an

issue with the flare stacks themselves?”

“It’s part of the learning curve of new equipment,” Waddington replied. “So on one hand, you know, great that we brought in a technology that gets such high levels of incineration, which results in less slippage of gas, which means you have lower [greenhouse gas emissions] overall, but on the same note, it’s not perfectly working.”

Just a few kilometres away from the nearest residential neighbourhood, LNG Canada had been feeding gas into its flaring system by a magnitude of more than 15 times the typical amount to compensate for what was described as an “integrity issue.”

Flaring is the burning of excess or waste gas produced during operations. Methane and other gases that escape the Kitimat facility during processing are sent up a metal tube that stands 122 metres high, where they meet a pilot flame and ignite, converting the raw gas into carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and water vapour. There are also often additional gases such as nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds and particulates released during

Flaring during commissioning and early operations is a normal occurrence in any LNG asset. In regular operations, flaring activities and associated noise reduce significantly “

the process.

It’s a necessary safety protocol — if the flare is not designed correctly for the operating environment, the gas may not make it to the pilot flame and instead

the flare can creep down the tube and melt the infrastructure. The solution is to increase the pressure, increase the volume of gas and increase the size of the flame. If all the gas is not fully combusted by the pilot, black smoke appears.

The Narwhal reviewed more than 2,000 pages of documents released through freedom of information legislation about the flaring issue in Kitimat. They showed how LNG Canada officials were discussing the flaring issues internally — and that they waited approximately four months to tell the provincial energy regulator.

We also spoke with several industry insiders, former employees and local residents and analyzed publicly available permits and other government documents to piece together a timeline of events and impacts on the community. The documents reveal regulator and industry officials grappled with the issue for months while community members and local politicians asked questions about the flaring, some complaining about excessive noise and others expressing concerns about potential toxic

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emissions, black smoke and particulate matter.

Among the documents is one prepared by the BC Energy Regulator, a government agency that oversees the oil and gas sector and other industries. It detailed an “emerging integrity concern related to one of LNG Canada’s flares” in April 2025, and noted LNG Canada said the issue would take three years to be resolved.

In the meantime, the facility was “routing additional gas” to the flare to mitigate the problem, according to the document. The system should be fine to operate by burning 11,000 cubic metres of gas per day, but due to the issue it would need to burn at least 170,000 cubic metres daily, the document stated.

Burning the extra gas would result in “a noticeable impact in the community with respect to noise, light and visual disturbance,” according to the regulator’s internal briefing note.

When asked about this document, a spokesperson with the regulator confirmed awareness of the issue and said the average numbers were even higher.

LNG Canada reported flaring an average of “approximately 205,000 cubic metres per day between July 1 and Nov. 30, 2025,” the spokesperson said via email.

The email included detailed data and showed that on Sept. 1, 2025, LNG Canada flared 1,708,649 cubic metres of gas, making it the highest single day, according to the data.

The spokesperson did not answer questions about whether the government agency communicated the problem with flaring equipment to the public, instead explaining LNG Canada had “fully mitigated” the integrity issue by “ensuring additional gas is flowed through the flare tip facilitating appropriate combustion.”

person wrote in an emailed statement. “Flaring during commissioning and early operations is a normal occurrence in any LNG asset. In regular operations, flaring activities and associated noise reduce significantly.”

BC Energy Regulator officials kept the flaring issue quiet for more than six months

Kitimat sits at the end of a long fiord, surrounded by mountains and subject to extreme weather. Dramatic shifts in air pressure, high winds and other local environmental factors exacerbate the problems LNG Canada faced with its flare. As The Narwhal previously reported, community members have documented black plumes of smoke from the flare and some residents living close to the facility have said their yards, houses and vehicles are often left covered in a thin film of black residue.

According to the documents, LNG Canada — a consortium of foreign-owned companies led by Shell — first reported non-compliance with government permits in May 2025, citing increased emissions were required to mitigate the integrity concern. The company said a replacement part, called a flare tip, would be needed and it could take up to three years to fully integrate the new equipment, but interim changes could be made. The BC Energy Regulator responded, asking the company to clarify the environmental and health risks of any modifications and said the company might also need to apply to amend its Air Waste Discharge Permit.

The regulator spokesperson added LNG Canada is required to notify residents and local authorities “regarding certain flaring events.”

The Narwhal asked LNG Canada several detailed questions about the integrity issue, including why it did not appear to communicate clearly with members of the public, but a spokesperson with the consortium declined to answer.

“The LNG Canada facility has been commissioning and is currently in its early operations phase,” the spokes-

In July, the regulator wrote to LNG Canada officials saying the company was on the hook for the additional emissions and needed to fix the problem. The reason, it explained, was that because the additional flaring was for the purpose of “long-term integrity management,” it was not considered a “process upset,” a designation that would exempt it from permit limits. The regulator also required the company to report any emissions exceedances. After the consortium successfully sent its first shipment of LNG overseas in late June 2025, the regulator also issued a requirement for LNG Canada to file daily reports and updates.

The regulator told The Narwhal the consortium filed six “monthly self-dis-

closures [related] to document flaring which is not consistent” with the facility’s permits and noted it has not issued any penalties for non-compliance.

“The [BC Energy Regulator] does not disclose information with respect to any ongoing investigations that may be underway, but to date, no penalties have been issued to LNG Canada.”

The regulator also noted it ordered LNG Canada to contract a third-party assessment of air quality in July, which concluded “no measured adverse impacts to air quality from the increased flaring rate.”

“The [BC Energy Regulator] is engaging with LNG Canada to minimize flaring rates from all facility flares,” the spokesperson added.

The Narwhal asked LNG Canada why it didn’t communicate the problems with the flare tip to the public. We also asked for clarification on the nature of the issue, its impacts on operations and the community, including noise, emissions and other issues raised by community members. The Narwhal asked what had been done to ensure residents were kept informed about the risks posed by faulty or inadequate equipment.

LNG Canada did not directly answer these questions.

“We continue to remain focused on safely operating the facility and minimizing disruptions to the community,” the spokesperson wrote, adding the 37th shipment is scheduled to depart in the coming days.

“We continue to meet regularly with community members, First Nations, local stakeholders and government agencies to listen and respond to any concerns raised about our activities. LNG Canada extends its continued appreciation to the Kitimat community and to the Haisla Nation for their continued support.”

Between September 2024 and January 2026, LNG Canada posted more than 27 notifications of flaring events on its website and social media, some preparing the community for weeks or months of flaring.

“Flaring is a provincially regulated safety measure that ensures the controlled, efficient combustion of natural gas during specific operational phases,” LNG Canada regularly said in these

notifications. “It is a critical part of safely operating a facility of this scale and is not expected to be routine during regular operation.”

But the consortium was not telling the public why the flare was so big nor explaining why so many “unplanned” flaring events were occurring. In early November 2025, for example, LNG Canada published a notification warning residents flaring would extend beyond the “originally anticipated timeframe.” It noted this would mean more “intermittent” noise and more emissions, without explaining why.

Around the same time, the consortium offered to temporarily relocate some residents who had expressed concerns about the noise and emissions, if they agreed to “not make any complaints or raise any concerns or objections with respect to LNG Canada, the LNG facility or the works with any third parties, including but not limited to members of the media, the [BC Energy Regulator] or the District of Kitimat” related to flaring activities.

But complaints from residents continued to come in.

Just a few months ago, in that late November 2025 council meeting, Waddington addressed questions about the flaring from Marleau and other members of council. She was accompanied by a sound analyst hired to monitor ambient noise over Kitimat.

There had been more than 30 complaints from the town’s residents about unexpected noise since the LNG export facility started flaring excess gas a year earlier, Waddington said at the meeting.

The council wanted to see the results of the consortium’s monitoring, understand the cause and hear how the company was managing the disruption. Waddington assured Marleau, and council, the company was investigating.

“If you look at how the LNG Canada startup has gone, it’s actually been smoother than most,” Waddington concluded. “We are actually kind of setting the bar.” On Jan. 5, 2026, LNG Canada published its first notification of the year, of a week-long flaring event that had already begun.

This story originally appeared in The Narwhal. In italics.