RE:LNG venture offers $1-billion for aboriginal consent The proponent of a liquefied natural gas plant on British Columbia’s north coast is offering more than $1-billion to obtain the consent of a First Nations community, a groundbreaking proposal that could establish the new price for natural resource development in traditional aboriginal territories.
In a province where resource projects have stalled and sometimes foundered over aboriginal opposition, the tentative deal between the Prince Rupert-based Lax Kw’alaams band and a joint venture led by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas sets a new benchmark for sharing the wealth from energy extraction.
If approved by band members, the agreement will transfer roughly $1-billion in cash to the Lax Kw’alaams band over the span of the 40-year deal, while the B.C. government is putting more than $100-million worth of Crown lands on the table. For the 3,600 members of the Lax Kw’alaams community, the total package works out to a value of roughly $320,000 per person.
“This will be a real game-changer for many First Nations in terms of how they can build their future,” B.C. Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister John Rustad said in an interview Thursday.
The proposed pact hinges on federal environmental approval of the Petronas-led Pacific NorthWest LNG project, to be built on the traditional territory of the Lax Kw’alaams.