British Columbia Minute: Issue 123

British Columbia Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of British Columbia politics.

📅 This Week In British Columbia: 📅

• The Ksi Lisims LNG project on BC's North Coast has finalized a 20-year contract to sell up to 2 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year to the German power utility Uniper. The agreement is the project's first major long-term deal with a German utility and brings its firm sales commitments to 6 million tonnes a year, half of the plant's expected capacity, moving it closer to a final investment decision. The $30-billion project, being built by Houston-based Western LNG and backed by the Nisga'a Nation, aims to produce 12 million tonnes a year from a floating terminal at Pearse Island, 80 kilometers northeast of Prince Rupert. It already holds similar 20-year contracts with a subsidiary of Shell and with TotalEnergies, and a project spokesperson says the goal is to have 75% of capacity committed before a final investment decision is made. The deal comes as the European Union faces deadlines to end Russian LNG imports by the end of 2026 and Russian pipeline gas by the end of 2027. 
  
  
• In other LNG news, Energy Minister Adrian Dix has announced that the provincial government will allow FortisBC to skip the requirement for a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the BC Utilities Commission for the $2.2-billion expansion of its Tilbury LNG facility in Delta. The certificate is normally required of any project involving the storage or production of gas, and is meant to show that there is demand for the product, that it fills a public need, and that ratepayers will not be adversely affected. The expansion will increase the facility's capacity to turn natural gas into LNG by 650,000 tonnes, with construction expected to start next year and finish by 2031. Dix claims the project will involve more than $800 million invested during construction, 1,100 jobs per year while it is built, and $260 million in tax revenue. Richard Mason, a former commissioner of the Utilities Commission, says the Government has made a practice of overruling the independent oversight body, and that this decision lets the expansion proceed without having to prove it is in the public interest. Premier David Eby, meanwhile, took the unusual step of allowing Climate Readiness Minister Kelly Greene to break with the government and publicly oppose the project, an issue Eby called crucially important for her community, saying there is "space in our cabinet and in our caucus for disagreement".
  
  
• Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the federal government is looking to invest more than $10 billion to expand the Port of Vancouver, during a tour of the Deltaport container facility at Roberts Bank on Thursday. Carney claims the expansion would grow Canada's exports away from the United States by more than 50%, create roughly 18,000 jobs during construction, and support another 17,000 full-time jobs operating the added capacity. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project would add a new three-berth terminal and increase the port's container capacity by 50%. The announcement comes two weeks after Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon referred the expansion to the federal Major Projects Office for possible fast-tracking, saying at the time that it would enable $100 billion in new trade capacity annually. Environmentalists have fought the project for years, arguing it threatens the habitat of endangered southern resident killer whales. Alberta's proposed West Coast oil pipeline, which would terminate at Roberts Bank, is also being considered as part of the plan for the port.
  
  
• BC Lions owner Amar Doman has submitted a letter of interest to the provincial government about buying BC Place, but the Government says the Vancouver stadium is not for sale. Jobs and Economic Growth Minister Ravi Kahlon confirmed receiving the letter, saying "we're not interested", though he suggested the Lions could still have an opportunity to be involved in operating the stadium in a different way. The Province has owned BC Place since it was built in 1983 and runs it through the Crown corporation BC Pavilion Corporation, which values the stadium at roughly $300 million, with its land assessed at about $70 million. Taxpayers have invested heavily in the venue over the years, including a retractable roof that cost more than $500 million when it was completed in 2011. The union representing stadium workers opposes any sale, with its president, Paul Finch, warning against a fire sale of public assets at less than market value. The Government is also in talks with the Vancouver Whitecaps about a possible lease arrangement, after signing a one-year deal for 2026 that gives the team an annual return of roughly $1.5 million in game-day profits, and Kahlon says any agreement must come at no new net cost to taxpayers.
  
  
• The BC Supreme Court has ruled that provisions of the Mental Health Act allowing forced psychiatric treatment of involuntary patients, regardless of their capacity to make health care decisions, are unconstitutional. In a decision published Thursday, Justice Lauren Blake found the provisions violate patients' Charter equality rights and their rights to life, liberty and security of the person, and gave the Province six months to amend the legislation. Under BC law, anyone who is involuntarily admitted is automatically deemed to have consented to psychiatric treatment, which Blake found grants mental health facility directors a "blanket power" to provide any treatment they determine appropriate. She found BC is an outlier as the only jurisdiction in Canada that does not require an assessment of a patient's capacity to make treatment decisions and the only one that allows capable patients to be treated without their consent. The ruling caps a court challenge launched 10 years ago by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and also strikes down related provisions of the province's Consent Act and Representation Agreement Act. The decision comes as the provincial government moves to expand involuntary treatment for people with severe mental health conditions, substance use disorders and brain injuries. The Ministry of Attorney General says it will decide on next steps after reviewing the decision, but claims mental health care delivery will continue without interruption for now.

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