Summary

• The Norwegian company Marinvest Energy AS wants to build Canada’s third largest LNG export facility on the shores of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec
• The company has a non-disclosure agreement with Ottawa which prevents discussion of the proposal with “officials outside the federal government”
• Quebec is an ideal location for ships headed to Europe, but a similar proposal was rejected in 2021 over concerns about risks posed to Indigenous communities and the environment

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As the war in the Middle East escalates and oil and gas prices surge, a secretive liquefied natural gas (LNG) project proposed for Quebec is steadily advancing.

The LNG project would ship liquefied gas from the deepwater port of Baie-Comeau, a small city on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, to global markets. 

The project would require a new pipeline — through a small portion of northern Ontario and a swath of Quebec — to send mostly fracked gas from Western Canada to Baie-Comeau, in the province’s Côte-Nord region.

But you won’t find any information about this major resource project on the website of Marinvest Energy AS, the Norwegian company behind it.

Nor will you find any information about the Baie-Comeau LNG project on any federal government website, even though access to information documents reveal Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government has established a multi-departmental “deal team” to facilitate the project.

Baie-Comeau is a small Quebec city where a Norwegian company wants to build an LNG export facility. In 2021, the Quebec government rejected a similar proposal, unconvinced the benefits outweighed risks such as threats to fish, caribou and the ancestral lands of Pessamit and other Innu communities. Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

“There’s been no public announcement, no project description and nothing has been made public,” Louis Couillard, Greenpeace Canada’s climate campaigner, told The Narwhal. “I’m just puzzled at how a project can move along like this without an official proposal.” 

In an emailed statement, Marinvest Energy AS confirmed it is in discussions with First Nations as it develops the project and said it will not be giving an interview “at this stage.” In an emailed response to questions, the Quebec government said it never publicly discusses talks it may “have, or not have” with project promoters.

That leaves Montreal-based Couillard and others in the dark, except for information gleaned from access to information requests that are heavily redacted. One thing they do reveal is Marinvest has a non-disclosure agreement with the government of Canada “such that this project is not to be discussed with officials outside the government.” 

So, what else do we know about the Baie-Comeau LNG project? 

And can it go ahead even though another Quebec LNG export proposal was soundly rejected by the provincial and federal governments only a few years ago? At issue then were risks posed to Indigenous communities, beluga whales and attempts to slash greenhouse gas emissions. 

Read on.

First of all, what exactly is the Baie-Comeau LNG proposal? 

Here’s what we know. 

The project has four components: a gas pipeline, an undisclosed “renewable energy supply,” port infrastructure and gas liquefaction and storage. 

That information comes from Invest in Canada, the federal agency that promotes direct investments by foreign companies. It is included in 137 pages of documents Greenpeace obtained through federal access to information legislation and shared with The Narwhal.

“There’s been no public announcement, no project description and nothing has been made public,” Louis Couillard of Greenpeace Canada said. Photo: Justin Tang / The Canadian Press

The pipeline and renewable energy supply “would be developed in partnership with First Nations,” according to the documents, which say the project is in the “pre-planning stage.”

The documents also say Marinvest “claims it is making progress on project development” and the company may reach out to Canada’s new Major Projects Office with a project description in early 2026. 

In an emailed response to questions, a spokesperson for Canada’s Major Projects Office said the project has not “been referred” to the office and “nor has the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada received an initial project description, which would start the impact assessment process.” The spokesperson said to contact Marinvest Energy for details about the project.

How big is the Baie-Comeau LNG project?

In a word, big. Really big. “It’s a huge project in terms of the volume [of] exports that they want to do,” Couillard said. 

Neither the company nor the Quebec or federal governments have released information about the volume of LNG the company plans to export. But a company representative earlier told Le Devoir the project would export about ten million tonnes of LNG per year.

That compares to about three million tonnes in annual exports from the Cedar LNG project in B.C., about two million tonnes annually from B.C.’s Woodfibre LNG project and about 12 million tonnes annually from the recently approved Ksi Lisims LNG export project, also in B.C.

The proposed LNG facility in Baie-Comeau would be the third largest in the country. The LNG Canada facility in Kitimat, B.C., is currently the second largest. Photo: Marty Clemens / The Narwhal

It would make Baie-Comeau Canada’s third largest LNG export project, after Ksi Lisims and LNG Canada, the country’s first, in Kitimat, B.C.

The access to information documents lift the veil — a wee bit— on the federal government’s level of commitment to the project.

“Given the scale and significance of this energy infrastructure project, we’d like to establish a monthly coordination call to keep federal partners informed of the latest developments,” Anne-Sophie Proutiere, senior federal partnerships advisor for Invest in Canada, wrote to her colleagues last May, according to the documents.

“These ‘deal team’ calls will also serve as a forum for departments to provide guidance and support to facilitate the investment,” Proutiere wrote. 

Proutiere’s email was sent to colleagues in a variety of departments, including Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. The subject line was “monthly coordination call — Marinvest Energy project”.

Another email said the calls would “coordinate federal FDI [foreign direct investment] efforts to support this investment in Canada.” 

What’s the big deal about secrecy? 

The documents also reveal the non-disclosure agreement Marinvest has with Canada.

Duff Conacher, cofounder of Democracy Watch, a non-profit organization promoting government accountability and corporate responsibility, warns against fast-tracking major resource project decisions like the Baie-Comeau LNG project and failing to consult with the public and stakeholders before final decisions are made.

Fast-tracking “usually leads to waste, and harm and corruption and boondoggles that actually don’t further the public interest,” Conacher said in an interview.

“It’s just impossible for people sitting behind closed doors in Ottawa in the government to make good decisions about anything, because they need to connect to the reality of the impact of the decisions and action,” he said. “And the only way to do that is to consult with the public in a meaningful way before making the decision.”

Conacher said fast-tracking decisions about major resource projects usually slows them down “because once the public learns about it, the pushback is greater than if people had been consulted in the first place.” That pushback can lead to court cases and other challenges, he pointed out. 

The Carney government has demonstrated a lack of commitment to transparency in many areas of government actions, he said.

Couillard said he’s worried people who would be impacted by the Baie-Comeau LNG project and the project’s pipeline won’t have the information “necessary to understand what’s being fast-tracked in their backyards.”

Phew, that’s a lot. So who’s behind the Baie-Comeau LNG project?

Greg Cano, who is connected to B.C.’s contentious Coastal GasLink pipeline, is the chief operating officer for Marinvest Energy Canada, a subsidiary of Marinvest Energy AS. 

According to Cano’s LinkedIn profile, he’s a mechanical engineer who is an executive sponsor and former chief operations officer for Pacific Atlantic Pipeline Construction Ltd, a subsidiary of Italy’s Bonatti Group. 

That name might sound familiar — the pipeline construction company was a primary contractor for the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which ships gas from northeast B.C. to the LNG Canada export terminal in Kitimat. Pacific Atlantic Pipeline Construction made the news in 2022 when Coastal GasLink terminated the company’s contract, alleging poor performance.

You might be scratching your head by now, thinking Cano’s name also sounds vaguely familiar. Based in Calgary, he’s the former longtime director of project planning and execution for TransCanada, a major North America pipeline company now called TC Energy. TC Energy co-owns and operates the Coastal GasLink pipeline. 

And gas for the Baie-Comeau LNG project would be shipped to the new pipeline through TC Energy’s network, according to Couillard. 

The chief operating officer for Marinvest Energy Canada is Greg Cano, formerly the director of project planning and execution for TransCanada, which became. TC Energy. The major North America pipeline company co-owns and operates the Coastal GasLink pipeline in B.C. Photo: Matt Simmons / The Narwhal

If you live on Vancouver Island, there’s all the more reason to recognize Cano’s name. He was the former project lead for the Steelhead LNG, an export project proposed for Vancouver Island that was halted in 2019.

The Narwhal reached out to Cano by email but did not hear back. 

Marinvest Energy AS declined an interview request. “In a spirit of respect and transparency, our priority is to continue discussions with First Nations communities in order to further develop the project’s concepts,” Justin Meloche, the company’s media relations director, said in an emailed statement. 

“Additional information will be made public once the project has reached a more advanced stage and when concrete elements can be shared responsibly,” Meloche added.

Marinvest Energy registered to lobby the federal government in May 2025. The company said it would engage with the Prime Minister’s Office, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Finance Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

The stated goal was to determine “the applicable conditions for implementing a transformative and beneficial energy project for the future of Quebec and Canada.”

Since then, five lobbyists from National Public Relations have filed reports saying they lobbied federal departments, agencies and the Prime Minister’s Office.

The access to information documents note Marinvest is also in discussion with Alberta and Quebec representatives.

“They’ve been lobbying [for] their project behind the closed door for over a year,” Couillard pointed out. “But for the public, there’s absolutely no info except what we find through .” 

“We’re in the dark right now in regards to the regulatory stages that this project is in.” 

Would the Baie-Comeau LNG project export fracked gas?

Yes. The vast majority — 80 to 90 per cent — of natural gas from Western Canada is extracted through hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. The access to information documents state the gas for the project would come from Western Canada.

Steven Haig, a policy advisor for the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s energy program, pointed out fracking is a “particularly emissions-intensive method for producing natural gas. 

“And also, by nature of the process … there are significant risks of methane leaks, which add to the emissions associated with the production,” Haig said in an interview. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming and climate change. It can also cause respiratory and cardiovascular issues. 

What about Indigenous communities near the LNG terminal and along the pipeline route? 

Couillard isn’t convinced a majority of Indigenous communities will support the Baie-Comeau LNG project even after consultations. 

“Quebec has a problem,” he said. “It’s all unceded. There’s no treaties here. So technically, all these communities need to give their free, prior and informed consent for the project to go ahead.” The Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador formally — and vocally — opposed TransCanada’s bid to build the Energy East bitumen pipeline, which was cancelled in 2017. 

The documents obtained by Greenpeace and other environmental groups list Indigenous communities and organizations that could be affected by the pipeline and LNG project, but all further information is redacted. 

In Ontario, those communities include Apitipi Anicinapek Nation, Métis Nation of Ontario (region three), Taykwa Tagamou Nation, Beaverhouse First Nation, Matachewan First Nation and potentially Mattagami First Nation and Temagami First Nation.

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada recommended Marinvest engage with about two dozen Indigenous communities and organizations in Quebec, according to the documents. They include many Cree, Algonquin, Atikamekw and Innu communities, such as Pessamit, an Innu community about 60 kilometres south of Baie-Comeau. 

Greenpeace and other environmental groups obtained documents about the proposed LNG facility in Baie-Comeau through access to information legislation. They were heavily redacted. Screenshot: Sarah Cox / The Narwhal

Along with other Innu communities, Pessamit opposed a different LNG export project proposed for the Saguenay region of Quebec on the grounds it would pose a threat to ancestral lands and impact fish and caribou. Pessamit representatives were unable to respond to a request for comment before publication.

So what about the rejected LNG project in Quebec?

The Quebec government nixed plans for a LNG plant in the Saguenay region in 2021, saying it risked “disadvantaging the energy transition.” The province’s environmental review agency found the project’s risks outweighed its benefits. It said the proponent, GNL Québec Inc., had failed to demonstrate the project would reduce greenhouse gas emissions or accelerate the transition to clean energy. 

The Saguenay LNG project would have been about the same size as the Baie-Comeau LNG project, according to Le Devoir.

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada also found the Saguenay LNG project was likely to harm the environment, leading Ottawa to reject the project in 2022. The agency determined the project would have negative effects on nearby Innu communities, harm the beluga whale population through increased shipping traffic and cause greenhouse gas emissions to rise. 

Why ship LNG from Quebec?

Quebec has a distinct advantage over LNG shipped to Europe from other places in North America: geography. 

A typical shipping route between Baie-Comeau and the Dunkirk LNG terminal in northern France would take about eight days, according to the Montreal Economic Institute, a public policy think tank that receives 11 per cent of its annual budget from the oil and gas industry. (Names of individual funders are not disclosed.)

It takes half as long for a ship to travel to Europe from Quebec than from Qatar. A coming wave of global LNG projects could cause an oversupply that affects the economic viability of projects in Canada. Photo: Associated Press

It would take about 14 days at the same speed for LNG from the Gulf of Mexico’s terminals to reach Dunkirk and more than 17 days from Doha, Qatar, another big LNG export terminal.

“Geography plays in Quebec’s favour,” Gabriel Giguère, a senior policy analyst with the society, said in a February news release. “A shorter distance means shorter delivery times, and therefore lower transportation costs, compared to dealing with its main competitors.” 

Will there be an environmental assessment ? 

Some form of environmental assessment is likely if the Baie-Comeau LNG project proceeds, but the process could be fast-tracked. 

In December, the Quebec government introduced Bill 5, which aims to accelerate authorizations for projects deemed to be priorities and of national importance. 

The Quebec bill, which has not been passed by the National Assembly, follows the federal government’s Bill C-5, passed last June. The federal legislation aims to accelerate “nation-building” projects.

What about the Baie-Comeau LNG project’s economics? 

The oil and gas industry is pushing for LNG expansion, pointing to Europe’s desire to replace Russian gas and Canada’s drive to diversify exports following tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump slapped on Canadian goods. 

“But it’s important to remember that these are multi-billion dollar, multi-decade projects and their long-term viability is a serious concern as global markets shift towards cleaner, more reliable energy sources,” Haig, from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, said. 

As importers shift towards cheaper, more reliable renewables, “An oversupply of LNG is imminent, with a massive wave of new projects coming online around the world, especially in the U.S. and Qatar,” Haig said.

He said the growing war in the Middle East won’t change that. “There’s a difference between short-term supply disruptions and long-term outlook in the market.” 

Doubling down on LNG is likely to expose Canadians to “more risk and volatility, not less, by linking Canada’s domestic natural gas markets to more volatile international LNG market,” Haig said. Many countries are already investing in safe, clean energy, he pointed out.

“When it comes to backing renewables or fossil fuels, let’s pick the horse that’s already ahead.” 

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

Summary

• The Rainbow, Jordan and Frisby valleys in British Columbia’s rare inland temperate rainforest are home to endangered species and ancient trees.
• Two logging companies hold licences to log in the old-growth valleys, while the government agency BC Timber Sales has operating areas there.
• A 2019 proposal to permanently protect 10,500 hectares in the three valleys as a provincial park has gained renewed interest as Revelstoke city council announced in February that it supports increased conservation of the critically endangered inland temperate rainforest.

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Toby Spribille trickles water onto a rare dark grey lichen that looks like a crumpled piece of paper someone set on fire and left to smoulder. It’s a bright summer day in the Rainbow Valley rainforest, in British Columbia’s southern interior. Sunbeams slant through ancient cedar trees as tall as 20-storey buildings. Moss unfurls across the forest floor like bright green shag carpet. But the small, shrivelled lichen on a stunted hemlock tree is what Spribille, a scientist, is eager to show us: smoker’s lung lichen. “It looks a little bit like the pictures on the warning packages of cigarettes,” he says with dark humour, noting the lung lichen is perfectly healthy even though it’s almost black.

As Spribille mimics rainy weather with his water bottle, the lichen begins to uncrumple, as if it’s waking up and stretching. Despite its name, smoker’s lung lichen thrives only when the air is pure. Spribille is amazed to find the lichen, which is at risk of extinction in Canada and other countries, so far south. He peers at the lichen’s underside: ashy black with irregular white polka dots. The specimen, he declares, is “utterly spectacular.”

Spribille, who teaches at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, is one of the world’s leading lichenologists. He’s tall and sturdy, with a greyish blonde ponytail, black-rimmed glasses and the authoritative enthusiasm of David Attenborough narrating a film. Late one night in 2017, Spribille had been surfing Google Earth the way some people binge Netflix. For hours, he searched for somewhere he could study lichens in B.C.’s globally rare inland temperate rainforest. Lying in scattered valleys in the Columbia and Rocky mountains, the rainforest is home to trees more than 1,000 years old and harbours an extraordinary diversity of species, including the world’s only deep-snow caribou. 

An inland temperate rainforest, far from the sea, is found only in three places on the planet: Russia’s far east, southern Siberia and British Columbia. The inland temperate rainforest in B.C. is home to endangered species and cedar trees more than 1,000 years old.

But all Spribille saw in valley after valley were checkerboards of logging clearcuts and fragments of forest too small to support many sensitive species.

Then his cursor landed on a dark green U-shaped valley about 40 kilometres north of Revelstoke, B.C., a resource and tourism town in the Columbia Mountains. As Spribille zoomed in, he saw the trees had conspicuously large crowns; he guessed they were cedars at least half a century old. Silvery streams meandered through the valley, which had no clearcuts and no roads. “Oh my word, this must be quite the valley,” he remembers thinking. “I just couldn’t believe it.” The valleys on each side, folded into the mountains like green origami, were also unlogged and unloaded, a rarity in a landscape fractured by decades of industrial forestry.

The discovery of three adjacent intact old-growth valleys has led to increasing calls to halt logging and protect the area once and for all. For Spribille and others, it’s clear the valleys are utterly unique.

When Spribille and other biologists took a small motor boat across the Revelstoke hydro-electric reservoir the following year and hiked into two of the valleys, Rainbow and Frisby, they found ancient forests so luxuriant they seemed to be from primeval times. Grove after grove of enormous red cedar trees stretched unbroken for kilometres. Seas of feathery ferns lapped at their waists. Supersized skunk cabbage leaves brushed their chests and thickets of spiky devil’s club towered over their heads.

On research trips to the Rainbow and Frisby valleys in B.C.’s rare inland temperate rainforest, Amber Peters and other biologists found habitat suitable for two dozen bird, reptile and mammal species at risk of extinction, including wolverine, grizzly bear, short-eared owl and western painted turtle.

Streams fed by mountain icefields cooled and moistened the valleys, boosting biological diversity. One mycologist found 112 species of mushrooms in the Frisby Valley — in just five hours. On a single trip, a botanist documented 49 species of mosses and 182 species of vascular plants. Biologists found habitat suitable for two dozen bird, reptile and mammal species at risk of extinction — wolverine, grizzly bear, short-eared owl and western painted turtle among them. 

Spribille and a colleague documented hundreds of lichen species, including rare and at-risk species with evocative names like Methuselah’s beard and cryptic paw. “We also found species new to science,” Spribille says. “They haven’t been named yet.”

Spribille’s latest research trip to the Rainbow Valley, in July 2023, was organized by the Valhalla Wilderness Society, a non-profit group that aims to protect Canada’s vanishing inland temperate rainforest and its wildlife. These incredibly rare rainforests grow far from the ocean and exist in only three places on the planet: Russia’s far east, southern Siberia and here, in British Columbia.

In 2019, Valhalla put together a proposal to permanently protect 10,500 hectares of rare and undisturbed ecosystems in the Rainbow Valley and adjacent Frisby and Jordan valleys as a provincial park. But the inland temperate rainforest valleys, which sit on Crown land, remain unprotected and are open to industrial logging.

The old-growth Rainbow, Frisby and Jordan valleys in B.C.’s rare inland temperate rainforest are unprotected and open to industrial logging. Valhalla Wilderness Society has put together a proposal to protect the valleys in a provincial park (outlined in green). Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

Two forestry companies, Downie Timber Ltd. and Stella-Jones Inc., hold operating licences in the valleys, according to the B.C. forests ministry. The provincial government agency BC Timber Sales, which manages about one-fifth of the province’s allowable cut, also has operating areas in the three valleys. 

Neither of the forestry companies responded to The Narwhal’s emails and phone calls, while the B.C. Forests Ministry says there are no plans for BC Timber Sales to log “at this time,” with both private and government-run operations currently avoiding harvesting here. 

But the ministry also says the province has not recommended the three valleys for park protection. That’s led to a renewed push to protect the area. 

“I cannot single-handedly influence British Columbia forest policy,” Spribille says, adding he doesn’t see that as his job as a scientist. “But one of the things I can do is highlight areas where there are jewels still intact.” The Rainbow and Frisby valleys are two such ecological gems, he says. “There’s no reason on earth why we should go in and log.”

Lichenologist Toby Spribille has studied the Rainbow and Frisby valleys and says there’s ‘no reason on earth’ to log them. Spribille and other scientists have found extraordinary biodiversity and species new to science in the valleys, which form part of B.C.’s disappearing inland temperate rainforest.

Spribille says it’s likely rare and endangered lichens, and possibly species new to science, will also be found in the Jordan Valley. Satellite imagery shows the Jordan Valley has the same attributes as Frisby and Rainbow; it’s cooled by icefields, has large tree tops indicative of ancient trees and is unlogged and almost entirely unroaded. But unlike Rainbow and Frisby, which scientists can easily hike into from the Revelstoke reservoir, the Jordan Valley’s old-growth inland temperate rainforest is hard to access.

While provincial support to protect the region remains elusive, Valhalla’s efforts were recently given a boost by Revelstoke city council, which passed a resolution in February pointing out the inland temperate rainforest is under-represented in protected area networks and saying it supports increased conservation efforts for the Rainbow-Jordan wilderness and the inland temperate rainforest. Ktunaxa Nation council also supports Valhalla’s proposal to protect the three valleys.

Biologist Amber Peters is working with Valhalla Wilderness Society to secure permanent protection for the Rainbow, Frisby and Jordan valleys in B.C.’s rare, old-growth inland temperate rainforest.

Revelstoke council noted local governments throughout B.C. “bear direct responsibility and expense for responding to the downstream impacts of deforestation,” acknowledging old-growth forests provide benefits like climate regulation and mitigation, fresh water and biodiversity conservation — and reduce the risk of hazards such as wildfires, flooding and landslides. At the annual Union of BC Municipalities meeting in September, Revelstoke will ask other municipalities to support increased protection for the Rainbow-Jordan wilderness and the inland temperate rainforest.

B.C. rainforest is home to world’s only deep-snow caribou 

A century ago, Canada was home to an estimated 1.3 million hectares of inland temperate rainforest. Today, less than five per cent of the core, old forest still stands. So little of the ancient rainforest remains that scientists and ecologists warn the ecosystem is close to collapse.

That collapse has already begun. The International Union for Conservation of Nature — the global authority on the status of the natural world and measures necessary to safeguard it — lists B.C.’s inland temperate rainforest as “critically endangered,” posing existential risks to wildlife. Biologists are building fake old-growth trees to save endangered rainforest bats, while pregnant deep-snow caribou are helicoptered to mountain-top pens until their newborn calves are old enough to stand a better chance of survival in the fractured landscape. 

B.C.’s deep-snow caribou get their name because in late winter they eat hair lichens they reach by splaying their feet to walk on top of metres-deep snow. But as Canada’s inland temperate rainforest has disappeared, so have the caribou that depend on the rainforest for shelter and food. “Not enough has been protected,” Amber Peters, a biologist who works for the Valhalla Wilderness Society, tells The Narwhal. Peters, who guides a reporter and photojournalist through the Rainbow Valley, has a no-nonsense attitude and an amiable yet commanding presence. She carries a can of bear spray clipped to the front of her backpack, near a two-way radio and an emergency satellite communication device.

Biologist Amber Peters from the Valhalla Wilderness Society is one of the scientists studying B.C.’s rare inland temperate rainforest.

As Peters picks her way through a patch of devil’s club toward a sun-splashed grove of giant cedars, she stoops and peers at something on the ground. “This is some scat that we just found and it looks like caribou poo,” she says as the rest of us catch up. “And that would be amazing.” She sets down her pack and pulls out a clear plastic bag, kneeling on the ground as she gingerly moves aside devil’s club stems lined with tiny spikes as sharp as needles. “It’s my most glamorous scat-collecting moment,” she jokes.

The scat, which resembles chocolate-covered almonds, is well-camouflaged among oat ferns, foam flowers, bunchberry and small clusters of brown needles shed by the cedars. It’s too old to show the grooves that indicate caribou scat; Peters will take it home and freeze it until genetic analysis can be done. “Why is this amazing?” she continues. “Because as far as we know, there are only six [animals] left in the Frisby-Boulder-Queest herd. So to find them in this park proposal area would be really important.” 

Biologist Amber Peters collects scat in the Rainbow Valley that could be from endangered caribou.

Frisby Valley is lush with vegetation and has many old-growth trees.

Eight deep-snow caribou herds in southeast B.C. have winked out over the past 20 years, including the Frisby-Boulder-Queest herd, which biologists say is too small to survive. The remaining ten herds are on the cusp of extinction.

“A major part of this ecosystem is the deep-snow mountain caribou, which we have nowhere else on earth,” Peters says. “And these animals are showing us what’s happening to the ecosystem with their decline. That’s why we call them an indicator species, or a canary in a coal mine.”

When the group takes a lunch break, Valhalla cofounder and co-director Craig Pettitt lies back contentedly next to an enormous cedar tree, half-hidden by ferns. The vegetation is so dense it muffles sounds; the fluting song of a nearby Swainson’s thrush seems very far away. Pettitt, a former parks ranger, wildland firefighter and ski-touring company owner, has seen large swaths of ancient cedar trees clearcut in the inland temperate rainforest, including in critical habitat for deep-snow caribou herds. “The whole past philosophy has been to cut them all down because they aren’t worth anything for lumber,” he says, referring to old cedars that are often hollow. 

Craig Pettitt, a cofounder and co-director of the Valhalla Wilderness Society, says the B.C. government doesn’t focus enough on protecting wildlife and species diversity.

The cedars, which are often used for fence posts and garden mulch, make excellent wildlife habitat when they are left standing or topple over from age or in a windstorm. Bears den in their root bowls, bats roost in crevices in thick, sloughing bark and birds nest in their foliage. When the cedars fall, they become bridges across streams and creeks for animals like bears and bobcats, as well as nurse logs that create microhabitats for insects and plants. Pettitt says the B.C. government’s primary focus on lumber values doesn’t take wildlife into account. “They don’t look at species diversity.”

Logging isn’t imminent, but clear protection plans aren’t either: government  

Despite the BC NDP government’s promise to safeguard old-growth forests at the highest risk of biodiversity loss, Peters says the government’s response to Valhalla’s park proposal has been lukewarm at best. Last September, Peters, Pettitt and two other Valhalla representatives met with B.C. Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Randene Neill and other government representatives. 

Peters says Neill told them to contact B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar to discuss the park proposal, and that they tried, twice, but were first deferred then ignored. In an emailed response to questions, the Forests Ministry says it is aware of Valhalla’s “rich and unique” proposal for a provincial park and values the group’s work in identifying, mapping and researching the region. The ministry says it looks forward to engaging and partnering with First Nations and other governments and “working with all.” It notes the province has not recommended the three valleys for provincial park protection, saying the government looks forward to engaging and partnering with First Nations and other governments and “working with all” to explore conservation opportunities “as they arise.”

The Sinixt, Ktunaxa, Okanagan (Syilx) and Secwépemc all consider parts of the Rainbow, Frisby and Jordan their territories. “Because of these very complex overlapping First Nations territory claims, we leave that to government-to-government negotiations to resolve,” Peters says. “Our role is to bring the ecological significance of the area to the public.”

A creek fed by mountain ice fields cools the Rainbow Valley in the inland temperate rainforest.

Fallen trees give rise to new life in the old-growth Frisby Valley.

In an emailed statement, Ktunaxa Nation council notes Valhalla’s park proposal aligns with the recommendations of B.C.’s old-growth strategic review, saying “conserving rare, old-growth ecosystems is essential to ensure ʔa·kxam̓is q̓api qapsin (all living things) continue to thrive in ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa for generations to come.” Marilyn James, Autonomous Sinixt Smum iem matriarch, says protection “is mandatory to study and preserve what these ancient forests have yet to reveal.” James points to the value of the three valleys for old-growth forests, at-risk species and species new to science. “These are areas that need to be preserved, that are the very root and foundation of not only creating corridors, but critical habitat for very threatened, red-listed species,” she says in an interview.

Jarred-Michael Erickson, chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Sinixt Confederacy, says he will need to have a conversation with his full council before deciding whether to support protection for the three valleys, adding the tribes “tend to support” initiatives to protect caribou and the inland temperate rainforest. The Sinixt Confederacy was created by the confederated tribes following a landmark court decision recognizing the tribes’ rights in Canada. (The Narwhal also reached out to Okanagan and Secwépemc nations, which were not able to respond before publication time.) 

The Rainbow-Jordan wilderness park proposal is one of three park proposals Valhalla has developed to protect important areas of the inland rainforest that remain open to industrial logging and other development. “We’re focusing on the richest remnants that are still intact of this very rare ecosystem type,” Peters explains, “but also on creating landscape connectivity and including these valley bottom, very old and ancient inland temperate rainforests which have almost totally been left out of our parks system.”

The old-growth Rainbow Valley, sitting below mountain ice fields, is still intact. Logging is inching closer to the valley.

Although the B.C. government worked with Valhalla and First Nations to create a large conservancy about 50 kilometres southeast in 2023, that’s not enough to prevent ecosystem collapse, according to Peters and other biologists. The Rainbow, Frisby and Jordan valleys are especially valuable because they represent intact and connected ecosystems, from mountain top to valley bottom, making the area more resilient to the impacts of climate change, Peters says. “There are really steep mountainous areas that mean that you don’t get really hot, beating sun in the valleys. And so they’re cooler, and they maintain a deep snow pack later in the year, and they maintain moisture. They’re incredibly important.” 

In an emailed response to questions, the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says voluntary old-growth logging deferrals in the valleys “are not permanent protections” and additional planning work is underway to develop long-term solutions. The Rainbow-Jordan park proposal and Valhalla’s other two park proposals are not currently recommended for protections but “may be considered as part of future recommendations,” the ministry says. The ministry also points to a collaborative habitat planning initiative for caribou that includes parts of the inland temperate rainforest. The initiative seeks to identify habitats that could benefit from increased conservation efforts, “ranging from improved management to protection,” the ministry says, noting specific areas have not yet been identified.

Rare and endangered lichens found in three unlogged sister valleys 

Back in the Rainbow Valley, Spribille bounds from lichen to lichen and plant to plant, peering at the lichens through a magnifying lens with an LED light that hangs from his neck on a lanyard. He stops near a shiny, four-leafed plant and announces he’s just found a plant that hasn’t previously been documented in the Frisby and Rainbow valleys. The plant, a herb commonly known as boreal bedstraw or northern wild licorice, is a species of concern in B.C. Until that moment, Spribille says the southernmost known locality of the plant was the Seymour Valley, some 60 kilometres away. 

He pulls out a hammer and chisel from his pack and crouches down beside a large boulder with a thick overcoat of vibrant green mosses. A bare patch of the rock looks like it’s covered in small black dots. With the magnifying glass, Spribille sees “a world of its own,” which he later describes as a “miniature landscape of tiny mosses and lichens that have their own peaks and valleys and fruiting features and a thousand different hues of green.” He chips off a small piece and pops it into one of the brown paper lunch bags he carries for samples, labelling it with the GPS coordinates.

Lichenologist Toby Spribille uses a hammer and chisel to chip off a piece of rock with lichen growing on it in the Rainbow Valley. He will take the sample back to his lab to study.

Then Spribille’s eye lands on a cluster of orange tufts on the rock. Magnified, they look like the tops of truffula trees from the Dr. Seuss book The Lorax. The tufts aren’t rare, and they aren’t lichens, Spribille explains. They’re a special group of algae called trentepohlia, or golden hair. Their genomes and the way they replicate DNA — “some of the very basic stuff about how they do life” — is unusual, Spribille says. “They’ve got very, very strange biology.” The golden hairs can photosynthesize — converting sunlight into energy — but they can also feed themselves by breaking down decaying organic matter, the way fungi and bacteria do. No one has ever been able to sequence or annotate their genomes. Spribille chips off a sample to bring back for one of his students to study.

On earlier research expeditions in the Frisby Valley, Spribille found rare greater green moon lichen — which depends on old-growth forests with pristine air quality — and cryptic paw lichen, a federally threatened species strongly associated with old-growth cedar and hemlock forests. Cryptic paw, which has fruiting bodies that face downward like the pads of a dog’s paw, is part of a group of species mostly found in rainforests in the southern hemisphere. In Canada, it grows only in B.C.

In the Frisby Valley, hiking near waterfalls that divide the upper and lower parts of the valley, Spribille and a colleague were stunned to see large colonies of Methuselah’s beard lichen, also known as old man’s beard. The pale green lichen, which drapes from tree branches and shrubs like Christmas tinsel, is threatened or lost from most of its historic range. Only small fragments had previously been found anywhere in the inland temperate rainforest.

Coral lichens are abundant in part of the Frisby Valley rainforest.

Lichens and mosses are plentiful in B.C.’s rare inland temperate rainforest.

After spending time in the Rainbow and Frisby valleys, Spribille sometimes reflects on the 15 years he lived in Europe, where many ancient forests have disappeared. Germany’s Black Forest has become a mythological place, even though many of its habitats are gone. “I went to places that they considered their trophy remaining old-growth forests and they’re so sad. They have been completely, in some cases, reduced to very small, postage stamp sizes, or with the superimposing pollution on them they’ve lost all their lichens of any kind of conservation significance.”

British Columbia still has a chance to protect old-growth rainforests and rare habitats and lichens with conservation significance, Spribille says. He believes there might be species new to science in the three valleys that biologists haven’t had a chance to see. What they’ve found so far on brief research trips continues to astound and excite him. “I feel it’s our responsibility to report back to society about what the public needs to know.”

Without pausing for breath, he says, “there’s some stuff on that rock that I’m gonna grab real quick,” and dashes off.

Updated on March. 3, 2026, at 12:52 p.m. PT: This story has been updated to correct an error in a photo caption that misidentified Valhalla’s cofounder and co-director. He is Craig Pettitt not Craig Peters.

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B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix says he isn’t ruling out building more hydro dams to provide electricity as demand soars, including from industries like liquefied natural gas (LNG) and mining. 

In an interview with The Narwhal, Dix said he is confident B.C. can meet the challenge of electrifying emissions-heavy industries and a huge anticipated demand for electricity from other BC Hydro customers.

Dix said the cost of building solar and wind projects is coming down and there are potential opportunities to generate power from geothermal and hydrogen.

“We have the opportunity to make this happen here because we’ve got the backbone of the hydro system,” he said. “I don’t exclude looking at other dams as well in B.C. to create this sort of battery for that as well.”

Dix’s comments come as the $16-billion Site C dam project nears completion on B.C.’s Peace River, following huge cost overruns, delays and legal challenges from First Nations. Once the publicly funded dam is fully operational later this year, a decade after construction began, it will be capable of generating up to about 1,200 megawatts of electricity, boosting BC Hydro’s power supply by about eight per cent.

However, if Phase 2 of LNG Canada’s liquefied natural gas facility near Kitimat, B.C., moves forward and powers its operations with electricity — rather than natural gas — it would eat up about half of the Site C dam’s capacity. Government documents obtained by The Narwhal via freedom of information legislation show the facility estimated in March 2024 that it would need 585 megawatts to reduce Phase 2 carbon emissions to comply with B.C.’s climate targets. 

Megaprojects could eat up B.C.’s electricity supply. Here’s what you need to know

Adding two more LNG facilities planned for B.C.’s north coast — Ksi Lisims LNG and Cedar LNG — to the provincial power grid, along with LNG Canada Phase 2, would require a total of 1,400 megawatts of electricity, the documents show.

In an emailed response to questions, BC Hydro spokesperson Mora Scott said, “At this time, BC Hydro has no plans to build another dam.” Scott directed The Narwhal to BC Hydro’s 2021 list of new supply options. Those included wind, solar, geothermal, natural gas, run-of-river hydro, biomass and small storage hydro projects.

The Narwhal reached out to the Energy Ministry to seek clarification about Dix’s comments but did not receive a response.

B.C. shelved 10 potential hydro projects following 2010 Clean Energy Act

Over the years, B.C. has considered building more hydro dams, including on the Peace and Liard rivers in the province’s north.

But potential plans for more dams were shelved in 2010 when the previous B.C. Liberal government passed the Clean Energy Act around the same time it announced its intention to proceed with the Site C dam. 

The Clean Energy Act stripped the BC Utilities Commission of its watchdog role to determine whether building the Site C dam was in the public’s financial interest. The act also prohibited building about ten other potential hydro dams, including a fourth dam on the Peace River, a dam on the Liard River and dams on the Iskut and Homathko rivers.

B.C.’s decision to pull back from dam building followed a report from the World Commission on Dams, which studied hydro projects around the world for the World Bank. The commission found hydro dams emitted greenhouse gases, had huge social, environmental and economic impacts and disproportionately affected Indigenous Peoples.

The Site C dam flooded 128 kilometres of the Peace River Valley (shown prior to flooding) and its tributaries in Treaty 8 territory. Photo: Don Hoffmann

The Site C dam flooded 128 kilometres of the Peace River and its tributaries, destroying some of Canada’s best farmland, habitat for more than 100 species at risk of extinction, culturally important sites for Treaty 8 First Nations and Indigenous hunting, fishing and trapping grounds. 

Dams on the Columbia River in the province’s southeast also inundated prime agricultural land, destroyed salmon runs and displaced First Nations, among many other impacts. 

B.C. may add more generating capacity to the Revelstoke dam: Dix

B.C. also has other options for adding additional power to the grid, including reclaiming power it sends to the U.S. as part of the Columbia River Treaty. 

The 61-year-old treaty regulates flood control, electricity generation, water flows and salmon restoration in the Columbia River basin on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. After years of discussions, Canada and the U.S. announced an agreement in principle on a revamped treaty last July, but the changes were not finalized before U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January. Trump suspended negotiations in March, leaving the future of the treaty in limbo.

The B.C. government also recently approved nine new wind projects and a solar project.

Dix said the province is “strongly looking at” augmenting the capacity of the Revelstoke dam in B.C.’s southeast.

B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix says the province is looking at adding a sixth generating unit to the Revelstoke dam in the province’s southeast. Photo: Province of B.C. / ​​Flickr

The Revelstoke dam currently supplies about 15 per cent of the electricity BC Hydro generates each year and there is room to add a sixth generating unit to the dam, which was completed in 1984. The addition would add about 500 megawatts of electricity to BC Hydro’s supply and take about three years to complete, BC Hydro has estimated. 

The Revelstoke 6 project, as it’s known, received an environmental assessment certificate in 2018 but BC Hydro suspended the project indefinitely in 2022. At the time, BC Hydro was “not forecasting a need for a sixth generating unit at Revelstoke dam over the next 20 years,” a BC Hydro spokesperson said in 2022 when the project was suspended.

Dix said having abundant hydro power makes renewable energy projects more attractive for the province because it provides a backstop. 

“Here in B.C., we have a great hydro system to build on, and that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges and there are choices to make about that,” Dix told The Narwhal. “But it’s a chance to build our economy.” 

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In mid-February, B.C.’s northeast was shaken by a series of earthquakes that both the province’s energy regulator and Natural Resources Canada say were linked to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas. 

To release oil or gas from rock formations deep underground, companies blast a mix of water, chemicals and sand into the earth, a process that can sometimes trigger earthquakes.

Honn Kao is a seismologist, or earthquake scientist, who leads a Natural Resources Canada research project on “induced seismicity,” which refers to earthquakes caused by human activities. He says the whole point of hydraulic fracturing is to cause very, very small earthquakes, known as microseismicity, to fracture rock and release gas. “That is totally normal, because that’s the purpose of it.” 

“It is not a particular surprise to see induced earthquakes that happened in the area where you have a lot of hydraulic fracturing operations or wastewater disposal injections,” Kao says in an interview. The two, he says, “usually go hand in hand.”

Six earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or higher struck northeast B.C. from Feb. 8 to Feb. 13 local time. Source: Natural Resources Canada earthquake database. Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

Naturally occurring earthquakes happen when underground rock suddenly breaks and there is motion along a fault. The sudden release of energy causes seismic waves that shake the ground. 

When fracking fluids are injected into the earth’s subsurface at high pressure, they sometimes cause faults to slip earlier than they would naturally, inducing an earthquake, Kao explains. “So quite often [when] you have an increased level of hydraulic fracturing operation in the region, then the level of seismicity becomes larger, higher as well.” 

But that doesn’t necessarily mean bigger earthquakes will occur. The vast majority, Kao says, are “small events that can be located or detected by seismometres, but not necessarily felt by local residents.” 

The issue, Kao says, is when earthquakes are large enough to be felt in nearby communities. “That means the energy released by the earthquake is way bigger than the energy that we input through fluids.” The implication, he says, is that it must have triggered a fault where energy is already building up for an earthquake … “and you just simply make it happen earlier.” 

And that has long concerned local residents, from ranchers to people worried about their well-being and drinking water. Some northeast B.C. residents affected by fracking can no longer get earthquake insurance. 

How do experts determine if an earthquake was caused by fracking?

Determining if an earthquake is induced by fracking requires investigation and research that includes examining the rock properties where the earthquake occurred and the injection history for nearby fracking operations, Kao explains. An earthquake is generally deemed to be induced if it occurs near an active fracking injection operation, he says.

Injection operations take place at relatively shallow depths, while many natural earthquakes occur at deeper depths. “Generally speaking, most of the induced earthquakes occur at or slightly above the injection depths.” But sometimes they are deeper, so seismologists have to examine different factors to infer whether a quake is caused by industrial activity. 

Induced earthquakes usually occur in clusters, like the February earthquakes in B.C.’s northeast, Kao adds. “Once the hydraulic fracturing operations finish, they die down very quickly.”

The BC Energy Regulator requires any fracking operations that trigger an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater to immediately suspend operations. In an emailed response to questions, the regulator said the operations may continue with written permission “once the well permit holder has submitted operational changes satisfactory to the BC Energy Regulator to reduce or eliminate the initiation of additional induced seismic events.”

Do fracking earthquakes cause damage?

Kao says B.C. hasn’t experienced induced earthquakes large enough to cause significant damage to buildings or infrastructure. Most earthquakes causing damage to buildings and infrastructure have a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter scale or higher, Kao explains. 

A cattle ranch in northeast B.C. reported the birth of twice as many calves as expected in the two days after a series of fracking-induced earthquakes in mid-February.

That doesn’t mean smaller earthquakes can’t have impacts. A B.C. family says a 4.3 earthquake on Feb. 11 precipitated a rush of calf births on its ranch, including premature twins, and the loss of most of their main water supply. While the quake may not have caused damage to buildings and infrastructure, Kao says “it certainly is a warning sign.” 

He says it’s important to make sure a robust regulatory framework is in place that will prevent fracking-induced earthquakes from becoming large enough to cause significant damage in the community. “I think that is really the ultimate balance we want to achieve between public [safety and concerns] and the economic benefit of the industrial activity.”

The regulatory framework appeared to be working in the case of the February earthquakes he says, because they died down once the fracking operations responsible ceased.

Can fracking companies prevent earthquakes from happening?

Fracking companies can take steps to prevent earthquakes by controlling the number of injection wells or the volume of injected fluids. If an earthquake occurs, Kao says the operator can immediately change the injection pattern by reducing the injection rate, “or even completely shut down their injection operation.” 

Kao and other researchers are studying the spate of February earthquakes in northeast B.C. 

“We want to figure out why it happened, what we have missed, what kind of sign can we actually see beforehand? And hopefully we’ll build that into the regulatory framework, so that we can prevent these kinds of things … in the future.”

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Rancher Matt Hedges was trying to catch a few hours of sleep during calving season in mid February when an earthquake rattled his home on Dead Horse Creek Ranch in northeast British Columbia.

“The whole house just started to shake, the pictures, windows, the mirrors and everything,” he says. It felt like a large truck was rumbling past, even though the Alaska Highway is nine kilometres away from the ranch where his parents Marilyn and Bill have lived for more than 40 years, and where Matt grew up and also works. 

The ranch’s 300 cattle were “all in a dither” after the quake struck at eight minutes to midnight. Matt stayed on his feet most of the night as cows went into labour and the temperature dropped below -30 C. “That night, we got a whole pile of calves, and some were premature.” 

The Feb. 11 earthquake was 4.3 on the Richter scale, according to Natural Resources Canada, and felt across a wide area. It was followed by another quake less than two hours later, with a magnitude of 3.8. Matt was so busy hauling damp newborn calves into the barn to keep them warm, taking extra care not to upset their “riled up” mothers, that he didn’t even feel the second one.

In the hours following the earthquakes, the spring that supplies drinking water for the cows and the main ranch house slowed to less than a quarter of its regular flow. 

“We’ll see whether this water comes back,” Matt says in an interview with The Narwhal. “We might need a new water spring there. If suddenly we’re out of water, then we’ve got to spend a bunch of money developing it again, right? … Personally, I’m really fed up with basically the whole oil patch, everything to do with it.”

Following the 4.3 magnitude earthquake in northeast B.C. on Feb. 11, more calves than expected were born on Dead Horse Creek Ranch, including premature twins. The ranch also lost most of its main water supply from a nearby spring.

According to an email from the BC Energy Regulator, the two earthquakes in the Peace Region were caused by hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, for natural gas by Tourmaline Oil, Canada’s largest gas producer. To release the gas from rock formations deep underground, fracking companies blast a mix of water, chemicals and sand into the earth, a process that can sometimes trigger earthquakes.

How the pursuit of oil and gas — by fracking — causes earthquakes

The two earthquakes were bookended over a five-day period by four other earthquakes in the region, each measuring 3.0 or higher on the Richter scale, as well as nine smaller quakes. All are “suspected industry-related” events, according to Natural Resources Canada’s earthquake database.

Six earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or higher struck northeast B.C. from Feb. 8 to Feb. 13 local time. Source: Natural Resources Canada earthquake database. Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

As northeast B.C. gears up for a fracking boom to supply new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities, Hedges and his family have unwittingly found themselves at the epicentre of growing friction between the ranching and oil and gas industries. Some northeast B.C. residents affected by fracking can no longer get earthquake insurance, while others worry about potential health impacts, contaminated water supplies and incursions on their land. February’s spate of earthquakes has escalated their worries and underlying stress. 

Ranchers across western Canada also worry about the health of their cattle, and potentially losing their livelihoods. Alberta farmers told a University of Alberta researcher that fracking-induced earthquakes have led to “sick and dying cattle, stillborn calf births and reduced reproduction rates.

Animal behaviour experts also say earthquakes can cause stress and premature births — as they seemingly did on the Hedges’ ranch.

Rancher Matt Hedges compares the size of a premature calf, born after a fracking-induced earthquake, to normal sized calf.

Forty calves were born on the ranch in the two days following the Feb. 11 earthquake, as two other earthquakes struck, up to double the number expected during that time. 

One cow delivered twins born approximately two weeks early. “They’re just tiny little things but they seem to be doing alright,” Matt’s brother Bo says in an interview. “But it does take more time when you have little, little premature calves that need a bit more attention. And then when you have everything else going on with the herd at this moment in time, it just strains everything that much more.”

Ranchers and animal experts say oil and gas operations put cattle at risk 

The BC Energy Regulator, which oversees oil and gas operations in the province, orders fracking companies to suspend operations if they are known to have triggered an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater. In an email, the energy regulator confirmed Tourmaline Oil, the company the regulator said was responsible for the two earthquakes that preceded the Hedges’ water woes, suspended the fracking operations in question. Tourmaline did not respond to an interview request sent via email, or a voicemail message left at the company’s regional office in Fort St. John, B.C., about an hour’s drive from the Hedges’ ranch.

The regulator also said it is working closely with researchers, including at Natural Resources Canada, to enhance induced seismicity regulations for the fracking industry.

But that’s cold comfort for the Hedges, who say they have spent $50,000 in time and other expenses over the past several years trying to protect their cattle from the impacts of nearby oil and gas operations carried out by different companies.

The Hedges, who have ranched in northeast B.C. for more than 40 years, are worried about the impacts on their cattle from nearby oil and gas operations, including fracking.

Late last year, the family’s fears about the future of the Dead Horse Creek Cattle Company escalated when Bill and Marilyn, who are in their 80s, received notice from Calgary-based oil and gas company Yoho Resources that fracking will soon take place immediately adjacent to their ranch. The main fracking well pad will be about two kilometres away from the ranch houses, next to the property. Because private property owners in B.C. don’t own the rights to minerals and oil and gas under their land, drilling could occur beneath the Hedges’ ranch. 

This past week, with their water supply still affected by the quakes, the Hedges had no option but to put up with Yoho’s preparatory drilling. (Yoho did not respond to an email from The Narwhal.)

Matt worries the cattle, which number about 600 in the summer, will be unsettled by the nearby drilling and fracking, affecting their fertility. “If it’s during our breeding season, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

He says a different fracking company induced an earthquake last spring, “and it really screwed up our breeding program with the heifers. It stirred them up so bad. I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

In the two days after a series of fracking-induced earthquakes in mid-February, almost twice as many calves as expected during that time period were born on the Hedges’ ranch in northeast B.C.

Ronaldo Cerri, a professor in animal reproduction at the University of British Columbia, says the correlation between stress in cows and calving is documented. “Even the physiological process by which cows deliver the baby starts with an internal stress, a stress from the baby that communicates with the mother and the calving process starts,” Cerri says in an interview. “So if you do start having things around that causes stress, you can actually have premature deliveries.” 

He says it makes sense for animals to be stressed by earthquakes. “If there are earthquakes around, they will be stressed. They will be more restless. …. That’s not normal for them. These are routine animals. So anything that gets them away from that state, that will cause stress to them, and then that could possibly trigger calvings.”

The earthquakes are only part of the Hedge family’s mounting issues with the fracking industry. About three years ago, fracking started on and around the Crown grazing lands the family has leased from the province for the past 40 years. Companies built pipelines and access roads across a swampland and creek that had functioned as a natural barrier for the family’s cattle. 

Cows will be cows, and the Dead Horse Creek Ranch bovines wandered away from their grazing lands. Bo says the family has experienced “a ton of stress” over it. Last summer, the Hedges found about 100 cows and calves less than 1.6 kilometres from the former natural barrier. The summer before, cattle were found grazing on the verge of the busy Alaska Highway multiple times, where they posed a threat to motorists and traffic made it dangerous to round them up on horseback, Matt says. 

The Hedges had to move cows to new pens after their ranch’s main water supply slowed to a trickle following two of the mid February earthquakes.

While fracking operations on the Crown grazing range are fenced, Bo says, the loss of the natural barrier means cows can also access unfenced fracking operations on nearby land. 

“Our cattle get in there and they can drink whatever crap has been left around,” Bo says. In recent years, he says, calves have occasionally been born with deformities — the brothers say this year’s calves included a dwarf, who lived only a few days, and others born with genitalia “oddities.”

After the Hedges complained to the BC Energy Regulator about the loss of the natural barrier, Bo says they were drawn into a frustrating and time-consuming process that’s already lasted more than a year without resolving the issue.

The energy regulator ordered the three fracking companies involved to each build part of a 2.8-kilometre fence — with gaps between each company’s section. But the Hedges say they need an unbroken 6.4-kilometre fence to protect cattle from the highway and unfenced fracking operations.

The shorter fence was finally built last August, but Bo says it won’t help. “The cattle will hit those lines, walk along, come to the end of the fence and just walk around those fence lines to the end of the fence and continue on. It doesn’t really do anything.” 

The Hedges family says the BC Energy Regulator’s response to their concerns about the impact of nearby fracking operations has been inadequate.

In late August 2024, almost a year after the Hedges first asked the regulator for help with the fence, the brothers expressed their frustration in a letter, recently seen by the Narwhal. 

“We are tired of subsidizing the BC Energy Regulator and oil and gas companies involved with our time, money and resources to try to solve a problem that falls under the job description of the BC Energy Regulator and is the responsibility of the companies involved,” Matt and Bo wrote, restating that the shorter fence with gaps would not keep cattle away from either the highway or nearby unprotected oil and gas facilities. 

In response to the family’s frustrations, Patrick Smook, vice-president of compliance and operations for the regulator, told Matt to stop emailing and phoning regulator staff in a November letter reviewed by The Narwhal. Smook told Matt to instead send an email to a general community engagement address, and to call the regulator’s emergency line to report incidents or complaints.

That doesn’t sit well with the Hedges.

Bo doesn’t dispute that his family has called and emailed the regulator a lot. But their repeated attempts to make contact were because they were “worried about the public, worried about our safety, worried about our animals,” he says, and kept waiting for updates on whether companies would be directed to build a sufficient fence. 

The Hedges lost a natural barrier on Crown grazing land they lease, due to oil and gas activity, and are frustrated by the BC Energy Regulator’s decision that oil and gas companies only have to build a partial fence — with gaps — to compensate.

“They may feel that they were being badgered by us, but if they had only picked up the phone or only answered the email and given us an update of what was going on, then we would have known where they were at with things,” Bo says. “It’s really hard for us to understand how a government agency that’s supposed to be regulating the oil and gas companies can not engage with the public.” 

The only options the Hedges have now, he says, are to spend about $60,000 to build the rest of the fence, or to fight deep-pocketed oil and gas companies in the courts, an option Bo says could end up being even more expensive.

The family’s herd of reddish Simmental and Simmental cross cattle are normally “pretty quiet animals,” Bo says. But they’ve been “a little worked up” since this month’s earthquakes.

“Some of the cows that you would never think would be a little ‘heads up’ are pretty restless right now,” he says. People working with them “have to be that much more wary and cautious.” 

Researchers studying how to mitigate fracking-induced earthquakes 

Bo, who felt the biggest earthquake in his apartment in Fort St. John, says he was surprised to hear on a local radio station that the recent earthquakes hadn’t caused any damage. “I have no idea why the BC Energy Regulator would downplay the effect and the potential impact that it would have.” 

In an emailed response to questions from The Narwhal, the BC Energy Regulator said it is “committed to reviewing and following up on complaints and concerns.” The regulator also said it can’t comment “on the issue of liability in the unlikely event of damages caused by an induced seismicity event.” The regulator, a government agency largely funded by the oil and gas industry, said such questions “are best directed to the province” — but the B.C. Energy Ministry didn’t respond to The Narwhal’s questions.

Dead Horse Creek Ranch has been raising cattle for more than 40 years.

Dead Horse Creek Ranch has about 300 head of cattle, not including calves.

Responding to a question about potential future earthquakes from increased fracking in the region, the regulator’s email said it requires companies to suspend injection activities if they cause an earthquake of 4.0 magnitude or greater. Operations can resume, however, the regulator noted in a separate email, with written permission — “once the well permit holder has submitted operational changes satisfactory to the BC Energy Regulator to reduce or eliminate the initiation of additional induced seismic events.”

The regulator also said approval orders are required for each fracking disposal well, “all of which operate under strict pressure and reporting conditions.” 

The regulator said it maintains a seismic monitoring network of 35 stations positioned near energy resource activities and has collaborated with seismologists to define a local magnitude calculation for northeast B.C. that reflects the region’s geology (as a result, the regulator’s calculation of earthquake magnitudes frequently differs from Natural Resources Canada’s). It also pointed to its partnership with Geoscience BC and the BC Oil and Gas Research and Innovation Society to research induced earthquakes and provide analysis used to regulate fracking activities.

With fracking operations poised to begin adjacent to the Hedges’ ranch, the family is more worried than ever about earthquakes and other impacts on their cattle. Bo says it shouldn’t be up to affected ranchers and others to “have to negotiate and fight and go through the court system to get the oil patch to fix [what’s wrong].” 

The Hedges’ most immediate worry is their greatly diminished water supply. When Marilyn and Bill bought the land for their ranch almost 50 years ago, they built their log house and cattle corralls near a naturally occurring spring that runs out of a nearby hillside. 

Following two fracking-induced earthquakes in mid February, the spring that supplies the Hedges’ house and cattle with water slowed to less than a quarter of its regular flow.

The spring fills the water tank that supplies the house, while the overflow goes into a trough for cattle to drink. The trough overflow is channeled into a dugout where it’s kept for emergencies, like a fire. From the dugout, the spring water flows into Dead Horse Creek, ebbing and flowing at different times of the year. 

Since the earthquakes, “there’s barely enough water for the house,” Bo says. And the Hedges have had to move their cattle from a corrall whose drinking trough relied on the spring “because there’s not enough water … whether that water system comes back to where it was or not remains to be seen.” 

He says the family is in discussions with Tourmaline Oil to see “how they can help us mitigate some of the impact,” adding, “We will see what comes of that.”

Bo says it’s often possible to work something out with oil and gas companies for small things. “But when you’re starting to talk about a water source that allows a ranch to function and that sort of thing,” he believes oil and gas companies are going to question how much money they’re willing to spend. “They try to keep you a little bit happy and throw you some breadcrumbs here and there, but they’re in to make money for themselves.” 

“And I get that that’s business, right? But when their business starts to drastically affect and change the livelihood of other businesses and people in the community, that’s where it starts to cross the line.”

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Photojournalists provide us an essential glimpse into lives outside of our own.

In a time of generative AI and a deluge of images of anything we can imagine, photojournalists ground us firmly in reality. They are by nature always out in communities — there is no work-from-home option for a photojournalism assignment — and documenting real peoples’ lived experiences.

Here, B.C. bureau lead Sarah Cox and senior editor Michelle Cyca tell us a little bit about their favourite photos from The Narwhal’s 2024 reporting in British Columbia. Their choices span the province and beyond — and highlight some of our best on-the-ground work of the year.

The healing power of fire

Fire ecologist Kira Hoffman worked for years with Gitanyow leaders and the BC Wildfire Service to support the Indigenous fire stewardship program. Photos: Marty Clemens / The Narwhal

Northwest B.C. reporter Matt Simmons is keenly interested in stories that point to solutions to seemingly intractable issues, including the increasingly frequent and intense wildfires sparked by climate change. This spring, Matt headed out into Gitanyow territory with photographer Marty Clemens to witness a cultural burn.

As Matt tells us in a poignant feature about using fire to heal the land, bringing back ancient Indigenous fire practices helps restore cultural connections, strengthen communities and mitigate the wildfires that are darkening the skies of our collective summers.

Participants in a cultural burn on Gitanyow territory used drip torches to carefully set fire to the landscape. Photo: Marty Clemens / The Narwhal

When wildfire threatens your home

Rik Valentine, co-founder of the Argenta fire crew, speaks on his radio while observing the Argenta Creek wildfire in July, 2024 Photo: Louis Bockner

We were in the thick of another unnerving wildfire season in B.C. when audience engagement editor Karan Saxena spotted a post on Instagram. “On Wednesday night, a massive lightning storm rolled across the West Kootenays, lighting up the darkness and setting dry hillsides ablaze,” photographer Louis Bockner wrote in July.

Hans Winter is a member of the Argenta fire crew that sprang to action after a fire started on the mountainside above the remote community in B.C.’s Kootenay region. Photos: Louis Bockner

Louis, who lives in the small community of Argenta, B.C., had awoken to find several fires burning on the mountain directly above his community. “It’s something many of us have been waiting for, knowing it as an inevitable reality of living so intimately with the forests we love so dearly,” Louis said. “It’s also something that we have prepared for.”

Rik Valentine co-founded the Argenta fire crew out of necessity. After practising together for more than 10 years, wildfires sparked by lightning put the team to the test. Photo: Louis Bockner

We reached out to Louis, a volunteer firefighter, and asked if he would write a photo essay. Argenta was evacuated as the fire moved closer, threatening the homes of Louis and his neighbours. In between long and fraught shifts fighting the fire and snatching a few hours of sleep here and there, Louis managed to capture the angst and grief of living with wildfire and the moment-by-moment scene unfolding in Argenta as residents worked tirelessly with the BC Wildfire Service to protect their community. Louis’s photographs, shot amid eerie red skies and menacing smoke, are a testament to the power of collective action as we grapple with the disquieting impacts of climate change.

Bringing balance back to the plains

A Buffalo bull stands with a beard full of agrimony seeds. Photo: Kayla MacInnis / The Narwhal

Glimpsed less often on our site than caribou or salmon, buffalo are both ecologically and culturally irreplaceable to the Indigenous nations of the plains. After being driven to the brink of extinction in an effort to starve and relocate Indigenous communities, buffalo herds (paskwâwi-mostoswak in Cree) are finally returning to the grasslands and healing the landscape through their vital presence, as documented in this beautiful and deeply personal story by Métis photojournalist Kayla MacInnis. 

Decades after they were nearly wiped out in an effort to starve the Indigenous nations of the plains, Buffalo herds are returning to the grasslands. Photo: Kayla MacInnis / The Narwhal

Kayla travelled through British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana to report this story; on her travels, she learned that many of these prairie highways are palimpsests of the original trails tamped down by migrating buffalo.

A buffalo herd grazes in the mixed grass prairie grassland at Elk Island National Park, surrounded by smooth blue aster and goldenrod. Photo: Kayla MacInnis / The Narwhal

The summer air was choked with wildfire smoke, which required Kayla to adjust her plans on the fly, and she called midway through the trip, worried about the quality of the photos she was getting. In the end, the wildfire haze made many of her images even more hauntingly beautiful — a reminder of how fragile and imperilled our natural world is, and how vital the task of caring for our homelands. 

Bison on the move

The Nordquist bison herd has made a home for itself along the Alaska Highway in northern B.C. Photo: Geoffrey Reynaud

Thousands of animals are struck and injured, or killed, by vehicles in B.C. One wood bison herd made a northern B.C. highway its home — leaving biologists and local residents searching for solutions.

The Dane Nan Yḗ Dāh Kaska Land Guardians are working with government scientists to protect wood bison from deadly vehicle collisions. Photos: Geoffrey Reynaud

In March, The Narwhal’s B.C. biodiversity reporter, Ainslie Cruickshank, teamed up with photographer Geoffrey Reynaud to bring us the story of the Nordquist bison herd, which lick road salt at their peril, and how Dane Nan Yḗ Dāh Kaska Land Guardians are working with government scientists to better protect this iconic and threatened species. 

A valley is flooded

Mule deer escape the rising Site C dam floodwaters on the first day of reservoir filling. Photo: Don Hoffmann

In late August, Peace River Valley farmers Ken and Arlene Boon watched the waters rise as BC Hydro began to flood the valley and their family’s expropriated lands for the Site C dam project.

Third-generation Peace Valley farmers Ken and Arlene Boon watched the river rise on Aug. 25, the first day of two to four months of flooding for the Site C dam reservoir. The Boons are among many landowners who have lost property for the $16-billion dam. Photo: Don Hoffmann

Local photographer Don Hoffmann travelled up and down the valley in northeast B.C., becoming one of the few people to capture the last images of the biodiverse and culturally rich area on Treaty 8 territory before it was inundated for the publicly funded $16-billion hydro project.

The Site C dam flooded 128 kilometres of the Peace River Valley (shown prior to flooding) and its tributaries on Treaty 8 territory. Photo: Don Hoffmann

Debris fills the Peace River on the first day of flooding. Photo: Don Hoffmann

Don’s recent shots of the valley stand in sharp contrast to photos he took before the project got underway more than nine years ago, a sobering reminder that all “clean” energy projects come at a cost — some far higher than others.

The ‘last gasp’ of herring in the Salish Sea

Hereditary Chief TELAXTEN, Paul Sam Sr. of Tsartlip First Nation, is one of the W̱SÁNEĆ hereditary chiefs who say demanded a moratorium on the commercial herring fishery in the Georgia Strait. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal

In November, W̱SÁNEĆ hereditary chiefs held a press conference in Sidney, B.C., to call for a moratorium on herring fisheries in the Strait of Georgia, and we were lucky Taylor Roades was able to capture it.

Tsawout Hereditary Chief Eric Pelkey, or WIĆKINEM, says herring spawns used to be common in the Saanich Peninsula but now his people have to venture further out to harvest. Photo: Taylor Roades / The Narwhal

In full regalia, the hereditary chiefs asserted their Treaty Rights and called for the urgent protection of the “last gasp” of herring in their territory, which is the backdrop for Taylor’s powerful, moving portraits.

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Imperial Metals, the company that owns the Mount Polley mine in B.C.’s Interior, has been charged on 15 counts under the federal Fisheries Act.

The charges come more than 10 years after a Mount Polley tailings pond dam failed, sending 25 billion litres of toxic sludge into Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake in what became one of the worst mining waste disasters in Canadian history.

The company will appear in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Dec. 18, according to a media release the B.C. Conservation Officer Service posted on Facebook.

The release said possible contraventions of the federal Fisheries Act were jointly investigated by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which worked together as the Mount Polley Integrated Investigation Task Force.

According to the release, no statements will be issued by the investigating agencies, as the matter is before the courts.

Fines for violating the Fisheries Act are increasingly hefty. In 2021, Teck Resources was ordered to pay $60 million — the biggest fine ever issued for Fisheries Act violations — after pleading guilty to polluting fish-bearing waterways in the Elk Valley, where the company operated metallurgical coal mines. 

Mount Polley disaster spilled lead, cadmium and arsenic

The waste surge from the Mount Polley tailings storage facility failure — with a total volume that would fill about 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools — turned Hazeltine Creek into a broad channel lined with stumps and debris. About 19 billion litres of tailing slurry entered into the water where the creek flowed into Quesnel Lake, home to fish such as lake trout and sockeye salmon.

A decade after disastrous breach, Mount Polley mine tailings dam could get even bigger

All told, the tailings pond breach dumped tonnes of debris and heavy metal into the local watershed, including 134.1 tonnes of lead, 2.8 tonnes of cadmium and 2.1 tonnes of arsenic, according to a national inventory of harmful substances released into the environment. The spill contained 92 per cent of the lead dumped into Canada’s environment in 2014, Environment Canada estimated. 

In July, Imperial Metals applied to expand the tailings storage facility and raise the height of the repaired dam by four metres. The company also applied for a permit to continue discharging wastewater into Quesnel Lake. The applications are currently under review and no decisions have been made, the B.C. Environment Ministry confirmed in an email. 

B.C. taxpayers covered $40 million in cleanup costs for Mount Polley mine disaster

Until now, Imperial Metals has never been fined or faced legal repercussions for the tailings dam failure. B.C. taxpayers covered $40 million in cleanup costs. And the company, with provincial Environment Ministry permits in hand, is still pumping wastewater from Mount Polley into Quesnel Lake.

Jamie Kneen, Canada program co-lead for Mining Watch Canada, said it’s not yet clear if the charges are “meaningfully different” than charges filed in 2016. “What I can say is that it is good news to see any kind of enforcement action, even after 10 years,” Kneen told The Narwhal. 

“However, we’re still deeply troubled that the company is allowed to dump essentially untreated effluent into Quesnel Lake.” 

B.C. taxpayers covered $40 million in cleanup costs after the Mount Polley mine disaster in 2014. Photo: Supplied by Phil Owens

In October 2016, MiningWatch Canada filed a private prosecution against the B.C. government and the Mount Polley Mining Corporation for violations of the federal Fisheries Act in connection with the tailings pond disaster. “MiningWatch is taking action now because it is concerned that, almost two-and-a-half years after the disaster, and despite clear evidence of impacts on waters, fish and fish habitat, the Crown has failed to lay charges and enforce the Fisheries Act,” the group said at the time. 

Kneen said the Crown took over the charges and asked the court to stay them. “I don’t know if this is a reactivation of any of those charges, or a different set of charges,” he said. 

In an emailed statement in response to questions, B.C.’s Ministry of Environment said it will not be commenting as the matter is before the courts. The ministry was not immediately able to say if the charges are the same ones the Crown took over, or a different set of charges.

‘So important to see charges finally being laid’ in Mount Polley disaster: advocate

Andrew Gage, a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law, said in a statement he is happy charges have been laid. “But this is long overdue,” Gage said. “Environmental offenders, and their investors, need to know that there will be consequences that flow quickly and inevitably from their unlawful actions. Communities need to know that their water will be protected from those who harm it.”

Gage also said a 10-year delay in laying charges “undermines the deterrence message that needs to be sent to other irresponsible mining companies and other polluters, particularly given how few environmental offences actually result in charges.”

Nikki Skuce, director of Northern Confluence, a group aiming to improve land-use decisions in B.C.’s salmon watersheds, said the Mount Polley mine “seemed to only get more permits to continue polluting and operating” following the tailings storage facility breach.

“It’s so important to see charges finally being laid against Imperial Metals over a decade later,” she said in an emailed statement. “Although we don’t know all the details at this time, there really needs to be some kind of justice and accountability for the largest environmental disaster in B.C.” 

Skuce, who is also the co-chair of the B.C. Mining Law Reform Network, said she hopes the recent charges bring attention back to some of the changes recommended after the Mount Polley mine disaster to reduce risks of tailings failures to communities and watersheds. 

In a news release, Imperial Metals said the charges were outlined in an indictment filed with the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Dec. 6, which the company received on Dec. 9. 

The company said it will not make further statements while the matter is before the courts. 

— With files from Shannon Waters

Updated Dec. 11, 2024, at 11:14 a.m. PT: This story was updated to add information from the B.C. Environment Ministry, received after publication, about Imperial Metals’ permit application amendments for the Mount Polley mine.

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After flooding Treaty 8 territory to build the Site C project, BC Hydro says it plans to give the $16-billion dam and its newly created reservoir Indigenous language names.

In a recent report, the public utility says Indigenous language names were recommended and “advanced for consideration” following BC Hydro’s engagement with 13 Indigenous nations affected by the project on Treaty 8 territory in northeast B.C. 

It’s a move that has prompted at least one First Nations leader to call the plan inappropriate.

“I find it extremely offensive that they are considering placing an Indigenous name on it,” West Moberly First Nations Chief Roland Willson told The Narwhal.

BC Hydro flooded 83 kilometres of the Peace River this fall to create a large reservoir that also partially flooded seven of the river’s tributaries. Reservoir filling followed almost a decade of dam construction, overshadowed by huge cost overruns, First Nations lawsuits and serious geotechnical issues that were hidden from the public. 

A view of the Peace River Valley, looking downstream, before the Site C dam was built at this spot. Photo: Don Hoffmann

“Participation in the naming of Site C provides the opportunity to acknowledge the presence of the project on Indigenous traditional lands and contributes to reconciliation,” BC Hydro’s report to the B.C. Utilities Commission says. 

But Willson said giving the Site C dam and its reservoir Indigenous names flies in the face of reconciliation, noting his nation is deeply impacted by the project. 

BC Hydro has various settlements with First Nations as Site C flooding wraps up

West Moberly, along with other Treaty 8 nations, lost traditional hunting, fishing and trapping grounds and culturally and spiritually important sites to the publicly funded hydro project, which will help power B.C.’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry. Reservoir filling began in late August and finished earlier this month.

“They jam this thing down our throats,” Willson said. “They walk around all over the place talking about the agreements they have. They don’t have agreements with anybody. They have settlements.” 

In an emailed response to questions from The Narwhal, BC Hydro spokesperson Greg Alexis said the public utility has signed Site C dam impact benefits agreements with eight Treaty 8 First Nations that include cash payments, contracting opportunities, land transfers and land protection measures. Alexis said the total value of payments to impacted nations is confidential. 

Willson pointed out West Moberly still has a civil claim focused on the impact of the first two dams on the Peace River, after reluctantly agreeing in 2022 to a partial settlement related to the Site C project — the third dam.

“We haven’t completely let that court case go. They basically beat us into submission on this. We just couldn’t fight with them anymore. We don’t have the billions of dollars that they have to fight in court on things,” he said. “And so for them to say, ‘We’re going to honour the nations by giving it an Indigenous name,’ that’s kind of abuse. … They abuse the nations and then do something nice, name a dam after them.”

West Moberly First Nations Chief Roland Willson says it is inappropriate for BC Hydro to give the Site C dam and its reservoir Indigenous names. Photo: Ryan Dickie / The Narwhal

Alexis said local Indigenous nations were invited last year to participate in the naming of the Site C dam and reservoir. He reiterated the statement in BC Hydro’s report to the utilities commission, saying participation in the naming process contributes to reconciliation and provides an opportunity to acknowledge the impacts of the project on Treaty 8 rights and cultural interests.

Some recommended naming options in an Indigenous language were selected following a series of meetings and workshops with participating nations, Alexis said. The recommendations are being considered and, once a decision has been made, permanent names will be shared with the nations and then with the general public, he said. Willson said West Moberly did not participate in the name selection process.

BC Hydro did not answer questions asking for the shortlisted names, who will make the final decision about names and when it will be made. The utility also did not answer a question asking if First Nations have expressed concerns about giving the dam and reservoir permanent Indigenous language names. 

Site C dam project has significant adverse impacts on First Nations 

A review panel for the federal and provincial governments found the Site C dam would have significant effects on First Nations hunting, non-tenured trapping and fishing that could not be mitigated and would impede the capacity to transfer knowledge and culture to future generations. The panel disagreed with BC Hydro’s claim that Indigenous traditional practices were adaptable and could be reproduced elsewhere.

According to information the Treaty 8 Tribal Association submitted to the review panel, the Site C dam was slated to destroy 42 sites of cultural and spiritual value, including spiritual places, medicine collection areas, teaching areas and places for ceremonies and prayers. It was also poised to destroy 77 habitation places and 30 sites with First Nations transportation values, including portions of trails and canoe and boat routes along the Peace River and its tributaries.

The Site C dam flooded 128 kilometres of the Peace River Valley (shown prior to flooding) and its tributaries on Treaty 8 territory. Photo: Don Hoffmann

BC Hydro’s report to the utilities commission says it is consulting with First Nations about plans for monitoring Indigenous burial sites outside the reservoir that may be impacted by erosion or slope instability. 

The report also says BC Hydro has worked for the past nine years with Indigenous nations impacted by the Site C project to complete numerous projects that “document and commemorate” historical use of the area.

Projects include educational signage at a viewpoint, a series of videos documenting historic use of the Peace River and the perspective of Indigenous nations on the impacts of the Site C dam, as well as “a travelling exhibit of artifacts uncovered during construction that has been displayed in numerous communities,” the report says.

In the report, BC Hydro also says it continues to work with Indigenous nations on the development of a future cultural centre, which the utility described as “an important accommodation for the cultural impacts of Site C.” The facility will “showcase local Indigenous culture and history in the region,” and store and display many of the artifacts uncovered during construction of the Site C project, according to the report.

Alexis said BC Hydro is not able to provide a final cost for the cultural centre “as it’s still too early in the process,” adding the money to build the centre is included in the Site C project budget.

Willson pointed out the visitor centre at the W.A.C. Bennett dam, the first dam built on the Peace River, has a plaque on the wall acknowledging its devastating impacts on First Nations. “And they apologize for what they did to us. And then while that’s hanging on the wall there, they’re flooding Site C. You know, they’re doing it again.”

BC Hydro plans to develop a cultural centre to “showcase local Indigenous culture” after flooding the Peace River Valley on Treaty 8 territory for the Site C dam. Photo: BC Hydro

First Nations artifacts should belong to First Nations, Willson said. “[They] shouldn’t be sitting in W.A.C. Bennett or Site C cultural heritage site. That should belong to the First Nations, and they should be sitting in our museum. They’ll spend $100 million on a cultural centre to show that they try and respect the First Nations and honour them — while they destroy their culture.”

The Site C dam’s current name derives from a master plan for five dams on the Peace River created by the former B.C. government led by then-premier W.A.C. Bennett. Potential dam sites were labelled with the first five letters of the alphabet. 

The W.A.C. Bennett dam became operational in 1968, while the second, the Peace Canyon dam, was completed in 1980. Together the two dams supply about 38 per cent of power generated annually by BC Hydro. The Site C dam is expected to add an additional 1,100 megawatts of capacity — enough electricity, according to BC Hydro, to power 450,000 homes. 

Other First Nations most impacted by the Site C project — Saulteau First Nations, Halfway River First Nation, Prophet River First Nation and Doig River First Nations — did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. 

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On a warm and calm Sunday, Ken and Arlene Boon stood on the banks of the Peace River in northeast B.C. and watched the water rise — an event they had dreaded for more than a decade.

It lapped near their former farm fields and a lodge where a beaver family was busy storing twigs, bark and leaves to eat over the winter. The water crept up a thick tangle of bushes along the shoreline where migratory songbirds nest, moving towards the fire ring around which the Boons spent many a cheerful evening with their extended family and friends. 

The Boons felt somewhat prepared for the rising waters; they’d received an email from BC Hydro three days earlier, on Aug. 22, saying reservoir flooding for the Site C hydro dam project was about to begin, after almost a decade of construction. 

But it was still a shock, Ken Boon told The Narwhal. “It’s going to be pretty dramatic — and traumatic,” he said. 

Third-generation Peace Valley farmers Ken and Arlene Boon watched the river rise on Aug. 25, the first day of two to four months of flooding for the Site C dam reservoir. The Boons are among many landowners who have lost property for the $16-billion dam. Photo: Don Hoffmann

Boon is the president of the Peace Valley Landowner Association, representing dozens of landowners impacted by the Site C dam. The Boons, who live upstream of the dam site, lost most of their third-generation family farm in 2016 when the B.C. government expropriated it for the hydro project. Today, they live in a former guest cabin on what’s left of their farm, overlooking the future reservoir in the scenic and landslide-prone valley.

Since Site C dam construction began in 2015, the publicly funded project has been plagued by huge cost overruns, delays and serious geotechnical issues — related to a weak shale foundation — that were withheld from the public for more than a year.

The hydro dam was approved by former BC Liberal premier Christy Clark, who famously vowed to push the contentious project past “the point of no return.”

BC Hydro says the reservoir will rise 30 centimetres to three metres a day for two to four months. Debris is already accumulating in the Peace River. Photo: Don Hoffmann

Since then, the project’s cost has ballooned from $8.7 billion to $16 billion, making it the most expensive dam in Canada’s history — and not nearly the largest.

BC Hydro says the Site C dam will provide “clean energy” to help electrify the province. The dam will help power B.C.’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry, including through new transmission lines that could be funded by federal taxpayers. BC Hydro says it has already begun to recover some of the costs of the debt-funded Site C project, whose price tag includes more than $1 billion in interest.

Site C reservoir will flood First Nations cultural sites and endangered species habitat

A statement posted on BC Hydro’s website on Aug. 25, the day reservoir filling began, said the river will rise 30 centimetres to three metres a day for two to four months. The Peace River will double or triple in width and the reservoir will be up to 52 metres deep, according to an earlier BC Hydro statement.

The rising waters will flood 128 kilometres of the Peace River and its tributaries, creating a 9,330-hectare reservoir — almost five times the size of B.C.’s capital city of Victoria. Among many other impacts, the project will destroy some of Canada’s highest-quality farmland, habitat for more than 100 species at risk of extinction and Indigenous hunting, trapping and fishing grounds. 

Roland Willson, chief of West Moberly First Nations, described the start of reservoir filling as “one of those sad, surreal moments that you wish never would happen, but inevitably, it’s happening.” West Moberly First Nations fought the Site C project in the courts for years, before reaching a partial settlement in June 2022. 

“They beat us basically into submission on this,” Willson said in an interview. “We just couldn’t fight with them anymore. We don’t have the billions of dollars that they have to fight in court on things, and it didn’t seem to matter.”

Willson said the Peace River was historically a highway for Indigenous Peoples, connecting communities. “It was a hub of transportation throughout the territory.” 

Chief Roland Willson of West Moberly First Nations calls construction of the Site C dam on Treaty 8 territory in northeast B.C. “a sad, sad thing.” Photo: Ryan Dickie / The Narwhal

The Site C dam is the third dam on B.C.’s Peace River, following construction of the W.A.C. Bennett dam and the Peace Canyon dam in the 1960s and 1970s. It will flood the last stretch of river and valley still available to Treaty 8 members for cultural practices, Willson noted, saying he regularly fished the river for bull trout, Arctic grayling and Dolly Varden. He won’t be able to do that anymore, he said, because the reservoir will contaminate fish with methylmercury, making them unsafe for consumption unless in very small quantities.

“Just because it’s the last remaining chunk of valley didn’t make it less important. It made it more important,” Willson said.  

“There’s spiritual sites along the river that will be destroyed, grave sites that are along the river that’ll be destroyed. … Everywhere they dug they found artifacts on the river. If we had to prove our existence and our presence in the Peace River, they’ve got more than enough evidence. They can fill warehouses full of stuff. We have stories — old, old stories — about hunting the mammoth. And they were finding mammoth bones with flint arrowheads stuck in them, spearheads stuck in the bones and stuff like that.”

Willson said he’s tried to avoid spending time in the valley during project construction. Along with the destruction of cultural sites, BC Hydro has clear cut irreplaceable wetlands and forests, including old growth, in preparation for flooding and transmission lines. “It’s kind of like driving by an accident, looking to see the carnage that’s happening. It’s just a sad, sad thing.” 

He said project construction has transformed the West Moberly community because people no longer want to drive from their homes to Fort St. John, B.C., the regional hub, because they have to travel through the valley. “And it just reminds them of what’s already being done, and what’s continuing to happen, to our people.”

Massive environmental, cultural and personal impacts of Site C are known

In July, Boon harvested the last hay crops from some of the family’s former fields, thinking about the impending flooding. “You’ve got lots of time to think when you’re going back and forth and around a field during haying season. Lots of time to dwell on that. And yeah, it’s kind of tough.”

He expects to see an influx of wildlife travelling through the couple’s yard, “from packrats on up” and including bears, elk, chipmunks and squirrels, as they flee the rising waters. “Everything, all creatures, great and small, are going to be impacted by this massive flooding that’s coming — and coming really quick.”

Mule deer and other wildlife began to move out of the reservoir area when flooding began on Aug. 25, 2024. The Peace River Valley flood zone is rich in wildlife. It provides habitat for tens of thousands of songbirds and woodpeckers that nest in the reservoir impact zone. Photo: Don Hoffmann

The Peace Valley, rich in biodiversity, is an essential link in a continentally important wildlife corridor. Among many other environmental impacts, the reservoir will flood bear dens and, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, habitat for up to to 30,000 songbirds and woodpeckers that breed in the reservoir impact zone. 

In its website statement, BC Hydro said starting reservoir filling in late summer “is the least impactful period for wildlife, as it falls in between bird nesting and winter denning.” The public utility said it has taken comprehensive measures to mitigate potential impacts on wildlife, including “removing vegetation from the reservoir area, while building wetlands, fish habitat and wildlife den structures.” 

In an emailed response to questions, BC Hydro spokesperson Greg Alexis said the public utility has partnered with Treaty 8 First Nations and the B.C. Conservation Officer Service to create a new conservation officer position “to protect wildlife and the land around the dam and reservoir area.” 

Aerial and ground surveys to monitor wildlife will be conducted during reservoir filling in partnership with an Indigenous cultural monitoring program, Alexis said. 

Among many impacts, the Site C dam project will destroy some of Canada’s highest-quality farmland, habitat for more than 100 species at risk of extinction and Indigenous hunting, trapping and fishing grounds. Photo: Don Hoffmann

Boon said he finds BC Hydro’s website statement about the Site C project and the reservoir flooding disturbing, saying it “seems very callous” given how many people are deeply affected by the project.

“There doesn’t seem to be a nod towards the impact that people are going to feel. Some of us, I think, virtually got post traumatic stress syndrome from this. We’ve all, we’ve been through the ringer. And yeah, there’s no acknowledgement or nod toward that, or even attempt at that.”  

Alexis said BC Hydro has signed 130 agreements with property owners “for permanent impacts as a result of the Site C project.” 

BC Hydro did not answer a question asking for the total number of people who have lost some or all of their private property for the Site C project, including through expropriation.

Ken and Arlene Boon lost most of the their third-generation family farm to expropriation in 2016. BC Hydro says it has signed agreements with 130 landowners affected by the Site C dam. The public utility did not answer a question asking how many people have seen their private property expropriated for the project. Photo: Garth Lenz / The Narwhal

Harry Swain chaired the review panel that examined the Site C project for the federal and provincial governments. He’s also Canada’s former director general for electricity, coal, uranium and nuclear energy and Canada’s former senior advisor for renewable energy. Swain has been an outspoken critic of the Site C project, along with other high-profile industry experts including Marc Eliesen, the former CEO of BC Hydro, Manitoba Hydro and Ontario Hydro. (Eliesen passed away in 2023.)

Swain told The Narwhal there was not a case in 2014, when the review panel submitted its report — “and [not] in my view now” — to spend a decade building a large, expensive hydro dam when other renewable energy sources could be developed more cheaply and “a heck of a lot faster.” 

“That’s been the great lesson of the solar and wind industries. In the intervening decade, their prices have fallen dramatically. Their capacity worldwide has just skyrocketed.”

He noted the Site C dam’s energy storage is “very small” compared to the W.A.C. Bennett dam upstream, whose vast reservoir will feed the Site C dam reservoir. 

Swain said the only possible case to be made for building the Site C dam would be decades in the future, and only if it became the least expensive source of new power. “If you need new power, the cheapest stuff is solar and wind, using some of your existing reservoirs for the necessary storage. That’s where you go first.”

Harry Swain chaired the panel that reviewed the Site C dam on behalf of the provincial and federal governments. Swain said there is no case for building a large, expensive hydro dam when renewables like solar and wind can provide power much more cheaply. Photo: Jayce Hawkins / The Narwhal

While the review panel anticipated a boom in electric vehicles when calculating B.C.’s future energy demand, they did not take into account energy needs from cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence or LNG, Swain said.

“We did not believe that [BC] Hydro — and its owners, I guess — would be so keen on requiring LNG promoters to use B.C. grid electricity for compressing and liquefying the gas. That’s an enormous load, which is not at all the industry norm.” 

Boon said he hopes the Site C dam is the last large hydro project constructed in B.C. “Economically, it’s bad. Environmentally, it’s just so destructive. Rivers are literally the lifeblood of the world … and to be choking them off with dams is just so destructive against the ecosystems that we rely on, especially in a world grappling with climate change,” he said.

“We have to decarbonize our economy, but it can’t be on the back of flooding more river valleys.”

Updated on Aug. 27, 2024, 5:15 p.m. PT: This story has been updated to say BC Hydro has begun to recover some of the costs of the debt-funded Site C dam project, whose price tag includes more than $1 billion in interest. An earlier version of the story incorrectly said BC Hydro customers would begin paying for the Site C dam project next year.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

Twenty-one years after the spotted owl was listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, on Thursday the federal government released a proposed recovery strategy identifying critical habitat for the old-growth forest dependent owl. 

The strategy reinstates about 200,000 hectares of the owl’s critical habitat in southwest B.C. that was quietly erased from maps in a draft recovery strategy last year, following consultations with the B.C. government. Federal scientists identified the critical habitat as necessary for the owl’s recovery and survival. The updated recovery strategy includes an additional 200,000 hectares of spotted owl critical habitat that was not erased from maps — for a total of 416,258 hectares of critical habitat on federal and non-federal lands.

The environmental law charity Ecojustice, non-profit conservation group the Wilderness Committee and Spô’zêm First Nation hailed the updated recovery strategy as a “game-changer for conservation efforts” for the spotted owl and a “historic win.” 

“Our ancestors taught us the spotted owl is our messenger between this world and the spirit world and how they speak to us, and this new recovery strategy gives them a chance at survival,” Spô’zêm First Nation Chief James Hobart said in a statement. “It’s regrettable how much time has passed in this process and how many owls were lost.” 

But the new draft strategy shows the federal government is listening, Hobart told The Narwhal. “It means that the government is taking a stronger position with species at risk than they have in the past.”

“Is it enough? Well, we’ll see,” he said. 

Spotted owls depend on B.C.’s old-growth forests for survival. They nest in large trees and prey primarily on flying squirrels and bushy-tailed wood rats, also found in mature forests. Photo: Jared Hobbs

The spotted owl has become a symbol of B.C.’s failure to protect imperilled wildlife and the province’s ongoing destruction of old-growth forests, where the football-sized bird nested in cavities in large trees and preyed mainly on flying squirrels and bushy-tailed woodrats. About 1,000 adult spotted owls once lived in temperate rainforests in southwest B.C. 

Canada’s last wild-born, free spotted owl disappeared last year from a forest in the Spuzzum Valley, near the Fraser Canyon, and is presumed dead. About 30 spotted owls live in a B.C. government-funded breeding centre in Langley, B.C., where they are fed euthanized rats and mice and their eggs are hatched in incubators while forest sounds play in the background. 

The B.C. government, which has spent about $4 million on the breeding centre, has repeatedly said it will release captive-born owls into the wild to recover the population. 

At the same time, the provincial government continues to approve industrial logging in the owl’s old-growth forest habitat, including in the Teapot Valley near the Fraser Canyon. 

Hobart has been working for years to protect spotted owls and the old-growth forests they rely on. He credits his mother, an artist who more than five decades ago used her work to raise awareness about the plight of the owls, with inspiring his long-standing efforts.

“It started with my mom,” he said. “I have to carry her work on.”

Feds aim to restore a stable population of at least 250 owls

Following pressure from Spô’zêm First Nation, the B.C. government temporarily deferred logging in the Spuzzum Valley, where the last wild-born, free spotted owl nested with her mate and the pair hatched three chicks. (The chicks were captured by provincial government biologists and taken to the breeding centre, where one died.) Logging is also temporarily deferred in the nearby Utzlius Valley, where a single male wild-born spotted owl recently lived until he vanished.

In an email, a spokesperson for federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the proposed recovery strategy aims to restore a stable population of spotted owls consisting of at least 250 mature individuals, “within a connected network of habitat.”

“British Columbia has made significant [progress] towards spotted owl recovery and Canada continues to contribute to the province’s work in these areas,” the spokesperson said, adding, “additional efforts are also essential.”

The reinstatement of spotted owl critical habitat — equivalent to an area more than 1,000 times the size of Stanley Park — follows criticism from the Wilderness Committee and other groups after almost half the critical habitat identified by federal scientists disappeared from maps included in the 2023 draft recovery strategy. 

Old-growth spotted owl habitat removed from federal maps after talks with B.C., docs reveal

Represented by Ecojustice, the Wilderness Committee made submissions to the federal government outlining why the Environment Ministry should return to a 2021 draft of the recovery strategy containing “scientifically sound mapping and owl-survival strategies,” such as connected landscapes to enable juvenile spotted owls to safely move to new territories. 

“This new strategy breathes life into the fight to keep the spotted owl from disappearing forever in Canada,” Wilderness Committee protected areas campaigner Joe Foy said in a press release. “I’m so grateful for all those who fought against extinction and demanded better for the spotted owl.” 

Ecojustice lawyer Kegan Pepper-Smith called the updated recovery strategy a significant step in the right direction to recovering the imperilled spotted owl. “We applaud Minister Guilbeault for reinstituting what appears to be a science-based and [Species at Risk Act] compliant identification for the species.” 

The area identified as critical habitat remains largely unprotected and at risk of being logged, Pepper-Smith said in an interview.

“There’s no immediate on-the ground impact, unfortunately, but it’s the foundation that we need to finally provide for the recovery of the species,” he said of the proposed recovery strategy.

The Species at Risk Act only automatically applies on federal lands — about one per cent of B.C. — and most of the spotted owl’s critical habitat falls under provincial jurisdiction. 

“I’d like to be optimistic that this is a new chapter that really helps both levels of government redefine their efforts to recover the species, but if we’re reflecting on the history of efforts this far, then I’m not holding my breath,” Pepper-Smith said.

“Arguably, B.C. has known that this is the habitat that is required for the spotted owl for decades and we’ve seen no slowing of logging over that time,” he said.

“The spotted owl is just the tip of the iceberg of decades of, I would say, negligence with respect to protecting species and their habitats throughout the province,” he said.

Spotted owls are hatched in incubators at a B.C. government-funded breeding centre in Langley. They’re returned to the nest or given to foster parents when they are about 10 days old. Photo: Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program

Ecojustice said it will be able to keep a close eye on the provincial government’s recovery actions by comparing logging licences with new critical habitat maps.

“We can make it clear as day that they’re not, in fact, doing everything they can to provide for the recovery of the spotted owl,” Pepper-Smith said.

Ultimately, if the B.C. government fails to protect the owl’s critical habitat, the federal government has authority under the Species at Risk Act to issue what Pepper-Smith called a “safety-net” order. And Ecojustice isn’t ruling out going back to court if need be.

Under the Species At Risk Act, the federal environment minister must publish a recovery document identifying a species’ critical habitat.

The release of the proposed recovery strategy launches a 60-day consultation period. A final recovery strategy will be published once consultations are complete.

The B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship didn’t respond to questions before publication time. 

The Narwhal previously reported the provincial government lobbied behind the scenes to dissuade the federal cabinet from issuing an emergency order to protect the spotted owl. An emergency order would give Ottawa the power to step in and make decisions that normally fall to the provinces, such as whether to issue logging permits in spotted owl critical habitat. 

A cabinet briefing note obtained under freedom of information legislation cited socio-economic impacts and B.C.’s “significant protections” for spotted owls as reasons why Ottawa should back away from issuing a rare emergency order to prevent further industrial logging in the owl’s habitat.

Guilbeault eventually recommended the federal cabinet issue the emergency order, but the cabinet opted not to do so. A federal court ruling in June found Guilbeault’s eight-month delay in making the recommendation to cabinet was unlawful.

‘It’s never too late’: Canada taken to court for near-extinction of spotted owls

The B.C. government maintains it has set aside enough habitat to support 250 owls in the wild. But Foy and others claim the habitat is not sufficient, pointing to the owl’s demise. 

“The message in this strategy is as clear as day — we need all logging in spotted owl critical habitat to cease immediately,” Foy said. “Far too much time has been wasted already and now every precious piece of remaining critical habitat must be protected.”

In 2022, for the first time, the B.C. government released three young owls from the breeding centre with GPS backpacks. Two died, while one was injured and taken back to the centre. The provincial government released two more owls last year. Their fate is unknown. 

— With files from Ainslie Cruickshank

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BC Hydro wants the provincial government to nix an environmental assessment for a new transmission line to power liquefied natural gas, mining and other industries, according to confidential government documents obtained by The Narwhal. 

The documents, released through freedom of information legislation, suggest replacing an environmental assessment for the North Coast transmission line — from Prince George to Terrace — with a speedier “alternative streamlined process.” The vaguely defined process could involve setting conditions to mitigate environmental impacts, but it is not clear what those would be or if the process would be transparent.

An environmental assessment is an independent, rigorous and transparent process that would detail the line’s impacts and propose mitigations where possible. According to a BC Hydro presentation, the transmission line would affect as many as 101 private properties, including agricultural land. It would cut through traplines and woodlots, fall within 200 metres of archeological sites, overlap with designated ungulate winter habitat for moose and cross waterways that include habitat for at-risk white sturgeon.

BC Hydro’s push for an environmental assessment exemption places the North Coast transmission line at the centre of fraught debates about the environmental and social costs of “clean” energy, fossil fuel subsidies, due process and Indigenous Rights.

The $3-billion line — half of which could be paid for by federal taxpayers —  would provide hydro power for a range of industrial customers, including LNG Canada and other liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, the Port of Prince Rupert, hydrogen projects and new metal and critical minerals mines.

Electricity for the high voltage line would come in part from the publicly funded $16-billion Site C dam project nearing completion on B.C.’s Peace River. 

The $16-billion, publicly funded Site C dam, nearing completion on the Peace River in northeast B.C., will supply discounted electricity for LNG Canada and other industrial facilities through the $3-billion North Coast transmission line. Photo: BC Hydro

“BC Hydro has expressed that undertaking an environmental assessment for one or more segments of the North Coast transmission line would jeopardize the ability to bring the project into service in the eight-to-10-year timeframe,” says an internal government briefing note, prepared last June for Energy Minister Josie Osborne, the office of Premier David Eby and two other provincial cabinet ministers. 

“BC Hydro suggests that a delay would impact the ability to meet increased demand and electrification.”

The BC NDP government has championed the LNG industry. But the government’s simultaneous commitment to carbon emission reduction targets means most LNG projects can only proceed if facilities that liquefy natural gas for transport are powered with electricity. Critics point to LNG’s large carbon footprint, even if liquefaction facilities are electrified. Natural gas used to produce LNG is extracted from deposits in B.C.’s northeast using a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which produces significant carbon emissions, including from the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. 

The high voltage North Coast transmission line would run from Prince George to Terrace, B.C. According to BC Hydro, it would impact farmland, waterways, at-risk species and up to 101 private property owners. Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

In a letter released with the briefing notes, six First Nations leaders — including two from nations which have partnered with oil and gas companies on LNG projects — offer Osborne and other provincial ministers their support in principle for new taxpayer-funded transmission infrastructure. They urge the provincial government to begin talks to expedite renewable energy transmission and generation capacity from Prince George to the coast. The letter, dated June 12, 2023, says the electrification of industrial projects will enable communities to alleviate poverty and pursue economic self-determination.

“Most are considering the prospect of working together and we are hopeful they will decide to do so,” the letter says. “We believe the development of the transmission infrastructure warrants a significant investment by Canadian taxpayers, both B.C. and federally. We are prepared to work with you to secure a federal commitment to this investment in infrastructure to support our collective climate change goals.”

But not all leaders in the northwest agree. Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs are calling for a full greenhouse gas emissions assessment for any LNG projects affecting their territory. The proposed streamlined process for the transmission line is “quite a scary prospect,” according to Tara Marsden, a spokesperson for the chiefs, especially if it lacks transparency, takes shortcuts and doesn’t allow all voices to be heard.

What would skipping environmental assessment mean for North Coast project? 

BC Hydro plans to advance the transmission line in two phases: from Prince George to Glenannan and from Glenannan to Terrace. According to the briefing documents, BC Hydro suggests the first component of the line “may not” trigger an environmental assessment, while the second “is likely” to trigger an assessment. 

An exemption from the environmental assessment process can be granted in one of two ways — through a cabinet regulation or by the minister of environment and climate change strategy. The exemption would be based on a referral to the minister by the chief executive assessment officer of the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, outlining that the project will not have significant adverse environmental, economic, social, cultural or health effects or serious effects on a First Nation. An environmental assessment usually takes three to five years.

LNG Canada wants to go electric. The B.C. government wants taxpayers to cover the cost

BC Hydro, responding to questions from The Narwhal, said it is in the early stages of planning for both segments of the transmission line “and our current focus is to review transmission line route options and to identify any environmental permitting and regulatory requirements.”

“We are continuing to engage with the public, First Nations, local and regional governments, and other stakeholders on our plans for expanding and upgrading our system,” Kyle Donaldson, BC Hydro’s media relations and issues management spokesperson, wrote in an email. “This includes seeking feedback on potential transmission line routes. There will be ongoing engagement for the duration of the projects.”

Donaldson did not answer a question asking if BC Hydro is planning to formally request an environmental assessment exemption. He also didn’t respond to a question asking what an “alternative streamlined process” would entail and if the public would have access to the process and its complete findings.

Anna Johnston, staff counsel for West Coast Environmental Law, said it makes sense to skip environmental assessments if you’re a project proponent “and your goal is to get away with something or to pull the wool over the public’s eye.”

“But it doesn’t make sense to skip them if you’re a member of the public and you want to make sure that your public utility stops wasting your hard-earned money on things that wreck the environment.” 

Johnston, whose work focuses on strengthening environmental laws and environmental assessment reform, said assessments identify the potential consequences of building projects that might pollute waterways, hurt wildlife, contribute to climate change or infringe on Indigenous Rights. Assessments also examine claims from project proponents such as BC Hydro about whether projects are needed and what, if any, public benefits will accrue, she said.

“Skipping assessments of big projects, like transmission lines, can increase the risk of making bad or ill-informed decisions,” Johnston said.  

The risk rises when public utilities are proponents because ratepayers and taxpayers are ultimately paying for the projects, she added.

That risk is even more acute with the North Coast transmission line, Johnston said, because the Site C dam which will supply the line with electricity is already costing B.C. ratepayers more than double its original sticker price. The dam, which will flood 128 kilometres of the Peace River and its tributaries — an area roughly the distance of driving from Vancouver to Whistler — will destroy First Nations hunting and fishing grounds, some of Canada’s best farmland and habitat for more than 100 species at risk of extinction, among many other impacts. 

Ken and Arlene Boon lost most of their third generation family farm when it was expropriated by the B.C. government for the Site C dam, which will flood 128 kilometres of the Peace River and its tributaries, about the distance from Vancouver to Whistler. Photo: Garth Lenz / The Narwhal

Ratepayers will begin paying for the debt-funded Site C project after the power comes on-line next year, following geotechnical troubles related to the dam’s weak foundation and in the midst of severe drought in the Peace region, which has significantly curtailed hydro production.

Johnston questioned providing “cheap, publicly subsidized electricity” from the Site C dam to profitable oil and gas companies like Shell, Petronas and PetroChina, which are part of the LNG Canada consortium. 

The North Coast transmission line would also be publicly funded, she pointed out, saying it is problematic BC Hydro “wants to avoid independent oversight of the environmental assessment office and public scrutiny through the assessment process.” 

According to the briefing note for Eby’s office, Osborne and other ministers, the eight-to-10-year time frame to build the transmission line could be reduced “if Indigenous partnerships and regulatory reforms were agreed to in a way that could improve BC Hydro, Indigenous and provincial decision-making related to the project.” The note says engagement with First Nations to understand their views around an exemption and alternative process “will be crucial.”

“Many nations are interested in setting the environmental conditions and guidance for permitting oversight in this co-developed manner,” the note says, using language suggesting First Nations may play a key role in any alternative process.

The note also says First Nations have expressed interest in potential equity ownership in transmission infrastructure and in clean energy opportunities “perceived to be related to the transmission project.” 

The discussions are at an early stage, “and it is not yet known what form these ownership opportunities would take,” the briefing note, which was also sent to Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship Nathan Cullen and Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Murray Rankin, says. The following section, which includes recommendations, is redacted.

The $3-billion North Coast transmission line would provide discounted power to LNG Canada, in Kitimat, B.C. — a consortium of some of the most profitable oil and gas corporations in the world. Photo: LNG Canada

A section titled “streamlined assessment and regulatory certainty,” is also almost entirely redacted, on the grounds it would reveal advice or recommendations developed by or for a public body or a minister.

A draft schedule for North Coast electrification, ending in the year 2031, is completely redacted for the time period after November 2023.

A timeline of North Coast transmission line documents

A separate July 31 briefing document for Osborne outlines discussions underway with First Nations along the transmission line route about ownership opportunities in the project. 

According to that note, BC Hydro and the province held a meeting with First Nations leadership and advisors on June 1, 2023, to initiate the dialogue. 

The historic impacts of transmission lines, power supply to communities and potential new clean energy opportunities for the nations were also among the topics of discussion. 

An additional meeting was held the following day to discuss First Nations equity ownership options for the first segment of the line, from Prince George to Glenannan. 

At a third meeting, on July 17, a new joint working group was formed to explore transmission and generation options beyond Terrace, according to the briefing note. 

That’s significant because BC Hydro is proposing to extend the North Coast transmission line north from Terrace to supply electricity for Ksi Lisims LNG, a partnership among the Nisg̱a’a Nation, a consortium of Canadian gas producers called Rockies LNG and Texas-based Western LNG. Ksi Lisims LNG is still undergoing an environmental assessment and has not yet officially been approved by the B.C. government. 

“The tone of the meeting was very positive with a desire by nations to form a collective to move the [transmission] project forward,” Osborne’s briefing document states.

Ksi Lisims LNG would be a floating facility at Wil Milit, on the northern tip of Pearse Island near the Nisga’a village of Gingolx. According to the Nisga’a, Ksi Lisims — which, if approved, would be the second largest LNG export project in the province — will provide greater opportunities for economic self-determination and prosperity.

The Nisg̱a’a Nation is proposing to build the Ksi Lisims LNG facility on the northern tip of Pearse Island near the Nisg̱a’a village of Gingolx. If the project is approved, its power would be supplied via the North Coast transmission line, which would be extended north of Terrace, B.C. Photo: Marty Clemens / The Narwhal

Included in the briefing document for Osborne, Cullen, Rankin and Eby’s office is the letter from the “First Nations leaders working group on Northwest renewable energy transmission and generation capacity development.” Six First Nations leaders, including Nisga’a Nation president Eva Clayton and Haisla First Nation chief councillor Crystal Smith, signed the letter (The Cedar LNG facility is a partnership between the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipelines Corporation.)

The Narwhal reached out to Clayton, who referred us to Alex Grzybowski, the CEO of a new organization called K’uul (coming together as one) Power. According to K’uul Power’s website, the organization aims to promote renewable energy transmission and generation infrastructures and “associated First Nation’s development opportunities between Prince George and the coast.” 

Grzybowski, a conflict resolution and prevention specialist, initially said he was available for an interview but did not respond to subsequent communications. 

‘Big question marks’ about BC Hydro plans

The Ksi Lisims consortium says the electrified project will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030, three years after it begins operating. That claim is challenged by Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, who are calling for the environment assessment process to be paused. 

In an interview, Tara Marsden, Wilp sustainability director for Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, said the chiefs are concerned Ksi Lisims facility could affect salmon that migrate into their territory. The Hereditary Chiefs are also calling for “a proper assessment of all greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts associated with any LNG affecting Gitanyow territory and Gitanyow rights and interests,” Marsden said. 

The Gitanyow, a community of the Gitxsan people whose territory lies to the north of the proposed Ksi Lisims project, were not consulted about the venture and have not been included in any outreach and communication, she said. The Gitanyow have asked the Ksi Lisims consortium for more information “to prove their claims around being a green energy project, being net zero, because our review of their materials provided to the environmental assessment simply don’t indicate that,” Marsden said. 

Tara Marsden, Wilp sustainability director for Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, says the chiefs are concerned an “alternative streamlined process” for the North Coast transmission line — proposed by BC Hydro instead of an environmental assessment — will not be transparent. Photo: Jimmy Jeong / The Narwhal

The Hereditary Chiefs have also asked for a greenhouse gas emission accounting of the power sources for Ksi Lisims. “Their claims of net zero rely almost exclusively on both getting electricity for their terminal and for their shipping, as well as the carbon offsets that they would purchase,” Marsden said. “Both of those are big question marks currently. They don’t have either of those locked in place. And so we don’t know what the impacts of … new hydropower might look like.”

An alternative streamlined process for the North Coast transmission line would mean project approval could be granted “at the whim” of a company, statutory decision-maker or minister, Marsden said. It would also make any potential legal recourse unclear, she said, pointing to judicial reviews over the years for projects that were granted environmental assessment certificates. 

For Marsden, a key consideration is free, prior and informed consent, which is a cornerstone of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In B.C., the declaration was enshrined in law in 2019 through the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

“If we have to get freedom of information requests to find out how consent has been achieved and whose consent, that is not open or transparent and does not build trust that these power projects are in the best interests of Indigenous and non-Indigenous citizens alike.”

In an emailed response to questions, the provincial environment ministry said the environmental assessment office has granted 18 projects an exemption over the past decade. They include two large fracking dams in B.C.’s northeast and a drinking water well enhancement project in the municipality of Whistler. The B.C. cabinet does not appear to have granted any exemptions over the past decade. 

The ministry said the “proponent” of the North Coast transmission line has not applied to the environmental assessment office for an exemption. 

Teresa Waddington, vice-president of corporate relations for LNG Canada, said the consortium supports efforts to advance electrification across B.C. 

LNG Canada sees opportunities to lower carbon emissions as electrical infrastructure is further developed, she said in an emailed statement.

“… advancing electrification can benefit northern and Indigenous communities, adding needed infrastructure along the transmission route and in coastal areas, [and] supporting strong and credible foundations for a lower carbon future,” she wrote. 

LNG Canada did not respond to questions asking if the consortium supports an alternative streamlined assessment or if the consortium has asked BC Hydro or the government for one.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers referred all questions to BC Hydro.

Updated on March 5, 2024, at 1:22 pm. PT: This story has been updated to clarify that a decision to exempt a project from environmental assessment is made by the minister of environment and climate change strategy, based on a referral by the chief executive assessment officer of the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, and not by the chief executive assessment officer as previously stated. It has also been updated to clarify the criteria for exemption.

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