National Post’s Western Business Columnist, Claudia Cattaneo, recently reported that “Malaysia’s Petronas is frustrated that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate-change priorities are introducing new uncertainty for its proposed $36 billion Pacific NorthWest LNG project in northern British Columbia.”
Cattaneo adds, “and [they have] threatened to walk away if it doesn’t get federal approval by March 31, according to a source close to the project.”
As Trudeau prepares to attend the first Sate Dinner to be given to a Canadian Prime Minister since Jean Chretien’s in 1997, the Petronas development is an example of Trudeau’s policies already not being popular within the international business community.
“The project, to be located on federal lands on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert, received a largely favourable assessment from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) last month, was greenlighted by the British Columbia government in November, 2014, and received conditional corporate support — or a final investment decision — from Malaysia’s state-owned company and its partners in June of last year,” Cattaneo writes.
The CEAA is now preparing to make a recommendation to federal environment and climate change minister Catherine McKenna.
“The federal environmental assessment of the project fulfills the Government of Canada’s interim approach and principles, which includes a review of the direct and upstream greenhouse gas emissions linked to the project,” spokesman Christian Vezeau said.
Whether or not the project will be given the greenlight remains to be seen. If Justin Trudeau is true to his word in striving to bolster the Canadian economy, coast to coast, ensuring this LNG project gets approved should be a top priority