00:02:09.680And those are all countries that aren't self-sufficient.
00:02:11.860So in your article, Shannon, you wrote this.
00:02:15.740The latest of these campaigns seeks to frighten residents of northern BC
00:02:23.580see about what activists claim are the health dangers of the liquefied natural gas.
00:02:32.560The real aim is to prevent Canadians from exporting energy insecure nations from accessing
00:02:43.480Canada's over 400 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.
00:02:50.080To be sure, activist harassment is not the same thing as the outright war we see unfolding
00:02:54.920in the Middle East, but you say its impact can be equally serious and strategic.
00:03:01.940In their recent statement, the G7 nations encouraged the diversification of energy supply
00:03:07.800routes in order to reduce global vulnerability to the Strait of Hormuz, and welcomed the
00:03:14.880potential for Canada to deliver a significant additional capacity to
00:03:21.100global markets in the coming years. You continue, but that won't be possible if
00:03:26.760activist groups succeed in creating choke points within British Columbia.
00:03:33.060Activists often claim to be promoting the interests of local communities, but
00:03:38.640communities pay the price when activist campaigns destroy some of the best opportunities
00:03:48.400available to them to end poverty and create a new future tell us about that and the latest
00:03:55.840activity has been in criticizing um lng canada um during its commissioning which is going on right
00:04:03.120now and it's while it's exporting it's working through things at the facility
00:04:06.880The B.C. government and the local community of Kitimat, so Kitimat Regional District, have said, look, we're the most monitored airshed in the world, and we don't see any impacts from this at all.
00:04:20.700But they've been going into communities scaring people about health risks to them, to their children, et cetera, from this facility.
00:04:48.040But the point is, none of them are, I would say, well, placed to speak on some of these things.
00:04:54.460But even if they are, they're creating fear that ignores the work that's being done out there by people who live in the places where those risks exist and would be affected by them.
00:05:10.920So I wanted to call attention to this because there are other LNG projects that are being proposed, including the phase two of LNG Canada's big project, which would also lead to an expansion in what's sent through the coastal gas link pipeline.
00:05:28.220And there's the Solisim's LNG project. There's wood fiber LNG under construction. People in Alberta are talking about building a new oil pipeline. All of these things become kind of reasons for new activism. That's what we've seen in the past.
00:05:44.600And I think it's important for Canadians to know that work has been done to understand
00:05:53.220the safety of these facilities and that the people who live in the place who were involved
00:05:58.420in building these projects and who were consulted on these projects, they have benefited significantly
00:06:05.240from these projects going ahead in ways that wouldn't have been possible if they hadn't
00:06:11.620Okay, so what we've got then is we've got a very successful build, not without its controversy at the time, not done without some, well, I think we made reference to them earlier, the damage done to equipment, people climbing up trees and trying to block progress and so on.
00:06:28.460But finally, we've got the Canada Gas Link complete, and it is feeding a lot of gas.
00:06:35.560How much gas into a terminal on the coast daily?
00:06:39.480It's 14 million tons per annum. 14 MPTF. I'm going to get you the right numbers.
00:06:49.240That's a lot of gas worth a lot of money. That's right. And it's making a lot of people,
00:06:55.700giving them jobs and allowing them to do things they never thought they'd be able to do.0.69
00:06:59.920A lot of those people are indigenous. Not that they need work more than anybody else,
00:07:06.880But they are traditionally an underserved part of the population, and now they're getting a chance.
00:08:26.960Well, right now it's flaring more than it should because it's in a commissioning phase. But that has been completely disclosed publicly. It's been monitored by the B.C. government. And as I said, the mayor of the Kitimat Regional District himself came out and talked about how this air shed is very well monitored.
00:08:46.780They've had industrial activity from companies like Rio Tinto for many decades.
00:08:51.940And he's like, there's nothing abnormal going on here.
00:08:56.260And I should point out that this group doesn't like natural gas stoves and had a campaign related to that a few years ago.
00:09:05.780So it's not necessarily about the current campaign is about this specific issue of flaring.
00:09:11.240But it is connected to a much broader effort against the use of natural gas, its connection to buildings, its use in heating.
00:09:19.880This group and many others who are allied with them, and they do work with lots of other groups, they just don't want people to use this anymore.
00:09:27.940So I understand that the actual cause of the excess flaring is a broken piece of equipment that is being replaced.
00:09:34.580um i haven't heard about this but what i do know is that when you're commissioning a new facility
00:09:41.620um it causes there there's going to be more flaring than usual there'll be unusual issues
00:09:48.340because you're getting your system to run the way it was designed to run and there are always
00:09:53.060things to work through all right well we won't get super technical but it was something to do
00:09:59.780with a with with a nozzle at the top of the stack that cracked and uh anyway it's got to be replaced
00:10:06.500when it's replaced presumably everything comes down into acceptable levels the company meanwhile
00:10:11.780has put in for uh special permissions to see them through how many people have died
00:10:21.860um none that i'm aware of right and how many people are taking their children into the hospital
00:10:28.820complaining of the ill effects of smelling too much of natural gases that you can't even
00:14:10.300As part of the work we've done to tell the story about the numbers,
00:14:13.980we interviewed a businessman who had to leave Kinemat
00:14:17.480because there were no more jobs for him.
00:14:20.280And when LNG Canada got approved, he and his family were able to move back.
00:14:24.820And these are the consequences of activism that don't get talked about.
00:14:30.580there's a kind of a disconnect between the real effects that are being pursued and actually the
00:14:37.800real things that have helped families and communities materially improve the lives of
00:14:43.400people who've been looking for these opportunities, maybe for decades. This is why we get off on the
00:14:49.260track of talking about the activists, because you've just detailed the consequences of activism.
00:14:56.280What else is on the horizon in this industry, in this area, which could be affected by the work of these, I won't call them rogue physicians, but physicians who are more interested in the atmosphere than the health of individuals?
00:15:15.380Well, I think the first thing is that when people think, oh, you know, if this project gets cancelled in Quebec, let's say if we talked about LNG Sagnais, or if this, you know, thing takes a really long time, if we talk about, you know, the very long period of time it took to get LNG Canada from the first idea to being shipping gas, we think there are no consequences.
00:15:39.760But there are consequences. When Canada becomes a place where projects get cancelled, where construction sites get attacked, people think twice about investing their money here. LNG Canada has five international partners who invested in making the project happen.
00:15:57.940And I'm very grateful to them because the things that Canada needs to build, whether it's pipelines or LNG facilities or nuclear facilities or mines, we need foreign direct investment.
00:16:12.760And the things that have happened in Canada in the last decade have scared away investment.
00:16:17.680And now we have a major projects office and now we're really trying to show that things can happen.
00:16:22.160And we are a politically reliable place to do business.
00:16:26.400But we are working against the experience people have had, the things they have seen, like that attack on the construction site, like the rail blockades.
00:16:36.920And we have to say, no, don't worry, that won't happen again.
00:16:41.320And so I think the success story is important.
00:16:45.180I think new policy has been important.
00:16:47.980And I think Canadians need to know what they're fighting for.
00:16:52.140And they're fighting, and by fighting, I mean supporting the growth of our economy and these projects, because at street level, in communities, in households, people can have a better life, a higher income, afford their groceries, and that's the only way to do it.
00:17:11.260That's how you raise standards of living.
00:17:12.960So whatever is true of natural gas pipelines, which are generally considered to be better than oil pipelines, is nevertheless true of oil pipelines.
00:17:29.960So that right now, both Mr. Carney, the prime minister, and Daniel Smith, the premier, have high hopes of announcing that a pipeline will be built.
00:20:00.180They've been clear they support this industry and have not advanced kind of the shut down
00:20:05.620the industry, pushbacking it's the industry thing.
00:20:07.940But there are other communities in that region who haven't weighed in or we haven't seen
00:20:13.700publicly how they feel about some of what they've heard in the course of this campaign.
00:20:19.800And I think it's just important for us to know that those of us who care about these things
00:20:26.960have to be out there as well with the facts and information that can bring balance to
00:20:34.760the scare tactics that some groups might use.
00:20:37.960Well, you certainly, and you are doing that, and that's great.
00:20:40.580But if you're a council member representing a community which is benefiting from this thing, I find it rather strange that you wouldn't be out there saying these guys are just a title to their opinion, but we don't share it, and we're going ahead.
00:21:01.080Yes, but I think that the reporters don't always go all the way to Kitimat or to Smithers to ask people there what they think about these things, you know.
00:21:11.900And so they don't always have the same visibility that some of those on the other side have.
00:21:17.440And I think, too, you know, I'd call on all the journalists and all the people who decide their budgets, make the trip out.
00:22:01.320Well, just on the kind of greenhouse gas question, natural gas is 50 percent of the greenhouse gases as coal, which is, you know, has similar uses, especially in electricity.
00:22:15.940And so for countries like India or like China or like Vietnam, who have millions of people who don't have the electricity they need, their goal is get everybody electricity.
00:22:28.640And if they have to burn coal, they will. And most of those countries have been pretty aggressive in building coal fire electricity because they're like, get the electricity. But they still need more energy. And so the question for us is, are we going to get them this lower emitting form of energy?
00:22:45.760Because it's not just greenhouse gases that are lower in natural gas compared to coal.
00:22:51.980It's, you know, nitrous oxides and sulfurous oxides and particulate matter.
00:22:58.060Like, you know, the things that cause smog are higher in coal than they are in natural gas.
00:23:03.040So if you care about the environment and if you care about public health and air quality, natural gas burns cleaner than coal.
00:23:10.140And if you care about people, then you know that people in Vietnam or in India want to have a cool home.