The British Columbia government has released a list of 18 critical mineral and energy projects worth roughly $20 billion that it said it’s working to accelerate in the face of ongoing tariff threats from the United States.
The list contains mining projects that have received pushback from some B.C. and Alaskan First Nations groups, including Eskay Creek, Highland Valley and Red Chris mines.
The Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation said in November that it would not give its consent to expand the Highland Valley Copper Mine, southwest of Kamloops, because the impact would be “neither reasonable nor sustainable” and the mine has already harmed its ancestral lands and water.
That is in contrast to the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation in June last year when they announced a positive final investment in the Cedar LNG Project, a floating liquefied natural gas facility on the west coast that is also on the government’s list for expedited projects.
Cedar LNG has been opposed by environmental groups, including Environmental Defence Canada and the David Suzuki Foundation, which say new LNG infrastructure “contradicts Canada’s climate commitments.”
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