What is the Ksi Lisims LNG terminal? The answer depends on who you ask. Some say it’s a project that sacrifices: taxpayers, workers, First Nations water, salmon, the climate, and Canadian sovereignty in one stroke. Others describe it as a massive LNG export facility planned for the northwest coast of British Columbia in Nisga’a Nation territory.
The project will sit on two floating platforms. It will process up to 22.4 billion cubic meters of gas every year and export 12 million tons of liquefied natural gas to Asian markets. The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline will feed it, pushing northern B.C. gas toward global buyers hungry for a long-term supply.
So, what powers this mega-project? The North Coast Transmission Line. Premier David Eby pledged to stake his government on legislation supporting this line, which carries an estimated price tag of $6 billion. Even Mark Carney weighed in, with the Canada Infrastructure Bank offering BC Hydro a $140 million loan to advance it.
After B.C.’s environmental regulators granted the project a license, both provincial and federal governments rushed to endorse it. But a deeper question sits beneath the political celebrations: who owns the project?
Documents show the assets will be built, owned, and operated by subsidiaries of Western LNG, a company based in Houston, Texas. The leadership isn’t Canadian, and neither are the major financial beneficiaries. Yet, the project requires Canadian taxpayers to subsidize its success. BC Hydro’s publicly funded electricity will power gas liquefaction, lowering costs for foreign investors who don’t answer to British Columbians.
From a business angle, the math gets even more interesting. A few months ago, Blackstone Inc. (the world’s largest alternative asset manager with a staggering $1 trillion in global holdings) revealed its stake in Western LNG. Blackstone’s CEO, Republican billionaire Steve Schwarzman, funneled $39 million into Trump’s political agenda. He’s advised Trump since 2016 and now backs a continent-wide LNG expansion that has landed squarely in Canada, which critics jokingly call “America’s 51st state.”
British Columbia sits on vast methane reserves and offers low royalty rates. Last year, fracking companies, many with American ownership, extracted $5.8 billion worth of gas from B.C. They returned just 12 percent of that value to the public. The B.C. government collects more revenue from gambling than natural gas, so it sweetens the pot for LNG backers: corporate tax breaks, discounted electricity, carbon tax exemptions, and even RCMP protection.
Wall Street recognizes an easy target, and British Columbians risk becoming tenants on their own land unless they act. Still, Canadians have a narrow window to break the grip of foreign billionaires on their natural resources. These investors don’t respect national boundaries. They respect profit, and Canadians need leadership that understands the difference.
Instead of fast-tracking construction under pressure from Cheniere and Bechtel executives, Premier Eby and his cabinet must ask themselves whether the project truly serves the province.
Fast-tracking without oversight is reckless. Canadians feel the tension. New data from the Angus Reid Institute shows 74% of Canadians support fast-tracking major projects, but nearly half reject skipping environmental reviews. Three in ten oppose discarding provincial oversight.
Yet, Premier Eby continues to welcome investment without questioning who benefits, “If you want to invest in British Columbia, you want to build jobs here and prosperity for British Columbians and Canadians, we welcome you.” He offered that response when pressed on whether approving Ksi Lisims LNG connects to Trump-era investors with deep financial ties to Republican power. He doubled down, saying those investors “Could invest anywhere, but choose to bring their money here.”
Energy Minister Adrian Dix carries a mandate to keep energy costs low. British Columbians must hold him to it, or risk losing control of their natural gas to foreign corporations that treat public resources as private commodities.
Canada can learn from Australia’s hard lesson. For decades, Australians enjoyed low-cost domestic gas. Then, in 2015, a cluster of corporations began exporting massive quantities of LNG. The result: wholesale gas prices tripled. Wealth flowed from the public to a handful of gas companies granted control of national resources. Everyday families paid the price.
B.C. has already approved Ksi Lisims LNG. Ottawa followed suit with conditional approval. So, what comes next?
Canadians must confront a sobering possibility: imagine producing more than 98 percent of the country’s natural gas (a resource that makes up 41% of Canada’s entire energy supply) only to watch a foreign corporation dictate your own domestic prices. That’s the future Canada risks if it surrenders control of its LNG sector.
That future is closer than most think.
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