29 Oct 2025 5 min read

Ksi Lisims Legal Challenges; North Coast Transmission Line; New Report from DSF

The BC government is putting it all on the line to build this infrastructure project aimed at attracting additional LNG and mining development in northwest BC.

Highlights

The federal government's approval for Ksi Lisims LNG (which was effectively delegated to the province) is being challenged separately by both the Lax Kw'alaams Band and the Metlakatla First Nation
BC government moves forward with North Coast Transmission Line bill as massive public subsidy to entice LNG, mining
New report from David Suzuki Foundation raises questions about claims of economic benefit (including jobs, government revenues, and economic growth) from LNG export industry

Got tips?

If you have access to unpublished information about these projects or about LNG in BC more broadly, check out our Tips page for information on secure channels.

The more reach this newsletter has, the more likely it is we'll be able to obtain information that isn't available elsewhere. Please share with friends, colleagues, and anyone who may be interested in staying up-to-date on the latest developments with these megaprojects.

Details

First Nations Legal Challenges to Ksi Lisims LNG

In October, the Lax Kw'alaams Band and the Metlakatla First Nation filed two new legal challenges against the Ksi Lisims project targeting the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the federal government's approval of the project (which was largely delegated to the province). According to media coverage, both claim that the federal government ignored their input in its approval and each levied a range of criticisms against the project focused on the unrealistic economic case for it, its climate implications, and its implications for their Aboriginal rights and title. In particular, both nations "have outstanding Aboriginal title claims for the Mylor Peninsula in B.C. Supreme Court," which is located just across from Ksi Lisims's Pearse Island location.

These come in addition to an ongoing legal challenge against PRGT, and it is not out of the question that either or both projects will face additional legal challenges soon, given that multiple other First Nations have expressed opposition to Ksi Lisims.

North Coast Transmission Line Bill

The BC government announced new legislation on October 20th that will move the North Coast Transmission Line forward. This project is intended explicitly to supply electricity to the LNG industry, despite that industry's ongoing refusal to electrify because of high costs, and to the mining industry.

Somewhat bizarrely, Premier Eby is framing his push to build this $6 billion North Coast Transmission Line (NCTL) as a way to resolve the province's budget deficit. As he explained to reporters, the project will enable the development of 14 major projects that will grow BC's economy "by $9.85-billion annually, with about $1-billion in revenue to government," and "will create 9,700 direct jobs a year on average." Suffice to say that these claims are at best the product of spurious economic models and at worst, completely divorced from reality (this subsidy may not be enough to push any, let alone all, of these projects forward, particularly in the face of continued Indigenous opposition to many of them).

Buried in the announcement of this infrastructure project is another subsidy for large industrial users aimed, most likely, at the LNG industry: Eby's government is removing the requirement for large industrial users to pay for the costs of new electricity transmission and generation infrastructure, which would have seen LNG projects paying for transmission lines like this one as well as new energy generation projects.

"It’s not that I love natural gas, it’s that I love jobs for British Columbians. I love prosperity for our province."

New Report on the Economic Impacts of LNG in BC

The new report published this week by the David Suzuki Foundation, "Running on Fumes: B.C. LNG’s Overhyped Promises, Risky Future and Public Costs," raises serious questions about exactly the kinds of claims regarding economic impacts Eby is making to justify the NCTL. The authors looked at the economic benefits promised by proponents in their environmental assessment applications and amplified by government and industry associations and assessed to what degree LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink have met their promises, and to what degree it is realistic to expect the industry more broadly to meet its promises. Their results include the finding that estimated tax revenues at all jurisdictions have been all but wiped away by subsequent changes to tax codes; that offshoring and foreign ownership undermine claims about employment, economic multipliers, and GDP growth; that potential impacts on domestic gas and electricity prices will not only harm consumers but could crowd out other industrial energy users; and that a range of unaccounted-for costs continue to offset claimed project benefits.

The report's findings also raise questions about the viability of an electrified LNG industry even after freeing it from the costs of associated infrastructure: even the industrial rate from BC Hydro costs far more than gas as a fuel source for the liquefaction process.