In northern BC, an Enbridge pipeline project has been resurrected by Alberta natural gas pipelines, liquids pipelines and energy company TC Energy. Purchased in 2022, the “Westcoast connector” (as it was called when owned by Enbridge) was renamed the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) by TC Energy.
This pipeline is slated to be 900 kilometres long, dissecting a number of First Nations territories. Beginning in the Nisga’a Nation (co-operators of the pipeline along with LNG Rockies and Western LNG), running north-east through Lax Kw’alaams territory, Wet’suwet’en, and Gitanyow territory, the pipeline company TC Energy states that they “signed agreements with all 20 elected Indigenous first nations along the pipeline route in 2018”, omitting the nations which are hereditary-led.
Naxginkw (Tara Marsden), a member of the Gitanyow Huwilp and Wilp Sustainability Director for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, spoke to CICK News about the key components of the letter and the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs’ concerns with the Ksi Lisims project.
