Billion-dollar LNG deal pitched to BC First Nation for project support – CTV

May 1, 2015

The proponent of a liquefied natural gas plant on British Columbia’s north coast is offering more than $1 billion to obtain the consent of a First Nations community, a groundbreaking proposal that could establish the new price for natural resource development in traditional aboriginal territories.

In a province where resource projects have stalled and sometimes foundered over aboriginal opposition, the tentative deal between the Prince Rupert-based Lax Kw’alaams band and a joint venture led by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas sets a new benchmark for sharing the wealth from energy extraction.

If approved by band members, the agreement will transfer roughly $1 billion in cash to the Lax Kw’alaams band over the span of the 40-year deal, while the B.C. government is putting more than $100 million worth of Crown lands on the table. For the 3,600 members of the Lax Kw’alaams community, the total package works out to a value of roughly $320,000 per person.

Read More: http://www.bnn.ca/News/2015/5/1/LNG-venture-offers-1B-for-aboriginal-consent.aspx