LNG Canada approval stokes dreams for future LNG development in Northwest, with Prince Rupert still a potential location

The Major Projects webmap of just a few years ago marked a number
of Northwest locations for potential LNG terminal development,
with Monday's LNG Canada announcement, some energy observers
suggest that a rebirth for development may be on the horizon
(Map from BC Oil and Gas commission)

Yesterday's announcement of the Green light for a 40 Billion dollar investment in Kitimat through the LNG Canada terminal and pipeline project, has seemingly renewed hopes in Canada's energy sector that the province of British Columbia will see a number of other LNG projects come to fruition in the years to come.

And while many from this LNG 101 update of a few years ago may be long gone, many observers suggest that with the LNG Canada announcement, the push towards future development may be back on, with communities around British Columbia looking to reap the economic benefits that Kitimat hopes to realize over the next decade.

Bloomberg Canada made note of the renewed optimism on Tuesday, and as part of their look at the road ahead, the business portal took note of some thoughts from Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain from the summer when he reviewed the options available for investors on the North Coast.

From the Bloomberg article, among the suggested sites for such a development were the city owned lot on Tuck Inlet that once was to be the home for the WCC LNG Project, the tone of the Bloomberg article suggesting that the Exxon plans may no longer be in motion.

Another location that was noted as potential development site was Ridley Island, where room for another industrial project is available.

Would be LNG companies however will do some due diligence and no doubt consult with Petronas, the proponent of the close but not delivered Pacific Northwest LNG terminal, as well as the Chinese Oil giant CNOOC, who abandoned their own plans for LNG development on Digby Island last year.

Both companies could provide a lay of the land for energy companies looking to do business on the North Coast and make note of the discussions with communities in the region at the time.

Any LNG proponent looking to locate in Prince Rupert, will most likely research the CEAA filings made by the City of Prince Rupert for the Aurora and Pacific NorthWest LNG projects.

The environmental assessment process was one which the City of Prince Rupert took much interest in, filing lengthy contributions for both projects, highlighting their concerns related to development and what they hoped to receive from any successful proponent as far as benefits to the community.

March 15, 2017 -- City of Prince Rupert submission among many included in comment process for Aurora LNG
April 4, 2016 -- City of Prince Rupert CEAA submission on Pacific NorthWest LNG now available on agency website

At Monday's City Council forum, all eight of the candidates declared differing levels of support towards the LNG industry for Prince Rupert, some more cautious than others, all however preaching the theme of support, only if any proposed development is in the right place and with the right conditions.

Of the four incumbents on the panel that were on Council during these last few years of past LNG speculation, none really went into much detail on Monday towards how they had approached those two applications that were in the line up during their time on Council.

Something which left a few gaps on background when it comes to their declaration of support towards a return for the industry to Prince Rupert.

Grassy Point near Lax Kw'alaams
is one spot that has been identified
as a potential LNG terminal location

One other interested observer in the renewed prospects for further LNG terminal development maybe Lax Kw'alaams, which at one time was on the radar for Australia's Woodside energy, which had proposed an LNG Terminal at Grassy Point .

That land is still vacant and as Eagle Spirit Energy's Calvin Helin revealed in recent months,  a push continues towards developing an energy corridor from Alberta to the North Coast with terminal facilities not far from the First Nation community at the north end of Tuck Inlet.

Now that the LNG picture is heating up once again, that Lax Kw'alaams option may find the most traction of all when things do begin to percolate.

Fitting in as it does with both Provincial and Federal themes on Indigenous engagement and a desire towards as Premier Horgan put it yesterday: "balancing our economic, environmental and reconciliation priorities"

Bloomberg was the first to take note of the new enthusiasm for LNG in Canada in the wake of the Kitimat announcement of Tuesday, some others can be reviewed below:


Looming Large: Shell's LNG Canada seen as tip of mega project iceberg
'First of many': $40B LNG Canada signals revival of mega projects
$40B LNG facility is the light at the end of a long tunnel for Canada's natural gas sector
What LNG means for gas sector


A review of the past proposed projects for the Prince Rupert area can be found from our archive page here.

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Terrace RCMP seek assistance of public in missing woman file

Update: Terrace RCMP advise that Ms. Radek has been located and is safe and well, the Mounties also thank the public for their assistance.

The Terrace Detachment has issued a call for assistance from the public as they seek to locate a 31 year old Northwest woman, Rachel Radek of the Terrace area.

Ms. Radek left her home on Friday September 28th and has not been in contact with her family since that time, she was reported missing on Monday, October 1st.

She is described as 31years of age, Five foot, five inches in height and 150 pounds.
Ms. Radek features long black hair, brown eyes, light skin and has a slender build.

If you have seen her, or have any information related to her whereabouts, you are asked to contact the Terrace RCMP at 250-638-7400 or through Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or

Further background on the case file is available from the Terrace RCMP here.

For more items of note from Northwest Emergency Responders see our archive here.


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Emergency Service Files: October 2018

Our Archive of items for the month of October, from the files of law enforcement and other emergency responders in Northwestern British Columbia.


From the North Coast Review

Police seek assistance of public in Park Avenue store robbery
Drug busts in Terrace. Prince Rupert net RCMP crack, cocaine and cash
Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue make quick work of afternoon fire on Sixth Avenue East
Marine Response exercise plays out off of Rushbrook Floats
Seniors to benefit from Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue - Pembina initiative
Latest City of Prince Rupert job op takes you to the police station
Prince Rupert joins in on Fire Prevention Week across North America
Terrace RCMP seek assistance of public in missing woman file
With start of October, BC government reminds us to shift to a Winter Driving mindset



**************************************************************************

Prince Rupert/Port Edward/Haida Gwaii/North Coast

October 29 -- Prince Rupert RCMP seeking public help to identify robber
October 29 -- RCMP investigate armed robbery at local convenience store 
October 29 -- Hooded man robs convenience sore on Park Avenue
October 28 -- Grain car derailment on Ridley Island
October 27 -- Armed Robbery at Convenience Store  (RCMP Statement)
October 26 -- Drug trafficking investigation leads to arrests in Terrace and Prince Rupert
October 26 -- Prince Rupert  and Terrace RCMP seize cocaine and cash in joint drug bust
October 24 -- Queen Charlotte Police arrest man accused of breaching court conditions
October 22 -- Boat sinks while moored at Rushbrook floats
October 19 -- Coast Guard works with First Nations in oil response exercise
October 17 -- Fire crews put out basement fire on Sixth Avenue East
October 17 -- WorkSafe, Coroner investigation Prince Rupert Diver's Death
October 17 -- Commercial diver from Prince Rupert drowns in Hecate Strait
October 16 -- Rupert Harbour sets scene for mock oil spill response
October 1 -- Crashed delivery truck causes service delay at Canada Post
October 1 -- Prince Rupert Fire Department receives funding to help seniors and youth
October 1 -- Vehicle torched near Skidegates Jungle Beach

Terrace/Kitimat

October 29 -- Suspect sought for tire mischief spree
October 29 -- Terrace RCMP investigating tire tampering incidents
October 29 -- Police ask for help catching tire troubler (RCMP Statement)
October 26 -- Drug trafficking investigation leads to arrests in Terrace and Prince Rupert
October 26 -- Two people arrested in Terrace and Prince Rupert drug busts
October 25 -- Two men arrested in Terrace, Prince Rupert Drug Bust
October 25 -- Crack, cocaine and cash seized in local drug bust (RCMP Statement)
October 25 -- Thinking of smoking pot while cycling? Don't
October 25 -- It takes more effort to illegally dump an appliance than use free services: RDKS
October 24 -- RCMP respond to five drunken disturbances in Terrace on Friday
October 24 -- Possible assault in Terrace leaves man with significant head wound
October 23 -- No injuries in watery accident
October 23 -- RCMP say van found in Terrace river rolled in by accident
October 23 -- Vehicle spotted in river near Terrace
October 23 -- Terrace Detachment Service Report October 15-21 (RCMP Statement)
October 20 -- Illegal dumping pushes BC conservation to the tipping point
October 19 -- Six garbage bears destroyed in Kitimat so far this season
October 19 -- Gas fumes send hotel guest to hospital as a precaution
October 18 -- Terrace police and fire fighters face off for fundraising (RCMP statement)
October 17 -- Terrace RCMP ask for video in connection with drive-by shooting investigation
October 16 -- Phone scam resurfaces in Terrace
October 16 -- Terrace RCMP investigationg bear mace assault
October 16 -- Terrace Detachment Service Report October 5 -11 (RCMP Statement)
October 16 -- Kitimat residents warned of aggressive bears
October 15 -- Aggressive bear warning for Kitimat neighbourhood
October 15 -- Police arrest one man after drive-by shooting in Terrace
October 15 -- Man surrenders after Terrace drive-by shooting
October 15 -- Man sought by police located (RCMP Statement)
October 15 -- Man arrested following Walsh Avenue shooting  (RCMP Statement)
October 12 -- Wanted: Konnor Taylor (RCMP Statement)
October 12 -- Illegal dumping pushes BC Conservation to the tipping point
October 11 -- Wanted: Cheryl-Ann Edgar (RCMP Statement)
October 10 -- Stewart RCMP reminding residents to follow hunting regulations
October 10 -- Kitimat RCMP seeking suspect in hit and run
October 10 -- Kitimat RCMP looking for Hit and Run Suspect
October 10 -- RCMP requesting assistance locating a driver in a hit and run (RCMP Statement)
October 5 -- Telegraph Creek evacuation order will stretch into winter
October 3 -- Missing Terrace woman found safe
October 3 -- Terrace RCMP looking for missing woman
October 3 -- Missing Terrace woman, Rachel Radek, found safe
October 2 -- Have you seen Rachel Radek? (RCMP Statement)
October 2 -- Terrace Detachment Service Report Sept 24-30  (RCMP Statement)
October 1 -- Winter tire restrictions begin today
October 1 -- Kitimat RCMP investigating Highway 37 crash

Bulkley Valley and elsewhere

October 19 -- Six cattle killed on Hungry Hill
October 19 -- Cow-tastrophy along Highway 16 on Hungry Hill
October 17 -- Houston aims to improve emergency response
October 17 -- Smithers guide attacked by grizzly bear
October 3 -- Houston offers 'outstanding support' to Tour de North riders
October 3 -- Burns Lake Citizens on Patrol Society dismantled
October 2 -- Disturbing details emerge in former Burns Lake Mayor's sexual assault trial
October 2 -- Former Burns Lake Mayor Luke Strimbold given new bail conditions


Ketchikan and Southeast Alaska

October 26 -- Body found near Olive Cove, Etolin Island
October 22 -- Ketchikan man charged with vehicle theft
October 19 -- Air Station Sitka rescues three hunters off William Henry Mountain
October 19 -- Ketchikan woman charged with brining in meth
October 19 -- Kethcikan woman dies after apparent fall into water
October 17 -- Washington man charged with murder in Yakutat
October 17 -- Sitka police officer files sexual harassment lawsuit
October 10 -- POW man charged with drug possession at airport
October 5 -- Lost hiker rescued from Deer Mountain
October 2 -- Ketchikan man charged with attempted murder
October 1 -- General's visit signals a more robust National Guard in rural Alaska


Archive of month to month review for 2018



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Pinnacle Renewable Energy expands footprint in Alabama and Alberta

Pinnacle Renewable Energy which has been gaining a foothold across Northern BC as it feeds its Prince Rupert pellet shipment terminal is casting its gaze a little further to south these days, with an announcement that put an International stamp on Pinnacle's plans for the future.

In early September Pinnacle announced an agreement to purchase a 70 percent stake in an Industrial wood pellet production facility in Alabama, the move will help to increase the company's profile in Europe where the majority of the Alabama pellet product is destined.

With their investment in the southern USA, Pinnacle is also looking forward to exploring other growth opportunities in Alabama and Mississippi.

The biomass energy company is also exploring opportunities a little closer to home, with a new facility recently opened in Entwistle, Alberta, that production operation is prepared to deliver product to the Westview Terminal on Prince Rupert's Waterfront.

The shipments bound for international markets and set to transit CN's northern line from the central Alberta facility to the terminal on the North Coast. 

“The concept here is that as opposed to regular CN service, where they’re taking 15 to 20 cars at a time, we can load an entire string of 90 to 100 cars and CN takes them all directly to Prince Rupert where they get unloaded and then immediately brought back,”  -- Scott Bax, Senior Vice President of Operations for Pinnacle Pellet.

Westview Terminal could see production levels pick up significantly as
as production facility in Alberta opens

The Alberta expansion and the Alabama move mark the first time that BC based Pinnacle has moved its scope of operations outside of the province.

Among its investments in the Northwest, Pinnacle operates pellet plant facilities in Smithers, Houston and Burns Lake, the company is also in the midst of planning for a production operation in South Hazelton.

For more items of note related to Pinnacle Pellet see our archive page here.

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CityWest glitches left large gaps in Prince Rupert Council Forum presentation

CityWest viewers found that Monday's Council Forum made for a night
of frustration, with technical issues plaguing their coverage of the event 

***See Update Below***

The perils of live television were on prominent display through the CityWest Community channel coverage of Monday night's City Council Forum at the Lester Centre, with a string of outages leaving those at home clicking refresh repeatedly on their computer browsers, while viewers of the community cable channels stared at a frozen screen for lengthy periods of time.

Things were going well until the start of the opening remarks from the council hopefuls about fifteen minutes into the broadcast, where halfway through the panel, the presentation came to a sudden end. The video disappearing into the Twilight Zone just as Councillor Barry Cunningham was about to recount his years on Council and we assume his call for an opportunity to serve for another four ahead.

Owing to the outage, viewers at home would never learn of the opening themes from Wade Niesh, Nick Adey, Reid Skelton-Morven or Blair Mirau.

As the evening moved along, like the days of old of pulling in a television show with rabbit ears, the video would come back only to stutter to a stop again, making it near impossible to follow the line of questions that had been prepared by the Chamber of Commerce members, or the three contributions of the thirty six that the public submitted through online opportunities.

The audience would get a partial glimpse of the closing comments by nights end, though again a few of the candidates were missing from that rotation as well, leaving home viewers with a rather incomplete picture of the night.

All eight candidates were on hand for Monday night's City council forum
however not all of them were heard, as glitches made for an incomplete
picture of the themes and discussions on the night.
(Screenshot from CityWest Community channel Facebook)

The live feed did return for a six minute speed reading address from Mayor Lee Brain, who sought to condense his ninety minute Hays 2.0 blue print presentation of the spring into the six minutes allotted for his forum appearance.

Taking to the stage, the Mayor highlighted a stream of topics and themes that have been the focus of City Council over the last few years, making the strongest points when it came to the Port Tax Caps, the need for fairness from the province on revenue distributions and the ongoing feud that the City appears determined to escalate with the District of Port Edward over the issues of the Ridley Island Tax Sharing Agreement.

With Mr. Brain returning to his concerns that Port Edward does not contribute to what the city refers to as shared services, calling it a free ride for Port Edward that needs to be renegotiated.

Those themes can be reviewed further  here, culled from one of the segments that did make it to air through the night.

As the evening came to an end CityWest advised that they would be replaying the full debate through their Community channels later in the evening and again through the week.

While the community channel replays are welcome, in fairness to those candidates that ended up lost in some digital vacuum of the Internet, what CityWest should also offer up is placement of the full council forum as part of their Facebook feed

That is something that they did for the two and a half hour Kitimat forum of last week, so it is possible it would seem.

Viewers in Prince Rupert should be afforded the same opportunity to review the entire council forum featuring all of the candidates, something that will fill in the gaps from a night where the screens were frozen, as often as they were delivering the talking points of the council hopefuls.

Until they do, you can try to piece together the current of conversation from the snippets of the forum that remain available on the CityWest Community Channel page.

Update: Chris Armstrong, CityWest's Director of Marketing, has provided an update on the Civic Forum situation of Monday evening, observing that initial indications point to equipment failure as a result of the broadcast woes of the evening.

To provide for additional coverage of the Monday Forum, CityWest plans to air two replays of the Lester Centre event for Cable viewers, with the first Wednesday evening at 7PM, the Second on Sunday at 7PM.

As well, they will be adding the Forum to their Facebook page, with hopes of having it posted to that portal as early as Wednesday, once it is available for streaming you can access it here.

***The majority of the City Council Forum has been posted to a YouTube page set up for the occasion, thought there do still appear to be some gaps in the night's discussion***


For more items of interest related to the 2018 Prince Rupert Municipal election see our archive page here.


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Council's cannabis planning introduced through Facebook post

Legalization of cannabis may be
coming October 17th, but the
City of Prince Rupert is still
working out the details on
the impact in the community

The road forward towards a cannabis policy for the Prince Rupert seemingly will start with a pair of Facebook posts on Mayor Lee Brain's political Social media stream.

Yesterday's Facebook updates, following his original notes on the process ahead found through the Mayor's Northern View'podcast presentation of last week, at that time, we explored some of Council's past work on the theme here.

On Monday evening, just a few hours prior to the City Council Forum at the Lester Centre, the Mayor offered up a tentative outline of how the City has decided to approach the upcoming legalization of cannabis, charting a course that most likely won't see any final commitments until the new year.

From the two postings to his Facebook page, the Mayor observed that when legalization arrives on October 17th, not much will change in Prince Rupert in the short term, would be retail proponents will have to make their applications for a business through the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, which then hands the process over to the City of Prince Rupert for further consideration.

With no formal policy in place as of yet, those applications will apparently be on hold pending further work of Council.

More details will come at the October 9th council session, however a few notes were outlined on Monday evening.

The city plans to release a video and Frequently Asked Questions information sheet to explain the process ahead and what the municipal regulations may look like.

First reading of a draft legislation  related to the retail sale of cannabis in the city will be made on October 9th, something that will be available as part of the Council Agenda for that night when it is posted to the City's website.

Following the October 9th Council meeting, a public engagement session will be held to take opinions from the community before Council settles on a final decision on the issue, four readings and a public hearing are part of the process ahead to establish the cannabis rules in Prince Rupert, something the Mayor advises could take a few months.

The Mayor also observes that the legislation  that Council is proposing will be progressive compared to other municipalities, with Mr. Brain calling on the public to be part of the public process ahead.

His commentary has already generated a fair amount of feedback through the comments to his Facebook entry, you can review those contributions here.

Mr. Brain also offers up two links to further information from the Province of British Columbia.

British Columbia Public Safety

BC LDB Cannabis update


The full scope of the themes of his presentation can be examined below:

To this point, the sharing of the city's plans is exclusive to the Mayor's social media stream, the city website, mobile app and other communication options available for such updates unused for the early roll out of the Council strategy.

For more items of note related to Prince Rupert City Council see our archive page here.

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Vikings off the shores of Prince Rupert?

One last stopover for the Sojourn,
the 2018 Cruise season comes to
and end Thursday for Prince Rupert

The 2018 cruise season wraps for the season on Thursday, as the final visit from the Sojourn Seabourn drops off the last of the cruise visitors for another year, one last eight hour stopover making for the curtain call.

And once the Sojourn casts off the lines and heads into the sunset at 6PM, the planning for the 2019 season which has already been in motion, will pick up steam as Prince Rupert Cruise officials look to build on the lessons of the season just ended.

As we noted last week, the Seabourn line is already on board for another year of Prince Rupert Port calls, the rest of the cruise schedule to be worked out over the course of the off season leading up to the Spring of 2019.

One cruise line that might capture the attention of Prince Rupert's cruise advocates could be the Viking Ocean Cruise line, they of the fascinating television commercials of adventures yet to be found and currently building a footprint in the Alaska cruise industry.

As things turn out, with their success of the last few years, officials with Viking Cruises are looking for a few new stops to build on their Alaska runs, sending out some feelers to a few potential Alaskan ports of call.

Viking Ocean Cruises currently offers an 11 day journey from Vancouver to Seward, Alaska featuring a number of Alaska communities, including our neighbours to the north of Ketchikan.

Since they're in the market for something a little different, it could make for a an opportunity for Prince Rupert to stake a claim to another of the well known cruise lines and to build on the foundation put forward on the North Coast of the last few years.

A sample of the Viking experience and what could one day be a potential sight at the Northland Terminal can be found here.

Let's try that again shall we, here's a more peaceful experience ...



For more on the North Coast Cruise industry see our archive page here.


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