British ColumbiaA group of hereditary chiefs in northwest B.C. has failed in a legal bid to challenge the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG terminal project just north of Prince Rupert.Gitanyow hereditary chiefs argued province didn’t properly consult with them, but judge disagreedAkshay Kulkarni · CBC News · Posted: Sep 03, 2025 1:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoA rendering of the Ksi Lisims LNG project, which the Gitanyow hereditary chiefs attempted to challenge in court. (Submitted by Ksi Lisims LNG)A group of hereditary chiefs in northwest B.C. has failed in a legal bid to challenge the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG terminal project just north of Prince Rupert.The Nisga’a Nation and Western LNG say the Ksi Lisims project would be a floating production facility capable of producing 12 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year, and is estimated to cost upwards of $10 billion.It has faced stiff opposition from several environmental groups and the Gitanyow hereditary chiefs, who argue it will have negative environmental consequences, including a risk to important salmon habitat.The chiefs filed a court challenge against the project last October, saying that the province’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) didn’t properly consult with Gitanyow.The chiefs also argued the project’s environmental assessment should be paused, in part so there can be more research into the impact on salmon habitats.WATCH | Ksi Lisims LNG pipeline raises concerns in community: Local communities worried about pipeline required for Ksi Lisims LNGKathy Clay, president of the Kispiox Valley Community Centre Association and Chief Councilor Kolin Sutherland-Wilson of the Kispiox Band explain their concerns about the proposed pipeline.But the province said the Gitanyow’s territories don’t overlap with the project’s anticipated impacts, and its own assessments showed little effect on salmon from the nation’s traditional watersheds.Ultimately, B.C. Supreme Court Judge Jennifer Lynn Whately found that the Gitanyow were given procedural fairness as part of the environmental assessment process, and dismissed the hereditary chiefs’ petition.”I find that the Gitanyow were afforded a fair and open opportunity to air their concerns with the EAO,” she wrote in an Aug. 29 decision.”The fact is that the EAO and the Gitanyow have engaged in ongoing and open communications that included the consideration of the Gitanyow’s position on the potential impacts on their fishing rights,” she added.Province required to consultAccording to the decision, the Ksi Lisims project is in the latter stages of its environmental assessment process, which first began in July 2021.As part of that process, any area First Nations are required to be notified and consulted with by the EAO.Any First Nations who are not immediately consulted can notify the EAO that they want to participate in the process — so long as they do so within 80 days of its beginning.The EAO had deemed that there was no reasonable possibility that the Gitanyow would be affected by the project’s impacts, according to the decision.”Further, the Gitanyow did not provide the EAO with notice of their intent to participate in the environmental assessment of the Project within 80 days of the first day of publication,” the decision reads.The proposed site for the Ksi Lisims LNG project. (CBC News)However, more than two years after the environmental assessment began, the Gitanyow hereditary chiefs sent a letter to the EAO and the project’s proponents in November 2023.”The Gitanyow brought forward concerns about the connection between Ksi Lisims LNG and the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipeline, the lack of contact from the EAO on the Project, certain climate impacts [and] impacts to salmon fisheries in the Nass Watershed,” reads the decision.According to the court ruling, the Gitanyow had retained Michael Price — the director of science for SkeenaWild Conservation Trust — as a scientific expert, and they attached one of his reports in subsequent correspondence with the province.”Dr. Price opined that the EAO’s conclusion that the Project would not impact Gitanyow fishing rights was ‘premature and not scientifically defensible,'” the decision reads.Procedurally fair, court findsIn court, the province argued there would be little impact to Nass River salmon due to the Ksi Lisims megaproject.”The EAO explained that its assessment determined that any adverse effects on salmon would be moderate and localized, and that any effects on habitats important to juvenile salmon, such as bull kelp, would be limited and temporary,” the decision reads.The province also argued that the hereditary chiefs had been allowed to participate in the environmental assessment process after the letter was sent in November 2023.The proposed Ksi Lisims LNG is located at Wil Milit, approximately 15 kilometres northwest of Gingolx, a B.C. coastal community about 80 kilometres north of Prince Rupert. The land is undeveloped, but was previously logged. (Nisga’a Lisims Government)According to the court ruling, an October 2024 order from the EAO required notification to be given to the hereditary chiefs of any key project milestones, and that their input be considered when finalizing the environmental assessment.Justice Whately sided with the province, and found that the chiefs had been given an opportunity to weigh in on the project.”The fact the EAO did not choose to include the Gitanyow as a formally recognized participating nation does not mean that consultation has not taken place that would satisfy the duty of the Crown,” she wrote. “The evidence before me shows that consultation has taken place, albeit not on the terms sought by, or preferred by the Gitanyow.”CBC has reached out to the the Gitanyow hereditary chiefs, the Nisga’a Nation and the province for comment.ABOUT THE AUTHORAkshay Kulkarni is an award-winning journalist who has worked at CBC British Columbia since 2021. Based in Vancouver, he is most interested in data-driven stories. You can email him at akshay.kulkarni@cbc.ca.
Ksi Lisims LNG project in northwest B.C. survives judicial challenge
