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www.northernsentinel.com
Volume 59 No. 37
New LNG plan is Haisla owned Cameron Orr A newly formed Haisla-owned company is seeking an export permit as they prepare for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the Douglas Channel. Cedar LNG Export Development Inc. has submitted for three separate export licences. Company CEO Dave LaVallie said that each of the floating LNG facilities they hope to moor in the Douglas Channel can receive up to 400 million cubic feet per day of gas, and with up to perhaps five jetties serving the liquefaction vessels, he said the flexibility of the project lends itself to splitting up their operation under three export permits. The project isn’t being run as a traditional LNG company compared to larger players, he said. “We are just the midstream piece. It will be the customers who line up where they get the gas,” he said. “We simply charge them a toll for turning that gas from a gaseous state to a liquid state.” The company also won’t build their own dedicated pipeline but will instead use capacity on a future pipeline but LaVallie didn’t name names when it came to who they’d use. That said, he did confirm it wouldn’t be on Pacific Northern Gas’ line, only because there’s no spare capacity on that line to buy. He said they are in advanced stages with potential customers but slow progress from the provincial government is making securing contracts difficult. “We are in advanced stage of negotiations with customers but until such time that B.C. has confirmed its tax regime and its regulatory regime with respect to its emissions, standards and other things, folks aren’t prepared to sign up to these projects,” he said. “It’s a problem for every one of these projects.” He said he anticipates that between direct and indirect jobs, over 100 people might be employed from the project in operation. The submission to the National Energy Board says that this project will eventually have at least one more industry partner in some phase of the construction, ownership or operation. The location of Cedar LNG wasn’t specified but would likely be built somewhere in land that effectively surrounds Bish Cove, where the Kitimat LNG project is proposed to go as well. Under the best case scenario he sees the Cedar LNG project proceeding in 2018 but is realistic in that it could take longer. “Our hopes are it will be as early as 2018, but expecting more likely 2019,” he said.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
1.30 INCLUDES TAX
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On September 5 Kitimat teachers and supporters gathered at Centennial Park for a rally which saw them march through town, making noise to raise awareness of the ongoing strike between the BC Teachers Federation and the government. See page 6 for more information on where talks are now.
The home schooling alternative Cameron Orr With parents given until September 30 each year to decide whether to put their kids in to home schooling, many may seriously give that option thought as the strike continues between the BC Teachers Federation and the provincial government. In Kitimat home schooling has been a consistently used alternative to the regular public school system. Today there are approximately 20 students home schooled in Kitimat. Nicole Goffinet home schools her two children, one just began this year and the other is in grade 4, and says there’s a level of flexibility that’s not available through public schools. The decision to home school her kids was a large one to make, especially given that she’d been a public school teacher herself. “I was a teacher myself in the public school system in Kitimat, and I al-
ways felt strongly if I had children I’d home school them,” she said. “[One reason] was I like to travel and obviously the school year is set up in such a way that you get holidays with everyone else,” adding such a schedule means expensive travel times. She said there were more students when she started doing it but the Eurocan closure impacted home school levels in Kitimat. Among the benefits she says is that she can focus the curriculum on areas where her kids show greater aptitude. Before she had children she believed that if any showed advanced learning in any subject, a public school teacher watching over numerous students wouldn’t be able to provide that detailed attention. The ‘school day’ is also flexibile, with more learning happening later in the day than in the morning. She said they receive three re-
port cards a year, and the way home schooling works is that they are enroled through a public school or private school. She said last year their program schedule allowed them to receive their last report card just before teachers went on strike and were locked out. As for the question of socialization she finds her kids do socialize well with others, both in the home school program or those in mainstream schools. The local group of home schoolers do hold special events too for those in the program. Information on home schooling is online at www.bced.gov.bc.ca/home_ school. Goffinet says she is organizing a parent information meeting for people who want to learn more about home schooling. People can call her for more information about this meeting at 250632-3125.
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Airport given money boost ... page 7