VICTORIA, BC — Scandal broke just as Finance Minister Mike de Jong landed for a six-day LNG trip to the country. The early start on the federal election campaign has ended B.C. Liberal hopes for getting an early start on a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on the northwest coast.
The Liberals recalled the legislature for a rare summer session last month to deliver final approval for the provincial side of an LNG agreement with a consortium led by Malaysian-government owned Petronas.
That still left the multibillion-dollar project needing federal environmental approval, with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency nearing completion of a review of a proposal to locate the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal at a site near Prince Rupert.