Christine Kennedy: The Woodfibre LNG Project will not impact housing in Squamish

Woodfibre LNG president, Christine Kennedy, sets the record straight on Woodfibre LNG’s workforce accommodation strategy.

I want to address some misinformation that’s been recently circulating in video comments by a member of District of Squamish Council about the company’s plans for housing our construction workforce.

These comments falsely claimed that Woodfibre LNG had not adequately dealt with housing, and that construction workers would be taking up housing in the community. These statements are untrue and they seem purposely misleading.

Squamish residents deserve to know the facts.

Woodfibre LNG’s non-local construction workforce will be accommodated on a floatel at the project site, 7 km outside the community. This converted cruise ship will accommodate 650 workers and anyone not hired locally from Squamish or the Sea to Sky area will have no access to the community during their shift rotations.

The company’s decision to use a floatel followed extensive engagement with the community, Council, and Squamish Nation – including thousands of comments from members of the public about how best to house hundreds of workers during the Project’s construction phase.

Claims about workers searching for housing in Squamish are false. By regulation, those from outside Squamish and the Sea to Sky area are required to live on the floatel once it is in place and are not allowed to access rental housing in the community. A small number of our construction management staff will live in the community, but must live in the leased apartment building that Woodfibre LNG has maintained in Squamish for several years.

We have a code of conduct for our workforce. District Council members are also subject to a code of conduct that requires them to perform their duties with integrity, avoid improper use or influence of their office, ensure that their communications related to Council business are accurate, and not issue any communication that a Council member knows, or ought to have known, to be false. That was clearly not followed.

All District Council members are aware of the details of the floatel and are preparing for an upcoming Council discussion on issuing a Temporary Use Permit for the vessel. The floatel has already been approved by provincial, federal and Squamish Nation regulators. We hope that District Council will advance the TUP quickly to enable implementation of this community-driven housing solution, putting their votes behind their desire to have the workforce accommodated outside Squamish.

I grew up in a small community, and I know how important it is for a project of our scale to do everything practical to mitigate impacts on local residents.

Woodfibre LNG construction is going ahead, and with the District Council’s approval of the Temporary Use Permit, the project will be built without impacts on housing in Squamish. You have my word on it.