The Kitselas First Nation is continuing its long standing policy of financially benefitting from liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects and affiliated infrastructure, this time by signing an agreement with the planned Ksi Lisims LNG facility.
Details of the deal, signed at a May 21, 2025 ceremony, have yet to be publicly released but a statement from Kitselas and Ksi Lisims indicates one of its provisions includes money to "expand access to affordable, flexible childcare for Kitselas families."
Ksi Lisims is a venture between Western LNG, a Houston-based American company, Rockies LNG, a Calgary-based company, and the Nisga'a Lisims Government, which owns half of the project.
If approved, and provided a final investment decision is made, Ksi Lisims, a proposed floating export terminal north of the Nisga'a village of Gingolx on the North Coast, would export 12 million tonnes of super-cooled gas per year. That's just two million tonnes shy of the LNG Canada land-based facility about to go into full production in Kitimat.
The opportunity for Kitselas to receive a financial benefit from Ksi Lisims arose when it was listed by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office as a participating and interested First Nation in the evaluation of the project and because of its recognized ongoing connections to the area in and around where the project is located.
Also considered interested and participating First Nations eligible for financial gain are the Kitsumkalum First Nation, the Lax Kw'alaams Band, the Metlakatla First Nation, the Gitga'at First Nation and the Gitxaala Nation.
The Kitselas First Nation's interest in liquefied natural gas dates back to at least 2008 when it signed a deal with the province for a portion of the $35 million the province committed to paying for the Pacific Trail Pipeline that would have gone from Prince George to Kitimat.
That was followed in 2014 when Kitselas and the Province agreed on payments arising from the construction of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeine from northeastern B.C. scheduled to ship gas to a planned but now cancelled LNG facility near Prince Rupert.
This pipeline plan has now been bought by the same parties who own Ksi Lisims LNG. They are now waiting for environmental approval to have the final leg run to the Ksi Lisims location instead of to Prince Rupert. Based on the 2014 agreement, Kitselas could receive close to $2 million from the Province as construction proceeds and an ongoing benefit when gas begins to flow.
Similar financial agreements between the province and Kitselas also exist for the Coastal Gas Link pipeline, which is ready to pump gas to the LNG Canada export facility at Kitimat.
These agreements also cover the Kitselas First Nation's ability to acquire provincial Crown lands, a condition that is seeing Kitselas take on ownership of 62 hectares in lower Thornhill.
While Kitselas has a financial deal with Ksi Lisims and one with the Province for the pipeline that would feed it, it has not responded to queries as to whether it also has a deal with the pipeline owners themselves.
The provincial agreements prohibit First Nations from interfering in the construction of the pipeline.
That prospect has now surfaced with the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs who signed their agreement in 2014. Gitanyow members last year tore up the agreement, saying the pipeline risks damage to their traditional territory. They also said the environmental approvals are outdated.
A provided statement from the province indicated it regards the Gitanyow agreement as remaining in place.
It said discussions between the Gitanyow and pipeline owners in 2014 resulted in rerouting the pipeline to meet the conditions of an existing land use plan.
Although the province now regards the pipeline as substantially started so that its environmental approvals remain active, the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs disagree with that assessment.
