Citing fears a refitted cruise ship would become a hub of social disorder for temporary construction workers, Squamish city councillors have rejected a proposal to convert a cruise ship into a floating work camp to build the Woodfibre LNG project on British Columbia’s West Coast.Council voted by a margin of four to three to reject a one-year permit at its regular meeting Tuesday that raised concerns about the safety of women and girls in the community of 20,000 residents north of Vancouver — in addition to traffic and noise issues and potential natural hazards.The MS Isabelle arrived in Vancouver in January from Estonia, where it had been used to house Ukrainian refugees. Woodfibre wanted to use it as a ‘floatel’ to bunk 600 workers at the work site on the Howe Sound, just outside town limits on native land..“Community members, who are on the front line of this LNG export project, raised concerns about human rights impacts for women and girls, worker safety and well-being, traffic safety, and waste disposal,”Tracey Saxby, the executive director of the advocacy group My Sea to Sky.The project would provide a much needed outlet for natural gas from Alberta and northern BC when it comes on stream in 2027.The Woodfibre would be Canada’s second major LNG export terminal and has the support of the BC and federal governments, in addition to an environmental certificate from the Squamish First Nation.It’s the second time the Squamish council has rejected the applications. Although there is widespread opposition to the LNG project — and fossil fuels — in the community itself, opposition groups tried to frame it as a social disorder issue, evoking images of resource shanty towns from the Gold Rush.“Community members, who are on the front line of this LNG export project, raised concerns about human rights impacts for women and girls, worker safety and well-being, traffic safety, and waste disposal,” Tracey Saxby, the executive director of the advocacy group My Sea to Sky, said in a statement..In March councillors denied the company porta-potty licences over concerns about CO2 emissions. Others complained the proposed security deposit to dock the ship — $2 million for contingencies — was too low. Supporters proposed a one-year contract that could be renewed until the work is completed in 2027.On its website, Woodfibre said local workers from Squamish and region would still be transported to and from the worksite by boat, it still needs outside accommodation to house the rest.“The floatel was specifically selected to be responsive to the concerns of the community and the Squamish Nation, and to promote a safe and culturally inclusive work environment, and to ensure no impacts on the Squamish housing market or community services and infrastructure,” it said.Woodfibre LNG is the first company in Canada to recognize a First Nations government as a regulator on a proposed industrial project and receive an environmental approval from an indigenous community in the absence of a treaty. It’s also being touted as one of the most environmentally friendly, and wil be the word’s first net-zero LNG project.
