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The District of Squamish has rejected a deal that would have seen the operators of the Woodfibre LNG project contribute $142 million over 10 years.
During a special business meeting on Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. PT, council voted on the proposed community enhancement payment agreement (CEPA) and revitalized tax exemption (RTE) for Woodfibre LNG (WLNG).
If approved, the agreement would have commenced in 2027. Without the agreement in place, the district says it would continue to rely on regular property taxation on the WLNG property.
Woodfibre LNG is currently the only property in the district that is a Class 4 Major Industry.
The use of the funds would have been subject to council approval, and $117 million would have been used for direct community payments — for wastewater, stormwater system repair and replacements, flood protection, recreation investments, transportation upgrades and climate adaptation and mitigation.
Part of the deal would have been for WLNG to pay $25 million, capped at $2.5 million per year plus inflation, through the RTE.
Woodfibre LNG’s use of a floatel to house workers in Squamish, B.C., is steaming ahead after an order from the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office. But Jenna Stoner with the District of Squamish is calling for the company to reapply for a local permit.
The agreement would have resulted in the resolution of three existing lawsuits against the district, filed by WLNG in relation to taxation in 2025 and 2026, among other matters.
Coun. Jenna Stoner put forward a motion to decline the agreement.
“I still don’t think the deal is quite where I want it to be, and I don’t think it’s a good enough deal for our community,” Stoner said.
She said the CEPA contributions would not be indexed to inflation, and the overall deal put the district at greater risk and liability.
“We know that our costs are only escalating over the next 10 years, and not having those core payments of the Community Enhancement Payments indexed to inflation makes this really challenging at the same time,” Stoner said.
Coun. Lauren Greenlaw seconded the motion, and said instead of sticking with the more typical taxation structure, the district was “losing some of our protection” with the CEPA and RTE agreements.
Greenlaw said accepting the agreement would set a precedent for other communities who have LNG facilities planned, and also mentioned the CEPA payments were not subject to inflation.
“We should keep it simple and stick with tax legislation,” Greenlaw said.
Mayor Armand Hurford and councillors Andrew Hamilton and Chris Pettingill also supported the motion to deny the deal.
“It’s been clear that this isn’t enough for a community, and they’d like to have more control and more visibility into each step of the process,” Hurford said.
Councillors Eric Andersen and John French both were in support of the agreement.
French said it was not an easy decision for him, after hearing from community members that did not think it was a good deal.
“The question still remains, how much should Woodfibre LNG pay in taxes? I believe it’s the amount set out in the mindfully negotiated agreement that we had in front of us,” French said.
“There is no better agreement out there.”
The motion to decline the 10-year deal was passed in a 5-2 vote.
Hurford said that this does not stop future councils from entering into a future deal with WLNG.
“Maybe that’s out there somewhere,” Hurford said. “It is clear to me that this is not that.”
Advocate relieved
Tracey Saxby, the co-founder of My Sea to Sky, an environmental advocacy group in Squamish that works to defend the Howe Sound, said she is feeling relieved.
“This was a terrible tax deal that Woodfibre LNG was offering our community, and I’m feeling very grateful to council for standing up for residents and for ensuring that we’re going to get a better deal than what was on the table,” Saxby said.
She questioned how much Woodfibre LNG should be paying in taxes, and said the proposed deal was not enough.
Saxby argues the proposed CEPA and RTE agreements would have constituted a “below average tax rate” for communities that have major industries across B.C.
