The City of Prince Rupert can be swept away by the broom of unimportance in their dealings with Pacific NorthWest LNG. Ironically, the city is perhaps the most important entity to strike a deal with the company when talking about impacts to the local community.
Simple jurisdictional lines have taken the city out of the equation early on. It’s up to council to strong-arm the company into getting what they need, with no legal obligation from the company to do so.
“This company has to have a corporate conscience,” said Coun. Barry Cunningham. “If they sit down at the table knowing we want these things, then maybe they’ll negotiate with us.”
That is what the city is relying on now — to appeal to PNW’s conscience, because that’s basically all that’s left.
A motion stating the city not support the project in any way puts negotiations at severe risk, and while council may believe in the points Coun. Joy Thorkelson brought up, their decision to strike it down is a necessary one.
Thorkelson’s plea to save the fishing industry hit a lot of notes with spectators, but it’s a changing world. Not supporting PNW would end up more costly for council.
