Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth expressed his apologies for not sending the LNG Canada support letter to the District of Port Edward.
Last week, 14 northern B.C. mayors signed a letter stating they were disappointed a Smithers resident is now challenging the pipeline that would feed the $40-billion liquefied natural gas project.
While the City of Prince Rupert received the letter, the District of Port Edward was left off the mailing list.
“We just wanted to clear the air that Port Edward did not refuse to sign the letter, it was totally our mistake that we forgot to send it to them in the first place. They weren’t on the mailing list that was completely our mistake,” Mayor Germuth said over the phone.
Mayors who signed the letter are from communities that would financially benefit from the LNG project.
READ MORE: All 20 First Nations sign Coastal GasLink pipeline agreement
“We have a great working relationship with mayor, and council and their CAO and we’re very apologetic that they weren’t on the original list, so we’ve cleared that up,” Germuth said.
However, he would not say why the City of Prince Rupert wouldn’t sign the letter, only that it was sent to their administration. After many attempts to contact the city, the Northern View hasn’t received a response.
While TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink pipeline project has received approval from the province, Michael Sawyer, has filed an application with the National Energy Board to have an environmental review of the pipeline.
The 14 mayors who signed the support letter on Sept. 6 are from Mackenzie, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Pouce Coupe, Taylor, the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, Tumbler Ridge and Fort St. John in the northeast and from Burns Lake, New Hazelton, Terrace, Vanderhoof, Houston and Kitimat in the northwest.
Port Edward’s chief administrative officer Bob Payette said they would have signed the letter if they had received it.
READ MORE: Port Edward did not receive LNG support letter
shannon.lough@thenorthernview.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
