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FortisBC says it will use local accommodations, and workers will commute into town after the council rejected a Temporary Use Permit application for a workers lodge for FortisBC workers. Council heard from several residents at a marathon public hearing on September 25 and rejected the permit by a 4-3 vote.
Councillors John French, Eric Andersen and Jenna Stoner voted in favour of the accommodation lodge. Mayor Armand Hurford, Chris Pettingill, Andrew Hamilton and Lauren Greenlaw voted against the motion to allow the permit.
In a brief statement after the vote, FortisBC media relations said work on the pipeline project will continue.
“We will move forward with alternate plans for our worker accommodations, which includes utilizing local accommodations, with some workers commuting from out of town during peak periods of construction,” said Jessica Skjeveland, a media relations with FortisBC. “We remain committed to working with the community to reduce impacts as best we can and we remain compliant with our Environmental Assessment Certificate in these plans.”
She said FortisBC has heard of an overwhelming preference for the Lodge proposal as the best way to mitigate workforce impacts in Squamish. She said the plan was approved by Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and the BC Environmental Assessment Office in 2023, based on a comprehensive set of conditions.
“We are grateful for the input we received from Indigenous Nations, local organizations, and community members who invested their time and expertise into shaping our proposal. Construction is continuing on the EGP project and our construction timeline will not be impacted by this decision,” she added.
Green party MLA candidate applauds rejection of ‘man’ camp
Jeremy Valeriote, BC Green Party candidate for West Vancouver – Sea to Sky, has welcomed the rejection of what he termed as a ‘man camp’ by FortisBC.
“Yesterday, the District of Squamish’s elected council decided to turn down a permit application from Fortis BC for a work camp to house at least 576 employees. Squamish Council is the last line of defence for a community that is seeing a fossil fuel project imposed on it, without adequate consideration of the community’s interests,” he said.
“This provincial government has shown it will do whatever it takes to push this project through, and I am grateful to the Council for pushing back on their top-down approach.”
“Dozens of community members came out to express their concerns about the facility, not only because of the negative impact that it would have on the popular recreational area where it was to be located, but also because it would undermine the town’s longstanding efforts to transition from dependency on the resource extraction economy, and instead rebrand Squamish as a mecca for outdoor recreation, and hub for the new, Green economy.”
Gilda says
FortisBC should bill
Squamish city council for the costs of bringing perfectly clean and reasonable accommodation (the Floatel ship) all the way up the Howe sound.
These city councillors seem to think the entire workforce of the project will come and ravage the women . As well the term “man camp” is wrong too, as half the workers are highly skilled women. Many of the workers are family people, working hard to provide for their families, something many of these councillors can’t comprehend, as they hate the family structure.
Utterly ridiculous decision by council. At least we have names and know who to vote out next election
Ben Denis says
how stupid this council has
How Stupid , The council members that voted no re Fortis need their heads read and be booted out of council with a swift kick in the butt
Denise says
Can they move the floating ship down to the next town and ask for a permit there ? Britannia Beach? Then they can get a large platoon boat and ship workers to Squamish and back ? Or does that require a permit too?
Do they realize how this will impact traffic on the Sea to Sky Hwy if all these workers were to commute instead of live onboard the ship.
This decision of rejecting the permit will result in more traffic congestion and pollution.