A strong security presence at a town hall meeting on a proposed liquefied natural gas plant on Saanich Inlet is being called standard procedure.
North Saanich Mayor Alice Finall said that while the district wasn’t sure what measures would be put in place at Mary Winspear Centre on Tuesday night, it was in favour of having security in place.
“It was the decision of Mary Winspear administration. When they have large events like that, where there is the possibility of controversy and possible disruptive behaviour that could be contemplated, they do put in security,” Finall said in an interview.
“We knew they would be there and would try to calm people down if they got unruly. We were not opposed to having security there.”
Steelhead LNG has proposed a floating facility, based at the former Bamberton lands, capable of producing nearly eight million tonnes of LNG a year. The facility would be fuelled by a 128-kilometre natural gas pipeline.
The information meeting drew nearly 600 people.
The security, which included a small police presence, was unmistakable.
Security guards at the main entrance lightly searched those attending. People entering the hall were asked whether they were carrying knives, multi-tools or other things that could be used as weapons.
There wasn’t much in the way of threatening behaviour during the three-hour meeting, which offered opinions on the proposed plant from a variety of perspectives, including that of Steelhead LNG, First Nations, the scientific community and the provincial government’s LNG advocate, Gordon Wilson.
But there was plenty of heckling, especially for Wilson, who tried to make the economic case for LNG in the province, and Steelhead, whose answers did not satisfy the crowd.
In an email, Steelhead spokesman Greg Descantes said the company is very early in the process, making it hard to satisfy the desire for detailed answers.
“Malahat Nation [a partner in the project] and Steelhead LNG made an important decision to announce the project early in the design phase so we could engage with the potentially affected aboriginal groups and local communities,” he wrote.
“We acknowledge we don’t have all of the answers at this point, but we believe strongly in sitting down early to listen and respond.
“We know that by working collaboratively with potentially impacted aboriginal groups and local communities, we can make the project better.”
But that didn’t seem to hold water with people at the meeting. Many expressed frustration at the lack of answers and at not being able to directly address the panel of speakers.
The overwhelming impression was the community did not support the project.
“I think there is some very strong feeling against it, no question. The level of that opposition was very clear at that meeting,” said Finall, who noted North Saanich council has not yet taken a stand on it.
“Council made a decision to defer discussion until we completed and carried out the meeting. We wanted to maintain neutrality.”
