British Columbia NDP Leader David Eby says a multibillion-dollar expansion of a liquefied natural gas export terminal on the province’s northern coast will create jobs and change lives, as his party moves to claim credit for the project just as the provincial election campaign enters its second week.
Eby appeared on stage in Vancouver shortly after Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed LNG Canada’s final investment decision on the Phase 2 expansion of its Kitimat facility. Eby, who called the snap election two years early, described the announcement as a “very big deal,” saying it would generate 4,000 new construction jobs and $28 billion in government revenues to help fund public services.
The expansion is set to double LNG Canada’s export capacity to 28 million tonnes a year. It is one of the first five developments referred to Ottawa’s major projects office, which was established last year to fast-track significant infrastructure initiatives.
Political Credit and Federal Involvement
Appearing at the event in his capacity as premier, Eby thanked Carney for advancing the project quickly since taking office. The B.C. New Democrats subsequently issued a statement crediting Eby personally for securing what the party described as the largest private sector investment in Canadian history.
“This is a big win that will create good jobs and generate the long-term prosperity we need to deliver stronger public services for all British Columbians,” Eby said in the statement, adding that momentum was building in the province but that more work remained.
Carney, for his part, did not mention Eby beyond his opening remarks at the event, instead emphasizing that all levels of government, along with dozens of First Nations, the private sector, workers and northern B.C. communities, had worked together to move the project forward. “This is team Canada at work,” Carney told business leaders, First Nations representatives and politicians gathered at the LNG Canada event.
Election Timing and Rival Party Response
The announcement landed a week into a provincial election campaign that Eby triggered ahead of schedule. It followed a pledge from the B.C. Conservatives a day earlier, in which the party said that if elected, it would triple provincial LNG production by 2035.
The NDP pushed back on that commitment, arguing it represents a slower pace of growth than what is already underway in the province’s LNG sector. The dueling claims underscore how the Kitimat expansion has quickly become a central talking point in the campaign, with both major parties seeking to position themselves as the driving force behind the province’s natural gas industry.
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