FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH) AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES/VANCOUVER – Sierra Club BC is celebrating several significant wins announced today as part of the British Columbia–Canada Prosperity Partnership, including the federal government’s commitment to maintain the North Coast tanker ban, new investments in Indigenous-led conservation, clean energy manufacturing, and support for workers and communities.

“The decision to keep the North Coast tanker ban in place is a victory worth celebrating,” said Shelley Luce, Campaigns Director for Sierra Club BC. “This belongs to the thousands of people, Indigenous Nations, coastal communities, and organizations who spoke up and refused to give up fighting for the place they love.”

Sierra Club BC also welcomed new federal funding for the Kaska-led conservation agreement, which will protect an area of northern British Columbia roughly the size of Greece. The organization praised the commitment to invest in wind turbine manufacturing to support Canada’s growing clean energy economy, as well as new support for child care, transportation, and unionized workers.

The organization is waiting to hear more details about the federal support for British Columbia’s forest sector.

“More investment in the forestry sector is needed to accelerate the urgently needed transition away from logging old-growth forests and toward a sustainable, value-added forest economy that supports workers, communities, and healthy ecosystems.”

While the announcement contains important steps forward, Sierra Club BC expressed disappointment that it was framed around support for further liquefied natural gas (LNG) development.

“LNG expansion is fundamentally at odds with the climate progress these other investments are designed to achieve,” said Shelley Luce. “The emissions associated with new LNG projects undermine Canada’s climate commitments and increase risks to communities and ecosystems. We continue to hope that private investors are wise enough to say no to any new pipeline in B.C.”

Sierra Club BC said today’s announcement demonstrates that governments can invest in conservation, clean industries, and good jobs simultaneously, but stressed that lasting prosperity depends on aligning economic development with climate science and the protection of nature.

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