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Haisla and District of Kitimat jointly invite Prime Minister Trudeau to area

The Haisla and the District of Kitimat want the Prime Minister to see benefits from liquefied natural gas industry.
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Now-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking to then-Kitimat Mayor Joanne Monaghan during a region visit in August 2014.

The Haisla Nation Council and the District of Kitimat have together called for a visit by the Prime Minister of Canada.

A letter, publicly released January 8 but dated December 22, signed by both Haisla Chief Councillor Ellis Ross and Mayor Phil Germuth, asks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to consider a visit to the area in early 2016 “to see first-hand how we are working together with industry to build a liquefied natural gas export industry that will benefit all Canadians.”

The letter continues that “both our communities strongly support LNG. We are comfortable with the industry’s safety record and its plans to minimize environmental impacts in our valley and on our waters. Our people have already started benefitting from the employment, training, and entrepreneurial opportunities that have appeared in the last few years as these developments have progressed.”

Ross and Germuth believe that once the Prime Minister experiences firsthand the positive changes happening to Kitimat and Kitamaat Village from LNG that he’ll “recognize the Canada-wide economic benefits that would come about if Canada is able to build a clean and stable LNG industry. We would then ask that the federal government take on a stronger voice in favour of LNG exports and use its good offices to promote the opportunity to our global trading partners.”

A call to the Prime Minister’s Office for a response was not immediately returned.