Two former Squamish mayors who led the district during the development and approval of the Woodfibre LNG project have written a joint letter to government ministers raising concerns about regulatory enforcement, expansion plans, and the health impacts of the oil and gas sector.
Patricia Heintzman, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2018, and Karen Elliott, who served from 2018 to 2022, said they had refrained from commenting during the construction phase but felt compelled to speak out in light of recent developments.
The letter cites Fortis BC’s failure to comply with permit conditions by exceeding contamination limits in local waterways for almost a year, from November 2024 to October 2025, with only a warning letter and no enforcement from the BC Energy Regulator. It also points to increased powerline requirements by BC Hydro to supply electricity to the facility, and calls for an independent assessment of the health impacts of the oil and gas sector.
The former mayors also cite a recent admission by Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, who told investors at CERAWeek on March 24 that Woodfibre LNG has ambitions to double and triple its production. Heintzman and Elliott said they had regular contact with Woodfibre LNG, Fortis BC, and provincial and federal ministers throughout their terms, and that no one disclosed those ambitions despite their repeated questions about the project’s long-term vision.
The letter, they wrote, is intended as a reminder of the project’s “complicated and often divisive history” in Squamish and of the need for senior orders of government to rebuild public trust through transparency, honest disclosure of development goals, and enforcement with real consequences.
