Proposal for oil refinery for Grassy Point near Prince Rupert, B.C.

Chief and Mayor of theLax Kw'alaams Band, Garry Reece, invited his members to a meeting in early October where an entrepreneur would propose construction of an oil refinery to be built at Grassy Point near Prince Rupert on B.C’s north coast. The refinery idea is a proposal by Eagle Spirit Energy Holdings, Ltd., founded by Calvin Helin, author of Dances with Dependency, who is a Lax Kw’alaams member himself. Grassy Point is also the site of a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal, which was the topic of another meeting, which included “a report on the activities associated with LNG on our traditional territory,” a letter from the chief reads. Eagle Spirit Holdings aspires to “work with communities to establish a First Nations Energy Corridor across northern British Columbia.” Helin has investors like the Aquilini family, which owns the Vancouver Canucks, news reports say. Helin describes his company as offering “a shimmer of hope that a third way may be possible” during a time when “Canada faces seemingly intractable conflict between First Nations and a resurgent resource sector.”