To the editor,
As a physician practising in northern BC, it is reassuring to have much-need medical devices that will save lives and prevent long-term health impacts. Every community hospital is grateful for donations.
The foreign-owned company, LNG Canada, describes its $125,000 donation as an example of how they are fostering “healthier, more resilient communities in the region in which we operate.”
Yet medical and scientific studies show that producing and burning fossil fuels have significant human health implications, especially for communities near fracking and liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure. These communities face higher risks of disease and mortality, with Indigenous and rural populations bearing the brunt of these health impacts. Toxic profits, charitable optics.
The public and health costs of fracking are already outpacing gas royalty revenue, including those anticipated from LNG production, and fracking is poised to double in the coming year to supply the Kitimat-based LNG Canada export terminal, which starts commercial operations this summer.
We cannot conflate this donation with social licence. We must recognize the far-reaching impacts of LNG expansion: worsening health outcomes, declining air and water quality, rising healthcare and insurance costs, more expensive utility bills, and a higher cost of living.
If foreign-owned companies truly cared for the communities they operate in, they would invest in innovative practices that mitigate health impacts and acknowledge independent research.
Dr. Ulrike Meyer
Dawson Creek, B.C.
