Good morning. On behalf of LNG Canada, welcome. My name is Tara Barnett. I'm the chief corporate relations officer for LNG Canada and your host for today's event.
At LNG Canada, we start with safety. If there's an emergency, could you please silence your phones? Please exit through the doors you came through and make your way outside. There are marked exits just outside this room.
I want to take a moment to walk you through our program. We will open with remarks from Alec Dan of the Musqueam Nation. Then transition to a video and a series of remarks from our speakers. Afterwards, we'll do some photographs. Then I will close the program. There will be one more large photo on the stage while we turn the room over for a media session after this event.
Let me begin by extending a warm welcome to all of our honored guests with us today. Alec Dan, member of the Musqueam Nation. We'll just give them a moment. One more time. Alec Dan, member of the Musqueam Nation.
The Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada. The Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. LNG Canada Chief Executive Officer Chris Cooper. Elected Chief Councillor of the Haisla Nation, Moren Nice.
The Honourable David Eby, Premier of British Columbia. Chief Executive Officer of Shell, Wael Sawan. President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Petronas, Tengku Muhammad Taufik. President and Chief Executive Officer of PetroChina Canada, Xiang Liu. Executive Vice President and Group CEO of Energy and Power Solutions for Mitsubishi Corporation, Masaru Saito. And President and Chief Executive Officer of KSI LNG Canada Energy Limited, Jingu Kim.
I would also like to recognize other distinguished guests in attendance today. District of Kitimat Mayor Phil Germouth. City of Terrace Mayor Sean Bach. Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Skeena, Claire Ratté. First Nations Elected and Hereditary Chiefs and Elders. Members of the Consular Corps of British Columbia. And all of you who have joined us for this important occasion.
LNG Canada's story has been guided by relationships with the communities and Indigenous groups across our business footprint and along our shipping route. Tomorrow is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. This day reminds us to pause and reflect on our journey towards mutual respect, healing, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. I would like to ask Alec Dan of the Musqueam Nation to open this event with a land acknowledgement. Alec is a cultural representative and singer, and we are honored to have him with us today.
Good morning, everybody. It's such an honor for me to be here with you this morning to welcome you here to our traditional unceded territory, what we know is the greater Vancouver area today. I'm a descendant of a hereditary chief named Simolano, and he was my great-great-grandfather, and he resided up in what is now called New Westminster. He was here with us in the late 1800s.
You know, the Musqueam people had at least 30 villages throughout the area, our traditional unceded territory, using the area for wonderful natural resources from Mother Earth and the waters. Always an honor, you know, to be the voice for my family, my community, my elders, my elected chief and council, and especially our ancestors.
You know, we've been welcoming visitors here for a short little while, 150 years or so, you know, and we come to realize, you know, it's better to work together with all of the people that reside in our traditional unceded territory. Working together to make sure that those resources are still there for the generations to come behind us that are growing and that aren't even here yet. Coming together to be the stewards of the land and of the water.
When we hear visitors coming into our territory, we used to come together as a whole community from the youngest to the oldest, meet and greet our visitors that have been traveling through from the water at the mouth of our river, welcoming them into our territory. You know, we had a few villages throughout Vancouver, not too far from here, what we call, we know it as Lumberman's Arch, Sən̓aʔw̓aʔs, that's a Vanier Park in Jericho Beach today, and of course along the river, the Fraser River, what is called the Fraser River today.
And that's why I say it's such an honor for me to be here with you today. I'm not here, you know, alone by myself. I'm here on behalf of my people to welcome you here to our traditional unceded territory of the Musqueam people and descendants of Musqueam ancestors. Really welcome you here. On behalf of the Musqueam people, I want to share our welcome song. There's words in the song that translate to 'welcome, respected ones.' So with that, I'll share our song at this time.
[Singing a traditional welcome song in the Musqueam language]
So once again, on behalf of the Musqueam people, descendants of Musqueam ancestors, really welcome you here to our traditional unceded territory, what we know is the greater Vancouver area today. Enjoy your time here and safe travels back home to your family and loved ones. Thank you once again.
Thank you, Alec, for helping to start us off today in a good way. Today marks a significant milestone in our LNG Canada journey. LNG Canada's story started 15 years ago on the north coast of British Columbia in a town called Kitimat. On October 1st, 2018, the LNG Canada joint venture participants took a final investment decision on Phase One, marking a new chapter in LNG Canada's story. Last year on June 30th, we shipped our first cargo of made-in-Canada LNG to global markets, launching a new Canadian industry. But that is just the beginning. Today is all about our next chapter.
To tell you more about what is coming next, I would like to welcome to the stage the Chief Executive Officer of LNG Canada, Mr. Chris Cooper.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good job. Can we watch that video again? Okay. Prime Minister, Premier, Minister, First Nations, Elected and Hereditary Chiefs, community leaders, and distinguished guests. Welcome.
I'm Chris Cooper, CEO of LNG Canada. And that means I have the privilege of speaking on behalf of the extraordinary people that we call LNG Canada. Let me start by acknowledging that tomorrow is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. We recognize the lasting impacts of this history and our shared responsibility to listen, learn, and contribute to reconciliation through respectful, lasting partnerships with First Nations.
That same spirit of partnership has shaped how we've approached everything at LNG Canada, including Phase Two. From the beginning of Phase Two, we held a simple image in mind. When we reached a final investment decision, everybody who made it possible would be here with us. Today, all of us here are the realization of that image. And so, on behalf of LNG Canada and our five joint venture participants, I'm proud to announce that we have taken final investment decision on this nation-building project called LNG Canada Phase 2.
This is an extraordinary milestone. Phase Two will double LNG Canada's production from 14 to 28 million tons a year. This will make LNG Canada one of the largest LNG facilities in the world. And it will help move Canada towards becoming one of the world's top five LNG exporting nations. But Phase Two is much more than just tons. It means thousands more jobs and even more opportunities for local businesses, First Nations, and communities.
Canada has done really big things and Canada will continue to do big nation-building things. Phase Two is just another sign of that, helping to diversify our trade and deepen trusted partnerships with countries seeking secure, responsibly produced energy. So, a big thank you to the government of Canada and British Columbia over the years across the political spectrum and indeed through election cycles. Thanks to our First Nations and community partners, the building trades contractors, our five joint venture participants, and of course to everyone in and around LNG Canada. This is your FID too. In closing, let me simply say this. Milestones matter. How we achieve them matters more. Thank you.
Thank you, Chris. Between the Coastal GasLink pipeline, our LNG Canada facility, and our coastal shipping route, our project footprint crosses the traditional territories of 25 First Nations. Earlier this year, we announced an equity option agreement with MNT Investments. This enables Indigenous equity ownership of the planned Phase Two LNG storage tank. In addition to Chief Moren Nice of the Haisla Nation, we have representatives of those MNT nations here today. Hereditary and Elected Chief Councillor Arnold Clifton of the Gitga'at First Nation. Elected Chief Councillor Linda Innes and Hereditary Chief Clarence Innes of the Gitxaala Nation. Elected Chief Councillor Glenn Bennett of the Kitsumkalum First Nation and Elected Chief Councillor Troy Sam of the Kitsumkalum Band. Thank you for joining us.
Our LNG facility operates within the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation and we gratefully acknowledge their wisdom and guidance throughout our journey. I would like to welcome to the stage the Elected Chief Councillor of the Haisla Nation, Ms. Moren Nice.
I didn't trip, which is a really good thing as I started off my day stepping in dog poop. So to get that off my shoe to get going. Thank you, Chris, for that warm welcome. Alec, thank you for welcoming us to the traditional territory of the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh people. It's a great honor to be here today on behalf of the Haisla Nation as we commemorate this incredible milestone.
For nearly 15 years, Haisla Nation has stewarded a sustainable nation-building LNG industry in our traditional territory aligned with our values. Values of sustainability, environmental protection, cultural preservation and reconciliation. And while Phase Two may mean new infrastructure, market expansion, and economic diversification, to many of you gathered here today, it means so much more to our people.
It means we will be owners alongside our neighboring Indigenous communities of the infrastructure that connects lower-emission Canadian energy with communities around the world. So I offer my congratulations as well to the Gitga'at First Nation, Gitxaala Nation, Kitsumkalum First Nation and Kitsumkalum who will share ownership of Phase Two with us. Ensuring that economic development in our traditional territory happens not just in alignment with our values but by truly elevating Indigenous ownership on a global stage.
For our people, it represents what is possible when industry and Indigenous communities come together as true partners, creating generational prosperity for our people, our neighboring nations and for Canada as a whole. I would like to thank LNG Canada and the joint venture partners for recognizing our place as rightful owners and decision makers of what takes place in our territory. Thank you. As that was not always possible, it affirms we are moving in the right direction and showcasing our long-standing belief that when Indigenous communities lead, the whole country can thrive.
While I have the privilege of being here today to celebrate this historic achievement, I recognize it would not have been possible without our past chiefs and council staff and members who worked tirelessly over many years to support LNG industry in our territory. One that did not sacrifice our values. I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to Haisla members from our youth to our elders to our hereditary chiefs whose knowledge and commitment to sharing our ways have helped shape the industry that we can all be proud of.
And while today is about celebration, it cannot be where our commitment ends. Let us carry forward everything that got us here today. Our values, our vigilance, the relationships and the trust we have built through every stage of construction and operation still to come. We'll carry on with that work. That is how we will honor the work of the people that came before us and how we will deliver the best project possible for our people and for all who stand to benefit from it for generations to come. I congratulate LNG Canada, the joint venture partners, the province and the federal governments and all those gathered here today for this momentous occasion. Wow. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing those insights with us today, Chief Councillor Nice. LNG Canada's joint venture participants are foundational to our success. Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi, and KSI collectively bring deep major project experience and global reach. On behalf of our joint venture participants, I would like to invite Wael Sawan, Chief Executive Officer of Shell, to the stage.
