Malahat Nation members will soon be electing a new chief and council and recently tallied up the support from its third gala and begun to take the next steps down the road to its plans for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on its doorstep.

The Nov. 2 vote will be the first under the Malahat custom election code. It was brought about by the sudden resignation of former chief Michael Harry in early August. Two other councillors resigned shortly thereafter. Since then, Malahat and its partner Steelhead LNG held an open house in mid-September. That was the first time that many Malahat members, and their neighbours in Mill Bay, Shawnigan Lake and Tsartlip First Nation, heard about the project.  It involves a floating terminal and on-shore works on the recently-purchased Bamberton industrial site overlooking Saanich Inlet.

Then, on Oct. 16, the nation held its third annual Champions Gala at the Ocean Pointe resort hotel in Victoria.

The $189,000 raised for the Kwunew Kwasun Cultural Society will be used for social programs, especially investing in children. That means about $420,000 has been raised by the nation since administrator Lawrence Lewis initiated the first gala in 2013.

But the new Malahat council won’t have much time for celebrating.

A number of issues have been on the table since the former council disbanded almost three months ago. The most prominent is the LNG facility, which has attracted criticism and discussions among the Saanich nations that border the inlet, as well as at the Cowichan Valley Regional District.

During the recent election campaign, the successful NDP candidate Alistair MacGregor said, if elected, he would work to revamp the National Energy Board that will rule on the project. And he also said: “Saanich Inlet is a very sensitive area for such a massive and complex project and I have deep concerns about environmental impacts and public safety issues.”