Thoughts on BC Politics and More

I sometimes catch myself staring out over the waters of British Columbia’s coastline — so calm, so vast, so brimming with unspoken opportunity — and I can’t help but wonder how anyone could fail to notice the promise that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) represents for our nation’s future. This country sits atop some of the largest gas reserves on Earth, and we have two coasts eager to connect our product to global markets. I’m a quietly enthusiastic type by nature, and I don’t often indulge in the “I-told-you-so” routine, but whenever I encounter someone who just hasn’t cottoned on to the excitement around LNG, I feel compelled to stage a gentle intervention. In my day-to-day role as CEO of Resource Works, I work with communities from Fort St. John to Kitimat, and beyond. Let me assure you, if you want to see Canadians at work, proud of their craft, and eyeing a brighter future, you’ll find them along the pipeline routes and port terminals that are part of our budding...

... “We currently don’t have enough domestic power generation to meet the needs of today, even before additional electrification in the future. Reliance on imported energy from jurisdictions dealing with their own challenges could put British Columbians at risk of electricity shortages and higher user costs" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

British Columbia boosted its C$36 billion ($26.7 billion) plan to expand its grid over the next decade, but Canada’s Pacific Coast province will still fall short of supplying the biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects with hydropower needed to avoid generating high emissions. Long regulatory processes mean a critical northern transmission line expansion will only be ready years after LNG plants start operating and droughts are already curbing British Columbia’s (B.C.’s) power generation. B.C. boosted its electricity grid spending plans on Tuesday by 50%, as demand soars from industry for renewable hydropower and as the province switches to electric vehicles and electric heating in buildings. “It’s a huge challenge to meet all the potential demand for electricity – daunting,” said Barry Penner, a former B.C. environment minister and now chair of Energy Futures Initiative, a program of advocacy group Resource Works ... CLICK HERE for the full story

What’s required for Canadian economy to recover from the pandemic? The one-word answer is: Jobs. Jobs of all kinds, but most of all we need to see the kind of high-paying, long-lasting jobs typically associated with investments in economic growth potential.   Well remunerated, permanent jobs are associated with high skill levels and often have a connection to the money-spinning machine known as international trade.   In Canada’s case, a huge amount of trade is based on natural resource products, i.e., things that we grow, extract, process and manufacture here before sending abroad.   It’s certainly possible to postulate that stable, high-paying jobs are not needed in an economic recovery, so that one could wish their way to a future where stuffy old economic rules don't apply. That's not reality, however: without exports in the mix, Canada really doesn't have a way to balance its books. This does not mean we should stop thinking big in the quest for c...

We’re at a moment of economic stress, with competing visions for how Canadian society should return to normalcy through the pandemic crisis ... Stewart Muir looks at the situation. Road to pandemic recovery ... It’s plain to see that pursuing successful recovery means choosing responsible utilization of the natural resources owned by each province. Now more than ever we are seeing governments realizing (sometimes reluctantly) that only with industry as a partner can they effectively balance the economic use of publicly owned oil and gas reserves, mineral deposits and forests, with other priorities including local ecosystem maintenance, Indigenous rights, and global climate concerns. Polarization has led to blurring of one very important issue I'm going to explore here. With the pandemic, a number of pressure groups have seen the opportunity to hitch their perennial anti-development messaging to the economic recovery issue, as if the Depression-like collapse we continue to experie...