In 2016, leaders in the natural resources industries in B.C. described the province as having one of the best investment climates in the world for mining. Optimism was high not only in mining but in all sectors.
Since then, we have witnessed private sector job creation collapse, investor confidence evaporate, and an over inflated bureaucracy paralyze natural resource permitting processes because of this current government’s penchant for red tape control.
Back in the 1960s, I worked part time for a farmer who also ran a small repair shop. After some customers left, he would often use the metaphor of a chicken starving to death beside a full bucket of wheat to describe ineptitude. I asked him what he meant, and he told me a chicken only looks on the ground in front of them for food and misses the other opportunities to feed itself.
The BC government is doing the same. There are so many economic opportunities not being seized right now, to the detriment of British Columbians.
Petrochemicals – build on what we have
B.C. has some of the richest liquids natural gas in the world – but our existing petrochemical industry doesn’t leverage the exceptional opportunity this provides. We should be extracting the ethane, butane, propane, and other liquids, off the natural gas before we export it around the world. We should be producing polyethylene and polypropylene and developing downstream manufacturing opportunities to produce poly-carbon products for export.
Carbon composites and aluminum alloys are major components of commercial and military aircraft. We could significantly increase the manufacture of aerospace products using the world class aluminum made at Rio Tinto’s recently upgraded aluminum smelter in Kitimat. The sector could be supported by the fourth longest airport runway in Canada –currently under-utilized in Prince George – and the hydro electricity from BC Hydro’s site A, B, and C power facilities in northern B.C.
A thriving petrochemical industry would ensure B.C. becomes a major fertilizer producer for Canada’s agriculture sector. The beef industry would have greater access to B.C. grain to finish beef for slaughter and processing. Food security in the province would be enhanced with expanded abattoir facilities and export opportunities.
To aid in the electrification of our province, we should be expediting the development of our massive mineral deposits.
Access to the “golden triangle” in northwest B.C. can be enhanced by completing the railway to Alaska – the old Prince George to Dease Lake BC Rail extension abandoned by the government in the early 70s.
Tourism growth would be exponential when 350 million people south of our border realize they could travel by rail all the way to Alaska. This would open up opportunities for remote communities to provide goods and services. And developing outdoor adventure and cultural tourism would bring economic stability.
Rural communities, reeling from the downfall of B.C.’s forest sector, need other opportunities to survive and grow their economies. With increased mining activities, additional smelting capacity would be required and some of these communities should be considered as possible locations.
Communities like Mackenzie, located at the south end of the 250-kilometre long BC Hydro Williston reservoir — with access to BC Hydro’s 500 kilovolt bulk transmission lines — could be a suitable location for the development of a nuclear power facility to help meet B.C.’s future clean energy requirements. If power transmission lines were built along the Alaska railway right-of-way, B.C. could export electricity to the Yukon and Alaska.
To link back to the metaphor of the chicken starving to death beside a bucket full of grain, B.C.’s bucket is full, and British Columbians do not need to suffer the economic starvation they’re currently enduring.
We should’ve seen it coming
What about forestry?
Politicians, industry leaders, economists, consultants and many forest professionals spend too much time comparing the successes of the past and blaming government policies for preventing the same economic successes today.
Instead, we might thumb through the 1976 Royal Commission report on forestry, in which the commissioner stated, “The old-growth timber on which our industry has been built was often of exceptionally high quality, capable of manufacture into products that command premium prices in world markets. As this stock is depleted (and it is appropriate to refer to it as stock, since it is not reproducible within any meaningful planning horizon), much of the special advantage this province’s timber has enjoyed will be lost.”
It’s not like this forestry crisis was unforeseen.
More than 15 million hectares of BC forests have been clearcut since the mid 60s while billions of trees have been planted in the province.
But this hasn’t been an even trade.
Back in 1960, the average tree held over one cubic metre of wood and was 200-plus years old. Today, it could take up to 10 trees from these replanted clearcuts to make a cubic metre of wood.
A recent report commissioned by a group of north central interior First Nations states that growth and yield rates of replanted forests are far short of what was used as a base case for the province’s chief forester to accurately determine annual allowable cuts. The report also suggests that due to political pressure from successive governments, annual allowable cuts gave deference to short term economics over sustainability, leading to today’s unachievable harvest expectations.
Government and industry silent as losses continue
For decades, the focus has been on growth and yield with no consideration to the other values of our forests.
Clear cut logging has destroyed habitat and glyphosate spraying and brushing has dramatically decreased fish and wildlife populations.
The loss of forest cover is a major contributor to the increased frequency and magnitude of flooding and widespread dehydration of our watersheds increases the risk of wildfires. Yet, willful blindness to hydrological science has allowed this destructive practice to continue.
Research findings indicate that for decades, forest hydrology in B.C. has used a flawed process to determine forest harvesting impacts on our watersheds, which in turn has led to decades of flawed forest policy.
Government and industry have been largely silent on these research findings. All the while, B.C. has experienced loss of life associated to wildfires and floods, billions of dollars in losses to infrastructure, and billions more in economic losses, presenting an unacceptable risk to public safety.
The disconnect between proven science and public policy doesn’t have to continue.
As B.C. reinvents its forest sector, it is well positioned to flourish economically, thanks to our abundant and diversified natural resources. It just needs to be managed more effectively.
For more details, read my discussion paper on the B.C. forest sector: We Can’t See the Forest for the Trees.