MLAS must act to aid business growth in B.C.
When B.C. MLAs return to the legislature on Monday, as a matter of priority they might want to reflect on how conditions can be improved for revenue-generating resource development and business enterprises. In the recent past, B.C. has become something of a graveyard for stalled and stillborn corporate projects, a situation that projects an unfortunate message about investing in the province.
High land costs and a shortage of industrial-zoned land, high commercial rents, strong unions, litigious aboriginal groups, an absence of treaties with First Nations, activist environmentalists, development-wary mayors — all contribute to a landscape in B.C. that is particularly challenging for business.
The $6.5-billion Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker port are effectively in limbo until the company can secure the sanction of coastal First Nations opposing the plan. Alberta Premier Jim Prentice has lately admitted Enbridge may have to substantially reroute the development. Originally pegged for startup in 2018, proponents now say the development, at the earliest, would begin operations after that date.
Taseko Mines, which has spent $130 million over more than two decades pursuing the $1.5- billion Prosperity copper-gold mine, this week said it will seek damages in a civil suit it is launching against Ottawa, accusing federal officials and the minister of environment of meeting secretly with project opponents before Ottawa rejected the project last spring.
The proposed mine, located in the Cariboo region, is said to be the largest undeveloped gold and copper deposit in Canada, and in the top-10 globally. To date, it has twice been stymied during environmental hearings, with the Tsilhqot’in people fiercely opposing the mine.
Long delays are nothing new for projects in B.C., even something as seemingly innocuous as a ski resort.
The $450-million Jumbo Glacier ski resort in East Kootenay was first proposed back in 1990. It took 22 years to overcome environmental hurdles and aboriginal opposition so the new Jumbo Glacier municipality could finally be incorporated.
A few Lower Mainland mayors have been rallying their constituents against coal shipments out of Port Metro Vancouver, or any increase in oil tanker traffic resulting from a proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.
Several mining developments in the province have received eviction notices from aboriginal groups following a Supreme Court ruling in June granting the Tsilhqot’in people title to land in the Interior.
And, occasionally, mines in B.C. are blockaded, as was the case this week when the Tahltan protested at the northwest B.C. site of Imperial Metals’ Red Chris mine. The mine has not yet started operations, but aboriginals are objecting to the design of its tailings pond.
Without doubt, B.C. is a tough place to do business. But if the province is to prosper, new energy will have to be directed at eliminating bureaucratic hurdles and fostering more cooperative practices with aboriginal communities.
B.C. cannot live on golf courses and national parks alone. Resource royalties, corporate taxes and well-paying employment opportunities are needed to address the economic and social needs of the population. Politicians have a responsibility to ensure that conditions are right for such growth.