B.C. public views resources as important, but confidence shaken over future: Survey
Credit to Author: Derrick Penner| Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 14:00:47 +0000
The province’s forestry industry is in the midst of a crisis, and groups are expressing concern about fossil fuels and climate change, but a majority of British Columbians still view resource industries as important economic drivers, according to a new survey.
While the snapshot of public opinion also points to pessimism over future prospects of resource industries, 55 per cent of respondents agreed that resource industries are crucial to B.C.’s economy and 37 per cent viewed them as likewise important to their personal well-being.
That is a sign “British Columbians appreciate, even if they are not in (the resource) sector, that the wealth created in the sector is part of their prosperity here in B.C.,” said Val Litwin, CEO of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, one of the survey’s sponsors.
The survey was commissioned by the consulting firm C3 Alliance Corp. and the chamber of commerce in advance of their B.C. Natural Resources Forum, Jan. 28-30 in Prince George, and was completed by the pollster Abacus Data.
The survey of 1,026 British Columbians, mostly from the business community, was conducted using the chamber of commerce’s BCMindReader.com forum, between Nov. 14, 2019, and Jan. 21, 2020. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.53 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Litwin focused on results for questions on the relative importance of various industries and preferences for whether sectors should play a bigger role in the economy. On that front, 47 per cent of respondents said they thought natural resources will be more important and 36 per cent said that they will at least retain their prominence in the economy.
However, respondents were also more pessimistic about the performance of resource industries compared with sectors such as tourism, film and high-tech. Some 50 per cent of respondents reported a pessimistic outlook for the prospects of resource industries generally over the next 10 years versus 22 per cent who said they were confident.
In forestry, in particular, 66 per cent of respondents had a pessimistic outlook and only 10 per cent of respondents expressed confidence for the industry. By comparison, 66 per cent of respondents said they were confident in the prospects for high-tech in 10 years with just five per cent who expressed pessimism. For tourism and hospitality, the measure was 79 per cent and five per cent, respectively.
Litwin guessed that some of the pessimism might be driven by the perception that projects are being delayed, by protests and “onerous government regulations, not just provincially, but at the federal level.”
However, respondents to the survey also expressed a preference that resource industries become more important to the economy, particularly renewable energy. Generally, 64 per cent of respondents said they wanted resources to be more important economically compared with 13 per cent who expressed a preference they become less so. For renewable energy, the measure was 80 per cent more-so and four per cent less-so.
On tourism, 40 per cent of respondents wanted to see the sector increase in importance, with eight per cent who thought it should become less important.
C3 Alliance Corp. and the chamber of commerce released the survey results Thursday before the 17th annual forum, which is expected to draw more than 1,100 government, First Nations and industry leaders from across the resource sectors.
The event fills a need for people to talk about how projects are advancing in B.C., the challenges they’re having and potential solutions, said Sarah Weber, CEO of the forum producer C3 Alliance Corp.
And the survey was aimed at trying to examine the narrative around resources, Litwin said.
“The intent was to ignite a conversation with a broad base and get some perspectives on the natural-resource sector,” said Litwin. “And what I would say is the results are quite validating,” notwithstanding the shaken confidence in some industries.