Big decision-makers draw delegates to Prince George for B.C. Natural Resources Forum
Credit to Author: Derrick Penner| Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2020 01:41:05 +0000
PRINCE GEORGE — The mood in B.C.’s resource sector is decidedly mixed with optimism for LNG developments moving forward, though under a cloud cast by the crisis dogging the forestry industry, as delegates gather for the 17th annual B.C. Natural Resources Conference here.
“It depends on who you talk to,” said Joel McKay, CEO of the Northern Development Initiative Trust, an independent support group aimed at economic development.
A lot of businesses are concerned about the short-term problems in forestry, McKay said, which have led to hundreds of job losses and thousands of layoffs due to mill closures both temporary and permanent.
However, there is also a “glass-half-full” attitude for many considering that more than 4,000 people are at work on B.C. Hydro’s Site C dam in the province’s Peace River region and work going ahead on LNG Canada’s $18-billion liquefied natural-gas development.
And notwithstanding a gloomy, short-term outlook for forestry, the B.C. Natural Resources Forum is expecting record attendance with registrations topping 1,100 on Tuesday afternoon, with delegates still arriving to sign up.
“In general, I know there is a lot of frustration in the forest sector, especially with individual contractors,” said Sarah Weber, CEO of C3 Alliance Corp., the consulting firm that organizes the forum.
Weber said that frustration was visible last fall with the 300-logging-truck convoy that descended on Vancouver for the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention, and many of those same voices will be represented at the forum this week.
“And we want to help facilitate that (conversation),” Weber said, “especially if it can result in solutions to some of the challenges.”
With Premier John Horgan and a large contingent of cabinet ministers and MLAs, including Forest and Lands Minister Doug Donaldson, newly installed Energy and Mines Minister Bruce Ralston, Environment Minister George Heyman and Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister George Heyman in attendance, Weber expects a lot of conversation to happen.
Weber expects many of the conversations will involve the dispute by Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs over the Coastal GasLink pipeline, though the issue isn’t directly on the forum’s agenda.
And she knows delegates will be interested in hearing Fraser speak on the province’s Bill 41 to enact the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as will the numerous Indigenous leaders in attendance, about what the legislation will mean for their projects.
Organizers have had a lot of requests for the use of rooms for meetings outside of official proceedings, she said, which is a sign “there is a lot of activity going on.”
“I think what (delegates) are most looking forward to is being in the same room as B.C.’s decision-makers and leaders,” Weber said.
The event’s estimated $2.5 million in economic impacts, according to the organizers, is also a considerable boost to Prince George businesses.
By 10 a.m. on Tuesday, local taxi companies were hopping with traffic to and from the airport to downtown hotels, making it a busy spell in the middle of what has otherwise been a slow winter, compared with previous years.