What is Resource Works all about? We asked a cross-section of 11 thought leaders to offer their interpretation of the project, which was launched in April 2014.
Sarah Thorne, Principal and Partner, Decision Partners
Resource Works is beginning to apply behavioural science to first understand the values, interests and priorities of B.C. citizens, then engage them in meaningful conversation about the opportunities for the long-term growth and sustainability of the province. Its initial efforts to engage people in dialogue on B.C.’s natural resource sector by taking “Higher Ground” is a big step forward. I hope all of the companies that support Resource Works will follow its lead in elevating the dialogue on the opportunities and challenges that matter most to British Columbians.
Dan Miller, former BC premier
Resource Works recently showed the extent to which the B.C. resource sector drives jobs — more than half of which flow to Vancouver in the form of all those business and financial services purchased by the sector from suppliers, many of them based in the city. My participation with Resource Works is my attempt at getting more people to question the fundamental contradictions I see in the positions of some leaders.
Renata King, Director, Business Development, Northern Development Initiative Trust
Resource Works is an organization that highlights the foundation of British Columbia's economy and is raising awareness about the issues that matter in communities outside the Lower Mainland. It reminds us how valuable B.C.'s natural resource industries are to every day British Columbians, communities and the Province as a whole. It uses education to make a difference and takes a unique facts-and-figures approach to address the value of the province's natural resource industries. This helps to strip away opinion and ideology and focuses the conversation on what we know. I would recommend that all companies pay attention to what Resource Works is doing and help to share the fact – it's simply valuable information for every Canadian to have.
Puneet Sandhar, Barrister & Solicitor, Sanghera Sandhar Law Group, Advisory Council member
Resource Works, to me, means bridging the gap between British Columbians’ current knowledge base and the actual facts as they relate to the resource sector. It is bringing required information and realization about the positive economic impact of the resource sector into B.C. homes. As our economy is and will be inherently heavily resource based, the companies need an engine, such as Resource Works, to connect the dots so that our citizens can realise the importance of resource sector in their lives.
Andy Smith, President, BC Marine Employers Association
Resource Works means the resource extraction/transportation sector has a sophisticated intellectual asset which can inform, engage and mobilize a broad public constituency. Resource Works is providing an information and policy platform which can support a wide range of resource industry engagement activities. Its intellectual rigor coupled with principled, proactive outreach means Resource Works is our best hope to align broad social interests with the hard realities of capital attraction and investment.
Jeremy Dunn, Executive Director, BC Salmon Farmers Association
Resource Works is adding valuable voices to an important conversation in B.C. Having sectors that are involved in the resource business working together is unique, and that’s what Resource Works has achieved. I would recommend that companies in B.C. support Resource Works because of the perspective the organization is providing and the valuable data it is adding to the conversation.
Tom Tevlin, President & CEO, Greenspirit Strategies Ltd.
In a province where the natural resources sector is crucial to the health of our economy, communities and the environment, Resource Works is a vehicle that aggressively makes that case every day. It’s in constant campaign-mode, carrying out its important educational and communications work in a way that is creative, media-savvy and - perhaps most important - utterly research-driven. It couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
If you work in the sector, you will know the importance of supporting what Resource Works is doing as it focuses on creating a much deeper public understanding of the need for a strong and growing resource economy. And if you work in high-tech, or tourism, or academia, or the service sector, you’ll want to consider the absolutely critical relationship that exists between natural resources and all these other endeavours. Either way, Resource Works is really worthy of your growing support.
Mona M. Forster, Executive Vice President, Entrée Gold Inc.
We need to discuss in a wider context what is realistic given society’s demands on natural resources in contrast to our willingness to develop them. Resource Works creates opportunities for these big picture discussions to take place. The team at Resource Works has been successful in creating greater awareness about the resource industry in British Columbia and providing opportunities for the public to learn more so they can make informed judgments and decisions.
Colleen Sweet, General Manager, Canadian Procurement Services
Resource Works is providing factual information on the importance of British Columbia’s natural resource development to our society and economy.
Resource Works undertakes economic analysis on emerging natural resource developments, while uniquely reaching communities through grassroots inclusive educational initiatives. This balance of fact-based information dissemination and third-party research results in a shared and trusting understanding between proponents and stakeholders, and ultimately promotes innovation and certainty in natural resource projects.
Colin Griffith, Interim Executive Director, NEBC Resource Municipalities Coalition
Rural and remote resource areas of British Columbia have long felt underappreciated and misunderstood by their southern neighbours despite playing an integral and fundamental role underpinning the provincial economy. Resource Works is doing exemplary work in creating improved awareness of the vital role that natural resources play in insuring BC’s economic future. The overall future of BC will benefit greatly by mutual understanding of the dependencies that exist between BC’s resource communities and our metropolitan areas in the southwest.
Dr. ’Lyn Anglin, founding (and former) Advisory Council chair, Resource Works
I have often said an educational campaign is required to re-connect British Columbians to their natural resource sector and to explain how so many of the products we depend on every day are derived from this sector. It’s for this reason I agreed to chair the advisory council of the non-profit Resource Works Society, an organization dedicated to educating British Columbians about the resource sector and its important role in B.C.’s future. Since the inception of Resource Works, our research arm has pointed out that, as we move toward the adoption of greener technologies, our natural resource sector will remain key.