News & Reports

This Vancouver Island First Nation’s success story shows how reconciliation and development go hand-in-hand

From battling misinformation during the Wet’suwet’en crisis to launching the Resource Innovation Forum, Resource Works proved itself a critical advocate for Canada’s resource sectors. We look back on 2020, a year of adapting to meet new challenges and emerging opportunities.

Canada Energy Regulator: The TMX pipeline will help Canada meet global demand for crude oil, despite misinformation campaign.

"Scientists have spoken but the government prefers to listen to activists and not to the people who live and work here,” says Port Hardy Mayor Dennis Dugas. Phasing out open-net salmon farming would mean more costs on industry, less benefit to communities.

As the federal government drives towards its Paris Agreement goals, concerns abound regarding economic sustainability.

Sustainably reaching climate targets requires meeting the double bottom line—reducing GHGs while boosting commercial viability. Hydrogen experts Marty Reed and Chris Reid say that the road to green energy is blue.

Though he long had "difficulty" with the venture, British Columbia's new Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister now acknowledges the project deemed to be in the national interest has its approvals and is going forward.

Critics of the pipeline project are outdoing themselves to seed doubt and confusion. In spite of this, those who care about Canadian economic-environmental balance needn't worry: TMX will be productive, profitable and climate-friendly for many decades. Stewart Muir explains why.

Local leaders are the ones closest to public anxieties – they live it every day. In the pandemic response, these are the voices coming to the fore in support of doing the right thing.

Even when the market price of natural gas is low (and right now it is) natural-gas developers pay millions of dollars of royalties to the BC government each month. And that’s on top of corporate taxes, property taxes, and sales taxes, which together mean many more millions flowing to government to help pay for education, healthcare, and a host of other government and public services.

And yet vital facts still get missed about the royalty regime for natural gas. Here's the result of our fact-finding mission.

The quality of the Premier’s Cabinet lineup will determine whether the government’s agenda on these issues will land right – for their future electoral odds and for our province’s economy.

According to recent findings by the Canadian Energy Centre, revenue generated from oil and gas eclipsed the federal government's contribution to family allowance and children’s benefits since 1970. The CEC's Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan weigh in.

A Chemist in Langley, Blair King, recently wrote about yet another flawed publication by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). We've reprinted his expert review of the dodgy analysis in that report.

WATCH: Our second instalment of the Resource Innovation Forum featured Wes Jickling, Chief Executive of Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), for a discussion on the collaboration that advances the environmental performance of Canada's major oil sands producers.

WATCH: On Thursday, October 28th, we were joined by University of Calgary Chancellor Deborah Yedlin and RBC Senior Vice-President John Stackhouse for a discussion with moderator Stewart Muir on how institutional partnerships can advance innovation in Canada's oil sands. 

We’re still awaiting the rules and regulations that the federal government is drafting to execute its plan to achieve net-zero emissions in Canada by 2050. Industries and resource projects from coast to coast to coast know they will be compelled by 2050 to eliminate or offset greenhouse-gas emissions, but how?

As the world becomes more and more digital, and manufacturing becomes greener, there will be increasing demand for critical metals, minerals and rare earths. And Canada can play a key role in supplying them.

BC's mining industry contributes $7.4 billion to BC’s economy (GDP). It spends $3 billion to purchase goods and services from 3,700 small, medium and Indigenous businesses in 215 BC communities. And it spends $330 million on exploration.

So how is this critical industry coping with the carbon price? And why do governments seem set on making it more difficult and expensive for our mines to operate, and more difficult to compete in world markets? 

Climate statistics from California show that the long-awaited new pipeline will usher in an era of cleaner choices for the populous state. Skeptical? Stewart Muir assesses the big picture.

The federal Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) is coming soon. Here are 12 things you need to know (and what it will cost you).

A fellow we see constantly on social media greets pretty much every post about oil and gas with a simple: “H2 is the answer.” We can understand his enthusiasm for hydrogen, a fuel you can burn to provide energy, and the only emission at the end is ... water. No greenhouse gases, no noxious particles, no pollution, no problem.

Trouble is, that word "simple” is all too true.

Residents of Campbell River looked to define and describe the pillars of the local economy.

When everything goes right and a major resource project moves forward, the benefits flow for decades. Stewart Muir explains why this is.

EXCERPT: Enjoy this sampling of Brian Lee Crowley’s important new book Gardeners vs Designers: Understanding the Great Fault Line In Canadian Politics.

Slapping the word "clean" on a policy signifies high hopes for its environmental effects. That sparkle wears off quickly if the result turns out to be costly, clunky or counterproductive because it is driven by the stick of regulation rather than the carrot of positive business incentivization. Stewart Muir looks at how market-driven solutions can show promising results in creating climate improvement.

Patricia Mohr, an advisor to the Task Force for Real Jobs, Real Recovery, was a guest on CBC's The Current to discuss options for federal action.

Scientist and public communicator Blair King, PhD, explains why the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project is a good bet for Canada.

Radio host Adler invited Muir onto his program on Sept. 17, 2020.

Canadians agree strongly that oil and gas is important to the country's current and future economy, they support environmentally responsible development of the sector, and they support oil and gas exports. 

First Nation-owned transmission line near Merritt brings BC Hydro green power to Trans Mountain pipeline.

Margareta Dovgal of Resource Works chats with Energy Examined about how support for Canada's resource sector could create 2.6 million jobs while driving action on climate change.

What if Canada had a dedicated nation-wide “corridor” for infrastructure: road, rail, power, telecom, cyber and pipelines?

This opinion article from our Stewart Muir was published by The Globe & Mail on Sept. 16, 2020.

We’ve kept an eye on mass-timber buildings since the Tallwood House student residence at UBC was topped off (in 2016) at a world-record 53 metres and 18 storeys. Resource Works catches up on the latest trends.

Calling for objective reporting about British Columbia forest management, the old growth study is a call to action for educational efforts to bring context and build understanding.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Residents of dozens of British Columbia forest communities are on edge. Will the province's most renewable industry be allowed to continue after the release of a new provincial study? Stewart Muir looks at the facts. 

The Real Jobs, Real Recovery initiative brought together 36 organizations from across Canada to show a leadership path for decision making at the national level.

British Columbia municipalities including Prince George are declaring National Forest Week Sept. 20-26 locally as the commemoration celebrates 100 years.

One of many things for Ottawa to address as it drafts Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery: red tape.  

Building backward, not building back better, is the risk of shunning innovation in the four-fifths of global energy that comes from fossil fuels.

Fresh hope for a pandemic playbook for 2021 that will help guide the Canadian energy sector out of today’s doubt and uncertainty.

The Real Jobs, Real Recovery is a national project drawing on the input of organizations representing more than 3 million Canadian workers.

It turns out that industries producing the materials at the centre of modern life can be a driving force for economic recovery after the pandemic. Stewart Muir looks at how the new Stronger Tomorrow strategy looks to leverage, and evolve, longstanding job and GDP pillars in the natural resource sector.

In the COVID-19 recovery phase, natural resources are well-positioned to step in to assume their traditional leadership role in creating wealth and jobs for Canadians, writes economist Philip Cross.

The province of British Columbia’s Old Growth Strategic Review tackles head-on an issue that has bedevilled the government for decades: ensuring that the seemingly polarizing values of forest protection and public prosperity can somehow be harmonized. Stewart Muir looks at the issue.

Strategic assessment of climate change says new Canadian mines, power plants, pipelines and railways will be covered, but lacks details on how changes to them – and the global energy system – will be measured or enforced.

This month and next, Resource Works is supporting a national effort to recommend the best path forward out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's the latest on our work.

The one-word answer is: Jobs. Jobs of all kinds, but most of all we need to see the kind of high-paying, long-lasting jobs typically associated with investments in economic growth potential, writes Stewart Muir. 

Wishful thinking and empty promises aren’t helping with the needed energy transition. It’s time to turn our minds and our will to the hard work of transformation by mid century based on the realities of our society and our economy, writes Mike Cleland.

We have a social-media follower that we can count on to tell us, frequently, that the real “fuel of the future” is hydrogen. We can understand his thinking: What better than a zero-emission fuel that, when burned, leaves behind nothing but water? No greenhouse gases or noxious particles; no pollution, no problem.