News & Views
Articles
It's 'glory days' for heavy wood timber in British Columbia
When Structurlam president Bill Downing talks about wood and the expanding role he sees for it in commercial and institutional buildings, he can be forgiven for using superlatives
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Energy transport: opponents want to have their cake and eat it too
It is astounding that Vancouver's mayor and the province's teachers' union actively oppose the very same resource activities that help to pay for infrastructure improvements and public-sector salaries
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Articles
Brittania Mine: rebuild it, and they will come
In the early days, it was difficult to distinguish the BC Museum of Mining from the abandoned Howe Sound copper operation that was closed for good in 1974 after the richest reserves had been extracted. Fast forward four decades and the century-old site is set to become a high-tech tourist attraction
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8 surprising facts about Canadian energy
The country's oil industry has released its 2014 forecasts for the next 16 years up to 2030. Here are its findings
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Seven signs BC's forestry sector is on the upswing
Stabilizing employment numbers, a more skilled workforce, and rising net investment and labour productivity are among the contributing factors
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BMO economists see strength in BC forestry and LNG, but difficulties in mining
BMO Capital Markets has released its impressions of the BC economy in its latest BMO Blue Book. Here are some key points
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Canada lacks the data to make informed decisions on temporary foreign workers
The federal government has not collected precise information about job vacancies for decades, according to a report
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Port Coquitlam company thrives on resource links
A groundbreaking new study by Peter Severinson, research director for Resource Works, should dispel any lingering doubt that resource development is the foundation of Metro Vancouver’s economy
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Reports
How rural BC packs a punch in the big city
What is the economic impact of resource companies, especially in urban areas? Resource Works sets off in search of the answer
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What does responsible resource development mean to you?
Community Breakfast Conversations on Natural Resources aims to bring together residents with diverse views, values, interests and priorities
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Northern resource development brings life-changing decisions, opportunities
Seaspan CEO Jonathan Whitworth gazes out across Douglas Channel towards a marine jetty reaching out from the Kitimat shoreline and listens to the hum of industrial activity floating over the calm water
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Articles
Longshoreman union chief appointed as adviser
Mark Gordienko, president of the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) Canada, has joined the Resource Works Advisory Council
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Articles
UBC forestry leads the revival and rethinking of BC's biggest industry
The faculty is going through a revival at the University of British Columbia, drawing a new wave of urban students like Robert Smidstra, who see not just a profession, but also a way to bring about social change
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Articles
Signs of hope for BC wood-frame houses market in China
The new five-year memorandum of understanding signed recently between British Columbia and Zhejiang province, which lies just south of Shanghai, seems like a long-held dream coming true
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Stewart Muir: BC natural resources debate needs balance
Exclusive to The Georgia Straight: Recently, a young man in Vancouver gained overnight notoriety with a crude video game enacting a massacre in the Main Street SkyTrain station. When television news caught up with him to find out why, he reeled off a list of frustrations he claimed led to him making the game. Among them: natural resource development and an inadequate transit system
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Articles
Six charts showing how BC depends on natural resources
The sector remains a critical part of the British Columbian economy, as confirmed in the latest review published by the provincial government
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Articles
Building a better life on the banks of the Fraser River
Sawmill worker Hasrat Begg has a son with a master’s degree teaching at Simon Fraser University and a daughter with a diploma from Douglas College who is working at the Vancouver Film School
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Articles
Responsible development and public perception
Resource Works's Stewart Muir joins Mike Smyth on CKNW to talk about responsible resource development
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Articles
The benefits are desirable and the risks can be managed
Back in 1985 when I was editor of The Whistler Question, I remember writing a column on the coming rise of tourism and the inevitable decline of forestry
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Articles
Getting a better understanding of the Mount Polley accident
One of the most frequently asked questions after the Cariboo mine's tailings dam spill was, 'What is in the tailings?! And furthermore, are they 'toxic', as has been claimed repeatedly in media coverage? Now that new details have been provided from the mine owner, we are better able to answer these questions
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Articles
Getting a better understanding of the Mount Polley mine
British Columbians are justifiably concerned about the major failure at the operation in the Cariboo region that released an estimated 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of fine particles into nearby streams
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Articles
Different approach to overcoming aboriginal opposition
The federal government has made new commitments to help secure First Nations support for big energy projects in BC
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Articles
Ongoing uncertainty over BC’s LNG industry
Peter Severinson writes that he has been reading a lot of crazy, confusing and contradictory things about the sector lately. To clarify things, here are his answers to some good questions posed by no one in particular
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Articles
Failing to develop our resources risks losing out on long-term security
The future for our families and our children depends on our ability to develop our resource endowment efficiently and responsibly
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Building trust on safe natural resource development
Professional codes of ethics ensure that the public can be confident that assessment work is carried out properly, argues environmental scientist Scott Weston
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Articles
Opinion: The future looks brighter for northwest BC
It’s been challenging to be a participant in the region's economy over the last dozen years. In fact, I’ve sometimes struggled to explain to Lower Mainlanders just how bad it was
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Articles
Reports: industry activity and sustainability can coexist
Is it possible for a region to be both resource-dependent and also green? If so, recent research suggests that region would look a lot like BC
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Articles
No longer just hewers of wood and drawers of water
This generation of young professionals is shattering stereotypes about what it means to be a resource worker
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Articles
Looking for a job? Look no further than natural resources
New information released under the government of Canada's open data program, which is illustrated by the accompanying chart, shows that the sector grew more than any other
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It’s time to start trusting the judgment of those most affected by development
Recently, I attended a visit to Ottawa by a delegation from Germany. Virtually the whole discussion was taken up with energy issues, something one of the participants remarked would not have even been mentioned five years ago
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Articles
Four views on one pipeline
Resource Works is an organization that, quite uniquely in British Columbia, examines the economic consequences of natural resource development
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Articles
Top 10 reasons BC stands to gain from LNG
It is highly advantageous for the province to sell its liquefied natural gas to Asia. Here's why
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Articles
Why the future of LNG lies beyond North America
Even the long, cold winter that swept across most of Canada and the United States won’t be enough to fuel a recovery of British Columbia’s shrinking natural gas market
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Poll: Canadians underestimate economic importance of the East
It’s quite a contradiction. Canada is relying more and more on trade with Asia, but people are less and less convinced that it matters
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BC’s dysfunctional resource debate, part 4: The elephant in the room - climate change
Report: 'Our reputation is hurting us. It is especially hurting our ability to address perceptions in key markets and to generate support for many resource projects'
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Our unacceptable ignorance about labour shortages
There is a longstanding, legitimate fear in Western Canada that there will not be enough workers to fuel imminent economic growth. It’s a shame we don't know what we're talking about
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Articles
Canada’s resource tide is in – will it miss the boat?
There is a tide in the affairs of development projects, as Shakespeare might have said, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries
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Articles
Report: BC’s economy to grow faster than Canada’s
The bank predicts healthy GDP growth rates above the expected rate of growth for the country as a whole
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