B.C.B次元官网网址檚 advantages as a low-carbon, Indigenous rights-sensitive jurisdiction with an abundance of clean electricity, metals, minerals and natural gas were the talk of the B.C. Natural Resources Forum this week. But one big disadvantage kept coming up.

Participants in the annual forum, held online from Vancouver instead of its usual host city of Prince George, were greeted by an array of five cabinet ministers and one minister of state in charge of resource development permits. And as the moderator twice reminded them during the cabinet ministers panel, it currently takes an average of 13 years to go from investment decision to approval of a new mine in B.C.

Premier John Horgan acknowledged the problem in his address to the forum Thursday, describing the latest government reorganization to get ministries working together better to rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic.

B次元官网网址淲hat we need to do is retool our permitting process,B次元官网网址� Horgan told the forum from his office in Victoria Jan. 28. B次元官网网址淭he days of let B次元官网网址檈r rip are gone. The days of responsible development have arrived.B次元官网网址�

Premier speaks to , describing his plan to break the logjam of resource permits

B次元官网网址� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

Forests Minister Katrine Conroy and Environment Minister George Heyman acknowledged the long-standing permit logjam, both saying the core issue is insufficient government staff to deal with permits in an increasingly complex world. B.C. is attempting to lead the country in implementing the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, starting with a new environmental assessment that requires Indigenous partnership before the application is even submitted.

Heyman said he was warned by now-retired forests and lands minister Doug Donaldson that without sufficient ministry staff to get permits done, a long backlog is inevitable. The problem goes back to the early years of the Gordon Campbell government, which created the mega-ministry the NDP government is preparing to break up. It was first raised by former B.C. Liberal minister George Abbott, who has since written a book on the topic entitled Big Promises, Small Government.

Skeena MLA Nathan CullenB次元官网网址檚 assignment is to build a sixth ministry to deal with land and resource management, covering 95 per cent of the province and grappling with road impacts on caribou as well as the environmental risks of mining and logging.

B次元官网网址淲e want to make it easier for good products to come to market,B次元官网网址� Cullen told the resource forum.

Energy and Mines Minister Bruce Ralston noted that mine projects awaiting approval include Blackwater gold mine south of Vanderhoof, a restart of the Eskay Creek gold mine in Tahltan territory in the far northwest, and an extension of Highland Valley Copper south of Ashcroft.

RELATED:

RELATED:

Ralston said B.C. is well positioned for B次元官网网址淓SG investment,B次元官网网址� which stands for environmental, social and governance considerations in addition to a return to shareholders. He referred to the latest annual from Larry Fink, head of Blackrock, the worldB次元官网网址檚 largest asset manager with $7 trillion in investments. Fink announced that environmental sustainability will become more important as the world economy emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

B.C. Hydro continues work on its increasingly costly Site C dam, with highway closures again this weekend to move a second huge water turbine from Prince Rupert to the site near Fort St. John. The federal government has committed $85 million for B.C. to shift industries using carbon fuels to electricity, with a key user of Site C power being the oil and gas industry.

B次元官网网址淲hether itB次元官网网址檚 mining or the gas sector, weB次元官网网址檙e seeing innovation,B次元官网网址� due to B.C.B次元官网网址檚 early adoption of a carbon tax, said Heyman, who headed Sierra Club B.C. before becoming an NDP MLA.

One of the biggest disruptions in B.C. resource projects has been objections from Indigenous communities. Taking questions from Kendra Johnston, CEO of the Association of Mineral Exploration B.C., Horgan said one of the biggest problems of the pandemic is a lack of progress with WetB次元官网网址檚uwetB次元官网网址檈n people disputing the LNG Canada project, the largest private sector investment in B.C. history. With in-person meetings halted due to COVID-19, improving online connectivity with the scattered, remote communities of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 north is a high priority for the 2021 B.C. budget, he said.

Former NDP MP and law professor Murray Rankin is B.C.B次元官网网址檚 new Indigenous relations minister, who has to make all B.C. laws consistent with the UN declaration, as directed by legislation passed before the pandemic. He told the forum that B.C.B次元官网网址檚 transformation means moving from B次元官网网址渢ransactional agreementsB次元官网网址� on resource development to one based on human rights and self-government for the more than 200 Indigenous communities in B.C.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e trying to create an environment where people are confident in investing,B次元官网网址� Rankin said.

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
Like us on and follow us on .