LAWTON: Mining built BC, it will decide its future

Our country’s future rests on the very industries that built it in the beginning. Unfortunately, today, Canada suffers from an economic identity crisis. We’ve completely forgotten where we’ve come from and how we’ve always succeeded in the past. 

Resource industries have defined our country since before its inception. Believing this isn’t true today or in the future is a grave mistake – one we’re seeing modern political leadership fall into which spells grave consequences for Canadians.

Historically, every region of Canada has been defined by its resource industries and the men and women who work in them: the Atlantic fisherman, the steelmakers and factory workers of upper and lower Canada, the Prairie Farmer, the Albertan Oil Driller, the Coastal Logger and, of course, the BC Miner. 

Mining built British Columbia. The gold rush of the 1840s and 50s brought unprecedented immigration to what is now our province. The relentless pursuit of the wealth beneath our feet, emerged trade routes which gave way to our modern map dotted with settlements, towns and cities across our North. Roads, railways, tunnels and passes were blasted through mountains, and great cities, ports and settlements were carved into our rugged shores. 

British Columbia was only made possible because of the pioneers, adventurers, entrepreneurs, builders and grand designers who envision a modern society built around the promise of abundance that our frontier beckoned. Then they actually built it. 

Mining continues to build the province today, boasting our nation’s most daring, most sophisticated, and most technologically advanced industrial operations in the nation. The construction of modern operating mines are multi-billion dollar endeavours that drive industrial development across Canada, build rural communities and provide employment in virtually every aspect of our modern economy, including trades, sciences, technology, engineering, finance, equipment sales, parts distribution, and advanced manufacturing; industries that drive employment from remote communities of the North all the way to our major urbanized economic hubs like Vancouver and Victoria. 

The mining industry has the ability to shape Canada’s future. The race for critical minerals rages on across the world as nations scramble to secure supply chains of the essential materials for chip production, advanced manufacturing, and the hardware of tomorrow’s technologies. Canada, and especially British Columbia, is positioned to seize this opportunity to establish itself as a critical minerals super power.

Not only is mining driving the strategic industries of the world, but it provides the keys to unlock our national potential right here at home. The search to develop these vital deposits are shaping Canadian Northern sovereignty, offering to deliver nation building infrastructure and life changing employment opportunities to our nation’s northern reaches. Not only is the sovereignty of our northern frontier in the balance, but also the security of our entire country. The resources mined in Canada are what deliver the state of the art weapons and defence systems that will secure our safety in an era of conflict and our stature as an international trading partner. Whether we like it or not, mining, and the complexities that accompany this complex industry, will shape our future. 

As instrumental as mining is to our future, our decision makers continue to treat the industry as an afterthought. Despite promises, the industry continues to struggle with regulatory uncertainty, and crippling permitting delays and onerous red tape duplicated between different levels of government. Our politicians like to grandstand on the world stage and state their commitment to the industry in front of anyone who will listen, but in practice, they (and our country with them) dither and stall.

Today, $40 billion in proposed projects in BC alone, is currently on hold amid the confusion. Billions of dollars in tax revenues are being missed, while employment rates sputter. We’re handing our future away for nothing. Mining is essential to the future of the world, and we don’t have the luxury of being an exception. Somehow, our political leaders seem to think we do – they seem to think we can sit on the sidelines while the rest of the planet advances beyond us. 

Our province today was carved into existence by industries like mining – industries that are paving the path for the world of tomorrow. Even our ancestors, who had far less at their disposal and who couldn’t possibly have imagined the advancements of today, understood that the key to Canada’s might in the world rested on our resource abundance. They dared the unimaginable, in their pursuit for resources, and out of it, built a province and a country that became the envy of the world.

The state of BC’s mining industry is representative of the fact that we’re losing that promise. If we are to seize this opportunity, governments need to get serious about returning BC to the historical status of a global mining jurisdiction. We need to return to that ancient approach: where we live, build, and thrive by the gift of our resources. Only then can we reclaim Canada’s position in the world as the best, most effective, most responsible and most trusted mining jurisdiction in the world. 

Benjamin Lawton is a Vancouver-based public affairs consultant specializing in industry defence. He is the Executive Director of The Bedrock Network, a mining industry advocacy organization.