by Dan Jepsen
It has been deeply disturbing and challenging to watch the meltdown of the global financial markets over the past few months. Much pain and suffering remains and will include lower demand and prices for the commodities that are the backbone of our BC businesses and the BC economy and, of course, accompanied by related employment loses and reduced revenues and taxes.
British Columbians will be faced over the near term with some extremely difficult and challenging times. On a positive note, over the past 10 years a number of significant, advanced, projects are now positioned to move forward, ranging from oil and gas to bioenergy to minerals and mining. These projects, if they obtain vital approvals and can raise capital, have huge potential to create substantive new employment, provide new tax revenue and contribute to community stability. There are however many, many challenges and obstacles that discourage this much-needed investment including:
- Government bureaucracy and approval delays, and
- community and First Nations perceived as well as real resistance
Together, these deter the ability to raise capital. BC is competing in the global market place for severely limited capital that is required to develop projects. The global financial institutions are extremely cautious of where they will allocate the limited financial resources to support the construction of new projects.
The strengths that BC offers include some of the most stringent, thorough and complex environmental review processes in the world that generally deliver some of the world’s best projects, a new relationship with First Nations, a new resource revenue sharing model for First Nations and a selection of sound projects that could be developed. There are two keys that could provide part of the solution to move forward with development:
- BC First Nations and the business community commit to create their own “New Relationship” that is based on trust and respect and delivers the certainty that both are seeking. Business can be a key mechanism for the delivery of local training, employment and economic prosperity for local communities and First Nations. First Nations need to be involved in all stages of project assessment to ensure projects are acceptable from a social, cultural and environmental perspective in order to provide for community support. The ability to potentially put the welcome mat out to the global investment community would send an extremely positive signal.
- Governments commit to work in a cooperative and solutions-based manner with business to explore, resolve and develop environmentally and economically sound projects. A key feature of this is adopting a new cooperative process for developing environmentally sound projects, which share the project benefits and address local and First Nations concerns, needs and desires, but also results in project and investor certainty. Call this the adoption of a new “solutions-based get to yes” attitude.
Governments everywhere must commit to create a positive environment for investment. Many in the business community sincerely believe that BC First Nations and many local communities do not support resource development of any kind. Certainly hardly a day goes by in which there is not a major media story related to resistance to projects and development. This does not encourage investment. First Nations, Government and business need to stand united on the global stage – to collectively send the message that “BC is a great place to invest and develop projects – BC is open for business!”
While global financial markets melt down, many BC First Nations Communities continue to live in third world conditions with the poorest health and education standards in Canada, unacceptable suicide rates, and unemployment rates that often exceed 85%. The creation of local economic development, training and employment will not solve all the problems but it is a good first step.
I encourage First Nations and the business community to take the step to look at the huge opportunity that exists for the creation of a “New Relationship” between BC First Nations and the business community. If done right, the global investment and business community is bound to sit up and take notice of the foresight, leadership and many amazing investment opportunities that BC offers.