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C&C #11: PG Pipeline, Mines, BC Economy

Written by Jordan Bateman | Jul 22, 2026 8:28:18 PM


Steel pipe, made in Canada, stacked in a yard in Prince George. This week, they started putting it in the ground. A pipeline actually getting built. Imagine that.

Episode 11 of ICBA Coffee & Construction — the news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta, with ICBA's Jordan Bateman. On today's show:

☕ THE BIG ONE: Enbridge kicks off the $4-billion Sunrise Expansion near Prince George — 140 km of new pipe, 2,500 workers, Canadian steel, a Lheidli T'enneh partnership at the table — and even an NDP minister showed up. Have they finally got religion on oil and gas?

⛏️ B.C. is permitting mines again: Mount Polley's tailings raise approved — a decade of industry leading on safety, and a world desperate for copper

📉 From Leader to Laggard: Jock and Ken put the numbers on the table — 223,000 missing private-sector jobs, a public payroll that's doubled, and debt on track to TRIPLE in six years

🦺 WorkSafeBC comes for the shotcrete crews — same risk should mean same rule, whether it's a truck or a hose

📊 Get the ICBA Economics briefing — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics