BURNABY, B.C. – Petronas’ decision to scrap its plan to build the Pacific Northwest LNG terminal (PNW) is a tough blow for the B.C. construction industry, the president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) said today.
“We are deeply disappointed that PNW will not go forward, as it means thousands of construction jobs will not materialize,” said ICBA president Chris Gardner.
PNW would have created 4,500 construction jobs, 330 long-term operations positions, and up to $1.3 billion per year in government revenue.
“No jurisdiction does energy extraction in a better, cleaner, more socially responsible way than Canada,” said Gardner. “This is a significant lost opportunity that would have brought many benefits. Canada has to act faster to seize the opportunities that our responsible resource development industries can deliver.”
ICBA’s #Get2Yes web campaign included a PNW section, encouraging people to support the project. During the federal government’s approval process, close to 2,400 letters supporting PNW were sent through Get2Yes.ICBA.ca.
“Many of the job-creating projects we have been trying to #Get2Yes on are in jeopardy,” said Gardner. “PNW is lost. The Massey Tunnel replacement, Site C, and Trans Mountain pipeline are all facing stiff opposition. This is a chilling message to send to investors – why would anyone want to come to B.C. and put time and money into any major project?”
ICBA members work on virtually every significant construction project in the province, and would have worked on PNW. “Investment in major infrastructure and responsible resource development projects not only drive our economy but also provide jobs and opportunities for the more than 200,000 British Columbians who work in construction,” said Gardner.
This op-ed, by Chris Gardner (President, ICBA), originally ran in The Financial Post on July 26, 2017.
It’s not easy doing business in Canada. Just ask Kinder Morgan. For years, Kinder Morgan worked to “Get to Yes” on its plan to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline.
They met with Indigenous communities, with municipalities, with businesses, with politicians, with NGOs, and with concerned citizens. They saw new governments rise – Rachel Notley in Alberta, Justin Trudeau in Ottawa – and after years of effort, and a 29-month independent review by the National Energy Board, Trans Mountain got its “Yes,” subject to 157 environmental and technical conditions.
The project was then approved by Prime Minister Trudeau. The B.C. government followed suit, adding another 37 conditions. For Canadians worried about the risks of an oil spill, 194 conditions plus a commitment by the federal government to invest $1.5 billion to protect our coast line, should provide comfort that no jurisdiction in the world brings its natural resources to market as safely as Canada.
However, it appears “Get to Yes” is just one step in a very long journey. Once approved, the challenge becomes “Sticking to Yes.”
Desjardins, the biggest credit union group in the country, announced earlier this month that it would stop funding pipeline projects in Canada. This shift in policy could impact not only Trans Mountain but also other important pipeline projects.
Desjardins was pressured by radical activists who oppose nearly everything about Canada’s energy industry and, given their announcement, Desjardins seems to be throwing in the towel.
In a letter to Desjardins that included the signatures of 11 American groups, plus three from Europe, the activists were dead wrong on number of key points – that Alberta’s oil industry is “massively destructive” (it isn’t), that Trans Mountain “abuses” Indigenous people (it doesn’t), that it will make our iconic orcas go extinct (it won’t), that pipelines have too many leaks already (they don’t), and that the Fraser River will be damaged (it won’t).
The fact that a large Canadian financial institution like Desjardins is buckling to activists who have no interest in an honest debate on Canada’s energy resources, is troubling.
The energy sector accounts for a significant part of Canada’s prosperity. More than 425,000 people support their families and communities by working in the oil and gas sector. The industry is the single largest private sector investor in Canada, forecast to invest $44 billion in 2017. That’s equivalent to the entire provincial budget of British Columbia.
The energy sector also pays an estimated $15 billion annually to government, ensuring all Canadians share in the benefits.
To be sure, there are important issues that need to be independently assessed when considering any large project, but this has to be done within a reasonable timeframe. But once the review is done, the conditions attached, and governments have provided their stamp of approval, projects need to move forward. Anything else would send a dangerous message to businesses and investors.
We risk being labelled a place where it is simply too difficult to get things done, or worse, a place where regulatory approvals are not worth the paper they are printed on. The result: businesses and investors taking their ideas, their people and their capital elsewhere.
It’s already started. Over the past two years, some of the largest energy companies in the world have passed over Canada for more investor-friendly jurisdictions. The cost to Canada has been billions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of lost jobs.
ICBA has launched a campaign asking Canadians to go to Get2Yes.ICBA.ca and send an email to Desjardins CEO Guy Cormier, asking him to reconsider. Maybe hearing from thousands of people across Canada will cause Desjardins to rethink its position. In recent years, ICBA has placed a sizable amount of our group benefit insurance business with Desjardins – given their decision, our business relationship is coming to an end.
But this is about more than Desjardins. If we expect the wealth, innovation and investment that flows from harnessing Canada’s rich natural resources to flow as freely as it did before the decline in commodity prices, everyone should be standing up for Canadian energy, Canadian jobs and made-in-Canada decisions that benefit all Canadians.
Have you ever wondered how the ICBA training department chooses new courses? Each year, ICBA offers hundreds of courses and provides training for 
thousands of people across B.C. Our calendar is constantly updated, with new courses added several times a month. We are always searching for new and exciting presentation topics. These come in several different ways:
“Life-long learning is essential to existence. Continuous improvement requires continuous training, and companies today will only remain competitive if they have a highly skilled workforce,” says ICBA Vice-President Dr. Lindsay Langill. “Training one’s workforce is not only the correct thing to do, but is a good investment.”
New to our training calendar this year:
Several new courses are currently in development and we can’t wait to tell you about them!
By the way, have you subscribed to our training newsletter to make sure you never miss a new course update? If you haven’t, make sure to subscribe at www.icba.ca/trainingnewsletter.
We’d love to see you in one of our courses, even if you’re not an ICBA member. Check out our full course calendar at www.icba.ca/training. Have a suggestion for a new course? Our inboxes are always open; email us at info@icba.ca.
ICBA CAST: Chris Gardner & Jordan Bateman talk about the collapse of the Pacific NorthWest LNG project, John Horgan’s trip to Ottawa and Washington, NDP cabinet mandate letters, Aussie Senators, floating wind farms, fake CFL games (Go B.C. Timberwolves!) and more!
Search the iTunes podcast store for ‘ICBA Cast’ or listen below:
The Conference Board of Canada released a new report this week, looking at the economic prospects of several Canadian mid-sized cities. This included Prince George, B.C.
Basically, they foresee very, very moderate growth for B.C.’s Capital of the North: 1.5% this year, 1.7% in 2018. That’s down from a 1.8% growth rate in 2016.
It also predicts 5% employment growth for PG this year, which will help after the city saw an 8.2% loss in 2015. Still, the unemployment rate will hit a seven-year high of 6.9%, before edging back down to 6.4% in 2018.
“Construction output will contract in 2017 following exceptional gains over the last five years,” the report says. This is mainly because housing starts will cool – 245 this year, 213 in 2018; way down from the 313 started in 2016.
“On the non-residential side, work continues on $440 million in Highway 97 improvements, including the widening of the Cariboo Connector to four lanes. Composed of 27 projects that started in 2007, the entire venture is expected to wrap up at the end of 2018,” the report says. “Meanwhile, construction on the new $44.3-million Kelly Road secondary school is anticipated to begin this fall, with completion slated between 2018 and 2019. The construction of the proposed beef processing plant also provides upside risk to the metro area’s non-residential investment outlook.”
Two other notes: here’s a year-by-year look at the GDP of three mid-sized B.C. cities. Note how Prince George lags Nanaimo and Chilliwack.
And, given the awful news this week that the Pacific NorthWest LNG project has been scrapped, this paragraph is especially rough:
“Some Good News for B.C.’s Important LNG Industry – Recent federal approval and local First Nations support of Pacific NorthWest LNG’s proposal to construct a plant on the northern B.C. coast is welcome news for the struggling mining and mineral fuels sector… This agreement is a welcome boost for an industry that has been hurt by lower global demand, increased competition from the U.S., and weak commodity prices.”
Sigh.
VICTORIA, B.C. – The NDP Government is putting politics ahead of sound public policy by sending the Site C dam project to the B.C. Utilities Commission (BCUC) for a six-week review, said the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA).
“Site C has already spent more than a decade going through independent environmental and regulatory reviews, with more than 150 binding environmental conditions imposed on the project. It was signed off by both the federal and provincial governments. Its environmental study alone was 29,000 pages – a stack of paper taller than an NBA basketball hoop,” said ICBA President Chris Gardner. “Site C has also faced 14 separate court actions and was upheld in every single one of them. At ICBA, we talk a lot about the need to ‘Get to Yes.’ On Site C, the NDP government needs to now ‘Stick to Yes.’”
NDP Energy Minister Michelle Mungall made the announcement today, calling on the BCUC to undertake a review of Site C and meet with stakeholders. ICBA intends to participate in that process.
“This review is redundant and irresponsible,” said ICBA Communications Director Jordan Bateman. “The focus should be on finishing the dam, not slowing it or stopping it. With 20 per cent of the work complete, and billions spent or committed, we need to finish the job. Judging Site C on ‘current’ demand – as outlined in the NDP-Green agreement – makes no sense given that demand in B.C. is expected to grow by 40 per cent over the next 20 years.”
ICBA, voice of B.C.’s construction industry, has been fighting hard to keep Site C workers on the job. Today, more than 2,400 men and women went to work on Site C.
“Workers and families in Fort St. John and other communities across B.C. are on edge over the NDP government’s opposition to Site C,” said Gardner. “But it isn’t just the economic future of the Peace region at stake. This action sends a chilling message to businesses and investors who are learning that in B.C., environmental and government approvals are not worth the paper they are printed on. Businesses looking to expand or invest in B.C. need to know that once they have met all regulatory requirements they can move forward with certainty and not have to worry about government changing its mind and reversing course.”
In recent weeks, ICBA has fought for Site C through its pink slip campaign, its poster campaign in Fort St. John, hiring a plane to tow a pro-Site C banner over the Throne Speech in Victoria, generating nearly 2,600 emails in support of Site C through www.get2yes.icba.ca, and releasing a list of B.C. cities where Site C workers hail from.
ICBA’s Chris Gardner and Jordan Bateman were in Victoria yesterday to stand up for Site C workers and oppose the NDP-Green’s move to send the dam project to the B.C. Utilities Commission for review. Here are a few of our media clips from yesterday.
Canadian Press: Construction will continue while the review is underway, but that provides little solace to the 2,400 people working on the project, said Chris Gardner, president of the Independent Contractors and Business Association. “They’ve got to be thinking that six months from now they may not have a job,” he said.
Times Colonist: “We’re very disappointed; 2,400 men and women in construction woke up today, went to that job site to help build a clean-energy project that will provide hydroelectricity for B.C. for over 100 years. The review is unnecessary. This project has been a decade in the making,” said Gardiner, who showed up at the B.C. legislature with 2,400 fake pink slips to illustrate his point.
Energetic City: “This review is redundant and irresponsible,” said ICBA Communications Director Jordan Bateman. “The focus should be on finishing the dam, not slowing it or stopping it. With 20 per cent of the work complete, and billions spent or committed, we need to finish the job. Judging Site C on ‘current’ demand – as outlined in the NDP-Green agreement – makes no sense given that demand in B.C. is expected to grow by 40 per cent over the next 20 years.”
Vancouver Sun: “The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association held a press conference outside the legislature with more than 2,000 mock pink slips to symbolize the workers who might lose their jobs if the government cancelled the project. “The review is unnecessary,” said association president Chris Gardner. “This project has been a decade in the planning, an independent panel took three years and reviewed the project, the federal and provincial levels of government both approved this project. The focus now should rightly be completing this project on time and on budget.
Calling all electricians! Are you new to the industry or need a refresher? Make sure you register for our FREE BCSA Orientation Course – “A Great Start” on September 8 in Burnaby!
We’re hosting a complimentary orientation session and breakfast for those looking to learn a bit more about the industry. You’ll also get the chance to speak to your local BC Safety Authority Safety Officers.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Don’t forget to bring a laptop, tablet or cell phone with you so you can take full advantage of these tips.
While the breakfast is free, we require that you register in advance. Check out this breakfast and our full list of upcoming courses at www.icba.ca/training.
For the latest updates on our courses and events, make sure you subscribe to our newsletter at www.icba.ca/trainingnewsletter!
By Chris Gardner, President, Independent Contractors and Businesses Association
(This op/ed first appeared in The Province on August 4, 2017, and is now free for anyone to publish.)
Bureaucrats aren’t known for their horror writing skills. But Delta’s report on what would happen to the Massey Tunnel if there was an earthquake should send chills down the spine of every driver in the Lower Mainland.
Imagine an ordinary weekday morning, with traffic on Highway 99 backed up, as usual, in both directions. Hundreds of vehicles are slowly trickling through the tunnel when the ground begins to shake – a 6.7 earthquake.
The tunnel, described in the report as, “a brittle structure in highly unstable/liquefiable soils,” buckles. The ground under it turns to mush. Power is lost almost immediately, plunging the structure into darkness.
Cars and trucks slam on their brakes, causing major accidents in every lane. The tunnel rocks upward, breaks free and starts moving downstream, pushed by the Fraser River.
Muddy river water gushes into the dark tunnel, trapping motorists. At this moment, an emergency pump is supposed to whir into action and “should” keep the water level low enough for people to escape during the following hour. “Should” isn’t a great bet.
One can only imagine the terror in what would likely be the final moments for many of these people. It’s a risk that motorists using the Massey Tunnel take every day.
If this was not scary enough, where is the other place you wouldn’t want to be in a car when the “big one” hits? The 80-year-old Pattullo Bridge, already on the verge of falling into the Fraser.
How did one of the largest cities in a G7 economy, a city considered one of the most desirable places to live in the world, end up with two major pieces of failing infrastructure? Two reasons: old-fashioned government neglect, and a relatively new, but increasingly fashionable, movement finding favor among activists: Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone.
To their credit, the previous BC Liberal government tried to address Massey. The tunnel is not safe, it’s not effective at moving people and it’s become one of the biggest traffic chokepoints in the country. Yet the Metro Vancouver mayors are fighting its replacement tooth and nail.
All the mayors have voted against Massey – except for Delta’s Lois Jackson, who has spent the most time studying and considering it. Jackson knows that, after 145 technical and scientific reports examining all of the options, a new bridge is the safest and most cost-effective. The environmental assessments are complete, more than 3,000 people attended 110 public meetings, and construction is about to start. So, what’s the problem?
The provincial government has changed hands, and the NDP-Green alliance is looking to kill the project under the guise of “working with” the Metro Vancouver mayors.
Yes, they want to work with those same Metro Vancouver mayors who can’t even manage their own TransLink infrastructure properly. The mayors have responsibility for two major bridges: the new Golden Ears and the old Pattullo. It’s failing at half its portfolio, yet the NDP give their opinion precedence.
In the mayors’ world, failure at TransLink is always someone else’s fault: ‘out-of-touch’ Ottawa, ‘anti-urban’ Victoria, chintzy taxpayers for not excitedly handing over more money to wasteful TransLink, or ‘selfish’ drivers who should just get out of their cars and take transit.
We need to build more infrastructure – not less. Metro Vancouver is growing. We need to invest in transit, in new roads and new bridges to ensure that we can move people and goods in, around, and through the region. It’s not about choosing one project over another, it’s about revitalizing our aging infrastructure and building a strategic mix of new assets so that businesses located in the region can compete and families living in the region can get around safely and efficiently.
As the NDP prepares to cancel the Massey Tunnel replacement, keep in mind two facts: the Geological Survey of Canada records more than 2,500 earthquakes in western Canada and off the B.C. coast every year. Metro Vancouver has at least a 30% chance of a major earthquake in the next 50 years.
Let’s pray our elected officials are not really prepared to roll the dice with people’s lives.