ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION
January 25, 2021 | Canada Faces Pipeline Crunch
With Biden blocking Keystone, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project is more important than ever. After a heated First Ministers’ conference call, provincial aides reported that “Some premiers want to go to war” with the U.S. because of President Joe Biden’s torpedoing of the Keystone XK pipeline. Saskatchewan and Ontario were vociferous. Ontario Premier Doug […]
January 21, 2021 | Where Do Federal Parties Stand on BC Aquaculture?
In December, the federal government shuttered nineteen fish farms on the Discovery Islands, putting over 1,500 Vancouver Island families out of work. With the future of BC aquaculture in question, Josiah Haynes compares where the federal parties stand. On December 17th, you might have been baking gingerbread men, doing some Christmas shopping, or getting into […]
January 19, 2021 | Messages to Biden on Cross-Border Energy
Can Biden be persuaded to keep Keystone XL? Canadian industry and government urge energy cooperation. The Canadian and U.S. energy industries anxiously await the energy policies, plans and standards that will be set by the incoming Biden administration. Washington insiders say the first big move will be on Day One of his presidency this week: […]
January 14, 2021 | Pacheedaht First Nation: An Example of Reconciliation and Development
This Vancouver Island First Nation’s success story shows how reconciliation and development go hand-in-hand Not long ago, two-thirds of Pacheedaht First Nation band members lived outside their ancestral land. Work was hard to find, and of its 163,000 hectares of land, all the Pacheedaht’s forested area was allocated to outside forestry operations through forest tenures […]
January 7, 2021 | Innovation for a Turbulent Year
From battling misinformation during the Wet’suwet’en crisis to launching the Resource Innovation Forum, Resource Works proved itself a critical advocate for Canada’s resource sectors. We look back on 2020, a year of adapting to meet new challenges and emerging opportunities. 2020 was so tumultuous that it’s easy to forget just how much happened in the world […]
December 31, 2020 | Yes, We Do Need Those Pipelines
Canada Energy Regulator: The TMX pipeline will help Canada meet global demand for crude oil, despite misinformation campaign. With 2021 just around the corner, Resource works looks back on a tumultuous year for Canadian energy. As November came to a close, Canada’s Energy Regulator (CER) presented a theoretical future scenario on energy use, while […]
December 30, 2020 | Island Communities Left Behind as 19 Fish-Farms Shut Down
“Scientists have spoken but the government prefers to listen to activists and not to the people who live and work here,” says Port Hardy Mayor Dennis Dugas. Phasing out open-net salmon farming would mean more costs on industry, less benefit to communities. The headline on the federal news release says it all: “Government of Canada moves […]
December 28, 2020 | When It Comes To The New Carbon Tax, Sustainability is a Double Edged Sword
As the federal government drives towards its Paris Agreement goals, concerns abound regarding economic sustainability. On the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change this December, forty-five nations announced their latest climate plans, aiming to further cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Forty-five world leaders announced new 2030 climate plans during the […]
December 20, 2020 | Innovative Start-ups Cap 6-Week Series on Energy and Sustainability
Sustainably reaching climate targets requires meeting the double bottom line—reducing GHGs while boosting commercial viability. Hydrogen experts Marty Reed and Chris Reid say that the road to green energy is blue. CEOs Marty Reed of Evok Innovations and Chris Reid of Ekona Power capped off Resource Work’s first annual Resource Innovation Forum, delivered with the support of Cenovus […]
December 15, 2020 | Time to “Turn The Page” on Opposing Trans Mountain Pipeline, says B.C. Cabinet Minister Murray Rankin
Though he long had “difficulty” with the venture, British Columbia’s new Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister now acknowledges the project deemed to be in the national interest has its approvals and is going forward. Murray Rankin, flanked by federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh on Oct. 17, 2020. “I think we have to turn the page” […]
December 11, 2020 | Yes, Virginia, Trans Mountain Does Have a Business Case
Critics of the pipeline project are outdoing themselves to seed doubt and confusion. In spite of this, those who care about Canadian economic-environmental balance needn’t worry: TMX will be productive, profitable and climate-friendly for many decades. Stewart Muir explains why. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” is a line from an editorial called “Is […]
November 27, 2020 | How B.C. Mayors are Taking Action to Heal the Urban-Rural Divide
Local leaders are the ones closest to public anxieties – they live it every day. In the pandemic response, these are the voices coming to the fore in support of doing the right thing. “Every B.C. community is a resource community” A list of 25 mayors have taken the unprecedented step of writing in unison […]
November 26, 2020 | Digging Deeper into Ddeep-Well Credits
Even when the market price of natural gas is low (and right now it is) natural-gas developers pay millions of dollars of royalties to the BC government each month. And that’s on top of corporate taxes, property taxes, and sales taxes, which together mean many more millions flowing to government to help pay for education, healthcare, […]
November 19, 2020 | 4 BC Resource Files To Watch as Cabinet is Announced
As we wait for the BC Cabinet to be announced, and the all-important mandate letters to be released, here are 4 major decision points we are looking towards on the natural resources file. The quality of the Premier’s Cabinet lineup will determine whether the government’s agenda on these issues will land right – for their […]
November 17, 2020 | $493 Billion in Oil and Gas Revenues to Governments Since 2000: More Than The Construction and Real Estate Sectors Combined
According to recent findings by the Canadian Energy Centre, revenue generated from oil and gas eclipsed the federal government’s contribution to family allowance and children’s benefits since 1970. The CEC’s Mark Milke and Lennie Kaplan weigh in. Human beings are hard-wired to respond to stories that paint a relatable picture of whatever issue is at […]
November 16, 2020 | Another Day, Another Flawed CCPA Report, This Time About the Trans Mountain Expansion Project
A Chemist in Langley, Blair King, recently wrote about yet another flawed publication by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). We’ve reprinted his expert review of the dodgy analysis in that report. This piece originally appeared on Blair King‘s website, A Chemist in Langley. It has been reprinted with his permission. Yesterday, I was directed to a […]
October 28, 2020 | Big Questions About Net Zero
We’re still awaiting the rules and regulations that the federal government is drafting to execute its plan to achieve net-zero emissions in Canada by 2050. Industries and resource projects from coast to coast to coast know they will be compelled by 2050 to eliminate or offset greenhouse-gas emissions, but how? The draft rules and […]
October 26, 2020 | Count on Canada for Critical Minerals
As the world becomes more and more digital, and manufacturing becomes greener, there will be increasing demand for critical metals, minerals and rare earths. And Canada can play a key role in supplying them. The World Bank sees future demand like this: “Over 3 billion tons of metals and minerals will be needed by 2050 […]
October 23, 2020 | BC Mining in Deep Carbon Pricing Trouble
BC mining industry contribute $7.4 billion to BC’s economy (GDP). It spends $3 billion to purchase goods and services from 3,700 small, medium and Indigenous businesses in 215 BC communities. And it spends $330 million on exploration. So how is this critical industry coping with the carbon price? And why do governments seem set on making […]
October 19, 2020 | TMX Pipeline Will Serve Cleaner Canadian Oil To Eco-Cconscious California
Climate statistics from California show that the long-awaited new pipeline will usher in an era of cleaner choices for the populous state. An oil tanker bound for Asia leaves Canada’s west coast, tethered to a tug for added safety. Photo: Resource Works News. What the statistics tell us Every day, a flotilla of tankers from […]
October 9, 2020 | 12 Things to Know About Ottawa’s Clean Fuel Standard
The federal Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) is coming soon. Here are 12 things you need to know (and what it will cost you). 1. The federal government says: “The objective of the Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) is to achieve up to 30 million tonnes of annual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, making a significant contribution toward exceeding Canada’s […]
October 7, 2020 | Hydrogen Is On The Way
A fellow we see constantly on social media greets pretty much every post about oil and gas with a simple: “H2 is the answer.” We can understand his enthusiasm for hydrogen, a fuel you can burn to provide energy, and the only emission at the end is … water. No greenhouse gases, no noxious […]
October 6, 2020 | New Study Shows How Natural Resources are Drivers of a Diverse Local Economy
Residents of Campbell River looked to define and describe the pillars of the local economy. A paper by the Campbell River Business Recovery Task Force zeroes in on challenges to businesses and industries from Covid-19. It was tabled with the City of Campbell River at a meeting on Oct. 6, 2020. The report can be accessed here. Like […]
October 4, 2020 | Workable Climate Policy Takes More Than Optimistic Words
Slapping the word “clean” on a policy signifies high hopes for its environmental effects. That sparkle wears off quickly if the result turns out to be costly, clunky or counterproductive because it is driven by the stick of regulation rather than the carrot of positive business incentivization. Stewart Muir looks at how market-driven solutions can […]
September 30, 2020 | Consumers Will Shoulder Cost of Deferring Workable Climate Policy
Slapping the word “clean” on a policy is meant to be an instant badge of its miraculous environmental effect. That sparkle is wearing off: more appropriate terms include costly, clunky and counterproductive. Stewart Muir looks at the situation. The federal Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) is the latest case in point, yet policymakers are so far […]