Resource Works

The internet isn’t virtual. It’s built from rivers, sand, rocks and human creativity.

Every search, streamed video and AI prompt depends on physical infrastructure: hydroelectric dams, transmission lines, fibre-optic networks, semiconductors and critical minerals working together.

British Columbia already has many of the ingredients the AI economy needs. The challenge now is making sure the benefits stay here too.

As demand for data centres grows, so does the importance of asking a simple question:
What should British Columbians receive for every megawatt of electricity?

Read the full story at resourceworks.com

What if one of British Columbia's biggest mining centres doesn't actually have a mine?

Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island are home to roughly 1,000 mining and exploration companies worth a combined $449 billion. Together they support 12,300 jobs and generate $3.5 billion in annual economic activity—even though there isn't a single operating mine in the region.

That's why the resource economy isn't just about where resources are extracted. It's also about the engineers, geologists, financiers, environmental specialists, software developers and entrepreneurs whose work happens in cities like Vancouver.

The resource economy you can't see: https://resourceworks.com/the-resource-economy-you-cant-see/

"There is just far too much myth and mythology and misinformation out there."

Before he spent 18 years as an MLA, Nanaimo's mayor worked the line at a sawmill and a pulp mill. He hasn't forgotten it.

Leonard Krog's frustration these days is with how forestry gets talked about by people who've never lived near it. A well-managed forest can continue to employ people decade after decade. But to keep those family-supporting jobs and the tax revenues that fund our social programs, the provincial government must deliver consistent, reliable policy.

It's time to let facts, not rhetoric, drive the conversation: https://resourceworks.com/roots-of-prosperity/

🇨🇦 What does a new mine mean to B.C.?

Most people start by talking about environmental risk. That's important, but it's only half the story.

The proposed Trekor Yellowhead copper mine is projected to:
- Create 525 full-time jobs every year for 25 years
- Pay average annual wages of $153,000
- Generate $270 million in annual tax revenue
- Produce 4.4 billion pounds of copper needed for electric vehicles, power lines, batteries and other essential infrastructure.
BC only has 18 operating mines. Imagine if we had 18 more, all at the scale and quality of the proposed Trekor copper mine. Imagine the boost to social services that could be funded, the salaries paid to workers, and the long-term mineral supply security earned for the country.

https://resourceworks.com/what-does-a-new-mine-mean-to-b-c/

🇨🇦 Canada has agreed to build. But here's the part nobody talks about.

0 of 22 project professionals interviewed by Resource Works said recent permitting reforms have made a difference on the ground.

Last week, all 13 premiers agreed Canada needs to build major projects faster. That's an important first step.

But Stewart Muir argues we're measuring the wrong clock.

The permit isn't usually where the years are lost. The biggest delays often happen before the formal review even begins—in planning, engineering, Indigenous engagement and getting an application ready to enter the system.

Canadians have proven they can build extraordinary things. The challenge isn't lowering standards—it's fixing every phase of project approval so good projects can move forward with greater certainty.

Because if Canada has agreed to build, it's time to understand where the time actually goes. Fix every phase of project approval, not just the one with a clock on it.

Read more: https://resourceworks.com/canada-has-agreed-to-build-now-publish-the-real-clock/

Here's some hard evidence the rest of Canada should stop demonizing Alberta, with 30 years of receipts.

Don Wright ran B.C.'s public service under Premier John Horgan. When he ran the numbers on federal finances, the pattern was hard to argue with: Alberta's energy economy has quietly been paying a huge share of the country's bills. He calculates that without the contributions from Alberta's energy economy, federal debt today would be $590 billion higher. That's money the rest of Canada would have had to find through cuts or taxes.

This doesn't prove the system is rigged for Alberta, and he also points out that Ottawa built the foundation the province stands on. But the conclusion remains: Canada would function considerably better if it stopped litigating the size of the slices and spent more energy growing the pie.

https://dub.sh/pARXcrE