Industry & Trades

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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the Prince George Citizen

| Wednesday, October 30, 2013

GLOBAL BUILDING ON

LUMBER MARKETS Lumber mills are running and area towns still have their lifeblood today because of the trips made to China by forestry and government officials.

Just as the United States housing market collapsed due to the international financial crises, the massive construction industry in China opened its door just a crack for British Columbia lumber. This month another trade mission will leave B.C. destined for Asia, focused on the forest industry. Private companies and provincial government personnel will make the case for doing even more business with our wood.

“We will continue to talk about the value of our product to the environmental green-economy goals they have set for themselves, also the safety side when it comes to seismic results,” said B.C.’s Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, the host of the delegation. “We will also be talking about new applications for wood construction and training their builders and designers. There is a strong reputation for our industry over there and we feel it is import to show that it is a real partnership to build those opportunities into the future. In China, there was some slowdown in their overall economy, but we have maintained our marketshare. In Japan, there has

been an increase in their intake of our wood products. Those are our focus areas.”

He said four days would be devoted to Japan and five days in China. Approximately 30 people from private companies would be attending, including local producers Canfor, Conifex, Carrier and Dunkley.

“Canfor attends all of the Minister’s trade missions,” said Christine Kennedy, a vice-president with Canfor, the company seen generally as the one who did the most, earliest, to win customers in China. “We view these [trade trips] as essential to strengthening government and customer relationships and demonstrating BC’s commitment to serving our markets.

We’ve made tremendous progress in growing Asian markets through the collaborative government/ industry approach to market development, and we appreciate the B.C. government’s strong support of the forest sector. As economies become increasingly globalized, continuing to diversify and grow markets for our products will be critical to our prosperity and our ability to compete at the world scale.”

Although he is new to his job, the recently announced president and CEO of the Council of Forest Industries, James Gorman, is well aware of the

INDUSTRY AND TRADES

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impact Asia is having on the forest sector.

“Our industry and the communities in which we are based have benefited from these important trade missions in the past,” said Gorman. “Our members are excited to be accompanying the Minister to Asia and to further our efforts to expand markets for B.C. wood products.”

Prince George in particular owes a huge salutation to the Asian wood customers, according to one of B.C.’s specialists in international wood trade.

Interex d o e s

only that, on behalf of a number of mills and factories in B.C. and Alberta.

INDUSTRY AND TRADES Two of the company’s clients are Dunkley Lumber and Carrier Lumber, plus 100 Mile House’s Ainsworth Engineered Canada operation.

All have sent wood to Asia and had that market mitigate the loss of

the American markets, he said, and some have been doing so for decades. A big priority for him is to visit the tsunamiaffected disaster areas of Japan where B.C. wood – Prince George wood – is being used in their recovery efforts.

“Some of our mills like Carrier have been exporting to Japan since 1974,” said Bruce Pollock, president of Interex Forest Products. “When you’ve been working with people that long, you can’t help but care. I was proud to have our company and our partners step up to help when the people we know and care about in Japan needed support. I believe they would have done the same for us.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

These aren’t anonymous customers, these are people and communities we have come to know and care about through our years of business together.”

Japanese interests have always been the first and staunchest believers in B.C. wood products. Minister Thomson called their commitment to our forest industry “a long-term, stable relationship, a high-value market.”

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the Prince George Citizen

Prince George in particular owes a huge salutation to the Asian wood customers

Thomson said that in 2012 over $711 million in value went to Japan in wood export sales and as of July this year, it had reached $504 million with five more sales months still to calculate.

“There was an increase this year in both volume and value over the same period in 2012,” he said.

“What we are seeing there is their economy recovering, bringing increased housing starts, and we’re also starting to see the reconstruction efforts in the tsunami-impacted areas. That actual work is now starting

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and is providing us with significant opportunities.”

Pollock said the Japanese history of embracing our lumber products, and the massive economy in nearby China drew a clear picture for one provincial government official in particular. He pointed the figure of success squarely at Prince George’s Pat Bell, the retired MLA and cabinet minister, for being the champion of development in that market. It was critical, he said, because private sector negotiations only go so far in that country. China responds almost exclusively on a government-to-government basis and through person-to-person relationship building. And, he added, both Japan and China are taking only a fraction of the wood they conceivably might, if those relationships continue to be fostered.

“Japan never got off its feet, as far as domestic markets. Japan never dropped like the U.S. did and Canada did,” Pollock said. “They were never as high either, but they were a stabilizing force for our mills, to an extent, and without the initiative of the government in China we would not see the B.C. mills open today that we still have going. With the U.S. is coming back a bit, you have to keep in mind that you never know when the next unpredictable thing is going to happen. We have close neighbours, long histories, different factors, but what you definitely don’t want to do is forget the importance of market diversity.”

For the past two years in a row, China has purchased more than $1 billion worth of B.C. wood products, and as of July this year had already purchased more than $760 million. Market diversity is looking healthy on behalf of the local forest industry.

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Forestry Sector

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Jonas Sirfalk, 11, and Bart Crossan, from SMS Equipment chatted about the Komatsu processor as Jonas sat at the controls during the Canada North Resources Expo this past June. The Expo was a great success, proving that industries, such as the forest sector are here to stay.

Citizen photo by David Mah

the Prince George Citizen

| Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Anyone doubting the return of the forest industry need only scan the city’s conference list for the past year. Almost every possible use for trees has been discussed at panels, forums, professional committees, symposiums and water coolers. Everything from revamping the traditional lumber sector to mining the fatty molecules of forests for plastics and bioenergy has found a voice in Prince George in the past 12 months or so.

The largest and most comprehensive was the resurgent Canada North Resources Expo, formerly known as the Forest Expo before the global economic crisis became the forest industry’s crisis.

“We are coming back big,” said MaryAnne Arcand, executive director of the Central Interior Logging Association. “We tried to do a more diminished show in 2010 and it didn’t go that well. With all the megaprojects, and all the investment potential on the books, we are coming back with a roar.”

“As the industry is, I am feeling optimistic about the future of forestry,” said Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands

INDUSTRY AND TRADES and Natural Resource Operations. “We are seeing investment intentions - more than $650 million in capital investments planned - and we are seeing increased levels of activity through the industry, especially the harvesting and contracting segments. It has always been a foundation of the economy, especially the rural economies. There are lots of timber supply challenges, but we are working closely with communities to address those. We had a great community dinner with COFI [Council of Forest Industries) in Prince George [Sept. 26 and 27] and there was tremendous enthusiasm in the room. They set a record for attendance of those dinners, which is a reflection of the importance of that sector to that region. Yes, there is challenge and there is that optimism.”

If there was any sign of the industry’s impending success, it was the announcement by not one but two local mill companies that they were going to rebuild their destroyed facilities. Hampton Affiliates committed to putting Babine Forest Products of Burns Lake back on the map, and Sinclar Forest Products announced the same investment in Lakeland Mills of Prince George. Both mills were destroyed within a few months of each other in 2011 by fatal explosions and fires.

This past spring and summer, after long pondering and crunching tight fiscal numbers, reconstruction started on both.

One of the reasons the Canada North Resources Expo was so successful at the box office and on the exhibit floor was in the inclusion of other industries. Mining, oil and gas, alternative energy, agriculture, all were represented. Arcand said the local service sector in particular (mechanics, helicopter companies, safety firms, food services, environmental analysis companies, etc.) don’t deal with only the forest sector and the event was built to reflect that the resource economy is integrated out in the field.

Is Arcand worried that all the changes will diminish the voice of forestry within the expo?

“No, the message has never been stronger: we are here, we are long term, we are viable, we are major contributors to the local economies and greater economy of B.C. No offense to the other industries but we are the only one that’s renewable, we employ more people over all of the communities in northern B.C., and we play with the big boys.”

It’s about to go into forestry frontiers never before conceived of. Mills are still slicing trees into construction lumber and processing engineered wood products – more of these all the time, making wood a viable alternative to steel and concrete for the modern construction designer – but the forestry of the future may well be done with a microscope as much as a buzz-saw.

“We are supporting the work of Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) in research and innovation on value-added products,” said Thomson. “The overall goal is to get full utilization and maximum value out of the product – inventing new products, and best use of the older products that still have a role. There is exciting work being done at FII, and we support that both on the product side and the marketing side.”

FII is the B.C. government’s market development agency for forest products. According to Thomson, FII works to “enhance the value of B.C.’s forest resource and strengthen rural economies and employment.”

When FII was created, less than one-sixth of B.C.’s forest product exports were sent to markets outside of North America. Today, about 41 per cent of exports are shipped overseas. In particular, sales to China have increased more than 1,500 per cent since a development program was set up jointly by FII and the industry, with federal government support, in 2003.

the Prince George Citizen

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION cial riding of Surrey-Tynehead. He was appointed to cabinet almost immediately, to the position of Minister of Advanced Education. Exposing his northern roots, one of his first acts was to launch the beginnings of this region’s first engineering school, and specifically for the forest sector.

“Students in B.C.’s thriving wood industry will be able

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When Amrik Virk was growing up, he was a typical northern boy. He lived in a rough-and-tumble small town. The main industry was forestry and the secondary industry was agriculture, with some mining not too far away.

If you wanted to make more than minimum wage as a youth, you had two main choices: get on at the mine or get on at the mill. If you were smart, ambitious, or both you dreamed of getting out and moving to the big city.

The best way to accomplish that was get accepted to a university somewhere. Prince George had none so it was Victoria, Vancouver, Alberta and elsewhere that swallowed up those bright young Cariboo kids.

“I grew up in Williams Lake and I owe going to university by pulling lumber on the green chain at the mill and the cleanup crew at the plywood plant,” said Virk. “I still have slivers from those days, I think, but it got me into post-secondary education. I understand this northern and industrial life very well.”

Virk didn’t aim at a specific profession at first. He got a Bachelor of Arts in economics with a major in history from Simon Fraser University. He moved then into policing, attaining the rank of RCMP Inspector, most of his career in rural, northern and aboriginal-heavy communities but also some urban postings.

During his time as a commissioned officer he became a member of SFU’s outreach board and also served on the board for Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

He ran for elected office this past year, winning the provin-

Highly skilled people are key to the creation, commercialization, and diffusion of innovation

to build on their expertise through two new master programs in engineering to be offered by UNBC at the new Wood Innovation and Design Centre in Prince George,” he said at

the time. He reiterated this week, on a visit to the College of New Caledonia, that natural resources and the north were going to get connected like never before to research, technology and applied education.

“The north is where the action is going to be.

We have a full court press going on now in the industry trades,” Virk said. “The workforce tables are getting back to us on what they need, how many they need, and when they need them, and the post-secondary facilities are at the table with us to work out where the efficiencies are. CNC is a fabulous facility. They see an increased demand from industry. What I’ll take back to Victoria with me is those questions to look at about where the demand is going to be and how to allocate those resources.”

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Dan O’Brien at O’Brien training feild site.

Citizen photo

by Brent Braaten

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the Prince George Citizen

INDUSTRY AND TRADES

6 cont’d from page 5 Careful, said the Conference Board of Canada. Put too much emphasis on insta-job trades training and an already poor number of PhD graduates (of our 16 closest peer nations, only Japan produces fewer doctoral professionals in the 25- to 29-year old demographic, per 100,000 people) will get worse. Trades and tech pros may do the work, but it is the Masters and PhD folks who generate the work and take the economy in new investment directions so new work happens in the future.

“Highly skilled people are key to the creation, commercialization, and diffusion of innovation,” said a CBofC report released this spring.

“Doctorate holders are not only the most qualified in terms of educational attainment, but they are also specifically trained to conduct research.”

According to the CBofC’s analysis, the trend cannot turn around quickly. Their researchers gave Canada a D for training those advanced educational candidates, and for integrating them into the private sector. “[Canada’s] poor performance here is a serious concern that does not bode well for the future,” said the report. “The failure to fund world-class universities is one explanation for Canada’s comparative weaknesses in high-level academic achievement—and its associated weaknesses in innovation. Furthermore, Canada offers fewer employment and pay incentives than do other countries to encourage students to pursue doctoral studies.”

Virk agreed that the balance was delicate between seizing the economic moment and fortifying an economic future, all through the filters of our colleges, polytechnics and universities.

“The answer is yes to all of those,” he said.

“We don’t even know the names of some of the professionals we’re going to need in six or seven years - the technology is evolving that fast. Applied technology in general is very much in demand.

“You [Prince George] are the epicentre of what is going to happen in this province when companies like Petronas and Chevron and all those industrial proponents advance their proposals. But it is from research that we have the technological advancements we have now. We need to look at new paradigms. We are only held back by our mentality on that. We have to keep our minds very, very open and let go of our old paradigms, like, for example, all the potential other uses for wood [at the microscopic level].”

There are so many jobs likely to be available in the coming years – in some ways it is already happening – that Canadian candidates cannot fill all the openings. Virk said the health of the economy depended on aboriginal people, international people, and typical domestic candidates who upgrade their skills to meet the demands from industry and academia alike.

The government, he said, had to bend to the demands right down into the K-to-12 system, with dual track opportunities that coupled regular classroom credits with preliminary professional credits, and better access for adults to retool their credentials. He saw leadership in these regards from northern B.C. institutions but more had to be done, and quickly. He was challenged to use his blue-collar experiences and his white-collar education to help find solutions.

Rhett Humphreys, right, from Sterling Crane watches Conrad Loyd, 18, from Concept Education at John McInnis as he operates a 90-ton crane at Heavy Metal Rocks Saturday. 32 grade 11 and 12 students worked at 16 stations at the Prince George Construction Association event.

Citizen photo by Dave Mah

the Prince George Citizen

October 2013

INDUSTRY AND TRADES

Mining THE

Opportunities Frank Peebles checks out the Caterpillar 7495 shovel used to excavate the Mt. Milligan pit.

Citizen photo by David Mah

The local region is home to the newest mine opening in Canada (Mt. Milligan), the largest exploration project in Canada (NewGold’s Blackwater project), two major mine expansions in the past year (Endako and Gibraltar) and is the base of service for dozens of existing and developing mineral projects.

Prince George is also the rail intersection for the coal industry of the northeast getting to the Pacific shipping lanes at Prince Rupert.

Regional Geologist Paul Jago is based in Prince George, facilitating the industry across the greater landbase, and the city plays a large role in three mining groups that have gone from almost zero activity to award-winning growth.

The Northern Interior Mining Group was formed in 2008, said founding chair Dave Forshaw, “[to establish] Prince George as the premier service hub of the northern B.C. mining industry. It is our belief that central location, well-developed infrastructure and proven business relationships can only help support and advance all facets of mining development in northern B.C.” Forshaw specified amenities like the Prince George Airport’s expansion, a high-caliber university and regional campuses of UNBC and community colleges, and a high-quality rail and highway system as major components of why the mining industry has a strong future in the north.

The NIMG members and leaders are heavily involved in planning the 2014 Minerals North conference happening May 21 to 23, this year in Vanderhoof.

Another of these active associations is the Prince George Exploration Group, dedicated to prospectors and and mineral exploration interests. “[We are] a newly created organization based in Prince George,” said the introduction on the PEG

7 Facebook page. “The objective of PEG is to provide a local forum for those interested in prospecting, mineral exploration and mining. PEG provides networking opportunities with a focus on mineral exploration and mine development. We are interested in gaining members from all aspects of the industry including hobbyists, prospectors, geoscience professionals from the private and public sectors, students of geoscience, and mining service providers.”

An organization with a longer life in the area is the local branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM). Although it dates back many years, its operations were in a coma until an energized few decided to wake it up, since so much resource activity was happening in the area. One of those was Jerome LaMarre, recently hired by Taseko Mines as their Senior Coordinator of Community and Aboriginal Affairs and chair of the region’s CIM chapter. He and his local chapter members have been so effective at recruiting new members and building a public profile that they won this past year’s Mel W. Bartley Award from the national CIM headquarters for excellence in advancing the organization’s goals.

“It is an industry on everyone’s mind as it is a big part of everyday life for all British Columbians,” LaMarre said. Citing data from the Mining Association of British Columbia, he added “the gross revenues for the B.C. mining industry were $9.2 billion for 2012. Exploration and development expenditures by survey participants were $680 million in 2012. A lot of this is a direct result of mining in northern British Columbia.” cont’d on page 8

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The operating mines in the northern region now include Brule, Endako, Fireside, Gibraltar, Huckleberry, Mount Polley, Trend Coal, Willow Creek, Wolverine – Perry Creek, and the latest, Mt. Milligan, which opened in October.

While no mining project is assured until the government gives the green light, there are several in the region in advanced stages of development. The two main areas to solidify in stages are the exploration phase making sure there is a mineral deposit in the area of interest, and the environmental phase making sure your proposed mining activities won’t do unacceptable harm to the ecosystem.

The ones farthest through that licensing process are: Berg, Big Bull, Carbon Creek, Central South, Foremore, Frasergold, Roman Mountain (advanced exploration stage) and Giscome Quarry, Bear River Gravel, Chu Molybdenum, Davidson Property, Dome Mountain, Galore Creek, Gething Coal, Hermann, Horizon, Kitsault, Kutcho Creek, Morrison, Mount Klappan, Red Chris, Schaft Creek, Turnagain (permitting and environmental assessment stage).

According to provincial stats, the number of people employed in the B.C. mining industry was 10,419 in 2012, up from 9,310 in 2011.

“The jobs created aren’t limited to just that at the mine site,” said LaMarre.

“The spinoff is huge in regards to the supplier base. Food, paper, transportation, fuel, repair facilities, engineering, first aid and medical supplies, contractors and the list goes on. These are all jobs that mining provides. Mining has unlimited boundaries when it comes to employment.”

He listed the spinoff positions as accounting, administration, community and aboriginal affairs, education, engineering, environment, executive, finance, geology, health and safety, human resources, maintenance, management, marketing, metallurgy, operations, project management, systems/IT, a wide array of technicians and trades, plus all the field and lab jobs associated directly to the craft of mining.

“As we have been an industry-based province, the future can only be bright with the possibilities and opportunities that the north is providing,” said LaMarre. “As you can see, mining benefits many communities while stretching to many communities outside of the immediate area. I think this is a great time for mining, British Columbia and the people of the province.”

INDUSTRY AND TRADES Mount Milligan crews assemble the Mount Milligan crews assemble the forty-foot tall SAG mill. forty-foot tall SAG mill.

Citizen photo by David Mah Citizen photo by David Mah

the Prince George Citizen

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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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the Prince George Citizen

| Wednesday, October 30, 2013

INDUSTRY AND TRADES

CNC

REGIONAL ROLE

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FOR INDUSTRY

The College of New Caledonia was built in the 1960s to address skilled labour needs in the north. It provides some liberal arts programs as well, with some of the best creativethinking results of any post-secondary institution in the province (acclaimed writers Barry McKinnon, John Harris, Vivien Lougheed, Jacqui Baldwin, etc. all have connection to CNC). But today, as it was at the founding, the bread and butter of CNC is the industrial arts.

Students, staff and administration from the college all took turns expressing the institution’s value to the recent hearings of the Legislature’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. In turn they talked about funding pressures, matching people’s aptitudes with appropriate training programs, the need to engage more people in the skills training of their choosing, and the desire to maintain a well-rounded education regimen instead of just the core professional skill set.

Elected student union representative Arnold Yellowman said there should be some changes to the provincial system to allow better student participation in post-secondary education. On behalf of CNC’s 4,000-plus students, he suggested: (1) reduce tuition fees; (2) establish an upfront, needsbased provincial student grant program; (3) eliminate interest rates charged on B.C. student loans; (4) maintain the government’s commitment to keep adult basic education free; and (5) reorganize the Industry Training Authority.

“This government has overseen a huge increase in student numbers and funding for colleges and universities in B.C. for which credit is definitely due,” said Yellowman. “But like the other governments that came before, increases in funding have not nearly kept pace with the growth of costs for our students in our schools.”

He cited data reporting average tuition fees in B.C. of $2,527 in 2001/02 that climbed to an average of $5,029 this year. Meanwhile student debt in B.C. is $37,000 upon completion of a four-year degree, more than $10,000 above the national average and tops in the country.

“For the first time in history an entire generation will attempt to enter the workforce with unprecedented levels of debt and will undoubtedly delay purchasing a home, starting a family or making investments in starting their own businesses,” said Yellowman.

“On a positive note, I want to commend the provincial government on the provision of tuition-free adult basic education and encourage the continued maintenance of this program,” he added. “In many cases, adult basic education can be the only bridge to obtaining a higher education for British Columbians. Especially in the northern communities, adult basic education helps serve a mandate as the most accessible bridge to post-secondary education.”

CNC Faculty Association representative David Rourke observed that provincial budget documents “forecast tuition fee revenues will decline by close to $100 million over the next three years” which brings up concerns over course diversity and rural education.

“For a college like ours, these funding pressures are particularly tough because our mandate is to provide access throughout the geographically dispersed area,” he said.

“Unlike colleges in large metropolitan areas, for example, we often face a challenge recruiting students to fill programs in many of our satellite campuses. The first reaction when cost pressures increase is to simply cut back those programs and course offerings. But in doing so, we are also turning our back on students in outlying areas, making access for them more of a challenge and ultimately more expensive.”

He noted that CNC laid off a welding instructor in Prince George and another in Burns Lake (the only one in that town) not because there isn’t a demand for welders, but

because of the way, he believed, budget formulas and Industry Training Authority mandates disconnect.

CNC board chair Bob Murray and interim president Bryn Kulmatycki agreed that there were problems for the college built into the provincial funding model.

Murray stressed that the college was more than a complex of classrooms and labs, it was also an economic engine itself.

“The CNC campus encompasses six communities: Prince George, Quesnel, Mackenzie, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James and Burns Lake,” he said. “We support and strengthen these communities, providing affordable-access higher education and skills training close to home. Our college currently provides 50 different programs leading to certificates, diplomas or degrees. CNC is the largest of the six rural colleges in B.C. In 2012-13 the enrolment was 3,375 full-time equivalent students — approximately 14,000 individual learners, including continuing education.

At our institution we are justifiably proud of our progress over the past several years, increasing the enrolment and participation of aboriginal learners by 33 percent in regular credit programs since 2005 and by 80 percent in all programs and service areas by developing and implementing new delivery models at the local level to be responsive to aboriginal learners.”

Partnerships with both School District 57 and UNBC placed CNC inside an important continuum of education, Murray said. “Our college is working closely with industry, First Nations and educational institutions to address the labour market requirements in the central Interior and across the north.”

Kulmatycki underlined the aboriginal attention. He said “Aboriginal education is quite a significant aspect of our college. That is because a significant portion of our service delivery area is within aboriginal communities. We serve 22 communities. Within those communities we are a leader in the province in providing on-site educational opportunities and training to aboriginal learners right close to home. We find that they have a great deal of difficulty leaving their communities and seeking post-secondary, so we go to them. There is a substantial amount of work that has happened over the last five to ten years in that area. I like to say, use the words, ‘We are light years ahead of many other colleges’ — in fact, all of them.”

He and Murray provided their own shot-list of key suggestions for improving the community development work done by CNC. • Conduct a reexamination of the tuition structure of British Columbia; • Continue to preserve and enhance the operating funding provided to the B.C. college system’s 2013-14 budget; • Explore the amount of reporting back to various ministries that is taking place within the lens of finding out what’s necessary and what is not; Address administrative accounting policies and issues that may negatively impact post-secondary education institutions’ ability to provide education programs and services required for students; • Restore capital allowances back to 2009 levels; • Make a renewed funding commitment to support increased educational access and success to aboriginal people.

“We believe the post-secondary education opportunities of British Columbia are a solid investment in the future of our economic and social growth,” Murray said. “Such investment will improve the standard of living, reduce social costs, ensure the source of labour, supply industry needs and will help create a vibrant, healthy community.”

the Prince George Citizen

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INDUSTRY AND TRADES With a skilled labour shortage holding up the aspirations of major industry, plus a number of local First Nations that have never ceded their rights to the governments of Canada or British Columbia, anyone looking to do business in the north might be wise to learn the aboriginal profile of the region.

Aboriginal communities have, for decades and arguably centuries, been underemployed and unsuccessful in mainstream education systems. Efforts are strong to correct those unnecessary conditions.

Local MLA Shirley Bond, minister responsible for jobs, skills training and labour, said headway is being made to tap into underutilized labour pools.

“What’s encouraging is that we’re seeing a lot

BUILDING ABORIGINAL INDUSTRY

11 more women and First Nations entering the trades as well,” Bond said. “In fact, Aboriginal participation in apprenticeship training at public post-secondary institutions increased 103 per cent between 2006 and 2011 and in 2013/14, through the Industry Training Authority, our government is investing approximately $3.9 million in Aboriginal trades training programs. But we need to be doing a lot more to get B.C.’s youth into apprenticeships programs.

In fact our goal is to increase by 50 per cent the number of high school graduates who go straight into a trades or technical program.”

Aboriginal inclusion in mainstream social success has been slow coming, but changes to the school system and changes to government-to-government resource dealings are showing hopeful signs. Timber harvesting, natural gas drilling, construction, and mining are some of the sectors that have seen direct partnerships happen between the provincial government and the territorial governments.

The latest was a revenue-sharing agreement involving southern interior First Nations and New Gold Inc. for participation in the New Afton Mine project near Kamloops. Two neighbouring bands will receive more than $730, 000 plus other benefits in exchange for operating the gold mine on their territory.

New Gold Inc. is the same mining company closing in on a mine application west of Prince George and south of Vanderhoof. That project also has major partnerships already with affected First Nations, and they aren’t even a mine yet.

“Our government is committed to sharing revenues with First Nations as a means to create certainty on the land, and to create resource-development partnerships with First Nations,” said local MLA John Rustad, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. cont’d on page 12

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INDUSTRY AND TRADES cont’d from page 11

His Nechako Lakes riding has one of the largest numbers of First Nations, and some communities with the highest ratio of aboriginal-to-non-aboriginal in the province.

Rustad was one of the key invited speakers at a closeddoor conference held in Prince George earlier this month that brought together a number of northern First Nations to talk about industrial activities – the benefits and concerns.

The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council hosted the event on Lheidli T’enneh territory, with liquefied natural gas as the main concern but all industry as the underlying theme.

“Non-treaty agreements improve economic certainty and bring benefits more quickly to First Nation communities,” said a statement issued by Rustad’s office. “B.C.’s non-treaty agreements underscore an innovative approach that supports economic growth and job creation - not only for the First Nations involved, but for neighbouring communities.

Strengthening government’s relationships with First Nations

creates benefits for all British Columbians.

“Under the BC Jobs Plan, the B.C. government committed to reach 10 non-treaty agreements with First Nations by 2015. The Province fulfilled this commitment two years early, in January 2013. Non-treaty agreements include: strategic engagement agreements; reconciliation agreements; and forestry and major project revenue-sharing agreements.”

Local MLA Mike Morris, a former RCMP senior officer and trapper, said the relationship had to develop further still, for ultimate success. His riding is home to B.C.’s newest minerals mine, Mount Milligan, which required heavy First Nations input and inclusion to get off the ground. His riding of Prince George-Mackenzie is also home to the Kemess North project which did not get approval thanks to heavy aboriginal protest over environmental values they didn’t wish to lose.

“We can’t go to First Nations as a secondary thought; we have to go to them firstly and directly. They are the key people to engage first,” Morris said. “I think I have pretty

good relationship with the McLeod Lake Band. My trap line runs through Treaty 8 territory. The Lheidli T’enneh folks, although I have spoken with Chief Domo [Dominic Frederick] many times over many years, I don’t know him as well. I am looking forward to making that better if I can. And it speaks to how my responsibility is to all people in my riding, and how I actually represent the broad sector of British Columbia, because these resource issues in our area are so important to the province as a whole.”

Bond said it was well understood in the public and private sectors that aboriginal communities could wind up with unprecedented employment options (although most of it off-reserve) and governmental income (for on-reserve benefits).

“We are also funding successful programs like BladeRunners, a $6 million-per-year award-winning program that helps at-risk youth - the majority of whom are Aboriginal - get good jobs,” Bond said. “Our Labour Market

Sector Solutions program is another mechanism to help First Nations peoples to access skills training opportunities in the province.”

Some examples she cited were the new Workplace Essential Skills: Bootcamp for the Construction Industry program offered through Capilano University, which will provide training to 80 people from First Nations communities so they can find work in run-of-the-river hydro projects in B.C.; the Aboriginal Training for Employment Program ($2.2 million) and the Community-based Delivery Partnership Program ($5 million) that provide job-related skills training, and support services to help Aboriginal people transition to sustainable employment; and very close to home the $1 million partnership with the Pacific Trail Pipelines Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership to train 68 First Nations participants for employment in the mining industry in northern B.C.

the Prince George Citizen

INDUSTRY AND TRADES

REPRESENTING

LOCAL INDUSTRY IN VICTORIA

The four most local MLAs are becoming as familiar to the province as they are here at home. They are some of the most influential government officials for stoking the engines of industry. Rookie MLA Coralee Oakes from Cariboo North is the minister responsible for community, sport and cultural development while Nechako Lakes representative John Rustad is the minister for aboriginal relations and reconciliation.

Those are our two neighbouring MLAs. Right within the city of Prince George we have first-time representative John Morris and veteran cabinet minister Shirley Bond whose portfolio includes jobs, tourism, skills training and labour.

Even without a cabinet position, Morris was in the spotlight this month and one of the most envied MLAs on the provincial map. His riding is home to the first mineral mine to open new in the province in years (Mount Milligan). He is also in the bull’s eye of liquefied natural gas pipeline proposals and Enbridge’s hopes for an oil vein. Many more mines are on the radar in his Prince George-Mackenzie riding, and some preliminary natural gas exploration as well.

“I feel privileged and honoured, but I also feel a big responsibility that all this works,” Morris said. “We are a service centre and we are a crossroads for the highways, the railways, natural gas lines, the electricity infrastructure, so Prince George is well positioned to be the northern capital of B.C. but also the industrial capital of British Columbia.”

The only surprise about Prince George’s current wave of industrial good fortune was how long it took to get there. He said the global economic factors needed to conspire a little, but the array of resource-based opportunities and the unique service functions provided by Prince George have been well known for decades.

It took investment in major infrastructure and market outreach to move the city to its next phase, but here it is on the cusp of breaking the 100,000-resident population barrier within the next five years if even some of the major projects come to pass.

The single greatest fear, other than a hypothetical environmental disaster, is the empty hole in skilled labour. Already, major projects underway in the north have had to slow down their operations because there weren’t enough tradespeople to swing all the scheduled hammers. cont’d on page 14

MLA John Rustad at Natural Resource Forum in January of 2012.

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

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the Prince George Citizen

October 2013

14 cont’d from page 13 Yet there are many tradespeople who can’t get work in the area because their skills are limited to activities not being done here. Scaffolders, for example, have to travel hundreds of kilometers away in search of openings in their profession.

Bridging these gaps is what keeps Bond busy all day and most of the night, since she became minister responsible. Morris called her “feverish” in her pursuit of filling the trades gaps.

“We’re determined to enable British Columbians to get the skill sets they need to capitalize on the tremendous economic opportunities coming our way,” she said. “That includes making sure we have enough qualified apprentices

to meet the demand. Over the next decade there will be more than one million job openings in B.C., and two of every five of these jobs will be in trades or technical occupations. This is an unprecedented opportunity for northern B.C. Government is investing more than ever before in apprenticeship training through the Industry Training Authority, through upgrades to training and technical facilities and through a variety of skill training programs that help people get into skilled trades careers. And we’re seeing the result of that investment. Today there are over 35,000 British Columbians in the trades training system today. That’s double what it was in 2004.”

Morris said he intends to push for maximum benefit for each of the projects that do go ahead. He agreed that on the surface, a liquefied natural gas pipeline may seem like a small help to the local economy. There would be a flurry of jobs in the construction phase, then a few good jobs

INDUSTRY AND TRADES maintaining the infrastructure and the company’s local interests.

But that’s just the opening salvo, he said. With a reliable source of energy flowing beneath our community’s feet, what start-up endeavours could literally tap into that?

“Even though we don’t have well-developed natural gas options right in the region itself, that is the big ticket item for us all,” he said. “There are all kinds of downstream benefits. Could we have a fertilizer plant? Could we have a copper smelter? All kinds of other industrial choices become possible if you have those pipelines coming through.”

He also pointed out that the benefits don’t show up solely in the local employment numbers. Provincial revenues from the transactions involved in natural gas, mining,

forestry, agriculture, etc. all go pay for the teachers and police and medical professionals and roads of the region as well, so getting the most out of each project is good value in a number of ways.

“Over the next 30 years, the LNG [liquefied natural gas] sector alone is expected to generate over 100,000 jobs in communities all across our province - that’s the equivalent of the entire population of Prince George,” Bond said.

“So to answer your question, we are going to meet this demand by strategically investing in people, and partnering with business and industry to make sure B.C.’s communities thrive.”

UNBC TAKES ON INDUSTRY

BY DEGREES

While College of New Caledonia is looked to quickest when the topic of trades training comes up, and to some degree private education companies like O’Brien Training and outside institutions like Northern Lights College, Northwest Community College and the BC Institute of Technology, the university world also has its lens focused on major industry.

UNBC got a clearer view of its role in major industry this past summer when two brand new Master’s Degree programs in engineering were announced for the Prince George facility. It was an acknowledgment from the provincial government that for the north to sustainably participate in the big industry sector, rather than just facilitate resource extraction, the local professions attached to major projects had to be rooted in science. In addition to the muscle used to hew and mine and drill, the north could should - also supply the brainpower.

“Beyond the impact of our graduates, look at the types of research happening here that will have significant impact on industrial operations on the north,” said UNBC spokesman Matt Wood. “Our students and faculty are actively researching a wide range of issues, from climate change and sustainable resource development to energy production, export, and more. These issues, which have implications across the country, are playing out in our backyard.”

The reason UNBC was built in the north by a grassroots outcry for a local degree-granting institution was to keep northern youth in the north. It is the reason UNBC’s design went beyond a central facility to which all students

must come for class, it used the best of the day’s technologies and the best of the day’s regional passions to establish campus connections in Quesnel, Terrace and Fort St. John plus partnerships with those aforementioned community colleges, so students could access their learning even closer to home than Prince George. This kept families together, gave educational opportunities to capable candidates who would not otherwise have pursued higher learning, and gave northern towns their first taste of love.

The message that used to exist was, once high school was finished, young people hooked up with a college or university as a ticket out of town and never came back except for Christmas. The ones left behind were stuck in trades jobs because they didn’t have the grades to make it in a whitecollar profession.

Times have changed. Now, the trades are recognized for the mental gymnastics required and the fulfilling lives they provide. And UNBC gave youth a chance to stay at home, and by golly they did, fostering the realization in small towns across the north that they were desirable a valued by their own people. UNBC also attracted outsiders into the north who added to the validation by choosing to stay.

“UNBC now produces more university graduates annually for the north than all other B.C. universities combined,” said Wood. “So as northern B.C. gets set to embark on a period of sustained economic development and diversification, the firms doing business here will want their employees living in vibrant communities. UNBC’s graduates - the teachers, nurses, engineers, administrators, scientists, entrepreneurs, and leaders - are all helping sustain those communities.”

Even the warm air blowing into UNBC’s buildings in the winter is a wind of change. It comes from the facility’s own bioenergy plant, an industrial-sized piece of technology built not far from the UNBC forestry lab that burns the bits and pieces of trees not used for making wood products. It turns waste - waste from the region’s dominating industrial feature, forests - into energy.

Wood said even that practical application of industry has “helped the university forge partnerships with local industry while also showcasing a model that could be employed in other communities. And the two new Masters degrees we’ll be offering at the Wood Innovation and Design Centre will allow students to pursue research on wood and other forest products related to innovative use of wood as a building material. They’re examples of how UNBC’s programming is evolving to meet the needs of a changing industrial landscape.”

the Prince George Citizen

INDUSTRY AND TRADES MLA Shirley Bond, minister responsible for tourism.

“Over a quarter of tourism businesses are located in rural regions, including Northern BC,” Bond added. “Aboriginal tourism attractions are a growing sector of our tourism industry, especially in the north, and last April, the B.C. government announced that we would provide $1 million to support the growth of Aboriginal Tourism opportunities.”

Some of the ones included in that investment were: Haida Expeditions (Skidegate), Haida House at Tllal (Graham Island, Haida Gwaai), Haida Heritage Centre at Kaay Llnagaay (Skidegate) and ‘Ksan Historical Village and Museum (Hazelton). Not far south of Prince George, between Williams Lake and Quesnel, is the Xat’sull Heritage Village which authentically tells some of the Fraser River’s northern indigenous story.

In the same area, cowboy lore is also a windfall for tourism stakeholders. As the crown of the Cariboo, Prince George is the northernmost point of entry into guest ranch and gold rush country. The base element of tourism in this region is Barkerville Historic Town.

Barkerville is not only an important historical site for British Columbia, it also has a resonance throughout Western Canada and even beyond our borders,” said Bond. “The contribution of the Chinese to the town’s history mean that visitors from China have a real interest in Barkerville`s past. Since Canada was granted ‘Approved Destination Status’ in June 2010 by the Chinese government we have seen an increase in visitors from China. B.C. remains Canada’s most popular province for Chinese tourists and in 2012, tourism from China was up 19.1 per cent - a trend we expect to continue.”

Barkerville has also gone out to meet China on its own turf. A letter of intent was signed in 2011 between Barkerville officials and those of the Guangdong Museum of Overseas Chinese. This year, the plans came to fruition when the photo exhibit ‘Who Am I?’ showcased images of Chinese people who lived and worked in the Barkerville area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during the gold rush.

“This exhibit not only lays the foundation for increased research, collaboration and cultural exchange between the Guangdong Museum and Barkerville, it also sets the stage for greater tourism activity for Barkerville,” Bond said.

“Barkerville’s Chinatown, Chinese cemetery and extensive collection of documents and photographs now comprise the largest collection of Chinese buildings and artifacts in North America. With collections like these and rising tourism numbers generally from China, I think we can expect to see a lot more tourism activity for Barkerville.”

Barkerville, Canada Winter Games, etc. all add pressure to the infrastructure of tourism. Major highway upgrades and bolstering the Prince George Airport are all investments to that end.

“We’re also optimistic that under Destination BC’s new structure, which includes a Tourism Marketing Committee made up of representatives from throughout the province, marketing efforts for all B.C.’s tourism opportunities will be strengthened and better aligned,” said Bond.

Another local MLA, Mike Morris, said he has been out in the region’s backwoods doing his own recreation. Upon his retirement as the region’s top-ranking RCMP officer, he and his wife could have moved anywhere but chose to remain here. He became a trapper, which frequently took him deep into the region’s wilderness.

“We have thousands of kilometres of resource roads that will not always be in use, when the user companies are done with them. What do we do with those? They are perfectly positioned for a resource-based tourism industry, adventure tourism,” he said.

In the meantime, who’s ready to take on PG? There is a list of 365 activities and attractions just waiting for you on the Tourism Prince George website.

ATTRACTING

VISITORS The way the world sees Prince George is about to change. Importantly, said stakeholders involved, the way local residents see Prince George is about to change as well.

The change agent is the 2015 Canada Winter Games.

Other than the Olympics, there is no larger recurring sports event possible for our city – or any other in Canada – to host. Spread over two weeks, and celebrating the part of Canada often hardest to market (snowy, cold weather), it makes Prince George into the nation’s poster-child, the nation’s face for health, fitness, outdoors, athletic and cultural prowess. It also stands to pump anywhere from $70 million to $90 million new dollars into the local economy, plus establish legacy facilities that will attract ongoing sporting events for years to come.

The fact the local bid committee won the competition to play host was already an acknowledgement of the city’s readiness. Now the next step is welcoming Canada and in many ways the world.

In an effort to get our own hearts and minds involved in Prince George’s tourist features, Tourism Prince George launched a new concept in 2013, a challenge and an education for those living here already. Just how many items on the Take On PG list can you get checked off in a year?

How many have you done over and over again? How many have you never even heard of? Take On PG was a call-out to people who thought they knew this place.

According to the campaign’s launch statement, Take On PG aimed to do the following: • Continue to shift current perceptions about Prince George, and paint Prince George in a more diverse and positive light.

• Further develop and reinforce the fairly new brand of where urban and wilderness elements meet.

• Increase local engagement and leverage local brand ambassadors.

• Add value for stakeholders and prove our worth.

• Raise destination awareness.

• Provide an emotional connection with Prince George, and move it from being a functional hub of the North to an emotional heart of the North.

• Make Prince George more human and add depth to our existing brand by showcasing the activities and ambassadors that make Prince George unique and interesting.

• Ensure that content of the campaign will differentiate Prince George and add value to the community.

• Provide opportunities for locals and visitors alike to have fulfilling experiences.

• Engage locals on an ongoing basis to develop content while simultaneously building the brand and perception.

• Ensure the content is shareable and conversational.

It got help from regional activities like the upstart airshows in Quesnel and Vanderhoof, and even the birth of a royal baby by the same name. When the world rushed to meet future king Prince George there was also some introduction to the city that bears the same name.

“Looking ahead one thing is clear: the north will be the economic engine of our province in the coming years, and tourism is going to be a big part of that growth,” said local

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