Whereas many communities across British Columbia are directly dependent on natural resource industries like fishing, agriculture, forestry, mineral exploration and mining, and natural gas to provide significant economic opportunities through employment, taxation, and peripheral economic activity; And whereas each job in the natural resource sectors adds more to the provincial economy than any other sector; And whereas all levels of government must balance policy and legislation that impact resource-based industries with climate and sustainability goals; And whereas communities required to plan for their future growth, or decline, cannot do so without clear understanding of the economic impacts of provincial policy: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the provincial government to: - ensure that all significant land based, and natural resource related legislation includes a publicly available economic impacts brief to identify the likely impact on jobs and economic development; and - share an appropriate portion of revenue and benefits of development through funding unencumbered by project-specific granting streams to affected local governments to maintain and grow community infrastructure and services.
Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs Ministry of Finance The Province of British Columbia recognizes that resource industries are a key part of BCs economy and jobs generated by these industries are critically important to many communities. Implementing an additional requirement for the province to release a stand-alone public-facing economic analysis prior to the introduction of legislation respecting the land base or resource industries would run counter to the provinces efforts to speed up and streamline resource development decisions to attract investment, create jobs, and strengthen the provinces economy. Economic analysis is deeply embedded in provincial policy development, resource allocation, and decision-making processes, including the legislative process. Safeguards built into the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act allow the province to conduct thorough analyses using a wide range of sources, including confidential information provided by businesses, individuals, and other governments, while protecting the interests of these third parties. Materials outlining economic considerations for decision-makers are currently available to the public, subject to consideration of harms, through Freedom of Information requests. The Province of British Columbia appreciates the role that local governments have in enabling the development of natural resources in the province. In response to the development both planned and occurring the Province provided local governments in the northwest region of the province 250 million over five years through the Northwest BC Regional Funding Agreement. The funds are for locally determined capital projects needed to build essential community and social infrastructure that supports responsible resource development. This assists in addressing the need for renewed and new infrastructure and services that attract and retain workers in the resource industries and other businesses in the Northwest. The Province has other grant programs to support local governments with funds for operations and infrastructure. These include the Small Communities Grant, the Regional District Basic Grant, Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing and the Local Government Climate Action Program. These programs transfer over 130 million from the province to local governments each year.