Two Pillars Globally Appreciated: Our Resources and Our Landscape. We Can Make Both Work – Resource Works

A longtime Calgary energy writer on why B.C.’s environmental beauty and its resource wealth don’t have to be at odds.

By Terry Etam

By Resource Works
More News and Views From Resource Works Here

Greetings from the east. But still from the west.

For over a decade, I’ve been writing about the energy sector, primarily Canada’s energy sector, and right from the heart of it in Calgary. That decade has aged me thirty years, and tested the mettle of the entire industry.

Due to a series of developments that we are all quite familiar with, the hydrocarbon sector became a lightning rod for, well, pretty much all that was wrong in the world. That can happen when the industry’s output is deemed to be catastrophic to humanity, and few people are willing to map the benefits. The whole conversation blew up into, what felt like, guerilla warfare. Telling people in downtown Toronto or Vancouver what one did for a living, if in the energy sector, felt like challenging someone to a duel. It was most unfortunate, not to mention painful for participants, who by and large viewed their industry as they always had: an imperfect beast that accomplished the challenging task of providing fuel to the world.

The world has changed, largely due to certain, hmm, external influences that can remain nameless for sake of civility. I have far, far better things to do than discuss politics, when there are so many other important things to ponder, particularly as the world seems to awaken from sort of slumber and begins to show very deep care about where everything comes from.

Despite the challenges, it has been rewarding to chronicle the energy sector for so long, and it is a pleasure to think about resource development in a different way, here at Resource Works. Expanding horizons is a good thing. The outsider’s view comes naturally; I’m a native of Saskatchewan that prefers to spend time on the east coast, that lives and works in Alberta, and that reveres B.C.’s specialness via many, many visits. Time invested in other parts of the country pays strong dividends.

Different perspectives, shared goals

Alberta, for example, is somewhat unique, obviously, and living there for decades dramatically changed my understanding. Things always look different from the inside. It is a magnet for entrepreneurial types, drawing them from across the country and around the world. People come here to flex entrepreneurial muscles in an environment that encourages them, that has that business ‘can-do’ attitude towards developing what it has to the best of its very capable abilities, that tends to want to see government involvement kept to a minimum.

British Columbia has many overlapping qualities, but seems to be, at risk of oversimplification, a place worth protecting, first and foremost. The province’s natural beauty from corner to corner is stunning (as are many parts of Canada, including the beloved prairies, but, come on, have to be realistic here).

Tonally speaking, British Columbia”s view of resource development is wrapped in the undeniable fact that the province is one of the most beautiful and ecologically important places on earth, that also happens to hold vast quantities of the elements the world desperately needs. It’s a first-rate conundrum, possessing two aspects that the world values at the very top of the scale. So the great big question: How do you extract one value without destroying the other?

While there are differences with Alberta, both physically and at least somewhat culturally, we are all kind of in it together when it comes to resource extraction. A rainforest valley in B.C. might be more of a tourist draw than the bald-ass prairie, but each is an ecosystem that has value ecologically, and each may become involved in one way or another in resource extraction.

Building national prosperity together

Furthermore, our standard of living is a function of us working together. Productive assets in the nation’s interior combined with world-class ports to access global markets is a formidable combination and one that can raise our national standard of living in a meaningful way.

In some ways, it is the job of politics or mass media entertainment to push regions apart, to magnify the differences, to find friction by which to attract votes or eyeballs. That mad vortex sucks us in instantly, social media feeds that careen out of control no matter how carefully you prune them.

There are other ways to view the world. We will never all see eye to eye, and that is ok. Good, in fact. Some of you will be fantastic entrepreneurs, who see growth and potential everywhere. Other people are drawn to the humanity of it all, the nurses, the caregivers, the people whose magnet is oriented only towards people.

Our way of living works because we have them all. Not only do we have them all, but they pull strongest towards their own North Star. And it all works, if developers and doctors do their thing to the best of their ability.

Disparate cultures that exist in different jurisdictions are no different. We need it all. Canada has it all. We just need to find pathways to make it happen, and not be knocked into the gutter by bad forces. Both positive and negative energy spiral out.

Share This:

---

More News Articles