ICBA President Visits PG, Talks Resource Development
Prince George, B.C. – Getting projects to yes.
That was the theme of an interview with Philip Hochstein, president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, (ICBA) during his recent visit to Prince George.
The ICBA was initially established in 1975 to help non-union, small contractors gain the right to bid on projects.
From left, ICBA President Philip Hochstein, ICBA Senior Vice-President Gord Stewart and ICBA Vice-President, Regional Initiatives, Mike Davis – photo 250News
But now that they’ve accomplished that goal long ago, they’ve changed their focus to lobbying to help get resource development projects approved.
In fact he said the importance of natural resource extraction is what led them to open up their office in Prince George last January.
“We’re trying to connect better with our members up here and the industry up here. There seems to be lots of opportunities and we want to be in a position to help our members to take advantage of that opportunity.”
An example of that would be the ICBA’s role in helping organize last month’s pro LNG trucker rally in Terrace, an idea that was seized upon and led to other rallies in Fort St. John and Fort Nelson.
“Well it (the rallies) just shows you how important those projects are to British Columbians, especially up here,” said Hochstein. ” I think when you live down on the coast you don’t appreciate that the resources up here are what generates the wealth down there.”
On that note, the Trudeau government’s decision to suspend its decision by three months on the Pacific NorthWest LNG proposal near Prince Rupert wasn’t exactly music to his ears or his members.
“Look, we were very disappointed at that. You know there’s many ways for the federal government to say no, sort of rag the puck forever is another way,” said Hochstein.
“So there’s a concern about that. But hopefully and frankly I think it’s a bit of a bellwether moment for the Trudeau government. Either he’s on the side of economic development or he’s more towards the environment than jobs.”
That’s not to say he or his members aren’t concerned about the environment.
“We did a poll in November last year and 84% of the people believe we have responsible, economic development in B.C. So I think we’re just giving voice to those people and look, we have one of the most stringent regulatory environments.
“If we can’t get it right in terms of the environment and the economy of British Columbia, I don’t know where in the world you can.”
Comments
“I think when you live down on the coast you don’t appreciate that the resources up here are what generates the wealth down there”
We already know that here. He needs to explain that to those that “live down on the coast”.
“I think when you live down on the coast you don’t appreciate that the resources up here are what generates the wealth down there”
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Of course, there are also stats which suggest that this premise is incorrect:
htt p://credbc.ca/role-energy-sector-bcs-economy/
Good to have the support of the ICBA on projects through the north. These boys know what make for a prosperous BC!Thanks!
Two small ICBA funding events; one for CNC and the other for SD57 hit the local news over the past couple of weeks, and BINGO now they bring in the President to make the big Pro-LNG and Pro-Mining pitch… nothing wrong with that.
However, their point of view that opposition to Mining and LNG is hurting BC’s economy and jobs is just plain one-sidedly wrong. From their website about the survey they had NRG Research Group conduct, they state the following; “B.C. is earning an international reputation as a difficult place to do business. Pipelines and mining developments are just some of the projects being stalled by a vocal minority in B.C.”
No, LNG is being stalled by extremely low LNG prices world-wide, which is why one LNG company has shelved its’ plans and Petronas has postponed making a decision about proceeding with its LNG plans. With respect to mining, did environmental protestors shut down molly mine operations at Endako? NO, low commodity prices did that, and it is low commodity prices that are currently keeping companies from proceeding with their plans to mine in BC. Yet when you go to ICBA’s website all the blame is given to a “vocal minority” for stalling business in BC.
There are certain things the Christy Clark government cannot change or influence, one of those is world-wide LNG and mineral prices, so in my opinion ICBA should not be throwing all of the blame for reluctant investment by Industry at the feet of a “vocal minority” (environmentalists), or pointing its finger of LNG blame at the Federal Government.
ht tp://icba.ca/2015/12/21/silent-majority-supports-responsible-development-in-b-c/
Lets get it clear, JGalt. That ‘vocal minority’ are responsible for not only stalling major resource development projects, but most smaller scale ones as well. It is THEY who incessantly demand to have more rights over what you’ll do on your property than you have yourself. And just what gives THEM this right? It’s bad enough that THEY have badgered governments to enact inane legislation that adds enormous costs to trying to do anything, but even when the few outfits left that are big enough or crazy enough to still want to do something are in complete compliance with the laws as they exist, THEY trip all over themselves trying to get new rules in place that no one could ever comply with. And then they whine about there being ‘no jobs’, and wonder why no one here wants to ‘invest’, only to sell out to some foreign outfit, if they’re lucky enough to find one.
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