Port Coquitlam Mayor says BC giving too much power to natural resource naysayers

Brad West is sick and tired of the Lower Mainland bias in BC.

The Port Coquitlam Mayor gained a lot of fans in Prince George yesterday (Wednesday) with his unwillingness to sugar coat his candid thoughts and opinions during the first ever Mayor’s panel at the BC Natural Resources Forum from the Conference and Civic Centre.

West, who was first elected as Port Coquitlam’s mayor in 2018 believes the province often works against each other at many different levels, including natural resources.

“I think we need to better understand how closely connected our futures are as a people. What happens in Prince George, what happens throughout the north and in every corner of the province matters to everyone who lives and works in places like Metro Vancouver. Even if the connection isn’t obvious, it is there – it is there when you must take your child to a hospital because they need care, it’s there when your kids go to school to get a good education.”

“When you go on the roads to travel a bridge that is important infrastructure – all of that comes from the economic activity that comes from the rest of the province. We must expand our understanding of the natural resource industry beyond just the direct employment that occurs – we need to understand that it is also supporting many of the needs that we have as a province.”

West noted BC is one of the most heavily regulated places in the entire world when it comes to any potential natural resource projects with an abundance of red tape attached to it.

He believes the current system in pushing through many resource-rich projects is set up to fail due to certain pockets of the population who he calls “Do Nothing” people.

“It is obvious there are people in certain groups in the province who if they had their way, all industry activity would stop. That is their opinion, and they are allowed to have their opinion, but it doesn’t mean that we need to establish our process to make it as easy as possible to delay important and good things from happening. I related it to a re-zoning application in Port Coquitlam, we have a public hearing, anyone is allowed to come forward and make their opinions known but once that public hearing is done, we make a decision.”

“We don’t carry on without an end giving people multiple opportunities to stop things from happening. It strikes me that when it comes to important natural resource projects, we just provide endless process and opportunities for those who have a very clear agenda of opposing those projects no matter how environmentally sensitive they are and how great of a partnership there is with Indigenous communities.”

“We shouldn’t be allowing individuals or groups like this to be driving the bus,” lamented West.

West’s appearance at the Natural Resources Forum is a welcomed sight.

Over the 22-year history of the event, participation from Mayors and municipal figures in the Metro Vancouver area has been sparse to say the least.

West believes local governments have no business making regulatory decisions that are outside their mandate and responsibility, citing Metro Vancouver municipalities banning natural gas as a prime example.

“They are throwing out these pontifications without having any connection to reality. I think local governments have enough on their plate that they can stick to their responsibilities and the things they have but government should not be allowing them to supersede provincial regulations that are already very ambitious including this area.”

When asked why it was crucial for West to make the trek to BC’s northern capital, his response was quite simple.

“I wanted to be here because what happens here matters to my community. It matters to the health and livelihood of many of my residents, so I thought it was important to come here and learn more from workers and industry leaders and also to let them know although I am sure it feels at times nobody is listening, there are many of us in Metro Vancouver who do get it.”

The Port Coquitlam civic leader is viewed as one of the rising stars of BC’s political landscape. Last spring, he was asked by business leaders to lead a BC United-Conservative Party merger.

Despite receiving a +27-approval rating, West declined the offer and the rest as they say is history.

West was joined on the panel by fellow mayors Simon Yu (Prince George), Lilia Hansen (Fort St. John) and Herb Pond (Prince Rupert).

The BC Natural Resources Forum wraps up at 5pm today (Thursday).