Today I had the distinct honour of providing opening remarks for the Social Innovation in Mineral Exploration Panel at the Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) 2019 Roundup conference in Vancouver.

I took the opportunity to outline a BC Green vision for innovation in the mining sector. Below I reproduce the text of my speaking notes. I’ll post a video of my presentation if I can find one online. I explored the issue of social innovation more thoroughly during my oral presentation.

Text of Opening Remarks

Thank you very much for the kind introduction and for inviting me to speak with you all today.

I must admit that I am very pleased to have the opportunity to make remarks before the panel on innovation and mining. There are few conversations that I think are more interesting in our province right now than how our traditional resource sectors can harness technology and innovation and develop new economic opportunities.

Before I get to that though, I should also let you know that mining is actually near and dear to my heart. As many will know, I am a faculty member on leave from the School of Earth & Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria — a climate/paleoclimate scientist surrounded by geologists!

I’ve also had a long standing interest in mining stock investing (which, sadly, I’ve had to take a break from since getting elected).

But back to what I am here today to talk to you all about – the opportunity we have to harness innovation in our natural resource sectors – and specifically mining – to build low carbon economic opportunities for communities across our province.

I truly believe that mining is a bedrock industry that sustained communities across our province for many decades. Pun intended.

In my almost 6 years as an MLA I have had the opportunity to visit a number of different mining operations across our province and I’ve seen first hand just how important these projects are to the communities around them.

From the large Teck metallurgical coal mines in the Elk Valley to the Small Eagle graphite play near Nelson; from the Imperial Metals Mt. Polly Mine to Teck’s Highland Valley Copper, the pride that employees and employers take in BC’s rich mining history is evident to me.

With over 30,000 workers directly employed by the sector, and an estimated $9.9 billion contributed to BC’s economy, mining’s importance to our economy today is undisputed.

What I think is less known, but perhaps is even more important, is just how much our mining industry has to contribute to the creation of a low carbon economy.

We are at the start of a major economic shift – one that is taking place right across the world.

Slowly but surely, jurisdictions are recognizing that sustainable economic prosperity must go hand in hand with reducing our carbon pollution.

It’s critical that this isn’t approached as an environmental mission – but as an opportunity to create new, sustainable economic opportunities right across our province even as we reduce our climate pollution.

To seize this opportunity we must be willing to embrace innovation – both in terms of the technologies we use to make our operations more efficient, and economically viable, and in terms of the transition to low carbon technologies.

Let’s look at technology first.

Bryan Cox, the President and CEO of he Mining Association of BC put it very articulately in the Price Waterhouse Cooper 2017 industry update when he said:

“The way I see it, mining is a tech industry and when both sectors grow, the entire province benefits.”

In my opinion, this is exactly the way to view the opportunity technology and innovation provides the resource sector. It is not as some separate force working from the outside – it must be ingrained in what we do.

I think there is a tendency to think of the tech sector as a “south-west” BC industry – one with little direct benefit to other regions of the province.

Certainly, it’s true that there has been a significant expansion in “tech industry” in Vancouver and Victoria. But if you ask anyone involved in this industry, they will tell you exactly what Mr. Cox so succinctly put.

We must view all our industries – especially our long standing resource industries as “tech industries”.

So what does this look like in practice? Let’s talk about one of my favourite companies: MineSense.

The future of economic prosperity in BC lies in harnessing our innate potential for innovation and bringing new, more efficient technologies to bear in the resource sector.

MineSense’s real-time, sensor-based ore sorting technologies embody BC innovation at its finest and provide a perfect example of what’s needed for BC to seize new opportunities from innovation.

BC will never compete in digging dirt out of the ground with jurisdictions that don’t internalize the same social and environmental externalities that we value.

We will excel through being smarter, more efficient, & cleaner.

This means that we not only export the dirt, but we also export the knowledge, technology, and value-added products associated with resource extraction.

And that’s where companies like Minesense come in.

But there is also a second critical opportunity to harness innovation in the mining sector – and that is by embracing the goals set out in Clean BC – British Columbia’s economic strategy to address climate change.

I entered politics back in 2013 to ensure that BC’s strategy to address climate change was put back on track. This wasn’t about simply putting in place new environmental policies.

CleanBC should not be viewed only as a climate plan – it’s an economic vision focused on innovation & opportunities. And B.C. has all the strategic advantages needed to seize these low-carbon economic opportunities.

By tackling the challenges presented by climate change, with carefully designed policies, B.C.’s economy can grow in new ways. CleanBC offers a pathway for B.C. to be on the cutting edge of the low-carbon economy.

For the mining sector I believe that there are two main areas of opportunity: First by embracing the electrification of our mining operations and shifting to lower pollution fuels, and second, by ensuring BC mines – and the minerals and metals we mine for – are directly linked to the growing demand for clean technologies.

The business case for electrification is becoming ever more convincing – both as a driver of cost reduction and efficiency, as well as ensuring companies have the social license to operate.

Seizing the opportunities of electrification and a fuel shift will require close coordination between industry and government. Clean BC starts this process with new incentive programs and policy changes that support a transition.

For example, these programs include a new heavy-duty vehicle incentive program that will provide funding to promote the purchase of energy efficient equipment for large transport trucks.

Our goal is to have the cleanest industry in the world – one that leverages our abundant renewable electricity in their industrial operations.

These changes won’t happen overnight – and no one seriously would expect them to. But we must be committed to embracing new innovations when they come along. And government must do its part to ensure that companies who are serious about electrification have access to the reliable electricity they will count on.

There is one other area where I believe government and industry must work together to harness the power of innovation and technology.

We must ensure that the standards that regulate our mining industry are kept up to date, and that in addition to the economic benefits mining provides our province, its social and environmental impacts are being accounted for.

The Mt. Polley tailings pond breach hurt public confidence in government and industry’s ability to adequately protect the natural environment during mining operations. Public trust and confidence is a critical component of a successful mining industry.

The way to build public trust is clear – we must ensure that our operations leverage the best available technology and the best available practices. Innovation cannot be a buzz-word we use – and this is something government is particularly guilty of. Innovation is more than just the latest technology. It is a way of operating where we are committed to evidence based decision-making and solving problems before they arise.

Once again, this is something the government and industry must work together on.

So how do we put this altogether? How do we embody a way of operating that is committed to innovation?

For me, there has been one piece in particular that has been missing from most governments approaches when it comes to harnessing innovation and really developing a new economic road map for our province.

What’s missing has been “vision”.

We won’t be able to harness the true economic potential of innovation by accident.

We won’t be able to meet our climate targets and develop new economic opportunities by accident.

We must know what future we want to build and drive towards.

This is what the BC Greens started with our initial innovation policies.

The first piece was the Emerging Economy Task Force.

We proposed the Emerging Economy Task Force to enable government to adapt and respond to changes on the horizon. We need to modernize government so that it is considerably more responsive to technological innovation.

The role of the Emerging Economy Task Force is to look to the future, identify emerging trends and advise government on how to maintain our competitiveness and achieve prosperity amidst these changes.

The second item from our platform that we integrated into our agreement with the NDP is the Innovation Commission (now Innovate BC) as well as the appointment of an Innovation Commissioner.

The innovation commissioner was proposed to be an advocate and ambassador on behalf of the B.C. technology sector in Ottawa and abroad, to enable B.C. companies to more easily tap into existing federal programs and build key strategic relationships.

By getting these two pieces in place, we have started to change the conversation about innovation policy in government.

We are now at an all-important next step.

In the coming months, the BC Greens want to have a deliberate conversation with stakeholders across British Columbia about innovation, and how government and industry can work together to build new economic opportunities.

We want to understand the barriers that you think need to be removed, and the opportunities you think we can seize.

With the budget in the Spring I expect to see Clean BC fully funded and start to roll out. This will provide a critical opportunity for a conversation about BC Hydro’s role in supporting the electrification of industry, and innovation in general.

The future I imagine is one where our natural resource sector is globally known as the cleanest and most innovative in the world.

I want to be a jurisdiction where companies try out cutting edge technologies to enhance the efficiency of our operations.

I want us to be ever more connected to the global supply chain for minerals needed to construct the solar panels and wind turbines we use to power our economy and the electric vehicles we use to navigate our roads.

I want to see the growth of B.C.’s technology sector as an asset that facilitates greater innovation through technology usage and partnerships with other economic sectors.

This is my vision. It’s not easy – but I think BC is up to the challenge.

Thank you for your time.