The brains behind Resource Works would like to contribute some of their knowledge and expertise to the district’s Official Community Plan review and economic development strategy.
Stewart Muir, director of the not-for-profit think tank Resource Works Society, presented to Squamish council on March 3.
“We are one of the few groups that takes a triple-bottom-line approach by valuing social, environmental and economic issues together,” Muir told The Squamish Chief after the presentation.
“So we would like to say to district and council where you think a group of our kind can be helpful, please be aware that we are here and ready to contribute.”
At the council meeting Muir also introduced a newly released Resource Works report, A Citizen’s Guide to LNG: Sea to Sky Country Edition.
In the report, among other things, the overall economic benefits of the proposed Woodfibre LNG project are touted. Resource Works was originally funded by the Business Council of British Columbia, said Muir, who has close ties to the provincial government.
The overall estimated tax revenue for all three levels of government during the construction phase of the project is projected to be $83.7 million, and $86.5 million per year of operation, according to the report.
Estimated spending during the construction phase of the FortisBC Eagle Mountain to Woodfibre Gas Pipeline from 2014 to 2017 will be $520 million, the report states.
The liquefied natural gas projects will create jobs, Muir said.
“To establish those facilities money needs to be spent on construction and on establishing the services around that,” he said. “And once those are built it is also clear people will be needed to operate and maintain them.”
According to the report, 100 Woodfibre LNG employees could have annual spending power of $10 million in the community.
Muir said that Resource Works research found that the job creation spinoff in the resource industry is very high. “One job in resources creates another job,” he said. “Whereas if you take some areas like high tech or tourism – these are good jobs – but it takes five such jobs to create one other job.”
He also said research shows resource industry jobs are a pathway for people who are disadvantaged in society to get a foot on the economic ladder.
“It is the best way we have in Western Canada for people to advance,” he said.
“We have found for women in the Lower Mainland who see the potential for the high-paying jobs in areas like engineering, in marketing and in sales – especially with resources – that is a rallying point for them.”
Muir's family connection to Premier Christy Clark's government has been questioned by Squamish people on social media and mentioned by national journalists online.
His estranged spouse is Athana Mentzelopoulos, deputy minister to the BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat and closely connected to Clark. Muir was incredulous that his personal life could be raised as possibly having an influence on the pro-LNG report. “On International Women’s Day, I am amazed to learn that in Squamish this is an issue,” he said when asked about the connection.
Muir said Mentzelopoulos’s 22-year career as a federal and provincial civil servant does not impact his work or the work of Resource Works. He and Mentzelopoulos have an eight-year-old son. While the pair are separated, they did not make their split public to protect their son, he said.
For more information or to read the report, go to Resourceworks.com.
