Surrey, British Columbia
June 4, 2012
Check against delivery
Thank you very much, Gordon. And this is a great venue. I like it a lot. And it's actually great to be here. This is my home province, of course. I grew up here in British Columbia and have lived here all my life, except Ottawa seems to take quite a bit of my time lately. I want to thank Mud Bay Drilling officials for their warm welcome, and for other stakeholders that are here today who support the objectives of our government's plan for responsible resource development.
And I'll take this opportunity to detail our government's many efforts to ensure Canada's prosperity into the future. Our top priority has always been to support jobs and growth and sustain Canada's economy. Since we introduced the Economic Action Plan to respond to the global recession, Canada has recovered and exceeded all of the output and all of the jobs lost during the recession. Since July of 2009, employment has increased by more than 750,000, and is now more than 260,000 above its pre-recession peak, the strongest job growth among G7 countries. This is particularly reassuring for Canadians in the context of continuing uncertainty in the global economy.
Natural resources have been the foundation of Canada's economy, and that remains the case today. Canada's natural resource sectors employ close to 800,000 Canadians. Furthermore, the resource sectors generate billions of dollars' worth of tax royalties and revenues annually to help pay for government programs and services. Our resource strength is set to continue to expand well into the future. We currently estimate that, over the next decade, there's the potential for at least 500 new projects and more than $500 billion investments across the country in the energy and mining sectors alone. These projects will create jobs across Canada and will contribute substantially to our country's economic prosperity. In fact, the numbers continue to climb as new opportunities are identified.
Some people claim the tremendous success of the oil industry has infected Canada with so-called Dutch disease, inflating our dollar, making our exports too expensive, and hurting our manufacturing sector. It's unfortunate that some people would look at one of the healthiest economies in the world and say it's diseased. The theory has been debunked again and again. The fact is an open investment climate is critical to jobs and economic growth for Canada. Market-based investment plays a crucial role in enabling Canada to realize its full economic potential. It allows for the transfer of knowledge, technology and skills to domestic firms and contributes to innovation, productivity and competitiveness.
There have also been suggestions from some quarters that Canada's resource development only helps the west, while hurting the east. This is inaccurate and divisive. Resource development – mining, forest industry, and energy products – is happening across Canada and helping every provincial economy. Here in British Columbia, our rich endowment of natural resources drives the economy. In 2010, the resource sectors contribute 11.2 percent to BC's Gross Domestic Product and supported five and a half percent of the province's jobs. With growth in international demand for even more of British Columbia's resources, these numbers will continue to rise. Between now and 2035, 30 percent of world energy demand is expected to come from China. By 2030, they are expected to be the world's largest oil consumer, and most of that oil will have to be imported.
The potential for Canada to tap into these opportunities is obvious. In just a few short years, Canada has become China's number one source for lumber, increasing by over 60 percent last year alone. In 2012, this trend is continuing. Canada supplied nearly one and a half million cubic metres of softwood lumber to China in the first quarter, accounting for 47 percent of Chinese softwood lumber imports. And British Columbia is a major part of Canada's success in mining and mineral exploration. The province's value of mineral production in 2011 was $8.6 billion. In addition, BC will achieve a record of over 800 million in exploration expenditures in 2012.
Thompson Creek's Mount Milligan gold copper mine is currently under development, with a construction workforce of close to 750 on site last month, and a planned capital investment of approximately one billion. On the horizon are several more, such as Tek's Galore Creek project in north-western British Columbia, with a projected capital investment of over five billion and construction employment of 900 jobs, with 500 people during production. BC also has its own energy success story, shale gas. Conservative estimates – that's not the party; that's conservative – are that this province has at least a hundred trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. Liquefied natural gas is becoming a significant industry. Three new LNG terminals are now either proposed or being built. That's good news for BC and its capacity to supply growing global markets. Shell Canada recently announced its LNG Canada project in Kitimat, which will be the largest Canadian LNG project yet.
Now, here in Surrey, there are good, skilled jobs in innovative companies serving the resource sector. For example, Mud Bay Drilling has built a strong reputation with its clients in the natural resources industry for its expertise in environmental drilling and in-situ testing.
Resource development is equally important to communities all across Canada. In Alberta, the oil sands are creating benefits across Canada, including Ontario's manufacturing sector. In Saskatchewan, oil, potash and uranium continue to develop, with new markets eager for their resources. Manitoba is expanding hydro power installations to provide clean and cheap energy. Ontario is looking at the development of the Ring of Fire, an area in the province's north that has billions of dollars' worth of potential mineral wealth. Quebec, which has long been a mining and energy giant, is moving forward with its Plan Nord, which will help unlock the economic potential of its vast northern regions and provide tremendous benefits to the people of Quebec. New Brunswick has large forest resources, Nova Scotia has offshore gas development, PEI is investing in renewable energy, and of course Newfoundland and Labrador has benefited greatly from its offshore oil fields. Last but not least, the resources in Canada's north in its territories are largely untapped. The extent of this resource wealth is not fully understood, but its potential is enormous.
Of course this is only part of the story. The resource sector does not operate in a vacuum. Mines don't occur out of thin air. They require exploration, development, construction, huge capital investments, materials, machinery. They require workers in every sector of the Canadian economy, especially our manufacturing sector. Jayson Myers, the President and CEO of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, strongly supports resource development precisely because it helps our country's manufacturing sector. And I can quote Jayson:
In total, we estimate that energy and resource companies invested more than $85 billion in major capital projects in 2011, and we think those investments will double over the next three years. Those investments will drive new business for Canadian manufacturers in a variety of sectors, ranging from equipment, structural steel and metal fabricating to construction materials and parts suppliers. They will provide opportunities for engineering and construction companies, processing, and environmental technology companies, and services ranging from accommodation, food, environmental and resource services through to land management, trucking, and distribution as well.
This type of investment will be across Canada, helping all sectors of the Canadian economy. That's why it's so important to ensure that Canada has the right conditions in place to attract global investment in our provinces and territories. Canada must compete with other resource-rich countries around the world for these job-creating investment dollars. And that is the fundamental reason why our government is committed to modernizing Canada's regulatory system through our Plan for Responsible Resource Development. We need to ensure timely, efficient and effective project reviews. This will keep us competitive with other resource-producing nations. We need a system that promotes business confidence and attracts investment, while strengthening our world-class environmental standards.
So here's what this new legislation will achieve. First, it will make project reviews more predictable and timely. Second, it will reduce duplication of project reviews. Third, this bill will strengthen environmental protection. And fourth, it will enhance consultations with aboriginal peoples. To streamline and modernize our outdated regulatory system, we will take a whole-of-government approach. We want to put in place a new system of one project, one review that operates within a clearly defined time period. Canadians understand that we do not have to choose between economic development and the environment. It is not an either/or proposition. A new poll conducted by Ipsos Reid shows two-thirds of Canadians believe it's possible to develop our economy while respecting the environment.
The fact is our new plan will strengthen environmental safeguards, including tanker and pipeline safety, and, for the first time, it will provide enforcement of environmental assessment conditions under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. It will also strengthen pipeline inspections and introduce tough, new monetary penalties for violations of National Energy Board conditions on new pipeline proposals - or projects. So our changes make sense from both an economic and an environmental perspective.
Canadians have a wonderful, new opportunity before us. The time to act is now. We have to give ourself every chance to compete for job- creating investment dollars and to expand into the new, fast-growing markets in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere. We also know it is absolutely necessary that we develop our natural resources in a responsible way. Responsible resource development achieves the balance needed. We will unleash the potential of our resource sector to create jobs across Canada, while also ensuring strong environmental protection. This is what Canadians expect, and it's what our plan delivers. Thank you very much.
