Resource Works

05/29/2026

A quarter of the world lives in energy poverty.

Some entire countries use less electricity in a year than California uses to heat its hot tubs.

In the latest episode of Dr. David Detomasi, author of Profits and Power: Navigating the Politics and Geopolitics of Oil joins host Stewart Muir for a conversation about energy, narrative, and national purpose at a moment when Canada’s global role is being rewritten in real time.

They discuss:
• Why oil is a political instrument, not just a commodity
• The reality of global energy poverty — and why two billion people still lack reliable power
• What it actually means to be an “energy superpower,” and why the term has eluded Canada for 20 years
• The trade-offs of energy transition and the false either/or of carbon vs. renewables
• How Canadian LNG and natural gas can influence emissions in China, India, and Southeast Asia
• Trans Mountain, Bill C-69, and the lessons of getting big projects built
• Shifting public opinion, polling cycles, and the need for durable reasons to build
• What young people misunderstand about how the energy system actually works

🎧 Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.

05/28/2026

“We depend directly or indirectly on the resource sector.” 

Kelowna MLA —the official critic for jobs, economic development, innovation and AI—says weak small business confidence, sluggish job growth and young people leaving for other provinces aren’t just economic symptoms. They’re a signal that the province has lost its sense of direction.

His argument: resource industries and tech innovation aren’t rivals. Combining them is exactly how BC creates the stable, high-skilled jobs younger workers need, especially as AI starts displacing entry-level tech roles.

“We need to get our mojo back.” The path forward starts with faster approvals, clearer rules, and a culture that rewards building things.

resourceworks.com/getting-our-mojo-back

05/27/2026

"Ladies and gentlemen, it’s clear: Canada and British Columbia are open for business."

When Germany sent officials halfway across the world to sign a 20-year natural gas agreement with B.C.'s Ksi Lisims LNG, they proved one thing: the world desperately needs Canadian energy.

Powered by BC Hydro, this massive new facility will generate $15 billion for the Canadian economy and operate with 94% lower emissions than the global average, setting a new worldwide standard for Indigenous partnership and cleaner growth.

The demand for reliable energy is now so high that even Quebec is considering launching its own LNG export terminal.

Read the full story on why the world is paying a premium for Canadian energy:

Why LNG offtake agreement with Germany is a big deal

05/27/2026

Skeena MLA Claire Rattée knows firsthand what happens when a community loses its industrial backbone.

From her time as a small business owner in Kitimat to her role in the legislature, she has seen how shifting rules and permitting delays can stall local economies and drive up property taxes for families.

Across her riding, Indigenous nations are advancing geothermal, biomass, forestry and LNG projects. Municipalities are looking to diversify. What they all want is the same thing: clear rules and faster approvals.

Read more: https://resourceworks.com/nobody-knows-exactly-what-rules-theyre-playing-by-a-northwestern-b-c-mla-on-why-investment-is-stalling/

05/25/2026

"I think 2026 is going to be one of those years where we see big change."

In northern B.C., geography and industry demand a different approach to education. College of New Caledonia President Cindy Heitman is leading the charge to break down barriers and meet students exactly where they are.

By partnering directly with Northern Health to send simple QR-code postcards to households across the region, local colleges saw up to a 45 per cent spike in healthcare enrollment. And by actively training local residents to work as medical staff in remote resource camps, CNC is helping ensure that the well-paying jobs created by major projects stay right in the community.

Read more: https://resourceworks.com/learning-the-north/

05/22/2026

"We don't want to hear what people are against, we want to hear what they're for."

Prime Minister Carney said that to 700 Vancouver business leaders yesterday at Greater Vancouver Board of Trade—just before a one-on-one meeting with Premier Eby.

One-third of the 22 projects on Canada's Major Projects Office list are in BC. Carney's message was clear: Team Canada is moving forward with or without foot-draggers.

But there's an elephant in the room. BC's DRIPA legislation has 98% of BC business council members "very concerned" — and when asked directly, Carney largely sidestepped it.

Is BC ready to be a team player? Or is DRIPA going to be the thing that sends a trillion dollars of nation-building investment somewhere else?

Mark Carney warns against footdragging in nation building

05/20/2026

The forestry downturn has sent workers across northern BC moving from town to town, chasing stability that keeps disappearing.

Stellat'en First Nation, between Vanderhoof and Burns Lake, has largely avoided the worst of it by planning ahead.

Elected Chief Robert Michell, drawing on decades of forestry experience, has accepted something most communities are still grappling with: the forest needs about 20 years to regenerate to commercial viability.

While the community waits for those younger stands to mature, they are actively training their workforce for the future, pivoting into wind energy and forming powerful collective partnerships with neighbouring Nations.

Indigenous communities are moving from the margins to the centre of BC's economic activity. Stellat'en is already building that future.
"We’re not the enemy. We want to be a participant and we want to be a partner."

Read more: https://resourceworks.com/looking-beyond-the-trees/

05/20/2026

The average mining job in BC pays $130,000.

So when BC's Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals Jagrup Brar says “"We are blessed to have an abundance of critical minerals in B.C." that’s one of the reasons why.

There’s also nearly a dozen critical mineral projects worth $48 billion are already in the pipeline, ready to create close to 10,000 of those jobs.

BC can produce roughly half the minerals on Canada's critical list. The province leads the country in copper production and is Canada's only producer of molybdenum.

As global demand for critical minerals grows, BC is sitting on exactly what the world needs.

Jagrup Brar points to jobs, critical minerals and faster approvals as keys to economic resilience