Resolutions Search
Public Geoscience to Inform Decisions and ‘Build Back Better’
Status
Endorsed by the NCLGA Membership | Endorsed by the NCLGA Membership - Amended & Endorsed by the UBCM Membership
WHEREAS BC municipalities wish to make decisions about ‘building back better’ in a smart, sustainable way that creates jobs and achieves net-zero emissions,
AND WHEREAS Geoscience BC generates independent, relevant, public earth science research and data about British Columbia’s minerals, energy and water resources:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NCLGA and the UBCM request that the Province of British Columbia work with Geoscience BC and the Government of Canada to continue funding for Geoscience BC to undertake critical earth science research that helps achieve net-zero emission targets, builds partnerships, creates jobs and attracts investment by:
- Investing $5 million annually in Geoscience BC; and
- Assisting Geoscience BC to establish a sustainable long-term funding model.
Actions
Meeting held December 1, 2022 with NCLGA Executive, Hon. Minister George Heyman, SMA Danielle Monroe, Bob McDonald (ENV-Director), Nat Gosman (EMLI Executive Director), Katherine Muncaster (EMLI – Director), Adrian Hickin (EMLI – Executive Director/Chief Geologist), Darius Low, Ministry of Forests
During discussion on Resolution L8, the following comments were offered:
- We are currently evaluating the role of GSBC going forward with more focus on clean energy and environmental geoscience that would support the CleanBC mandate. The majority of provincial funding has focused on mineral exploration. Over recent years we have been doing project-specific funding, including a project on carbon capture and storage in northeastern BC. That project is near completion. We are evaluating what that will look like in the future.
- GSBC is a non-government agency and within the provincial government, geosciences is conducted in different parts of different ministries. On the mineral side, we have the BC Geological Survey which is responsible for mineral geoscience. The oil and gas division has some geoscience groups as does the Ministry of Environment. It is spread around within government. GSBC is like the “icing on the cake” but the foundational work comes from the different government and agencies. As we deliver on our provincial responsibilities, if there are opportunities to use the GSBC model to enhance that, they will be considered. Currently, it is looked at on a project-by-project basis. We are looking at funding and ensuring we can deliver that foundation geoscience work first and then see how it can be enhanced.