Joel McKay

With roots in the Robson Valley, Joel McKay is an award-winning former journalist with Business in Vancouver, a member of Destination BC’s board of directors and the proud champion of northern British Columbians. As the City Manager for the city of Quesnel and the former CEO of Northern Development Initiative Trust, he works with communities, First Nations and business to advocate for the economic development of the north. Joel was kind enough to take the time to share with us by email why we must bridge the rural-urban divide to find solutions to the challenges we face.

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What is the state of northern British Columbia’s economy, inclusive of the Robson Valley?

The economy in Northern B.C. is in flux. In the Northwest and Northeast part of the region, tremendous activity is underway due to the development of a liquefied natural gas industry and the associated LNG Canada and Coastal Gaslink pipeline projects, generating jobs and new revenue. LNG Canada alone represents that largest private sector investment in Canadian history. Elsewhere, the $12 billion Site C hydroelectric project near Fort St. John is generating signification economic activity in the North Peace. The downturn in interior forestry, however, is negatively impacting the economy through the Nechako, Prince George and Cariboo regions.

The forest industry is changing. Does it – and will it – continue to matter to rural communities in northern BC?

The forest sector isn’t going anywhere. The decline in the industry right now was long expected and is better perceived as a return to a more normalized harvest level, down from the lift in harvest during the past two decades to salvage the Mountain Pine Beetle-killed timber. The decline means mill closures and job losses, but Northern B.C. still has a tremendous fibre basket, labour pool, transportation sector and milling capacity to support a forestry sector in perpetuity.

At a time when the world is becoming more conscious of environmental issues – including the need to protect biodiversity – is there a need for rural communities to become less dependent on natural resources? Or is there a balance that can be struck and sold to a market that now demands it?

You always want to pursue a balance between local economic needs and local environmental needs. What needs to be realized is that rural communities, especially those in the North, have few realistic options for private-sector employment that are outside of natural resource industries. Canada, and Northern B.C., are blessed with these resources. The question we need to answer is how do we right-size these industries so that they’re sustainable over the long term and operate them in a way that has little to no impact on the environment but still generates a healthy profit margin. That’s where the investment and innovation need to happen – not to walk away from industries but to improve how they operate to address increasing socioeconomic and environmental concerns.

Tourism is growing in northern BC, but it isn’t a saviour in and of itself, nor is it an industry without controversy. What does – and will – tourism mean to rural communities in northern BC and how can it grow sustainably (economically, socially and environmentally)?

First, tourism is a natural resource industry – we import visitors and export an experience in the north that’s largely tied to our natural landscape. There are limits to tourism growth – you cannot have a limitless number of tourists without an impact on the landscape, so we must accept it as an industry with great growth potential but not infinite growth potential without environmental and social cost. That said, tourism represents a key opportunity to diversify local economies by investing in experiences that not only attract visitors but also make our communities nicer places to live, which aids in retaining residents. The upside of tourism is that it’s one of the few industries that not only generates jobs and profits, but it has side benefits to local residents and also promotes cultural exchange and tolerance.

Do parks, like a Mount Robson, aid tourism and economic growth or hurt it because it takes away opportunities for resource extraction?

It’s not an either or. From an economic perspective, if we use Mount Robson as an example, the question is simple: what economic potential does the mountain have? Do its timber assets outweigh the value of tourism? Or its mineral assets? In the case of the mountain, likely not. So, in fact, tourism is very likely the highest value industry that can operate on that mountain, given its geography and distance to market. Another mountain might be different. Mount Robson today, because of the tourism investment made in the area, is one of the premier attractions in the Canadian Rockies.

In finding ways to balance the needs of people and nature, should economics be weighed as heavily as science?

I’m not sure that it’s a this-or-that scenario or even a comparative one. Science is more than just environmental science, its many aspects are fundamental to human understanding of our universe and our place within it, as well as how we might improve our overall well-being. Certainly, one could argue that economics is a science, though it may be a dismal one at that. Still, economics is critical because it speaks to how human beings have structured our societies and the methods we use to improve our personal and societal well-being. Unless we re-structure every society on Earth to function under an alternative system, economics will continue to play a critical role in everyday decision making and be an underwriting fabric of the human experience.

Innovation is increasingly seen as a saviour for growth. Is the knowledge economy as valuable in rural communities as cities? What can all Canadians do to ensure there are opportunities for every citizen – no matter where they live – to be participants in advancing innovations; in supporting the knowledge economy?

The knowledge economy is about more than just consultants, software apps and the Internet of Things. The resource industries have been innovating for hundreds of years, and today, in Canada, are a testament to human advancement, technology and innovation. The forest sector in B.C. has been innovating steadily since the first trees were harvested by Indigenous peoples – from bark harvesting, to canoe-making and abode construction to log exports, log homes, 2x4s, pulp and paper, oriented strand-board, MDF and bioenergy lignin-based products. There has been continuous advancement in these areas. What’s needed to ensure that all parts of Canada benefit from innovation is a society in which every Canadian can succeed and have an environment in which they can innovate – that means access to proper education, healthcare, social services, a job market with robust opportunities and continual challenges that stretch us as people and force us to innovate. These things can only exist in rural areas if we have a landscape that’s attractive to business development and investment, which generates the needed tax revenue to support the social services that support healthy development of our children into adults. That means we need an environment that supports resource extraction, attracts investment and leverages the benefits generated from that to reinvest in rural areas so that they have just as much opportunity as our urban areas.

What is the biggest misconception about northern BC you’d like to see corrected?

The sentiment we need to correct is that this isn’t a place you want to live or can get ahead in. That it’s backwards. It absolutely isn’t. Our communities are diverse, safe, beautiful, full of opportunity and waiting for people who want to embrace Canadian values and find ways to continue to invest in them, not to support growth for growth’s sake, but to improve their well-being.

Do you feel heard and respected in decisions that affect your region’s future?

Absolutely not. Too often the urban voice, which has very little experience in rural areas, overwrites the rural voice. This is a fundamental challenge in many developed nations across the globe today and needs to be addressed more meaningfully if we aim to keep our nations together long into the future.

Some say that rural communities have a disproportionate say in the affairs of the province and nation given how our political system is structured. Do you agree?

Actually, it’s the complete opposite. Just as B.C. has very little say in the outcome of most federal elections, rural B.C. has very little to say where it concerns provincial elections, much less than federal ones. Unlike other jurisdictions, Canada does not have a proportionate electoral system, business environment or taxation regime that recognizes the outside value rural areas generate for the rest of the country. Eighty per cent of the population of Canada lives within two hours of the U.S. border, and the vast majority of those individuals live in our major cities, which are quickly becoming city states. Canada, and its provinces, need to have a serious look at how we recognize and support rural development.

Do you believe there is a rural-urban divide? What can be done to bridge it?

Canada, and B.C., are one country and one province and one economy. That said, socially, we are increasingly divided as urban populations in metropolitan areas grow and rural populations decline. The policy, frameworks and structures we use to order our country are not conducive to rural development. In order to bridge that challenge, we must have a hard look at how we structure everything from our voting system to taxation, regulatory frameworks and land ownership in rural areas to support their growth and well-being.

What’s the one thing you know now that you wish you knew at 15?

I wish I knew then how incredible life is in the North and our rural communities. I would’ve moved here sooner.

Different Perspectives