Too Much of a Good
Thing? Social Impacts
of Rapid Industrial
Growth in Rural
Communities
Think piece for the
Citizens’ Series Webinar
April 24th, 2014 (1:30-3:30pm PST)
What are the issues with rapid
industrial expansion – doesn’t it
mean more jobs?
Australia's massive reliance on fly-in, fly-out workers for
mining projects is having devastating effects on regional
communities as well as employees and their families,
according to the author of a landmark study of the issue.
“FIFO workers destroy regional communities: experts say”
Western Australia Today, June, 2011.
Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/fifoworkers-destroy-regional-communities-expert-201106211gd1f.html#ixzz2xHlTTSlB
Following up on an early webinar on industrial work camps (Guess Who’s Coming To Town, May
2013), this webinar looks more closely at the social, economic and cultural impacts on
communities of rapid industrial development. It seems that you can, in fact, have too much of
a good thing. Industrial development that has not worked closely with local communities to
address social, economic and environmental concerns from a mutual benefits perspective runs
the risk of bringing more harms than good.
What social, economic and environmental issues are of concern for
northern communities?
A major underpinning of concern is the limitations of current assessments done prior to the
approval of industrial projects. While Environmental Assessments (EAs are carried out, there
can be problems with how these are carried forward, (such as lack of trust in the process from
the perspective of community members, and time and cost overruns from the perspective of
investors). Another issue is the number of projects and the timelines associated with them
straining the resources of the Environmental Assessment Office. Further, the EA process can
leave broader local community concerns –such as who is responsible for clean up and how many
meaningful jobs are open to local people – unaddressed. In effect, community members are
feeling left out of the considerations and discussions on industrial development in the north as
can be evidenced by letters to the editor in local papers, posts on Facebook and the
proliferation of protest and anti-development sentiment across Northern BC. Decades of
evidence demonstrate the legacies of boom and bust on Northern Communities and landscapes.
These are compelling reasons to figure out a different way forward. There are other
assessments, carefully thought through, that would be of equally invaluable to mitigating the
social, economic and cultural impacts of the industrial investment which is rapidly bearing
down in northern BC. For example, the Chief Medical Health Officers Council, which recently
met in Fort St. John, has noted that “[O] over the past four decades BC has experienced
significant industrial development, particularly in the oil and gas industry with more than 30
000 wells drilled in a relative small geographical area in the northeast (NE) of BC. As a result of
new technologies i.e. hydraulic fracking, another 10 000 wells will be commissioned in the NE.
Recently BC also announced billions of dollars will be invested in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
processing plants, ports and pipelines.” They point out that such massive investments initiate
“boom and bust” cycles that could be redressed with a Social and Economic Impact
Assessment (SEI) that they propose should accompany the EAI process.
Every welder, pipefitter and engineer has a mathematical equation. One side contains time and family; the other is money. Some tinker with the formula for a year or two, leave and never return. Others keep coming back, year after year. …They’re known as the shadow population, the ephemeral group of “fly-­‐in, fly-­‐
out” workers who come but never stay. The lure isn’t difficult to understand, at least for one crane operator rebuilding retaining walls at Suncor’s North Steepbank mine. “It’s the only place in Canada where you can look and see 50 years ahead of you,” said Dave McGregor, 38, marvelling at Suncor’s recent announcement of a $13.5 billion Fort Hills project that could employ up to 5,500. “It’s just crazy the numbers they keep throwing out there.” Brent Wittmeier, Life in a northern work camp: Huge ‘shadow population’ of oil workers flies in, flies out.” Edmonton Journal, January, 7th, 2014 What could SEI Assessments offer to
understanding and alleviating the impacts
of rapid industrialization?
The impacts of boom and bust have been well
documented since the 1880s, but we do not seem to have
made much progress on reducing them. The SEI would
foster a more collaborative and upfront partnership
between the industry investors and local communities.
Mutual benefits planning could encourage those previously
seen as opponents to work together to ensure a reduction
of harm on all fronts. Further, a more robust and inclusive
assessment process could allow the advantages of
development to be seen as shared more generally and
more generously locally and not solely as means of
funneling the wealth of a region to anonymous
shareholders in other places and countries.
As earlier webinars have explored, the impacts of
industrial development can be extremely damaging for
local communities. The road between Kitimat and
Terrace, for example, is known colloquially as the
“Kitimat 500” on Friday afternoons as workers speed
home to Terrace from their work in Kitimat. Stories
abound of “jockey construction”, such as attaching new
homes to local sewers without municipal knowledge. SEI
assessments could do much to reduce these horror stories
and instead build a narrative of mutual economic, social
and environmental gains. As the pains of rapid
industrialization are felt globally, northern BC has an
opportunity to lead the way in getting it right.
Want to learn more?
Northern Health has published 2 background papers
on Industrial Camps in Northern BC: Understanding
the State of Industrial Camps in Northern BC: A
Background Paper, published in 2012. It can be found
at:
https://www.northernhealth.ca/Portals/0/About/NH
_Reports/documents/2012%2010%2017_Ind_Camps_Ba
ckgrounder_P1V1Comb.pdf
Understanding Resource and Community Development
in Northern British Columbia, published in 2013 can
be found at:
https://northernhealth.ca/Portals/0/About/Position
Papers/documents/IndustrialCamps_P2_ResouceCom
mDevel_WEB.pdf
And just for fun visit:
http://fortmcmoney.com/#/fortmcmoney
Rio Tinto Alcan plans to invest $2.5 billion to rebuild its
Kitimat smelter, the final vision of which is shown here in an
artist's conception. Photograph by: Handout, PNG Merlin
Archive. From Gordon Hoekstra, Northwest B.C. economy
surging on big-ticket natural resource projects. Billions of
dollars of industrial projects planned, or already under
construction. Vancouver Sun, August 22, 2013