BC Business
A rendering of the proposed expansionA rendering of the proposed expansion
The new ski hill in townIt’s easy to forget Hemlock, the smallest and least busy of the Lower Mainland’s four ski hills. Now the owner of that resort resort, buried deep in the Fraser Valley, has gained provincial approval and First Nations support for a $1.5-billion expansion to increase the area of skiable terrain twentyfold and add 20,000 bed units. By comparison, the number for Whistler is 35,000.
Without detailing its funding to date, the proponent, Berezan Group, said that it plans a $500-million first phase and $1 billion in later phases, which would add an all-season ski village, a lakefront First Nations-themed residential village and a small marina to the resort north of Harrison Hot Springs.
First developed in the early 1970s, Hemlock twice went into receivership before it was purchased for $3 million in 2006 by Berezan Group. The company’s holdings include office buildings and industrial parks in Calgary and Edmonton plus accommodations at Big White.
The project, however, inevitably faces a long slog, even when its 60-year timeline is accounted for. Besides an environmental assessment, the resort needs approvals from the Fraser Valley Regional District and the provincial government to proceed, according to a feasibility study commissioned by the developer.
Mining layoffsOne of B.C.s biggest companies will cut its workforce in Western Canada by 20 per cent as the province’s miners cut back their need for equipment. Finning International, which sells, rents and provides parts and services for Caterpillar Equipment—used extensively in the mining and energy sectors—announced in its third-quarter results that it would shut down 27 dealerships in Canada and cut its global workforce by 13 per cent this year. To blame: the dwindling fortunes of the global mining industry, as major purchasers like Teck and several oil sands producers cut back their orders. In the last three months alone, the company’s new equipment sales have dropped 27 per cent.
“Our customer’s needs are changing, our business model is changing. The bricks and mortar footprint that was built for twenty years ago is in my personal view less relevant going forward,” said CEO Scott Thomson said in an earnings call with analysts. Thomson also announced that the company would shut down its dealership in Sparwood but did not specify the future for its footprint in Cranbrook and Vancouver, where it also has a large presence.
Foreign courtsSeven protestors injured outside a Guatemala mine owned by a Vancouver-based mining company will not have their case heard in Canada, according to a judgment from the B.C. Supreme Court. The plaintiffs had sought to pursue their civil suit in a Canadian court, claiming that they would not get a fair assessment in Guatemala. The verdict marks the latest development in a movement to hold Canadian mining companies accountable for their actions abroad in Canadian courts—an initiative that the former Tory government pushed back on, and which this latest decision could set back.
Now a bill put forward by a Liberal backbencher, which was voted down in the last parliament, could change the way that Canadian companies operate abroad. It’s no small matter for the hundreds of miners based in Vancouver and Toronto—who run mines in dozens of different jurisdictions around the world. Here’s a description of that bill from Vice, which reports that if reintroduced, it has the backing of the PMO.
“C-300 would have created a system to allow citizens of foreign “developing” nations to file complaints against Canadian mining companies, directly to either the minister of foreign affairs, or international trade. If the minister determines the complaint is legitimate, and that the company has broken international standards for business, then the company will lose all support from the Canadian government.”