BC Business
Photo by: Matt Borck of Sara Borck Photography
Mining Association CEO and President, Karina Briño, kicked off this year’s Vancouver Board of Trade address by drawing attention to figures in the 2014 PWC report released earlier today, job security in the mining sector, and most importantly, a call to action for industry to strive to work harder as a global leader with respect to corporate social responsibility.
With a background in social work specifically related to labour programs in our province, Briño’s commitment to working with local communities and First Nations in order to provide viable industry solutions was no major surprise.
Briño responded to questions specifically relating to treaty negotiations between the B.C. government and First Nations communities and relayed her support of our provinces approach to those conversations.
“The revenue sharing policy that the government implemented has definitely been a step in the right direction and what I think it really does, is demonstrates that local First Nations can actually see the benefit of mining operations being in their backyard or territories,” says Briño.
On less of an optimistic note, Briño points towards the 2014 PWC report on the mining industry in B.C. in order to illustrate the challenges faced by the coal industry and the difficulties held by our province in maintaining the level of growth that has been seen in past years.
“A couple of years ago, coal really was king – prices are not there…Things are going to come around. We know the cycle will change and I just think we need to be ready to seize that opportunity,” says Briño.