The committee met at 8:02 a.m.

[Elenore Sturko in the chair.]

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Good morning, everybody. My name is Elenore Sturko. I’m the MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale, and I’m the Deputy Chair of the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services.

I’d like to acknowledge that we’re meeting today in Nelson, which is on the traditional territory of the sʔalt̕ik̓ʷt, Syilx and Ktunaxa Nations.

I’d also like to welcome everyone who’s listening and participating in today’s meeting.

Our committee is currently conducting its annual consultation with British Columbians on their priorities for the next provincial budget. British Columbians who are not presenting to the committee can still share their views by making written comments. The details on how to provide submissions are available on our website at bcleg.ca/consultations.

I will now ask the members of this committee to please introduce themselves, starting with MLA Blatherwick.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Good morning. I’m MLA Jennifer Blatherwick. I am the MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville, and I am also the Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity.

Claire Rattée: MLA Claire Rattée. I’m the MLA for Skeena and the critic for mental health and addictions.

Sunita Dhir: Good morning, everybody. I’m Sunita Dhir. I’m the MLA for Vancouver-Langara, as well as Parliamentary Secretary for International Credentials.

Steve Morissette: Good morning. I’m Steve Morrissette, MLA for Kootenay-Monashee and Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development. Happy to be home.

Bryan Tepper: I’m Bryan Tepper, MLA for Surrey-Panorama and critic for Community Safety and Integrated Services.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): All right. Assisting the committee today are Darryl Hol and Kayla Wilson from the Parliamentary Committees Office and Simon and Amanda from Hansard Services.

We’re now going to hear from a number of organizations and individuals about their priorities for the next provincial budget. Each participant will have five minutes to speak, followed by up to five minutes for questions from committee members.

Our first presenter is Jaspreet Kaur from Selkirk College Students Union.

Good morning.

Jaspreet Kaur: Good morning.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): So you’ll have your five minutes, followed by up to five minutes of questions, and you may begin when you’re ready.

Budget Consultation Presentations

Selkirk College Students Union

Jaspreet Kaur: Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for the opportunity to hear me today. My name is Jaspreet Kaur, and I’m from Selkirk College Student Union, which is across eight campuses and mostly located in the West Kootenay and Boundary regions.

[8:05 a.m.]

Before outlining my recommendations today, I want to start with a story. It’s a very interesting story, so I hope you like it. It’s a story of Mike Bibby, 2020 graduate, fine woodworking program.

He and his wife were originally from South Africa, geologists, and they decided to come to Nelson just because of its beautiful region and certification from Selkirk College. Mike found the experience from Selkirk College very motivating and invaluable. Then, with the help of instructors, he built two businesses in Nelson, now flourishing. Now he’s aiming to expand his business and mentoring the upcoming new Selkirk College graduates as well, further rooting his roots in Nelson. This is a beautiful thing.

This one highlights the importance of the local regional colleges and how a graduate from such regional colleges can make a big contribution to the economy of rural regions, and not just the rural regions. When these economies and the local communities flourish, it actually helps the overall well-balanced and sustainable growth of the whole province as well. So it eases down the pressure on the other, larger cities as well.

But today the story would be a little bit different. The problem statement here today is if a student like Mike wanted to get enrolled in Selkirk College today, he might face a wait-list. Currently, fine woodworking has 24 available seats, and 16 are still on wait-lists. This means that the demand is 40, but we can only cater to 60 percent. Because of that, it leads to the loss of opportunities, emotional toll. The main thing is the draining of the potential residents, taxpayers and innovators to outside this region.

The very reason we are all here, the economic well-being of the whole community or the whole of B.C., is at stake now. The root cause is underfunding, which is pushing our education system to the crisis.

The history was that provincial funding was actually helping the colleges 80 percent with their operational expenses, but now it boils down to 40 percent. This 50 percent cut has led to colleges solely relying on student fees, and those fees are actually not catering to the needs.

Selkirk College, for example, is still 30 percent less, underfunded, per seat. On top of that, now there is a cap on the domestic tuition additional fees, which actually is not helping them with the inflation as well.

For the committee, we came up with two recommendations.

The first recommendation is for the whole of B.C. and for rural areas as well. We urge you that the new funding model should be reviewed. It was initiated in March 2022, was just under review, and there was nothing done after that on that. We urge you to work on that, followed by the implementation as well, which leads to economic stability and keeping up with inflation and less reliance on student fees.

For immediate action, our second recommendation is that we restore the provincial funding to B.C. institutions at not less than 75 percent. This is long due. If actions are not taken today, all the programs which these regional colleges are offering might be hampered, and this will put on hold the dreamers who want to get enrolled and do something for the community.

This is not about just one program. This is the condition of every program at Selkirk College. Students are waiting to get enrolled, but we don’t have seats.

Let’s take the example of Mike. If he can make it, other students can also make it, and, in return, give the return to the investment that the public government makes to this region. This is going to flourish the whole economic development and the province’s financial stability as well.

I’ll rest my case. Thank you for your time and understanding, and I’m ready for your questions.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Okay, excellent. Thank you very much for your presentation.

Questions?

Jennifer Blatherwick: Good morning, and thank you for your presentation.

Traditionally in the past, we’ve heard from other universities and colleges that funding was between 70 and 75 percent. Are you saying that Selkirk College was funded to 80 percent?

Jaspreet Kaur: No. I’m telling you that originally, in the ’70s and ’90s, it was 80 percent, and then the government decided: “Okay, we’re going to cut down a little bit and rely more on the student fees.”

[8:10 a.m.]

Then the international students came in, and they came up with another source of income for the colleges as well. But currently, this is done at only 40 percent. Under the new regime, which are the funding processes happening, these regional colleges are still ignored. So maybe Selkirk College is not even having 40 percent as well.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Sorry, maybe I’ll try the question again. We’ve received lots of presentations from other universities and colleges, and the information that they gave us was that historically, funding was at 70 or 75 percent. In your presentation, you said that Selkirk was funded to 80 percent.

Jaspreet Kaur: No. Maybe I didn’t come across clearly. But no.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Thank you. The program that you specifically mentioned…

Jaspreet Kaur: “Fine Woodworking.”

Jennifer Blatherwick: …was “Fine Woodworking.” Thank you.

Jaspreet Kaur: It’s a great program. We have other programs as well, which are also fully enrolled, but still we have a big wait-list. Every program faces 10 to 12 students, on average, on the wait-list — all the trade programs.

Steve Morissette: Thank you. Just to be clear, you said there was a funding review in ’22?

Jaspreet Kaur: Yes, 2022.

Steve Morissette: Okay. So there were recommendations coming out of that?

Jaspreet Kaur: Yes. At that time, the B.C. government came up with different sorts of committees and brought all sorts of stakeholders together. They came up with the what-we-heard report, which they still haven’t published yet. All the stakeholders, from students, from labour work class and from other government representatives, came together, and they built up a review of the whole scenario at that time. They came up with recommendations. This is the first phase.

For the second phase, the recommendation went to the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education as well. Later on they showed the intention of making policy on the basis of that, but then it was a laid-back attitude.

Sunita Dhir: Thank you for your presentation. My question is: have you noticed that the wait-lists are for some particular programs, or for most of the programs, students are faced with the higher wait-lists and stuff?

Jaspreet Kaur: I’m talking about just “Fine Woodworking.” That was 16, which is the highest wait-list. Other than that, on average, 10 to 12 students are on the wait-lists for all the trade programs. I’m just taking the example of trade programs because these are well in need. These are in demand, so we need to push those trade programs.

Government is also supporting that. But since the college doesn’t have that kind of facilities or space available to cater those needs, those people have to wait for another year or two and then maybe have to let go their dream as well.

Programs like “Fine Woodworking” are very unique, not offered by every single institute. If Selkirk College is doing that, I think we should support the college with that.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Further questions? Seeing no further questions, we’ll say thank you for your presentation. We’ll move to our next presenter.

Our next presenter is from the Nelson and District Arts Council, Sydney Black. Good morning. Just a reminder, you have five minutes presentation time, followed by up to five minutes for questions from the committee. You may begin when you’re ready.

Nelson and District Arts Council

Sydney Black: Excellent. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you today. My name is Sydney Black, and I’m the executive director of the Nelson and District Arts Council. I’m also an advocate for rural arts, culture and heritage organizations across British Columbia.

The Nelson District Arts Council, or NDAC, has been serving artists and communities in our Kootenay region for over 55 years. We produce accessible, community-based programming, including festivals, exhibitions, public arts initiatives and professional development, and we advocate for the vital role of arts, culture and heritage in regional economic development.

As a larger cross-disciplinary arts organization in our region, we have the privilege of working closely with the municipal, regional and provincial partners to help produce a thriving cultural sector in our area, where the arts are both an essential part of identity as well as a key driver of tourism and community wellbeing.

This year, B.C. faces a record deficit and increasing conversations around cuts, and I am here today to express our concerns around cutting investment in B.C.’s arts, culture and heritage sector, which we feel would be an economic mistake with long-term consequences. I’d like to speak to three different recommendations to protect and grow the sector and B.C.’s economy.

[8:15 a.m.]

Our first recommendation is to shift toward multi-year core operational funding for arts organizations and increase flexibility and project funding. B.C.’s arts and culture sector is an economic engine. It contributes over $8 billion to provincial GDP and supports over 98,000 jobs, according to StatsCan and B.C. Stats.

The sector generates $3.8 billion in direct cultural GDP and employs over 72,000 people directly in cultural occupations. We also have the highest concentration of artists in Canada and the highest proportion of artists living outside of major cities, as reported by Hill Strategies Research.

But B.C. Arts Council funding is falling behind inflation. The B.C. Alliance for Arts and Culture has documented this, and the results are job losses, cancelled events, cancelled festivals and venue closures — risks that we can’t afford in an $8 billion sector. We recommend a shift to multi-year core operational funding with at least 25 percent of project grants to be permitted for operational costs, which would ensure stability, long-term planning and continued economic contribution.

Our second recommendation is to invest in protecting and maintaining B.C.’s cultural infrastructure. Cultural spaces like venues, museums and galleries are foundational to both community cohesion and tourism. The Canadian Arts Presenting Association has shown that these spaces are critical to local identity and a key reason visitors choose destinations.

These spaces also generate substantial local economic spinoff. For every dollar spent on performance tickets, audience can spend up to an additional $30 to $40 in local businesses, restaurants, retails and hotels.

But once lost, these spaces are exceptionally expensive to replace. The Creative City Network of Canada stresses that prevention is far more cost-effective. We recommend targeted municipal funding for maintenance, core venue support through B.C. Gaming and a provincial capital fund for renewal and accessibility upgrades and climate resiliency.

Our third recommendation is to leverage cultural tourism as a key driver of B.C.’s economic recovery. Wildfires and climate impacts have severely affected sectors like wine and outdoor recreation. Destination B.C. and the Ministry of Tourism have documented these pressures.

Meanwhile, cultural tourism is growing. Destination Canada reports that over two-thirds of international travellers to Canada engage in cultural or heritage activities during their trips, which is a significant driver of high-value tourism. To compete, B.C. must invest in cultural drivers of visitation, which includes protecting cultural venues and programming and ensuring B.C.’s cultural sector remains a reason people visit and revisit our province.

In closing, the cost of underinvestment will be high: lost jobs, lost venues, lost tourism revenue and lost community identity. This opportunity, however, is just as great. With smart, sustained investment, B.C. can strengthen one of its most dynamic sectors, one that delivers both economic return and social value to every region of the province.

I’d like to thank you for your time. I have brought a list of supporting documents and resources if you’d like to see it, and I welcome any questions that you might have.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Great. Thank you.

MLA Blatherwick.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Thank you for your presentation.

I just want to clarify between points 1 and 2. For point 1, multi-year core funding, you’re looking for an increase in administrative overhead?

Sydney Black: Yes, ideally for operational funding that’s provided by the B.C. Arts Council, and also potentially mimicking what the Vancouver Foundation has done through their resiliency funding. That has provided multi-year, significant core operation funding to venues and organizations across the province. It has been a game-changer in the sector and how people have looked at providing funding, and that’s made massive, massive change to lots of organizations throughout the province because of how they distribute it.

Jennifer Blatherwick: And then for the second request, that’s where you’re looking at purely physical infrastructure? So the maintenance of theatres and performance venues and galleries?

Sydney Black: Absolutely. We are so blessed. We have a 406-soft-seat theatre here that’s absolutely beautiful. It was restored in the late 1980s. To be able to have funding to ensure that people are able to use these spaces throughout the year, now into the summer months, really focusing on these spaces having appropriate HVAC…. Because these are spaces that our communities now need to go to, to gather in, to be able to be safe and have an existence while they’re locked inside for all of August when it’s smoky — or July sometimes.

Jennifer Blatherwick: There we go. Okay. Thank you. That was very helpful.

Steve Morissette: Thank you for the presentation.

I know very little about this. How would the funding support work? It would fund B.C. Arts Council? How does that come to your area?

Sydney Black: Absolutely. B.C. Arts Council provides operational and program funding. They have two separate streams. People that are on core operational funding receive a certain amount of money every single year that they can allocate to their core expenses. This is rent. This is administration staff and things like insurance — all the basic things that project funding doesn’t really fund.

[8:20 a.m.]

It would be ensuring that the funding that is allocated to the B.C. Arts Council is being allocated to core operational funding instead of requiring project funding all of the time, which requires us to continually be on and create and develop new things.

Yeah, core operational is always something that we are looking to find, and it’s elusive occasionally. It’s hard to find, for sure.

Steve Morissette: Just a second piece, if I could. Your third ask, cultural tourism — you want support for venues and so on. Doesn’t that relate to the second ask? How does that differ?

Sydney Black: Really looking at cultural tourism. For example, the B.C. festivals, fairs and events fund was cut this year, and that was a huge funder and supporter of smaller events and festivals that were throughout the region. The new funding that is available for those cultural tourism portions is only available for festivals that are over $150,000 a year, which does not apply to many, many different events and festivals in our region.

So ensuring that the funding that is being provided to cultural tourism through Destination B.C. is something that’s available and accessible for all different organizations, because I feel that — and we feel that — an accessible, community event that doesn’t have the income of a paid, ticketed event has as much value in community as a festival that charges X amount of dollars for a ticket. So I think that, yeah, there’s that.

Steve Morissette: Great, thank you for that. I appreciate it.

Sydney Black: No problem at all. Thank you, MLA Morissette.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Your question was satisfied?

Sunita Dhir: Yeah.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Okay.

Sunita Dhir: My question is also about cultural tourism. Do you have any current projects planned to promote cultural tourism?

Sydney Black: Absolutely. We have created the Nelson International Mural Festival, which is going into its eighth year, at which we see over 2,000 people every year that come. We create up to ten murals every year, and so that has become a driver for us as a community. We work really closely with Nelson and Kootenay Lake Tourism to make sure that our event is featured and highlighted as much as we possibly can.

But it’s really challenging for us to seek those additional dollars because we don’t have that earned revenue because our programming is all free and completely accessible for the entire community.

But as a result of us creating that and working with high-profile muralists and artists from all around the world, Nelson has, in the last eight years, become a very special destination for muralists to come and paint and for people who are seeking out high-quality, public art to come and discover in this special little green landscape instead of having to go to your urban centres like Montreal or Vancouver or something like that.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Okay, and seeing no further questions, thank you so much. I wish we had more time to check out some of the murals.

Sydney Black: Call me next time; I’ll take you out with me.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): That sounds fantastic.

Our next presenter is from the Thompson-Nicola regional district, Terri Hadwin.

Hello. I heard a rumour you drove a long way to be here as well.

Terri Hadwin: It’s not too far. When we come to how much distance there is in all of B.C., it wasn’t too bad.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Well, thank you for coming. You’ll have five minutes for presentation time, followed by five minutes of potential questions. You can begin when you’re ready.

Thompson-Nicola Regional District

Terri Hadwin: Awesome, thank you so much.

My name is Terri Hadwin, and I am from Kamloops. That’s where I live, and I am so very blessed and fortunate to live my days in the traditional and unceded territories of the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc peoples.

I want to express gratitude for having the opportunity to speak with you today as well as for the additional funding that has been provided by the province to the film industry over the last few years. Speaking on behalf of my region specifically, it has definitely moved some mountains in being able to increase our programming to facilitate the growth of the industry from within as well as provide us with marketing tools to entice productions to come from outside of the region and outside of the country.

The last published documents said that film industry brought in about $2 billion in 2023, which was one of our worst years because of the strikes. We hadn’t faced those sorts of numbers since 2016, but that was still $2 billion worth of economic stimulation, which is not small.

We know that we are stronger when our neighbours are stronger. There are some emerging regions within the province that are just not equitably funded, and it has been that way for quite some time, which provides them with extra hurdles that are not necessarily needed.

[8:25 a.m.]

We are seeing a migration of skilled film-industry workers move away from the Lower Mainland seeking lower-cost living, and they’re still wanting to work within their industry. Throughout the entire province we are having those skilled workers in our areas, and we’d love to provide them with more opportunities to work in their chosen profession.

We have been working with Creative B.C. to review the funding that is provided to the regions, and it has increased, but I do feel that the smaller regions — I’m not even speaking about my own; I’m speaking about the other ones — are inadequately funded. Like we said, we just feel that when our neighbours are stronger, we will be stronger as a province as a whole.

We can grow the industry throughout the province with our stunning British Columbia backdrops, and the regional film commissions are doing what we can to spur that growth. I would like to recommend that the smaller film commissions receive more equitable funding for the work that they are doing to stay competitive on the global market. This benefits all of B.C.

Again, we want to give additional thanks for the province’s funding to the development of domestic productions over the last few years. We ask for consideration of keeping the same level of funding or greater to continue these great programs that are allowing us to tell our local stories with our local talent and that the regional film commissions continue to offer support to Creative B.C. to see equitable funding distribution for those programs throughout the province. I am seeing really, really great content coming from our very own province, and I’d love to see that support continue to happen.

That is all that I have for you today.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Thank you very much.

Questions from committee members?

Jennifer Blatherwick: I just want to make sure that I understand. Creative B.C. is funded through the Ministry of Arts and Tourism, and then the funding goes to the regional districts?

Terri Hadwin: I believe that Creative B.C. is on its own, but I might be….

Jennifer Blatherwick: Yeah. Okay.

Your region is the Thompson-Nicola regional district?

Terri Hadwin: Correct.

Jennifer Blatherwick: And you’re looking for funding to your region to stay the same, but increased funding for the smaller regions around you that have nascent film industries?

Terri Hadwin: Yes. They are more emerging regions, I would say, so they don’t necessarily have the numbers of what they have produced so far.

Don’t get me wrong, I would never say: “Please don’t give me any more money to my region.” I’m just saying that I feel that as a province, we would be stronger if they had a little bit more support.

Jennifer Blatherwick: You’re also seeking an increase to locally produced — so here — Canadian content, basically.

Terri Hadwin: Yes. The domestic productions fund was only a temporary installment of additional funds that had been given over the last few years. There have been discussion about clawing that back, so I’m asking that remain the same or increase.

[Inaudible recording] grant for the amount of time that it’s been around for, and we would like to see it equitably distributed throughout the province. A lot of it has stayed in the Lower Mainland. We’d like to have extra consideration of it being distributed throughout the entire province.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Further questions?

Seeing no further questions, we’ll say thank you very much, and have a safe drive back.

Terri Hadwin: Thank you.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): We’ll move to Jocelyn Carver from the Youth Climate Corps B.C.

Good morning. I’m sure you’ve heard, but we’ll repeat it again: five minutes presentation time, followed by up to five minutes of questions. You may begin when you’re ready.

Youth Climate Corps

Jocelyn Carver: Thank you for coming to my home community to hear from people in the whole region and beyond.

My name is Jocelyn Carver. I’m the interim executive director for the Youth Climate Corps B.C., or YCCBC. I am simultaneously significantly increasing the average age of the employees at YCC and decreasing the capacity for short-term memory, so I’ll be referring to notes as I go through my presentation.

Youth Climate Corps B.C., YCCBC, is a proven employment service program and climate solution community development initiative that pays young people a living wage to advance local climate action and receive essential workforce readiness training.

In 2024, we were very grateful to receive a provincial grant.

[8:30 a.m.]

With this money, we’ve accomplished multiple goals over the last 14 months, including delivering Youth Climate Corps programs in seven regions across the province that align with the province’s goals of transitioning to a clean economy, building a future-ready workforce, increasing resilience and community capacity in rural and remote communities in particular and supporting affordability for British Columbians.

This is just the beginning and only our pilot. In order to meet climate targets, create jobs and address youth unemployment and disenfranchisement, it’s time for more ambitious funding to scale Youth Climate Corps to meet the demand we’re experiencing across the province.

My recommendation, therefore, to the budget committee is to provide sustainable multi-year funding for a large-scale provincial Youth Climate Corps so that we can grow the economy by creating good, clean jobs that engage, upskill and inspire youth across British Columbia.

There are three reasons why I believe Youth Climate Corps should be in the budget.

The first: we are now a proven successful employment model. We have been able to expand our reach and impact. In 2024 alone, we served close to 50 young people, completing 3,400 working days of climate action, training and certifications. These projects include community-identified priorities around wildfire mitigation, energy efficiency, Indigenous-led food security, ecosystem restoration and community engagement.

One powerful example of YCCBC’s approach is a recent partnership we engaged in with the B.C. Insulators Union Local 118. This program partner designed and implemented a climate-focused pre-apprenticeship program for our YCCBC participants, with 88 percent of alumni now pursuing their own Red Seal certification.

Second, we are actively solving a problem that governments and individuals are also trying to solve. YCCBC is here to support B.C. during times of economic turmoil. We know that in many mandate letters, ministers were told they needed to grow the economy by creating good jobs in British Columbia, which is exactly what we are doing, both in the moment and as pathways to career success. We’re making them good, green jobs.

B.C. is looking at over one million job vacancies in the next decade, and young people entering the labour force for the first time are expected to make up 47 percent of new job seekers. Despite this, employers have communicated a key challenge in finding qualified employees who match their job description.

A large scale Youth Climate Corps would upskill young British Columbians while fulfilling the needs of the workforce gap. In the past year, youth unemployment has risen 4.5 percent and is now double the provincial average. It’s critical to ensure that young people benefit from this increase in anticipated climate-related jobs. We can help train the next generation of workers in construction, policy, land and water management, disaster mitigation, agriculture and STEM.

We work in a close partnership model with local governments, not-for-profit organizations and First Nations to advance climate adaptation and mitigation efforts while attracting hundreds of young British Columbians to engage in their communities in practical, hopeful, skill-building work that has a lasting impact on these individuals and the places they live.

Demand is high. We are consistently oversubscribed. For example, postings in our Kootenay region programs had 83 applicants for ten positions. Young British Columbians are attracted to YCCBC’s mission, vision, values and program opportunities that offer practical, skill-building initiatives to engage in place-based work that makes a difference.

Communities are also eager to participate. We currently have a wait-list for municipal program partnerships. Funding is the limiting factor to meet this demand. Rural communities also need our support.

In closing, I would just like to say we appreciate the province of B.C. for demonstrating leadership in piloting YCCBC. It is the only one of its kind in B.C. We look forward to furthering that goal.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Great. Thank you very much.

Questions?

Jennifer Blatherwick: I just want to make sure I understand your organizational structure. You are a non-profit?

Jocelyn Carver: We are.

Jennifer Blatherwick: How many years have you been in operation?

Jocelyn Carver: We were incorporated in 2021 and began the process of attracting funds bit by bit to develop small programs. The grant that we received from the province of B.C. has enabled us to actually leverage that funding to attract significantly more from private foundations, communities and other non-profit organizations.

Jennifer Blatherwick: What’s the name of the grant that you received?

[8:35 a.m.]

Jocelyn Carver: It was a grant provided by the climate action secretariat specifically to scale YCCBC to a provincial level.

Jennifer Blatherwick: You said that this last year, you have 50 student participants?

Jocelyn Carver: They’re not necessarily students. We don’t have that as a limiting factor for eligibility. We have young people from 17 to 30 who may be in any stage of education and training and looking for on-the-ground work experience in the field that interests them — broadly climate.

Jennifer Blatherwick: What are the total number of students that you’ve trained up to now?

Jocelyn Carver: Oh, I would say since its inception, probably between 200 and 300 people, inclusive of those who are currently in our program for the second year of the grant, which is the second year of scaling for us.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Okay, so that’s a small cohort. Like, 50 is small, and to ask to go…. I guess my question would be…. That’s a real challenge in terms of organizational infrastructure and implementation and growth.

Jocelyn Carver: Yes. Thank you. That’s an insightful question.

The grant, because it was intended to scale, has been focused on developing a core team that can provide the efficiency and effectiveness of scaling. A significant amount of our investment of time has been internal capacity that then allows us to operate in seven communities.

We really see the opportunity for expansion to hundreds of young people every year engaged in the program. But this initial phase truly is capacity development to enable scaling.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Was it one-year funding that you received, or was it multi-year?

Jocelyn Carver: It was $3 million over three years.

Jennifer Blatherwick: The end of that funding is…?

Jocelyn Carver: We are in the first quarter of the second year, so we’re coming up on halfway through.

Steve Morissette: Hi, Jocelyn. You’re saying that you’re consistently oversubscribed and you have about 50 people per year you can accommodate?

Jocelyn Carver: Last year was 50. We’re on track to increase that number. Last year was the first year of our pilot funding, so there was a lot of development of internal systems, processes and people development to launch, to increase in the second year and then again in the third year.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Thank you for your presentation.

We’ll call our next presenter from the Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise, Powder Matt Mosteller. Good morning.

Powder Matt Mosteller: Good morning. Thank you very much for your time today and for you travelling to our region.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): What a pleasure it is to be here. Look at this gorgeous day. I wish we were hosting this committee outside by the lake.

Powder Matt Mosteller: Oh, we should be doing that.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Right? On a boat. Maybe a pontoon. We’ll have to set it up next time on a pontoon boat.

Powder Matt Mosteller: I’m sure MLA Morissette could just arrange that gathering to return, right?

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): I’m actually disappointed he didn’t do it this time, yeah.

Thank you so much. We’ll give you five minutes for the presentation, up to five minutes for questions, and you can begin when you’re ready.

Kootenay Outdoor
Recreation Enterprise

Powder Matt Mosteller: I apologize for the funny-looking glasses. My daughter made me not get designer ones and made me wear ones that are the funniest-looking ones. She wanted to challenge me and my ego. So I’m doing that.

I’m Powder Matt. Thank you for coming here, and thank you for visiting the Kootenays.

I want to share an economic sector that truly can build healthier and stronger communities, one that is currently not being looked at and, I think, one that we have the opportunity to be world-class at and one that I truly believe we can be the best in North America.

More than 25 U.S. states have embraced this sector, and the reason why is they’ve seen the opportunity to capitalize on robust growth and robust demand. It is one of the few bright stars in the American economy, and they are seeing massive economic growth in addition to lower health care costs, healthier population overall, workforce traction, workforce retention, youth education and engagement and housing starts increase — just some of the benefits of embracing this economy sector.

[8:40 a.m.]

So what is this economic bright star? It is the outdoor recreation economy. You may say: “That’s tourism.” Well, yeah, it has a portion of tourism, but it’s so much more than that. It’s one that if done right, can stimulate tourism. It is everything done outdoors, but not soccer, field and organized team sports.

Think: backpacking, hiking, bird-watching, horseback riding, snowmobiling, paddling, camping, boating. Think also, right here, of manufacturing jobs. Hellman Canoes, a custom canoe builder, is in Nelson, on Kootenay Lake here. Think, also, of Durston Gear from Golden, B.C., the best world-class long-trail camping tents. Think of Mustang Survival, manufactured in Squamish; Arc’teryx in Vancouver; Mountain Equipment Co-op.

Also, what I’m very proud of is the Kootenay-based KORE Outdoors, of which I’m a co-founder. Now, in less than two years, we have spurred on over 100 outdoor craft gear makers. Some 100 companies now exist in the Kootenay region that didn’t before.

Also, it’s education. It’s hunting guides, mountaineering guides, fishing guides, bear viewing, back country experiences, skiing, ski lodges, touring and so much more. It’s trails, of course. In your community, it’s clubs. It’s mountain biking clubs, hiking clubs, trail running clubs. So they get healthier. People get outside. They feel the benefits of mental health improvement.

Let me share a real-time story here as an example, one on youth education and youth future. In the Kootenays, you all know kids like Willie. Willie’s here. Willie wants to stay in his community. Willie doesn’t want to be burdened by the debt of a four-year university. He’s really good with his hands. He can build things.

So Willie had this idea. He came through our high school program, a mentor program through KORE. We also work with Selkirk and College of the Rockies on this program. He shared that he had an interest in building a camper for Toyota trucks, a custom camper, specifically kitted out for the mountain bike sector. Willie didn’t know how to go about this.

In our mentorship program, we connected him with a metal fabricator in the mining industry. The metal fabricator taught him how to use all the equipment. Through his 3D-printing background and use of all that fabrication equipment, he built a prototype. He now has what people say is one of the coolest camper tops for the back of a Toyota pickup. And he has a bright future ahead, where he can see the pathway to purchasing a house in his own community and staying there. So this is youth future, youth engagement.

Also, I would say workforce attraction is huge with outdoor recreation. I was on a trail run, came down and stopped. A woman went blazing by me. I caught up with her, finally, in the parking lot, and she said she was late for work and had to get there. I asked her a question. I said: “Why are you here?”

“I’m here because of the trails. I’m here because the community is invested in outdoor recreation.” As I quickly asked her what she did, she said: “Well, all of my team are here because of outdoor recreation too.” I said: “Well, what do you do?”

She said: “I’m an ER doctor. The whole floor of the ER doctors….” She said all of the doctors are there because of outdoor recreation, and they have an opportunity to move and live wherever they want and they are there.

I’m two seconds till the end right here. So yeah, there you go.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Excellent. Thanks, Powder Matt.

Jennifer Blatherwick: You kind of ran out of time there. I’m hoping you can tell us what your specific budget ask is.

Powder Matt Mosteller: Well, two things. Thank you for that good question; I appreciate that. One is the value. Currently, we see the value — by the University of Saskatchewan study — of the outdoor recreation economy in B.C. of $15 to $19 billion. That’s good. But that’s not being stimulated. That’s not being supported.

Our neighbour to the south, Washington state…. We have a big opportunity. Washington state is $26 billion. I didn’t get to that point. The Washington state example is, just so I’m quoting this properly: “Bigger than forestry, mining and aerospace.”

Think. Washington state is the home to Boeing. So the outdoor recreation economy is bigger than aerospace. Ours here is far greater and far bigger than the forest industry, with no support. But with Washington state at $26 billion, and us at $15 and $19, we have lots of room.

[8:45 a.m.]

The budget…. My request is three things: establish a three-year outdoor infrastructure fund, and I think that should be a $30-million outdoor recreation fund; establish a provincial office of the outdoor recreation economy, much like these 25 U.S. states have done; and create an outdoor recreation technology and innovation hub where we can develop outdoor manufacturing and also outdoor youth opportunities for our workforce development here in Nelson, Castlegar, Trail or Fruitvale, maybe, as another consideration.

Jennifer Blatherwick: I like the fine tailoring you put on there at the end.

I’m really glad I asked you the question, because these are much more specific things that we can do within the budget. Establishing a three-year outdoor infrastructure and recreation fund — that would be for capital expenditures, like creating the physical infrastructure that would support outdoor recreation within the community.

And a provincial office for outdoor…. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Powder Matt Mosteller: Sure. Well, for me, the provincial office, similar to…. I talked to the governor of Washington state. Basically, even in Washington state, much like here, there are like six ministries that have a piece of a little bit of outdoor recreation. They had the same in Washington state. Because of that, they got no lift. Everybody was doing a little of something and going some direction, but they weren’t going together forward.

So he created the office of outdoor recreation economy, which, in the U.S., at the governor’s level, is similar to a minister’s role. That was to align a big vision for the state and to bring all of land use, recreational opportunities, recreational infrastructure investment together under one ministry.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Thank you.

Powder Matt Mosteller: If I might add on that, and sorry for…. The piece that’s also very…. For me, I’ve started three non-profits. One was on childhood obesity. The one big one for me, also, is the consideration of this big health benefit.

The state of Oregon has done a deep dive with a very small investment in outdoor recreation. They’ve seen a $1.4 billion cost savings in health care every year. We don’t have the capital to build out the health care that we need in this. Funding is not going to be there to take care of our aging population.

So I suggest that we look at really looking at leveraging outdoor recreation to get people moving, to get people outside, to help address this health care issue and also this mental health catastrophe we have on our hands.

Steve Morissette: Your last ask, to create an outdoor recreation hub — what does that look like?

Powder Matt Mosteller: Well, we’re seeing the opportunities. In my non-profit now, we’ve built 100 different companies. What we’re seeing is where we can win…. We have a project called the ReHub right now, where we’re touring all the communities, and we’re repairing people’s gear.

In one community we stopped in, we did 1,000 pieces of garments. So that’s gear that’s not going to the landfill. That’s a sustainable, environmentally friendly initiative. And we’re training the textile engineers to be able to repair all these complex outdoor gear, like some of the stuff I’m wearing from Patagonia. And to actually repair Patagonia stuff is quite intensive. So we’re doing that.

What I see in these niche areas, the one specifically is the down fill in your jackets. Nobody in this country is taking that down fill out of jackets when they’re end of life and cleaning it and refurbishing it so that can be used again. So we think we could develop that hub here, where that down then is then sold back to Canada Goose for them to sell new jackets at the market.

But right now, it’s all going to the landfill. It’s unfortunate.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Okay. Thank you very much for your presentation.

Now I’ll call on Laura House.

You’ll have a five-minute presentation window followed by up to five minutes from the panel of potential questions. You can begin when you’re ready.

Laura House: Okay, let’s do it. I’m going to read from my notes because I have very important points to make today.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Please do.

[8:50 a.m.]

CUPE Local 3999, Community
Social Services Workers

Laura House: Good morning. I’m Laura House, and I’m proud to be here on behalf of CUPE Local 3999. We represent hundreds of community social service workers across the southern Interior. Our members go to work every day to support people with developmental disabilities, at-risk youth and other folks in need of care.

Today I want to speak to three priorities that would improve life for our members, the people that I work with, as well as the people that we support. The things I want to talk about with you today are affordable housing, intercommunity transit and funding for the Labour Relations Board.

I think that you guys are probably well aware that we’re facing a little bit of a housing crisis right now in British Columbia, and I want to let you know that it’s not limited to the major urban centres that we see in the news articles about this. Communities across the Kootenays and the southern Interior are also facing rapidly rising housing costs.

Many of our members are struggling to afford rent, and for the people we support, especially those living with disabilities, the situation is even more precarious. As an example, my partner and I both work full-time in Nelson to support our family, including our four adorable children. We live 50 kilometres away, in MLA Morissette’s riding in the beautiful Slocan Valley, on sʔalt̕ik̓ʷt tmxʷúlaʔxʷ.

I supervise the homeless shelter here in Nelson. I’ve done that for the past eight years, and I see firsthand the faces behind the stories that we hear about in the newspapers and secondhand and on social media.

Right now, I have seniors that are living with us who were in the same rental for many, many years. They were legally evicted due to the sale of their home. Now they find themselves at the homeless shelter because, with their limited income and the rising housing costs, they can’t find even a horrible place to live, let alone one that was as nice as the one they’ve enjoyed for many years.

Sometimes, I’ll see a single mom fleeing domestic violence with her children. She can’t afford to rebuild her life in her community and has to look at going to somewhere else or staying with us for an extended period of time.

Then there are also individuals with disabilities and mental health challenges, who we see as the hard-to-house folks, who really need supportive housing. Also, they need affordable supportive housing, because if you’re living on persons with disabilities shelter rates, you can’t afford even a bachelor basement suite in this town.

We need a public solution. We’re calling on the province to create a Crown corporation dedicated to building high-quality, non-market rental housing. This approach would create homes that stay affordable over the long term, not just for the lowest-income residents but also for front-line workers like myself, to keep public services running in our communities.

Next, we need to talk about intercommunity transportation. With people moving farther afield, they need to get to town. In our region, getting from one community to the next often means navigating a patchy system with long waits, limited services or no transit options at all. Obviously, for people that rely on public transit to get to work, medical appointments or to visit family, the problem is more than an inconvenience; it’s a barrier to participation in daily life.

This problem is made worse by privatization. Too much of B.C.’s regional transit is contracted out to private operators who cut corners. From the Slocan Valley, where I live, it takes three transfers to get to nearby Castlegar, often with lengthy waits between transfers. Lately, the buses in our region have been running infrequently, often experiencing cancellations due to a lack of bus drivers, who are underpaid and under-supported by private corporations that run the routes.

If you can afford to drive a car, most people select it. But we have people that can’t drive cars for various reasons or can’t afford it, and they deserve a safe and reliable transit solution.

Finally, I want to talk about the need for funding the Labour Relations Board. Workers rely on the LRB to resolve grievances, certify new bargaining units and protect their rights. But right now, the board is overwhelmed and underfunded. Backlogs are delaying justice and undermining confidence in this system.

Local 3999 has experienced everything from delays resolving grievances to waiting months to help new workers join a union. It took us almost a year to add a unit to our local in Creston. As a labour activist, it’s frustrating to see workers being denied their rights because of a system that requires more support from the province. We’re urging the government to increase core funding for the LRB, hire more industrial relations officers and ensure workers can access timely, fair and effective dispute resolution processes.

Budget 2026 is an opportunity to make life better for people — people like me. We need public housing, reliable transit and strong labour protections. These are investments that are urgently needed by the members that I work with and our communities at large.

Thank you, guys, so much for making the trip all the way to Nelson to hear us all speak on what’s important to us.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Thank you so much for your presentation. I just want to talk a little bit about your ideas around affordable housing. You’re seeing an increase here in homelessness for seniors and women fleeing violence?

[8:55 a.m.]

Laura House: Everyone.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Yeah, everyone. I think that is universal with the rise in housing prices.

For investing in affordable housing, you’re thinking that a Crown corporation…?

Laura House: I mean, this is one idea. I feel like the thing is that we need to go at it from all angles. But what I’m noticing is that….

For the work that I do, we receive funding from the Ministry of Housing, from B.C. Housing, to run projects as a non-profit organization. I’m happy that I work at a really successful, long-standing non-profit organization that has some teeth and some power. We’re the number one producer of affordable housing units in Nelson. But it’s going to take other people stepping up and creating their own non-profits to continue to grow this work if we want to do it in that way that we’ve been doing it historically.

I’ve looked at other housing models around the world of other governments that invest more heavily and own and run more types of supportive housing as well as just rental stock — not for people that are super low income or super hard to house, but for people like myself that have a job, that want a nice place to live and that can’t really afford to have my housing costs escalate year after year if my wages aren’t escalating and the cost of everything else is going up and up.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Do you have any further questions?

Jennifer Blatherwick: Of course I do.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Of course you do. That’s good, though. We love it.

Jennifer Blatherwick: So transit — I’m not familiar with the model, of course, outside of the Lower Mainland. Is there B.C. Transit, transit within Nelson?

Laura House: So this is the thing. When I say it’s a patchwork, it really is. We’ve been lucky to bring some of the workers from that patchwork into a CUPE local. They’re now unionized workers and operate it differently. But we have different transit providers in parts of our system. Some of them are provincial, and then some of them are private corporations.

You can see that the buses on the routes of the private corporations, the drivers themselves — just everything on that segment — aren’t as nice. I’ll speak with the bus drivers, like: “Oh, I haven’t seen you.” “Yeah, I decided not to work last week.” “Why?” “It’s not affordable. Like, it’s better to just take time off. Sorry that you missed your buses, but they’re not giving me vacations.” Things like that.

Then they’re saying: “I’m so excited. I got an interview with the Nelson transit system. It’s a better system. It’s funded better. They’re better to the employees. If I get that job, I’m going to leave route 20 and go over there.”

So it’s a true patchwork, with different corporations running different arms of the same route, creating inconsistencies for riders that have to go between Castlegar, Trail and Nelson.

Steve Morissette: Just on your last ask for support for the LRB: how does it impact your members?

Laura House: I feel proud that for the most part, for my local and the work that I’m doing as a union activist and the vice-president of my local, we’re not having that many labour relations disputes. We’re working really well with our employers and the employers association to try to solve issues together on the ground, not sending things to arbitration or mediation very often.

But then there are times, like upcoming, when it’s negotiating our essential services, and I’m having a little dispute with one of the executive directors about the essentialness of a particular work site. I say that it’s not essential; she says that it is. So we’re going to have to figure this out in interest arbitration or mediation, because we just can’t come together.

Now, the date set for that isn’t very close in the future. So we have a group of workers — as we’re negotiating a collective agreement, considering job action — that don’t even know if they’ll be on the picket lines or if they’ll be at work. It would be nice to be able to resolve some of these things really quickly, when we have so many important irons in the fire.

I know that the LRB is important not just to me as somebody that works with them closely but just to the average worker. People are floored to hear that the grievance is in there. “Okay, arbitration. When’s it going to happen?” And I’m like: “Maybe in a year.”

It just really delays the justice for people. This is their livelihood. What do you do when you’re waiting on a decision? Do you get a new job? Do you just keep working under poor conditions? I think that we could use a little bit more funding for the LRB, if you guys wanted to.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Great. Seeing no further questions, we’ll thank you for your presentation.

We’re going to now take a ten-minute recess and return at 9:10 a.m. Thanks, you guys.

The committee recessed from 9 a.m. to 9:11 a.m.

[Elenore Sturko in the chair.]

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): We’ll call the committee back to order after a short break.

I’m going to now call on Energy Storage Canada, Michelle Mungall, for a presentation. Good morning.

Michelle Mungall: Good morning. How are you doing today?

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Good, thanks. Five minutes presentation time and up to five minutes of questions from our committee. Please feel free to begin when you’re ready.

Energy Storage Canada

Michelle Mungall: Well, first I want to acknowledge the First Nations territory that we’re on, even though I know you guys did when you first started. It’s been a real honour to work with the local First Nations communities.

I just want to also say that I acknowledge the work that you guys are all doing as the Finance Committee for the British Columbia Legislature. I spent two years myself as a member of the Finance Committee when I was the MLA for this beautiful area, and I can attest to the work that you’re doing and the value that it brings to all of you as representatives and the knowledge that you’re gaining while you’re doing this cross–British Columbia tour, listening to people in their own communities. It’s incredibly valuable.

I could go on and on about how wonderful the Finance Committee is, but let’s jump into what’s going on around energy storage. As mentioned, I am now working with Energy Storage Canada. I am the B.C. lead and the senior adviser for strategic initiatives there. We’re a national trade association for the industry, a non-profit with about 110 members as of today.

We’re technology agnostic. A lot of people think of big batteries when they think of energy storage — grid-scale, specifically — but we represent all technologies, including B.C.’s very own reservoir system. In British Columbia, B.C. Hydro was actually our very first member in terms of a B.C. company or a B.C. organization.

On the next slide…. Sorry, I forgot to mention that I did hand out these so you can follow on with slides. We have a leadership council. You’ll recognize some of the logos there. Of course, we have a broader membership than just our leadership council. But several of these companies, if they’re not HQ’d in B.C., are working here in British Columbia.

Now, what exactly is energy storage? I mentioned our reservoir system here in British Columbia, which is primarily located right here in the Columbia Basin, as well as in the Peace, and that generates about 80 percent of our overall power needs in the province.

But storage is pretty much anything where when you need to turn on a light, you’ve got the energy in reserve to do so. Whether it’s our reservoirs, whether it’s those big batteries I mentioned earlier, pump storage, thermal or supercapacitors, there is a variety of approaches to delivering on energy storage, and we represent all of those technologies.

What exactly does energy storage do? If you go to the next page, there’s a bit of a list. But like I said, it allows us to turn on the lights whenever we need, and that’s the primary function. As things change in our reservoirs due to global warming….

[9:15 a.m.]

I write about this, actually, in my monthly column in the Vancouver Sun, to give you a sense of why snowpack is so important in British Columbia and how it impacts our reservoir system.

As that changes, B.C. Hydro is looking to diversify its storage assets. This is true all over the world, one way or another — whether they’re a reservoir system or, for example, in Nevada or California, where they’re primarily looking at solar, or in other places like Boston, where they’re looking at wind. They’re all looking…. Quebec is looking to diversify its hydro assets as well.

It also has another function of just being able to discharge energy when you need it but also to maximize potential use of your transmission system. Instead of just always transmitting and having a transmission system that works at your peak demands…. We all go home after work. We turn on the stove. We might be turning on the washing machine, the dryer, the TV — all these things. When that peak demand occurs, energy storage…. The transmission lines that are needed to meet that — well, the more and more demand we have, the more transmission lines we need.

What we can do is send power from the Columbia Basin down to the Lower Mainland in the middle of the night, when it’s cheaper, as well, and discharge those batteries during peak, so that we don’t have to also spend a lot of money building out new transmission. This is a really helpful way to keep rates low for British Columbians.

The next slide looks at some of that in more detail, so I will skip that in the interest of time.

I just wanted to go over, on this slide here, the current B.C. landscape for energy storage, just to give you a sense of what’s going on here in British Columbia. We have several utilities that are our members, and they are either looking to acquire or currently operate grid-scale batteries as a part of their existing energy storage system.

Here, for B.C. Hydro specifically, they want to firm up their intermittent power to add to its generation, and that’s part of its integrated resource plan in their 2023 update. Specifically, I quote: “Accelerate utility-scale battery projects.” B.C. Hydro has begun this procurement process with its expression of interest for capacity and base load power, which was launched on June 4.

FortisBC is also looking for utility-scale batteries. The district of Summerland has already implemented some to attach to their solar facility.

Off-grid communities, in particular, are very interested. B.C. has a total of 44 off-grid communities — the most, from east to west coast. The north is a different story.

But before we get to questions, I just wanted to….

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Sorry. Your presentation time is over, but please continue. Just do your wrap, and then we’ll get to the questions. Thank you.

Michelle Mungall: Yeah. There are three recommendations I wanted to highlight out of our election platform paper that are, I think, pertinent to discussions and the deliberations that you guys will be conducting later on.

One is to develop a made-in-B.C. input tax credit that supports energy storage and clean energy development; increase support for energy storage in remote and Indigenous communities; and, lastly, looking at that labour force development. We don’t want labour force or the lack of it to be a bottleneck as we roll out more energy storage in British Columbia. So looking at the post-secondary system and investing some funding there, working with B.C. colleges to make sure that the labour force is ready….

With that, that’s the end of the presentation, and I’m happy to take questions, of course.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Okay, awesome. Thank you so much. Questions from committee members?

Steve Morissette: I’m just looking at your second recommendation — increased support for energy storage in remote and Indigenous communities through the B.C. Indigenous clean energy initiative and the B.C. Hydro non-integrated area clean renewable energy offer.

Could you just elaborate on that a little bit?

Michelle Mungall: Sure. Right now, we’ve seen a very significant amount of funding coming from both the provincial government and the federal government in the last term to support remote communities moving from diesel — they’re all using diesel power — to move more and more, as much as they possibly can — it’s not going to be 100 percent — to renewable.

Storage is a critical component of this. However, it’s not just, like, throw in some solar panels, throw in a battery, and off we go. Feasibility studies are required. Siting. It’s quite a big project, and it’s a multi-year project. Therefore, it takes quite a bit of funding to do. A lot of the communities have been able to do the feasibility with the existing funding but are looking to do more.

Particularly, since they’re Indigenous communities, that funding is really helpful to move to a more cost-effective energy micro grid.

[9:20 a.m.]

Steve Morissette: Thank you. Just one more, if I could. How can we…? Could having batteries or whatever type of energy storage…? Are you looking at using that in remote areas to make the grid more reliable? Lots of rural remote communities in the Kootenays and beyond struggle with reliability of power.

Michelle Mungall: Absolutely. That’s one of the many functions that they offer — greater reliability and strengthening existing grids. For example, whether you’re taking from hydro or you want to add some solar panels, any time you could use hydro — in the middle of the night — put it into a battery and make sure that you have it there.

Emergency situations, right? There’s also an entire application around emergency response. You can use it for when power goes down because of a windstorm or whatever.

Steve Morissette: Thank you.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): All right, seeing no further questions, we’ll conclude your presentation and question time. Thank you so much.

Michelle Mungall: Thank you guys very much, and thank you for the good work that you do. Appreciate it.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Excellent.

We’ll now call upon the village of Fruitvale. We have Wesley Startup.

Village of Fruitvale

Wesley Startup: Good morning. Today I’m going to speak to you as mayor of a small rural community with a low population but a very vibrant community. There are three subjects that I believe are key and critical to the village of Fruitvale and the province as a whole.

Starting with housing, I’m going to highlight the efforts that we’ve made to provide affordable housing for our residents, then I’ll touch on village infrastructure needs, and finally I want to bring local economic development into the conversation.

On housing, the village of Fruitvale is in phase 1 of its master plan to develop the former middle school property that we have acquired from the province. In partnership with many other groups, we have built and are operating a child care facility and are nearing completion of a 31-unit affordable housing complex.

We are presently investing $850,000 to demolish and render part of our derelict school building into more marketable property. We have not been idle, and we are hard at work to complete the last of our projects on phase 1. But yet there is so much more to do.

As requested by the province through Bill 44, in February of this year, the Regional District of Kootenay-Boundary released our interim housing needs report, which outlines the challenges our people face when it comes to being housed, such things as aging housing stock; limited housing diversity; need for core housing for low-income residents, single-parent families, seniors and workforce. Our hidden homeless population living in cars and RVs lacks access to affordable housing. In brief, and not unexpectedly, we need more housing.

Fruitvale has updated our zoning bylaws to allow secondary suites, carriage houses and the like. We are invested in making housing accessible and affordable, but we are small. With a population of less than 2,000 and a tax base solely reliant on residential property taxation, our revenues are modest, and thus we have limited staff time to pursue all the opportunities afforded through many different agencies such as BC Builds and B.C. Housing. We need help coordinating our housing needs.

On the infrastructure side, like most other small municipalities, our infrastructure needs to be upgraded. Our long-range asset management plan pegs our upgrades in the tens of millions. But we are undaunted, and we continue to plan and build on our capital reserve to ensure that our village is sustainable into the future.

On the horizon in the next few years, we intend to complete our infrastructure upgrades in the downtown core, and we anticipate spending over $1 million in this fiscal alone.

Without adequate infrastructure, new housing is not possible. Our master plan for the old school property, mentioned previously, identifies an estimated $3.1 million in 2025 alone to complete phase 1 and to initiate the next phase of our plan.

It goes without saying that from a financial perspective, implementation on the final stages of this housing development is not on the immediate horizon without investment from federal, provincial government and other agencies.

[9:25 a.m.]

On the economic development side, the Lower Columbia has a rich and diverse history in metals and recycling. The village of Fruitvale is an active participant in economic development in collaboration with our neighbouring communities through the Metal Tech Alley play, where we envision a battery recycling hub serving the Pacific Northwest.

Our focus on important battery entities has the foundation of a battery hub. Battery recycling, remanufacturing and research are three key knowledge strengths of our area, and the worth of leveraging our existing expertise only makes sense in this area.

What’s more, our area is at the forefront of critical minerals and smelting and research. With our close proximity to metallurgical inputs and potential for expansion and growth in this important sector, it’s not only viable but it’s nation critical.

So to summarize, and in closing the loop on the three topics I’ve spoken to today — housing, infrastructure and economic development — simply put, one cannot occur without the other. For our village, they are firmly linked.

We need to upgrade our infrastructure to support expanded workforce and affordable housing, and we need that housing to support an expanded workforce that comes with economic growth.

We ask this panel to consider the following. No. 1, support our small rural municipalities to upgrade our infrastructure. No. 2, support and provide support for small rural communities to build housing quickly. And third, a stronger focus on the West Kootenay area and our potential to expand our battery hub and participate in expanded critical mineral output.

Thank you.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Thank you for the presentation, and I apologize for not acknowledging that you’re the mayor of Fruitvale.

Wesley Startup: Yes, I am. Big shoes to fill.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Thank you very much for the presentation. We really appreciate that.

Looking to members of this committee for questions.

Claire Rattée: We’ve heard from a few municipalities now, and it seems like the general theme is that the funding models need to change. Is that kind of what you’re getting at, that there’s too much that’s being downloaded onto the smaller municipalities, and the provincial government needs to step in a little bit more?

I also just wanted to touch…. You mentioned the province allowing municipalities to get housing built more quickly. So it’s both a funding issue and a regulatory issue, correct?

Wesley Startup: Correct, yes. I think that although the programs are out there, for a small community like ours with limited staff members, it’s hard to manoeuvre through all of the different guidelines and rules and specifications required to work with BC Builds and B.C. Housing on getting things done, collaborating with multiple different agencies. It’s time-consuming. It pushes projects out to years when they could be started within months.

The current regulatory conditions are very difficult for a small community like ours. We don’t have a planner. We have a CAO and a CFO and a clerk. It falls to, a lot of the times, our council to lead and get deep into operations stuff, where we probably shouldn’t be doing that. But yes.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Just following up on that. I’m hoping you can give me a little bit more detail about exactly what kind of support that you’re hoping for from the province. Are you hoping for some staffing time to be assigned to communities to help guide them through the process of applying for the currently existing programs?

Wesley Startup: Yeah, I think the ask would be for a funding model where we could hire a part-time planner or a consultant that could lead us through the process to get us to…. Well, we’re basically shovel-ready, but we need plans built, we need to coordinate with all of the other agencies. We need Lower Columbia Affordable Housing in on the play too. So yeah, it’s a funding issue.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Sorry, I don’t want to take up all the time, but for infrastructure…. We’re talking about infrastructure in terms of sewer, water, electrical, streets, sidewalks, all of the stuff. So you’re asking for funding from the province to help upgrade them?

Wesley Startup: Yeah, I think the point I’m trying to make is that as a small village, we’re invested, and we’re doing everything we can. We’re spending way more…. We’re punching above our weight, for sure. So yes, we’re looking for funding for infrastructure, for design work, for getting the pipes into the ground, that kind of thing.

[9:30 a.m.]

The days of sending the village crew out with a backhoe to dig up a street and replace the waterline — that’s not possible anymore. It involves engineering, drawings, all sorts of additional costs that were not there previously.

Steve Morissette: Thank you. So for economic development, you’re asking for us to support economic development around the proposal to be a battery recycling hub there. Is that the main ask?

Wesley Startup: Well, I think there are actually two aspects of the ask. Yes, the battery hub is a really important piece for us — we have the infrastructure in place already — but the second piece to that is the critical minerals. Now, we have Teck Metals Trail Operations. They are already involved in germanium and gallium and cobalt and many other of the critical minerals.

We met recently with the general manager, and they have a proposal to increase that capacity and to expand the metals that they’re currently refining, which is a thing that is really needed now, especially with the current tariff situation and our neighbours to the south wanting to expand there. I know they have a proposal out there, and we’re asking that it be looked at and supported.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): All right. Thank you, Mayor Startup. Thank you for the presentation.

We’ll go to our next mayor, actually. We have another mayor here, mayor of the city of Castlegar. We have Mayor Maria McFaddin.

Thanks for coming. You’ll have five minutes presentation time, followed by up to five minutes of questions from our committee.

City of Castlegar

Maria McFaddin: Great. I’m glad you have a timer, because I could talk for a long time.

Thank you for having me. We’re here to just talk a bit about, I think, not problems but solutions that we have for not only the city of Castlegar but really looking at rural B.C.

We have been working on this since 2017 around health care and primary care network, recognizing that a lot of rural B.C. has old models that are not working, becoming quite challenging to recruit doctors, to really integrate primary care staff that has been put into rural networks, and how that works with our existing clinics and all those pieces. So we have been working on a solution for quite a long time.

Currently, we have two aging practices. Again, they have come to us and said: “We have a hard time recruiting because of our model. We need to figure out a way to do it better.” With all of the physicians on board, as well as the city of Castlegar and the Kootenay Family Practice, we have been discussing this for a long time of what is the right model, how does it work? It comes to the same place that the province has come to, as looking at community care centres and primary care networks, whatever we want to call them…. Those ideas that we bring all of those resources under the same roof and they start to be able to work together.

So today, we’re really talking about the solution that we’ve come up with for Castlegar and for rural B.C., which is creating this space, this building. As a city, we have currently worked with, like I said, all of our primary care supporters as well as our local family physicians around the table to come up with and model a space that will work for all of them.

Now we are at the final stages. We have done all of our design. We have the land that we have donated as a city. We have all the physicians on board with an MOU. We have a developer and someone to oversee the administration. And so really, we’re looking just to get our project across the finish line.

Currently, we have put in around $2.3 million from the city of Castlegar, between land-in-kind and funding from the growing communities fund. We have put a lot of resources from ourselves, realizing that, I think, municipalities should raise the bar, that we should have skin in the game as well. We should not just be coming to the province and expect you to fail our needs, recognizing that health care has probably not been something that municipalities have been mandated to be in or have been in in the past.

But these are the times that we live in, and we all need to be pulling in the same direction. So we’ve done a lot of work at looking at some of the resources that the provincial government has put out and tried to align ourselves with those resources.

[9:35 a.m.]

The project budget is $9.5 million. Again, the city of Castlegar has put in just around $2.3 million, and we have other contributions that are attached to it as well. We’re looking at, from the provincial government, a $3.5 million investment. This will help us build out a facility for the future, not just for today.

We have a service area of about 16,000 people that we are trying to service. We have just over a 30 percent unattachment rate. With this model, we can increase that rate off the bat by utilizing the primary care staff that are already in our community. They are things that are already funded to be there, but because they’re in separate clinics and spread out throughout the community, they’re not being used. Without getting into all of my time explaining that, they’re just not being used to their full potential.

But by bringing them under the same roof, we can actually utilize resources that are already being paid for by health units, by the provincial government, and just utilizing them better.

We also are building our facility right in the same vicinity as our emergency department and the UPCC that is already there, so trying to utilize the resources that we already have and being able to just maximize the amount of patients we can attach to that.

We also know that this will increase the ability to recruit doctors, and that’s extremely important in this day and age. Most doctors coming out do not want to work in old models, which is why rural B.C. is having a struggle trying to find doctors. I know we have that struggle everywhere, but I do believe that rural B.C. has a bigger hurdle to overcome.

I think that the other thing we can do by our model is actually raise the bar. You get asked for a lot of money as a provincial government. A lot of municipalities are coming and saying: “Solve our problem for us.” I think we’ve actually put a lot of time, money and resource in you being able to say: “You can raise the bar a little bit higher as municipalities.”

You’ve got to come to the table with something. You’ve got to come to the table with what you can do, and then we’ll come and partner with you. We can’t solve any of these problems if we keep on trying to point the finger at each other. We actually have to start working together and pulling in the same direction.

On that, that is our request, $3.5 million to try and solve, I think, a problem and create a model that I think will work in not just Castlegar but the rest of rural B.C.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Great, thank you Mayor McFaddin. Perfect timing, too. That was great. Questions from members of this committee?

Jennifer Blatherwick: Talk to me about…. You have donated a significant portion of land, you have come together with all the partners, you have done the background work in order to ensure that this is done and you funded some of the design work from the growing communities fund. Is that a provincial fund?

Maria McFaddin: The growing communities fund was a fund that was given during COVID, really right after that, I believe, to help communities with these problems, like with growing. And so we have allocated some of that money to there.

From the city of Castlegar, there in total has been that amount of money given. Land has been donated, all of the design work we have done ourselves. So we have it shovel ready. It is ready to go. We have a developer. We have all of the pieces in place. We’re literally just waiting for that last bit of funding to bring it over the finish line.

Again, the problem is the doctors that we have need this amount of space, and the primary care staff need this amount of space. But now we know we need this amount of space in order to service all of our residents. So there’s this gap in between, and that’s where we’re struggling. How do we fill that gap between building it to what we know we’ll need and to what we actually have right now. That’s really where the funding comes in.

But for the rest of it, we have found funding or funded ourselves right up until design and ready to go.

Jennifer Blatherwick: So you have found funding to work to a certain level of capacity, but you’re hoping to have an expanded capacity that will better meet the needs of your current, mostly, maybe, future residents. So you could go forward with the project at a smaller scale, but you’re looking to complete the project at a…?

Maria McFaddin: Yes and no. Like so could we…? We would probably be challenged even to do that because you are also building in your PCN staff. There’s always this tension between what they’re funding the PCN staff, they’re over…. Sorry, do you know what PCN staff is? Primary care network staff that is funded by the Interior Health.

So those staff members are only funded to a certain degree. They’re not always funded to the full degree that you need them in order to be under the same roof. So there’s a tension with the staffing that we already have that would not be covered and then also that gap of the in-between of where we need to be.

Again, because we’re servicing not just the city of Castlegar…. It’s the region. We recognize that a lot of our patients are putting pressure on our surrounding areas, Trail and Nelson, and so we want to make sure that we’re not putting that pressure on their systems either, that we can actually pull those patients back into the city of Castlegar. Does that make sense?

[9:40 a.m.]

Steve Morissette: Just to be clear, $9.5 million total. You’ve put in $2.3 million already, the city has, asking for $3.5 million to do a portion of the building.

So you’ve got another $4.7 million that you have committed from other sources. So you need this $3.5 million and that’s it, it can go ahead.

Maria McFaddin: Absolutely, yeah, that’s all we need. The rest of it we have internally figured it out and with partnerships we’ve figured it out.

Steve Morissette: Excellent. Okay. Thank you.

Bryan Tepper: That probably answers my question, but if we’re moving people from other facilities in, what are we doing with the other facilities? Who owns them, I guess, would be the other question.

Maria McFaddin: The doctors currently own their two clinics. They own the buildings that they’re in. So a lot of these conversations are with them around understanding that that is accounted for in this project. What does that look like for them and their investments that they have there in order to move into a new facility to be able to work and stuff?

It is a part of the equation. I will be honest; it’s not a final part of the equation, but it’s really pennies compared to what we’re talking about for the project, because they’re old buildings that are pretty…. They need a lot of upgrades just in and of themselves. That kind of answers the question.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): All right. Thank you, Mayor McFaddin, for your presentation. That will conclude your portion today, but thanks so much.

We’ll move to our next presenter, which is the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy, Desneiges Profili.

Good morning. You’ll have a five-minute presentation time, followed by up to five minutes of questions from our committee members. You can begin when you’re ready.

Columbia Basin Alliance
for Literacy

Desneiges Profili: Thank you so much for having me today. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you. This is a rare and meaningful chance to connect with decision-makers and to share the urgent need for sustained investment in community literacy. The impact of this work reaches far beyond individual learners. It strengthens entire communities.

My name is Desneiges Profili, and I’m the executive director for CBAL, the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy. We are a non-profit organization based right here in southeast B.C. We represent 16 of the 98 literacy outreach networks across the province. We are here today to advocate not just for our region but for every smaller rural, urban and remote community across B.C.

We are deeply grateful to the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs for supporting literacy outreach coordination. This funding is the foundation for planning, developing, delivering and maintaining literacy programs in over 400 communities. We’re also thankful to the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills for its ongoing commitment to the community adult literacy program.

British Columbia is a national leader in literacy. Decoda Literacy Solutions is the backbone of this leadership, working not only to ensure funding is stable but to equip literacy practitioners with resources, training and the skills they need to meet growing community demands. Those needs are increasing across all demographics — adults, families, children, youth, newcomers, Indigenous communities and seniors.

The current $2.5 million for literacy outreach coordination and $3.4 million for CALP is essential. It means that when a learner is ready to walk through our doors, someone is there to meet them. These funds are not just a cost; they are an investment. At CBAL alone, we’re on track to leverage an additional $1.2 million. That doesn’t include our contracts with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or B.C.’s newcomer services program. The province’s investment acts as a catalyst that unlocks further resources and deepens impact.

Why invest in literacy? I am not an economist, so I’m not going to tell you that every dollar, the return in GDP, because I probably couldn’t explain that all to you anyways, but I can tell you that you don’t have to be to really understand the impact of literacy.

These investments lead to a stronger and more skilled workforce, where people are able to bridge into programs and post-secondary education training. Lower health care costs — because people can read their prescription bottles, they can advocate for themselves, and they can make really informed decisions. There are more resilient communities and stronger economies where individuals feel empowered. They find meaningful employment. They experience improved health and wellness, something that truly matters in today’s uncertain climate.

We’re calling on the province to increase funding to $4 million for literacy outreach coordination and $4.5 million for the CALP program. This increased investment will allow us to expand access across all demographics. It ensures that services people count on will not only continue to grow but meet the rise in demand. I hope that soon the question will be not why invest in literacy, but why wouldn’t we.

We have built a unique and proven structure across B.C. We’re no longer a small, unrecognized group. We are respected as a skilled field of professional practitioners making a tangible difference. Let me tell you what this looks like on the ground.

Ashlyn, a young parent, attended one of our family literacy programs in partnership with College of the Rockies in East Kootenay. There she developed life and literacy skills, completed her grade 12 and went on to enter a welding program, something she didn’t think possible before.

[9:45 a.m.]

Cheryl, who joined a digital learning support program for seniors just across the lake from where we’re sitting today, shared that the program helped her to now confidently set agendas, send emails and set up Zoom meetings as part of her work with a local paddling club.

Rosalita, a newcomer to Canada, began with CBAL by learning how to use a computer in the Elk Valley, giving her the confidence to enrol in an office administration program, and she aspires to work now in a professional office setting.

These are just a few of the thousands of lives touched every year.

We are not only creating opportunities; we are building stronger communities. Nearly two weeks ago, nearly 100 CBAL staff, volunteers, our partners and some learners came together at Learning for Life in Kimberley, our biennial conference. The energy, passion and commitment to literacy and lifelong learning that people felt and demonstrated in that room was quite palpable.

The ideas generated in these settings lead to grassroots efforts that are successful because of the collaborative and creative spirit of the people on the ground. That is the impact of this funding, a place where possibilities and opportunities can come together for the betterment of community.

Investing in community literacy is investing in B.C.’s economic, social, cultural and political future. On behalf of CBAL, we want to thank you for your past and current support and thank you for considering our request to further that and grow that investment.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Great. Thank you very much.

I’m looking to the committee for questions.

Jennifer Blatherwick: I think I might have missed something there. You have two funding streams, right?

Desneiges Profili: There are the two that fund the work directly from the province. Literacy outreach coordination — that’s the $2.4 million. Then there are the additional funds through the CALP program, which is the $3.4 million.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Thank you. When was the establishment of your current funding?

Desneiges Profili: This is a long story. When I started with CBAL, the first time literacy outreach coordination kind of came into effect was 2008 or so, 2009. Around then, we used to have to do district community literacy plans, and we used to work directly with schools to actually create those. That’s when the funding was first implemented.

CALP has been running for a very long time. We’ve been a CALP recipient probably for 17 years now.

Jennifer Blatherwick: So you have a current sustained funding model?

Desneiges Profili: The current funding model is…. We have literacy outreach coordination funding that we receive. I’m speaking directly about CBAL. There are 98 networks. Specific to CBAL, there is, of course, the literacy outreach coordination, and there’s the CALP funding.

In addition, we leverage our own funding internally. We have Columbia Basin Trust in our region, which also provides funding support for literacy initiatives. Then we have a number of local and regional funders as well that we tap into.

Jennifer Blatherwick: So you’re not asking for funding for next year. You’re saying: “Next year, we would like increased funding to the funding streams we already have.”

Desneiges Profili: Correct. We would like to see an increase in funding for the overall pot of money that is provided for literacy outreach coordination across the province.

CBAL receives about $260,000 of that $2.4 million that is actually provided for literacy outreach coordination, just to give you some perspective.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Perfect. Thank you.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Seeing no further questions, thank you very much for your presentation.

We’ll call on our next presenter, from the Lower Columbia Community Development Team Society, Cam Whitehead.

Good morning. You probably heard me say it, but I’ll repeat it again: five minutes for presentation time followed by up to five minutes of questions from committee members. You can begin when you’re ready.

Lower Columbia Community
Development Team Society

Cam Whitehead: That’s great. Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity to discuss the opportunities in our region that align with B.C.’s capacity to process critical minerals into critical metals, the provincial government priorities and our region’s community economic development.

My name is Cam Whitehead. I’m the executive director of the Lower Columbia Community Development Team, which leads the Metal Tech Alley initiative. Metal Tech Alley is a partnership of community leaders, industry and the municipalities of the “east end seven,” as we call them. That’s Trail, Rossland, Warfield, Montrose and Fruitvale and also the regional district of Kootenay Boundary, A and B.

We support our region’s position as a global leader in critical minerals, metallurgy and the circular economy, as well as wider community economic development.

[9:50 a.m.]

We believe that the wider community is essential for economic development. That’s why we’re proud to support the incredible farmers markets of Trail, Fruitvale and Rossland and continue to support our spinoff associations that support affordable housing and the community health centre in Trail.

As I’m sure you know, Teck’s Trail Operations is one of the largest integrated multi-metallic smelting and refining complexes in the world today, with the capability to produce strategic metals. It has been operating continuously on the same site in Trail for 129 years and contributes about 5,500 jobs in the East and West Kootenays. Seven out of 34 minerals on Canada’s critical mineral list are produced at Trail. That’s germanium, zinc, indium, bismuth, antimony and small amounts of copper and tellurium.

With rapid changes in the global political landscape, there is a pressing need for Canada and British Columbia to strengthen its position as one of the most trusted and reliable suppliers of strategically important metals into the U.S., to Canada and global partners. Teck and our region have an important role as the only primary supplier and producer of germanium in Canada and the only primary producer or supplier of antimony in Canada.

With shifts in both the supply and markets for critical minerals, there are many opportunities for spinoff benefits for a region such as ours. We anticipate that there will be new business opportunities created by shifting global trade in the critical mineral space. But we need to act quickly to take advantage of these new opportunities so that our regional metallurgical sector can continue to thrive in this new reality. That’s why I’m here to recommend that B.C. put its money where its mouth is and invest to support critical minerals in our region and the related community economic development to happen in the Kootenays.

My specific recommendation today is to invest in a B.C. critical minerals and battery hub in the Kootenays that will highlight investment opportunities in our metallurgical sector, will conduct research and development and will ensure workforce training for value-added processing of critical minerals and batteries to support the establishment and expansion of B.C. companies in our region. This hub will build on our region’s successes in battery recycling and in leading the circular economy movement and in the innovative metallurgical sector.

We should note the regional economic benefits for this approach, and we’ve seen many companies come out of this metallurgical sector, including KC Recycling and Cirba Solutions, formerly Retriev, and Fenix Advanced Materials.

This initiative is already supported by our local government. Our region is invested to the tune of nearly $1 million in the next three years, supporting our organization to push forward this initiative. Yet since the end of the rural dividend, there has been no direct B.C. investment in that initiative. Because there has been no provincial investment, there has been no federal investment either.

I’m here to say that we’re ready. We have industry on board, we have the region and the local municipalities on board, and we’d like to see the province as well.

Metal Tech Alley welcomes investment opportunities in our metallurgical sector as it aligns Canada’s and British Columbia’s critical mineral strategies, B.C.’s StrongerBC and CleanBC priorities. There’s a tangible investment in our region that will have significant impact on the Kootenay economy, playing to our strengths in the metallurgical sector.

Innovation is in our blood here in the Kootenays. I just ask that you prioritize a regional hub, as too often government priorities do not make it past large urban centres to see investment here. Thank you.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Thank you very much for that. I have a bunch of new minerals to google. Germanium?

Cam Whitehead: Germanium.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Yeah. I know what geraniums are. Germanium, I haven’t…. It was very interesting. Great presentation.

Looking to members of this committee.

Steve Morissette: Thank you for the presentation, Cam. Maybe just elaborate on what is currently happening in the area with, like, KC and Cirba and Fenix, what they’re currently doing just briefly.

Cam Whitehead: Yeah. KC and Cirba are lead battery and lithium battery recyclers. They’re, I believe, one of the only main recyclers within 2,000 kilometres of the region. It’s a brilliant way to take advantage of formally waste streams. Part of the EV economy is needing to recycle these batteries — break it down to its components and repurpose. So thrilled with their work.

[9:55 a.m.]

For Fenix Advanced Materials, they’re a customer of Teck, the smelter in town, that takes waste stream material and then refines it into usable high-grade, high-purity critical metals. They’re essentially refining the product.

We love this as a circular economy project, a regional economy.

Steve Morissette: Then, just to follow up, what is your specific ask? Like, do you have an X dollars?

Cam Whitehead: Yeah, I’d like $5 million from the province in the critical metals and battery hub, as part of the critical minerals office, to be able to put its money where its mouth is.

Jennifer Blatherwick: What I’m hearing is that there’s already a substantial, like, pre-infrastructure here and that it’s responsive, could be ready to be upscaled.

In terms of transport infrastructure, is that in place already? So if we’re looking at, you know, there being a hub in this region, is there the capacity to move those products back and forth within the region?

Cam Whitehead: Yes. There are 129 years’ worth of transportation of large amounts of ore into the Trail smelter. We have just recently completed a feasibility study on expanding north-south corridor. We are very well aware of potential challenges, but we don’t anticipate anything impacting this particular project.

Jennifer Blatherwick: Could you talk a little bit more about the Fenix Advanced Materials project? They’re refining — sorry, did you say — waste product from Teck?

Cam Whitehead: Well, essentially from the lead…. This is outside of my area of expertise, but I believe they take products from Teck and refine them up. They’re not Teck’s main product to sell, lead and zinc, etc. But they take other products out and then refine them through their own processes. It’s a way that, like, innovative companies have taken what would otherwise be, essentially, a waste stream and upscaled value-added processing in the metallurgical sector.

Elenore Sturko (Deputy Chair): Thank you, Mr. Whitehead.

Seeing no further questions, we’ll conclude your presentation time. Thank you very much.

Looking to the committee to identify any other business. No other business.

Thank you, everyone who presented. That concludes our meeting in Nelson today. Our committee will be in Penticton this afternoon for our next public hearing.

I’ll now seek a motion to adjourn.

Motion approved.

The committee adjourned at 9:57 a.m.