Conversations Live with Stuart McNish

Canada has designed 31 minerals as critical – essential to our green digital economy, but whose supply is threatened. From copper to cesium they are in batteries; every electronic device, computer, and EV; permanent magnets; optical instruments; wiring; bearings; run-of river dams, wind farms, and solar arrays; aerospace alloys; catalytic converters & carbon dioxide scrubbers; and medical equipment. Our modern world simply does not exist without them. As the world strives to electrify demand for critical minerals is skyrocketing. Electric vehicles don’t burn fossil fuels, but they require an average of 200 kilograms of critical minerals each – six times that required to build an internal combustion vehicle. It’s a theme repeated across numerous fields. As a result, from 2017 – 2022 demand for lithium tripled, demand for cobalt rose 70 per cent, for nickel 40 per cent. The International Energy Agency predicts overall demand for critical minerals will more than triple by 2030 if the world continues to pursue the goal of net zero emissions by 2050. This is leading to a shortage of many minerals as miners struggle to keep up with demand for responsibly-secured supplies – and to get through regulatory processes that can drag on for years. Join us 7 p.m. May 22 for a conversation about critical minerals with an outstanding panel of experts working in this field every day.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Preparing for disasters has long been a consideration in municipal, household, and business budgeting. Earthquake prep perhaps attracted the most public focus in recent decades, before the 2020’s, while funding for some other streams fell off. In late 2021 disaster preparedness became an urgent public priority virtually overnight when a series of storms dumped an unprecedented amount of rain on BC at the same time as unseasonably warm weather caused a rapid winter snow melt. Both the Fraser River in BC and the Nooksack in Washington State flooded, the water overwhelming dikes and plunging thousands of farms, businesses, and homes in the Sumas Prairie under deep water. Crops and farm animals alike perished on BC’s most productive agricultural land. All three highways connecting Metro Vancouver to the rest of Canada were severed, disrupting supply chains for shipments of food and other critical goods. Since then, BC has weathered a series of intense wildfire seasons that have burned vast stretches of forest and many structures, droughts, heat domes, and cold snaps. The need for disaster preparedness has never been more top-of-mind – whether at a household, government, or business level. We have brought together a panel of experts from business, First Nations, and government for a conversation about this critical matter – 7 p.m. April 30. The panel:Christine Trefanenko, Director and Co-Founder, CCEM StrategiesTony Geheran, TELUS Chief Operations Officer and Executive Vice-PresidentRoss Siemens, Mayor of AbbotsfordLeon Gaber, KPMG National Lead, Emergency ManagementBowinn Ma, BC Minister of Emergency Management and Climate ReadinessTim Swanson, FortisBC Director of Corporate Security and Business ContinuityWe hope you can join us for the conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On April 23 we will sit down for a 90-minute conversation with Premier David Eby – live and unscripted.When we sat down with Mr. Eby a year ago he had been premier for just over 100 days. More than a year later the honeymoon is over.Just this week S&P downgraded the province’s credit rating, expressing concern about BC’s financial health and rising operating deficit. BC’s most recent budget forecasts a record deficit of almost $8 billion for 2024-05.For the first time in a decade more people left BC for other provinces in 2023.Drug decriminalization is also in the news this week as it’s come to light nurses are dealing with rampant drug use and dealing in hospitals, while workers at some Victoria supportive housing sites are being provided respirators to avoid toxic drug smoke exposure.The economy, housing, cost of living, transportation, tent encampments, drug decriminalization and deaths, healthcare, crime, gang warfare, bail reform, policing and the Surrey police transition, school overcrowding, extreme weather due to climate change, carbon taxes, rising antisemitism and islamophobia.A challenging time to be BC’s premier, and an election is looming.Join us for this special edition, 3:30 p.m. April 23 by webcast. We will take your questions for the premier on Slido. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In December the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) quashed FortisBC’s plans to build a natural gas pipeline in the Okanagan – a $327 million project that would have seen a 30-kilometer line and two related power stations built to meet growing demand for gas in BC’s southern interior.FortisBC is warning that without additional natural gas transport capacity the region could start experience natural gas shortages in the winter of 2026/27, less than three years from now.The reason? The BCUC found the plan did not account for a downturn in demand for natural gas as the province moves away from generating energy from fossil fuels and adopting more clean energy. The regulator found the forecast demand “is highly unlikely to occur.”BCUC’s chair & CEO and the President & CEO of Fortis BC are part of our panel for a conversation about Energy & The Environment April 2. The panel:Mark Jaccard, Chair and CEO of the BC Utilities CommissionRoger Dall’Antonia, President & CEO, FortisBCKaren Tam Wu, Climate action advocate & policy advisorBarry Penner, Chair of the Energy Futures InitiativeAndras Vlaszak, Director, Energy Transition Project Development & Finance, Global Infrastructure Advisory, KPMGThere’s no question the climate is changing and urgent action is needed. But is increasing electricity use the answer for BC?Shortly after the BCUC decision BC Hydro revealed it imported about 20 per cent of the electricity British Columbians consumed last year – due both to constrained generation as drought reduced the water available at hydro dams and increasing demand as our population grows and we drive more electric vehicles and install more heat pumps in our homes.Most of that imported power came from Washington State, California, and Alberta. According to the California Energy Commission and the US Energy Information Administration California and Washington State produce environmentally sound power from sources including hydro, solar, nuclear, and geothermal – but also from burning natural gas, biomass, and even coal. As for Alberta, according to the Canada Energy Regulator that province generates 89 per cent of its power from burning coal and natural gas.The Site C Dam is set to come online this year and will help increase our available supply of hydro power, but the amount BC Hydro imported in 2023 is twice that facility’s predicted annual production.Water levels are low due to drought again this year, and a recent report is warning the combination of increasing demand and generation constraints will only get worse in coming years, even with Site C.What’s the answer to this very complex challenge?We hope you can join us for the conversation – on webcast 7 p.m. April 2. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our media partner Postmedia is taking a closer look at the troubling issues of tent cities in an in-depth investigation. Join us 11 a.m. PT March 12 for a special edition of Conversations Live with Stuart McNish where we will take on this critical matter with Postmedia and a panel of people facing this issue in their work every day.The impacts of tent cities are intensely local and personal – for both the homeless residents struggling to get through the day and the people living in the neighbourhoods around them. Yet far being isolated local issues tent encampments have become a national crisis, a reality for far too many communities across Canada - including many small towns.By one estimate some 235,000 people now experience homelessness in Canada every year, and about a quarter of those stayed in a tent encampment. These ad hoc communities are often miserable - densely packed, dangerous, cold, and attractive to predators targeting vulnerable residents. Residents trying to stay warm resort to open flames and propane tanks inside tents, causing very real fire risk.Yet, what option to their residents have? Like all of us they need a warm, safe place to sleep. Municipal and provincial governments are forming teams to take on this issue, but fact is there just isn’t sufficient shelter space and safe housing, let alone critical social service supports. Encampments have become an issue of fundamental human rights and safety. But there is no clear way forward.We hope you can join us for this national conversation – on webcast 11 a.m. PT March 12. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A report issued in January predicts Metro Vancouver will hit 3 million residents this summer, 4 million in 2041 – just 17 years down the road. Overall, the province is on track to have 5.65 million residents on July 1 – up about 150,000 in just one year – and is projected to top 6 million people in 2028, 7 million just a decade later. Every one of those people will need a safe and comfortable home, reasonably near work and amenities. Not to mention all the infrastructure supporting that home and related quality of life – sewer and water, electrical, gas, roads, transit, parks, schools, hospitals, grocery stores . . . . On February 27 we will re-visit the critical issue of addressing BC’s housing crunch with an outstanding panel including both the provincial minister and an outspoken suburban mayor.The panel:Ravi Kahlon – BC’s Housing MinisterRichard Stewart – Mayor of CoquitlamMichael Geller – Architect, planner, developer, and real estate consultantRyan Berlin – Vice-President and Senior Economist, RennieDavid Hutniak – CEO of Landlord BCOne of our panelists, Michael Geller, put BC’s population growth in critical context in a January 20 Vancouver Sun article:“Going from 2.9 to 3.0 million to mind is not that significant,” said Geller. “But how we accommodate the next million, that’s significant.”The province is taking “dramatic” action with new legislation aimed at significantly increasing density and adding more housing – particularly around bus loops and transit hubs. However, questions are being raised by municipalities about the workability of the province’s approach – especially where cities have been undertaking planned densification to ensure infrastructure is enhanced to keep up with more population. Cities like Coquitlam are raising local concerns, while also taking steps to manage the impact of growth and related construction, working to sustain quality of life while the community rapidly adds population. We hope you can join us for the conversation – on webcast 7 p.m. February 27. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us for a special edition about organized crime in BC - 2:30 p.m. February 6. The panel:Kim Bolan – Vancouver Sun reporterCalvin Chrustie – Partner, Critical Risk TeamFiona Wilson – Deputy Chief Constable, VPDNeil Dubord – Chief Constable, Delta Police We hope you can join us for the conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Canada’s population grew by a record 1.1 million people in the last year the push to build housing gained new urgency. New housing requires expanded infrastructure capacity – not just municipal roads, sewer and water lines but also new electrical grid capacity all the way down to transformers on utility poles, gas lines, schools, and more transit. Existing infrastructure is already straining under increased demand. Water shortages are prompting more serious restrictions in summer, in some cases even total bans on agricultural irrigation. Regional parks are having to implement new policies managing parking and visitor numbers. BC Ferries is carrying a record number of passengers and regularly suggesting people walk on during busy weekends. Schools are adding even more portables to house classes – struggling to get them all insulated and up to standards in time for winter. For the first time, some BC hospitals are also adding portables to expand waiting room capacity. Major infrastructure and resource projects essential to the Canadian economy and vitally important to First Nations are bogged down. Billions of dollars of investment is needed across numerous sectors simply to catch up to the infrastructure needs of Canada today, never mind tomorrow. That work would require years – if contractors can be sourced. Join us 7 p.m. January 23 as we dig into the challenges and solutions of our infrastructure deficit.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

44 per cent of BC exports go to markets in the Asia Pacific. 20 per cent of Canadians have family ties to the region. According to Global Affairs Canada the “Indo-Pacific region will play a critical role in shaping Canada’s future over the next half-century.” The region has 40 economies including China and India, almost two-thirds of the world’s population, and $47.19-trillion in economic activity. It is home to half of Canada’s top trading partners. The opportunities are tremendous. So are the challenges. Canada’s relationship with India hit a new low this year when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested the country may have been involved in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in BC. India retaliated by halting the issuance of travel visas to Canadians and threatening to revoke the protections accorded to Canadian diplomats in that country, prompting Canada to withdraw 41 staff. China is BC’s second largest trading partner after the USA. It’s not a comfortable relationship – Canada has recently criticized the Chinese government for unfair trade practices and human rights abuses. China has been accused of espionage and operating a shadowy network of unofficial police stations in Canada engaged in intimidation of Canadians with Chinese heritage and their families – including Canadian MP Michael Chong. Military tensions are rising in the region. The panel:Sukesh Kumar, Audit Partner and National Leader of KPMG’s India Practice in CanadaDuncan Wilson, Port of Vancouver Vice President, Environment and External AffairsJeff Nankivell, President & CEO, Asia Pacific Foundation of CanadaBrenda Bailey, BC Minister of Jobs, Economic Development & Investment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than 150 court victories have confirmed that the resources of Canada can only be developed when working with and obtaining First Nations approval.Many First Nations are on a road to reclaiming prosperity and revitalizing cultures.Some urban First Nations have become significant land-owners actively pursuing development with the potential to help address our housing crisis. In rural areas some First Nations have taken ownership stakes in resource projects. Numerous companies are playing an active and positive role in reconciliation. These early days – far from smooth and uncontroversial. It is likely impossible to envision where we will be in the decades to come. The interests of First Nations are enormously diverse, and often at odds – witness examples in salmon farming and forestry. BC conducted a homeless count in October – indigenous people made up a third of those counted. Incarceration rates of indigenous people are more than 10 times those of the total population. Poverty and unemployment rates remain astronomically high. First Nations communities too often remain without the services that others take for granted.The issues are not unique to BC, or even Canada – in an October referendum Australians voted against creating an advocacy committee to advise parliament on policies affecting Indigenous people. Join us by webcast 7 p.m. November 21 as we bring together a panel of leaders in First Nations, business, and law to discuss economic reconciliation today, and into the future. The panel:Ellis Ross – MLA (Skeena), Shadow Minister for Energy and LNGCrystal Smith – Elected Chief Councillor of Haisla Nation; Chairwoman of the First Nations LNG AllianceConrad Browne – President & CEO, Dakwakada Capital InvestmentsGreg D’Avignon – Former President & CEO of the BC Business Council of BC; Partner, Canadian Strategy GroupRoger Dall'Antonia – President and CEO of Fortis BCThomas Isaac – Aboriginal Law Lawyer, Partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLPLeon Gaber – Executive Director & National Lead (Critical Infrastructure Resilience & Emergency Management Practice), KPMGWe hope you can join us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Conversations Live special edition – A dialogue with Vancouver Mayor Ken SimJoin us November 9 when we sit down with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim for a wide-ranging dialogue about his first year as Vancouver’s mayor. This special edition of Conversations Live will run 3:30 – 4:30 p.m., webcast on the Vancouver Sun and right here on our own website. Viewers will have a chance to ask the mayor your own questions via Slido. We hope you can join us for the Conversation! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Oct 10 we will be joined by an outstanding panel of people actively engaged in fostering workplace accessibility from a variety of perspectives – not just as it relates to disability, butdifference and diversity of all types.The panel:Stephanie Cadieux - Canada’s first Chief Accessibility OfficerCharlotte-Anne Malischewski - Human Rights Commission interim Chief CommissionerMark Wafer - Disability rights activist and keynote speakerWendy Lisogar-Cocchia - Pacific Autism Network founder & directorKathleen Reid - Switchboard PR founder & Chief Communications OfficerJillian Frank - KPMG partner, employment & labour lawParm Hari - Vancouver Fraser Port Authority Vice-President, People, Process & PerformanceThe statistics tell a powerful story. 16 per cent of Canada’s adult population has a disability. According to Statistics Canada’s 2022 survey only 59.4 per cent of Canadian adults with adisability have employment, compared to more than 80 per cent of Canadians without a disability.Yet, hiring a diverse workforce has proven benefits, across numerous studies – increased profits, a variety of perspectives leading to better decision-making, more innovation and creativity, reduced turnover and better engagement, and a broader pool of candidates from which to hire.Mark Wafer and his wife Valerie’s story proves the point. They owned seven Tim Hortons’ franchises in the Toronto area. Hearing impaired himself, Mark was interested in creating jobs for people with disabilities. One of his first hires was a young man with Down Syndrome. He became a star employee – dedicated, hard-working, and friendly. Mark and Valerie went on to hire more than 250 people with disabilities during 25 years in that business – averaging about 17 per cent of their workforce at any one time, in roles from managers to bakers. They hired people with autism, hearing impairments, physical disabilities, and intellectual delays.Fast food restaurants are infamous for high (and costly) employee turnover. What Mark found, however, was that while the average tenure for their employees overall was 1.3 years that grew to 7.0 years for employees with disabilities. The employees were dedicated, didn’t miss shifts, and worked hard.In a CBC story, Mark estimated it costs him $4,000 to hire and train a new employee. With their longer tenures and strong work, hiring Canadians with disabilities improved their business performance and increased profit, while creating opportunity for dozens of people. Yet, unemployment rates among Canadians with disability remain stubbornly high even during times of labour shortage.We hope you can join us for the conversation – webcast live 7 p.m. October 10. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We launch our second season with a deep dive into the new world of artificial intelligence with some of Canada’s top thinkers in the field. 7 p.m. Oct 3, Stuart McNish will moderate a panel including:Edoardo De Martin – CEO Industrio AI & Chief Development Officer, Digital Innovation ClusterMark Low – KPMG IgnitionTerri Griffith – Keith Beedie Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Simon Fraser University Beedie School of BusinessDr. Sylvain Moreno – Founder of the Circle Innovation modelDavid Seymour – Vice President and General Manager in Office Media Group, Microsoft Vancouver,Calvin Gerus – Borealis AI Early AI actually started playing an important role in our lives in the 1980s (even earlier in science fiction) - a computer science used for simple but detailed tasks such as inspecting circuit boards in manufacturing. Early AI proved good at picking patterns out of huge quantities of data and noting details a human eye may miss. It’s critical in the algorithms driving online search engines like Google, and in detecting credit card fraud. With the launch of ChatGPT, however, the technology has been thrust into public discourse in a new way. Overnight, the new platform was writing blogs, conducting online research, and helping students cheat on papers. Its limitations have quickly become apparent, as have some of the new challenges the technology creates. Perhaps more importantly, but quietly, new AI applications are being developed across hundreds of fields. AI’s already starting to play a key role in healthcare, education, and manufacturing. It’s creating new fields of work not conceived of until recently but already employing thousands. It’s also fostering fears of increasing automation costing jobs – playing a key role in the recent port strike and ongoing Hollywood actors and writers strike. There is concern people will stop learning underlying processes AI can replicate and we’ll lose expertise in creating art by hand, writing, and research. If AI does free humans from tedious and dangerous work but creates new jobs managing that work, is it a net positive? Will it finally be the technology that frees up our time for other things?Can AI help us overcome looming challenges of capacity in fields such as healthcare and education? AI is already starting to play a role in healthcare, helping doctors diagnose ailments from an array of scans, patient history, genetics, test results, and devices such as a fitness band or heart monitors. It has the same potential to radically change our financial systems, education, militaries, transportation networks, and media. We hope you can join us as we strive to answer some of these questions on Oct 3.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BC’s economy is slowing, along with economies around the world.    For our next conversation June 20 we have pulled together a panel of individuals with robust insights into the provincial, national, and global economies. Jock Finlayson – Senior Policy Advisor at the Business Council of BCMurray Leith – EVP & Director of Investment Research at Odlum BrownChristine Bergeron - President & CEO of VanCityKatrine Conroy – BC Minister of FinanceWalter Pela – GVA Regional Managing Partner at KPMGA recent BC Business Council survey of major employers found they expect slower growth and sales over the next year, and are cooling economic investment plans. Hiring plans, however, remain ‘robust.’ While we’re not in a recession, according to the numbers, most firms surveyed believe it’s likely to happen this year.   Late last year BC released an economic forecast following a meeting with the 13-member Economic Forecast Council. At that time the group anticipated growth of just 0.4 per cent in BC through 2023.  Since that report was released the Bank of Canada has raised the core interest rate just once, to 4.50 per cent, following a series of hikes through 2021 and ’22 meant to curb rapidly-rising inflation. Rising interest rates and inflation are putting very real pressure on many British Columbians, especially those struggling to afford increasingly-expensive groceries or with large variable-rate mortgages that have become far more expensive.  Despite this BC’s diversified economy, with growth industries such as life sciences and technology, position the province to weather this economic storm even as more traditional sectors such as forestry struggle.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On May 16 we will sit down with an outstanding panel to explore an emerging high-tech industry with the potential to become one of BC’s most important economic sectors – life sciences.  BC has become a hub of life sciences innovation in recent years, with hundreds of companies leading the way in research into new therapies, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. According to Life Sciences BC the province is home to the country’s fastest-growing life sciences sector with 1,100 active companies employing 20,000 British Columbians and generating $5.4 billion in annual revenue.  Yet there are considerable impediments holding companies back from growing to larger scale in the province. BC’s corporate and income tax structure, limited industrial land needed to affordably build out office and processing facilities, and a challenging housing market all make it difficult to attract employees and scale up.  Our question – how can we create the conditions to ensure this sector’s success in BC? Our panel:Andrew Booth, CFO - AbCelleraAllen Eaves, President & CEO - Stemcell TechnologiesBrenda Bailey, BC Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and InnovationDarryl Knight, President - Providence ResearchWendy Hurlburt, President and CEO - Life Sciences BC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us April 6 when we sit down with Premier David Eby for a wide-ranging conversation.   The 100 days of action Premier Eby promised when he took on the role Nov 18 recently wrapped with an announcement of new cost-of-living payments for British Columbians. Buoyed by a one-time budget surplus he’s announced hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding for housing, healthcare, and agriculture. BC Ferries and Translink each received a half-billion dollars to keep fares down while maintaining service levels. The Premier has set out to reform the catch-and-release of repeat violent offenders, and to address BC’s crises in mental healthcare and toxic drug deaths.   His campaign has been criticized for being big on announcements but light on execution, as relevant cabinet ministers have struggled to answer questions in the legislature and media. His creation of a ‘duplicate cabinet’ of high-profile experts reporting directly to the premier’s office on key issues including housing, healthcare, and reconciliation - already the mandates of senior cabinet ministers - has been critiqued as evidence he is centralizing. He is taking a distinctly different approach from that of his predecessor John Horgan.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us 7 p.m. March 28 as we circle back to the critical issue of feeding BC into the future, this time with a focus on climate smart agriculture.  We have pulled together a panel of people who are part of a quiet revolution underway in our food production, individuals deeply involved in the science, production, and evolution of how we will raise better food into the future.   The panel:Federica Di Palma - Chief Scientific Officer & VP Research and Innovation, Genome BCPeter Dhillon - Chair of Ocean Spray and BC Food Security Task Force memberEvan Fraser - Director of the Arrell Food Institute and professor at the University of Guelph, where he helps lead the Food from Thought research initiativePhilip Steenkamp, President of Royal Roads UniversityKarn Manhas, CEO of TerrameraBahram Rashti, co-founder and CEO of Fresh Green Farms and UP Vertical Farms Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In February we are revisiting housing with a focus on rental.  The panelists:Jill Atkey, CEO of BC Non-Profit Housing AssociationJon Stovell, President & CEO of Reliance PropertiesWendy Waters, VP of Research Services & Strategy, GWL Realty AdvisorsMichael Epp, Director of Housing Planning and Development, Metro VancouverRentals plays a key role in ensuring sufficient and affordable housing, and yet few purpose-built rental units are being developed in BC today, while populations continue to grow. The result? Rents are sky-rocketing, and more people are struggling to put a roof over their heads.  Demand for rental housing will only get more pronounced in coming years, with Metro Vancouver forecast to add about a million residents by 2050, growing from about 2.6 million people today to 3.6 million.  Premier David Eby created a new stand-alone Housing ministry in his recent cabinet shuffle, and just last week announced a half-billion dollar fund to purchase older, existing rental building for non-profits so they won’t be sold to private companies and redeveloped. Will those moves result in more rental housing becoming available? Why aren’t private developers building more rental housing, or non-profits? Are provincial regulations or municipal roadblocks getting in the way? What about SROs? We have pulled together a panel of people who have spent their working lives in housing, rental in particular, and will dive deep into the causes of this challenge – and its solutions.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On January 17 Conversations Live with Stuart McNish will explore the issue of BC’s energy future with a panel of individuals emersed in the facts and politics of this critical issue, and well-positioned to help us look towards our energy future. The panelists:Ian Anderson – Former Trans Mountain Corporation President & CEOCrystal Smith – Chief Councillor, Haisla Nation; chair of the First Nations LNG AllianceRoger Dall’Antonia, President and CEO of Fortis BCMark Jacquard, SFU Professor and Director of the School of Resource and Environmental ManagementRoss Beaty - Chairman of Alterra PowerOil and gas, LNG, Site C, wind, solar, geothermal, run-of-river, and even nuclear are all put forward by some as the way to meet BC’s growing demand for power – but also criticized for environmental impacts or lack of capacity and challenges with cost or practical application. Protests and violent opposition continue to dog energy projects, and governments & industry struggle to move forward with pipelines, ports, and processing facilities. Burning fossil fuels is criticized as contributing to climate change, which is already causing significant issues with extreme weather. Yet, some argue Canada’s high environmental standards for fossil fuel extraction and carbon capture projects position us to be part of the solution globally, part of a transition away from burning dirty coal for electrical generation. Which power source is the right one to meet BC’s growing energy demand, or is it really a question of using all available sources in a responsible and thoughtful manner?  What role will First Nations play in BC’s energy future? We expect it will be a central one.  And while we may not read about it much today the impacts of power generation decisions of past governments continue today – the Columbia River dams built in the Kootenays in the 1960s flooded productive agricultural land and continue to attract local anger, but generate huge amounts of power and limit flood risk. What lessons have we learned from this history? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BC Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon will join Conversations Live with Stuart McNish for a wide-ranging conversation 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 13. The Vancouver Sun’s Vaughn Palmer is set to join us in the room, and we expect he’ll bring his usual keen perspectives and questions to the conversation. It should be a good one!  Mark your calendars to join us as we address the big issues facing our province – housing, crime & safety, healthcare, toxic drugs, local food, transportation, the economy, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.