I had the opportunity to attend the BC Business Summit 2013, along fellow Beedie Ambassadors. Organized by the Business Council of British Columbia, the summit was meant as a discussion of BC’s economic opportunities and challenges. The event spanned twenty-four hours and brought together municipal, provincial and federal government officials, as well as business, economic, and First Nations leaders.
The first day of the event began with an empowering speech by BC’s Premier, Christy Clark. Clark focused on the discovery and development of liquid natural gas resources in BC and revealed that the first rights to extrapolate and sell the gas have just been granted. This means that thousands of new jobs will be created in a short period of time, due to a single provider of liquid natural gas. With more rights waiting to be granted in the near future, British Columbians can expect an explosive demand of skilled labour. She also discussed turning BC into an investment beacon in the future. This included decreasing corporate taxes to provide investment incentives, establishing trade missions to Asia to improve trade relationships, and focusing on British Columbians to supply the demand that will come in the future.
The remainder of the first day followed a very similar trajectory of hope and praise for BC’s economy. It seemed every government official in the room was on a path to landscape BC into an investment friendly terrace and it seemed like this was a very likely future. So it was a shock to hear that the first words spoken on the second day were not about the thousands of jobs to be created or the many millions to be made, but of the social benefit of all of this growth.
The Minister of Industry and Minister Responsible for British Columbia, James Moore, and President and CEO of TECK, Don Lindsay, set the tone for the second day. They did not start speaking about the prosperous economy awaiting BC if the right key is put into the lock. Instead, they spoke about the simple fact that a prosperous economy will raise the quality of life for each and every British Columbian. In fact, the summit was not about how corporations could make more money. It was about how we can streamline and improve the immigration process, how we can connect and work with the First Nations of British Columbia, and how we can ensure that our children do not have to worry about an economic struggle.
While the key words spoken during those twenty-four hours seem to be “balanced” and “budget,” in reality, they were “secured” and “future.” The BC Business Summit of 2013 was a discussion of how we can take advantage of the short term benefit quickly approaching us and turn it into long term security for multiple generations.
Alex is going into his third year at the Beedie School of Business, concentrating in Marketing and Finance. Having been involved since his first year, he believes that the student community and extra-curricular experiences are some of the most valuable aspects at Beedie. Along with being a Beedie Ambassador, he is also the President of the Student Marketing Association and has competed at KPMG’s Ace the Case and the Wideman Education Foundation Project Management Competition. These experiences are unique to Beedie, and Alex knows that he would not have had these experiences elsewhere. He is now looking forward to representing the school abroad, to professionals and fellow students alike.