More B.C. businesses than ever are adopting sustainable practices, says a report on the future of the Fraser River Basin.
But Patrick Reid, chairman of the Fraser Basin Council (FBC), says businesses can still do a better job of looking out for the people who work, live and play on the banks of the province's longest river.
"The message to business is to sit down - if you haven't done it already - and look at the market," Reid told Business Edge after unveiling the report recently at the 2004 State of the Fraser Basin Conference in Vancouver.
"Look at the workers from the community in which these products are sold or manufactured or produced in whatever way, and see how they combine with politicians and everybody else who have a stake in what you do.”
The Fraser Basin spans 1,400 kilometres from the Fraser River's headwaters in the Rocky Mountains near the B.C.-Alberta border to the delta at the Strait of Georgia on the Pacific Ocean and includes 13 major tributaries and many other minor ones.
The basin includes northern communities such as Prince George as well as Greater Vancouver, the province's largest urban centre, while producing 80 per cent of B.C.'s economic output and 10 per cent of Canadian output.
"What works for business works for people - for families and so on - and what works for families is going to work for business," said Reid, the former head of Vancouver's Expo '86. "I wouldn't isolate business from the whole spectrum of how we, in fact, are going to survive in the natural environment that we have.”
According to the FBC report entitled Sustainability Snapshot 2, more B.C. companies are documenting their social, economic and environmental practices and performances, but not as quickly as those in other provinces.
Citing a Stratos Inc. study, the FBC report says 15 of 100 Canadian companies that filed sustainability reports for 2001-02 were based in B.C. Three B.C. firms ranked in the top 10 scores for sustainability.
In 2000, 12 of the 57 companies that filed sustainability reports were from B.C.
"Individuals and institutions alike are seeing that sustainability is not an option - it is essential - so they are becoming more willing to co-operate and collaborate in making sustainability a reality," said Reid during his opening address to the conference.
Reid and other speakers equated the Fraser Basin's environmental, social and economic sustainability with that of the province as a whole. Reid said the report shows the basin is in reasonably good shape, although several "stark" findings give people reason to pause.
If it were a country, B.C. would rank fourth in the world in greenhouse gas emissions, says the report. Meanwhile, 24 per cent of Fraser Basin residents live in inadequate and/or unaffordable housing; about 500,000 people earn $20,000 a year or less; and the incidence of diabetes, especially among children, is expected to rise 87 per cent by 2010.
The FBC report notes some parts of the Fraser Basin are becoming less economically diverse. Communities within the Thompson River, Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver/ Sea to Sky region, which includes Whistler and Squamish, have higher levels of economic diversification than communities within the Upper Fraser and Cariboo-Chilcotin regions.
"The upper regions are generally more dependent on the forest sector than the Thompson and Lower Fraser regions," says the report.
Vanderhoof, Quesnel, Merritt, the North Thompson region and Williams Lake have the highest dependence on the forest sector, while Chilliwack and the Kent-Harrison district have the lowest. Fluctuations in other indicators, such as retail sales, manufacturing shipments and non-residential building permits, also show the communities' vulnerability and need for diversification by all sectors, says the report.
Ultimately, said Reid, the Fraser Basin's survival hinges on the survival of the salmon. He called for a resolution to the "salmon issue," contending that millions of dollars, people's best intentions and dedicated efforts have failed to find a solution. For decades, government, commercial and sport fishers, and others have grappled with how to preserve salmon stocks and still maintain a vibrant fishing industry. "If the salmon don't survive, the people don't survive," said Reid.
Almost one in five vertebrates were reported to be endangered, threatened or at risk in 2004, says the report, referring to federal guidelines that classify animal species population levels.
Lillian To, CEO of the United Chinese Community Enrichment Society (SUCCESS), said mismanagement of natural resources will lead to mismanagement of human resources.
She called on business, government and communities to invest in immigrants, aboriginals, youth and renewable energy programs.
"We cannot overlook human resources, because they are part of the solution," To said in a speech at the conference.
Only four in 10 immigrants are able to find work in their chosen profession even though many have higher levels of post-secondary education than people born in Canada, said To. The biggest barrier is the lack of fair access to accreditation, followed by a lack of English proficiency, Canadian experience and training programs.
Alice Downing, former chairwoman of the University of Northern British Columbia, called for more education programs in northern centres. Since UNBC opened 10 years ago, she said, the percentage of northern B.C. high school graduates who attend university has increased to 15 per cent from six per cent - and 10 per cent of those grads are aboriginals.
"There really are two Fraser Basins - the one in the Lower Mainland and the rest of the Fraser River," said Downing in a speech to conference-goers.
An FBC survey conducted last summer found that 56 per cent of respondents rated aboriginal and non-aboriginal relations as "getting better" between 1990 and 2004, while the rest of the responses were split between "getting worse (16 per cent) and "no change" (13 per cent). The survey received 62 responses from 14 aboriginal communities and organizations and 48 responses from non-aboriginal governments and businesses within the basin.
Former premier Mike Harcourt, now a member of the B.C. Treaty Commission, B.C. Business Council president and CEO Jerry Lampert, oil and gas companies, and other groups have cited good relations with First Nations as essential to the province's future prosperity.
Nolan Charles, a member of the Vancouver-based Musqueam Indian Band council, described aboriginal/non-aboriginal relations as a slow process.
"It's going to take some time," said Charles.
"I can't expect to change the world overnight. First Nations have been persistent. We've been here a few thousand years. Chances are we're not going anywhere.”
Michael O'Brien, vice-president of strategic planning and legal services for the Vancouver International Airport Authority, said sustainable government is vital to sustainability - along with the improved economic, social and environmental conditions.
O'Brien, a former bureaucrat in Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative federal government, praised the FBC report for providing measurable results and raising all of the issues together. But, he added, many challenges still lie ahead.
"There are substantial challenges that arise around income, around getting the economy going," said O'Brien. "There's no question that the Lower Mainland depends on the rest of the province - and the rest of the province is having a hard time.”
(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)
