Port Coquitlam’s Mayor, Brad West, is very practical about British Columbia’s resource debate. It starts with families, jobs and the public services people often take for granted, however, the connection between those things is often poorly understood, especially in Metro Vancouver.
West was first elected mayor in 2018 with the most votes ever received by a municipal candidate in Port Coquitlam. He was acclaimed to a second term in 2022, a first for the city’s mayoralty. Prior to that he served three terms as a city councillor, studied communications at the University of Victoria, and now also serves as chair of the Mayors’ Council on TransLink. As a former member of the United Steelworkers, he brings a labour perspective to that role, having spent years visiting mills, mines and industrial sites across the province. That experience shaped his understanding of what resource work means to communities, and how it “ingrained in me how our resource industry provides people with dignity.”
The link people do not always see
West says he’s seen how resource industries do more than create jobs. They help fund the social fabric that’s woven into our daily lives.
“When you send your kid to a good school, when you have to access health care, you’re able to do that because the natural resource industries in our province help finance those services.”
But he acknowledges that many urban residents still see resource development as distant.
“We exist in a bit of a bubble,” he said of Metro Vancouver. “… the connection couldn’t be stronger.”
West ties it to fiscal reality. Economic activity supports the revenues governments use to deliver services. That’s what makes resource policy a public interest issue, as much as an industry issue.
Forestry as growth, not retreat
Specifically when it comes to the future of forestry in BC, West argues the debate has become too defensive, and rejects the idea that that future should be defined by managed decline. Instead, the future he sees for the forestry industry is hopeful. “We should be ambitious and think about what the growth of this industry could look like.”
That growth case rests on demand. Wood remains needed at home and abroad. The issue is whether policy allows the sector to respond, not the resource base, with regulation as a core problem.
“I’d like to see the province simplify the regulatory regime as it relates to forestry.”
West argues the issue has been studied enough and governments now need execution, not another round of process.
“My message would be to act … we just need to act decisively and stop the dithering.”
What is at stake
One important thing West notes, that can get lost in the debates, is the intergenerational opportunities forestry provides. A healthy forest sector can and should employ more people, not fewer, while also preserving a path for the next generation.
“I think a strong future for forestry looks like a forestry industry that is growing and expanding and is employing more people every single year.”
He also points to the broader impacts, beyond direct employment. Getting policy wrong risks weakening both regional economies and the services British Columbians depend on. Responsible growth can still happen, and needs to happen for those services to function the way they should.
For West, the message is consistent: resource industries remain foundational, and policy should start acting like it.
Ian Biana writes for the Resource Works Accelerate team and can be reached at [email protected].
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