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21 B C B U S I N E S S . C A J U LY/A U G U S T 2 0 24 building solutions and bringing people together. But doing it in the right way. Something that's key in the work I've done in my time practicing law and in government is that we are all going toward that direction of reconciliation and an environmentally stable natural resource economy. The question is how fast people want to go there and how we're going to do it in a way that is pursuant to good governance and good engagement. Not only with industry, but with Indigenous people as well. Sometimes you have to walk before you can run or sprint. Are we going there too fast right now? Seeing the huge influx of policy items, legislative items and goals that have come out in the last eight months—as a member explained to me, he's never seen anything like this in 19 years. When you're presented with something and you're asked, "Hey, is this good? Let me present it to your mem- bers." If I present you with a box with noth- ing in it, that doesn't mean we can't build it so there's something in there, but what I've seen and what we've identified is that there are a lot of questions and a lot of pro- cesses that aren't identified. The Lands Act amendments, for instance: when we asked about it, the math wasn't there. The posi- tive intent wasn't there. How do decisions get made? How is it pursuant to constitu- tional law? All of those things weren't there. The bureaucracy in government, they do great work, they're trying to develop solu- tions as well. And they're subject to a lot of the same pressures of an election coming up. People want many glimmering things on their resume. If we all collectively say, let's take a breath and get everything right, that's a good approach. There are some key questions that we've posed. You mentioned the Lands Act amendments, which would have given more decision-making power over Crown land to Indigenous groups. It was scrapped earlier this year. But I imagine you're also talking about the court-mandated Mineral Tenure Act Modernization that was spurred in September of last year and expands the role of First Nations decision-making in mining projects. Do you feel like you and your members are being fully heard on that front? I think we're starting to be acknowledged a bit more. Whether or not we're being fully heard is yet to be determined. And why I say that is because there are certain ways that the industry works, and you can be talking to different policymakers who are influential and have an opinion on mineral exploration or mining but can't articulate how the system works—say, they think that if you stake a claim that means you can have a mine. When they're the ones build- ing or advising on policy, that's concern- ing. When we present solutions and say, "Hey, here's literally what's achievable; we want to build solutions, but this might be a bridge too far," that's when we'll know if we're being heard. It was really important that AME did our own MTA engagement process just to ensure that all the different nuances of the membership were heard. We didn't do it arbitrarily. What do you think BCers believe about your industry, and how much of that is right and how much might be a bit misguided? I saw a report that showed that 80 percent of Canadians support the mining and mineral exploration industry and even have a favourable view on it. I think here in B.C., there are certain groups and interests that want to keep perpetuating that mining and mineral exploration are dirty, which is totally wrong. B.C. has one of the highest—if not the highest—environmental regulatory standards on the planet. It has one of the best consultation frameworks. I think the key thing for us is to ask if we are we championing that while also talking about the things we need to improve on. I think the average BCer doesn't know enough about the industry and might just see what's being represented by advocacy groups. HOBBY Soccer (playing and watching—Glory Glory Man United), video games (current is Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) and spending time with my wife and our pup Rooney PET PEEVE Food-stealing seagulls on Granville Island (you owe me a plate of fish and chips) GUILTY PLEASURE Karaoke (Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Mariah Carey) FAVOURITE PLACE IN B.C. My mother-in-law's backyard garden in Sooke FAVOURITE LOCAL BUSINESS Any business that gives my dog treats (she wrote this answer) CURRENT TV/PODCAST BINGE Derry Girls/Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend MOST MEMORABLE CONCERT Foo Fighters, Toronto 2006 (thanks Ty!) LAST BOOK YOU READ An Accidental Advocate by Lembi Buchanan (an amazing story of how any one of us can be a hero) QUICK HITS

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