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POOYA NABEI and taxation models to ensure that investment can come to B.C. We need those fundamentals to help us compete against Chile for copper and Australia for steelmaking coal, which are our two predominant commodities. You also have your grass- roots community relation- ships. When you look at our operations in British Columbia and what they do in the com- munities where they operate, it's quite amazing to see how interconnected, ingrained and intertwined the companies are in those areas. How important is mining to the B.C. economy? It's essential because we're mov- ing to a lower-carbon economy. It takes four times more copper to build an electric motor than it does a conventional combus- tion motor. It takes 100 tonnes of steelmaking coal to make one wind turbine. As we transition to a lower-carbon economy, it's going to be even more essen- tial that we have the products, especially that we produce here in B.C. We're going to need to grow. We need to ensure that we do it in the most responsible way, with the very robust regu- latory system we already have. How is B.C. doing when it comes to attracting and developing the right talent? We have a group called the BC Centre of Training Excellence in Mining where we're trying to pull multiple stakeholders around the table, including postsecondary institutions, First FUN FACT On his desk, Cox keeps a photo of himself at age six in Edmonton with the young Wayne Gretzky Y ou might think the mining sector and the beer business have little in common. Bryan Cox knows di„erent: both are technical, highly regulated and people- driven industries, says the president and CEO of the Mining Association of BC (MABC), who led public a„airs for Western Canada at Molson Coors Canada before joining the provincial advocacy group in 2014. Alberta native Cox, who holds a political science degree from the University of Calgary, is no stranger to bureaucracy or the resource sector. His father ran a food services business that catered to oil and gas companies, and from 2002 to 2006 he worked for the B.C. government as a public a„airs o'cer and ministerial assistant. He then returned to his home province for a stint as govern- ment relations manager with Edmonton-based Epcor Utilities Inc. Pro moted from VP of cor- porate a„airs at the 116-year-old MABC this past May, Cox aims to boost the B.C. mining industry's pro•le and ability to compete. What's your vision for the MABC? There are two things I want to focus on. One is competitive- ness, and two is mining aware- ness. Competitiveness is very important because for all our blessings, we're a small, trade- dependent jurisdiction of four million people that competes in a global world. My focus in that regard is to get to the most competitive business strategies Bryan Cox The new boss of the Mining Association of BC makes his pitch for mining's role in a low-carbon economy by Nick Rockel THE CONVERSATION Nations and industry, and talk about what the needs of the industry are and work with the institutions to get training pro- grams in place before we need them. Also, we want to make sure we have this amazing opportunity for First Nations in the province, especially where most of our operations are located, to be a really important workforce for our industry. What do you think the new provincial government has in store for the industry? We engaged in a campaign dur- ing the election called Vote Mining where we asked candi- dates of all parties their thoughts regarding the industry. The NDP, Greens and Liberals were all very supportive of its growth and sustainability. The NDP gov- ernment has committed to a strong mining industry and to ensuring that permits are pro- cessed in a timely manner. We've just got to get down to 0 2,500 $ Millions 5,000 7,500 10,000 NOVEMBER 2017 BCBUSINESS 23 HEAVY METAL The mining industry is on the rebound in B.C. In 2016, based on a survey of 28 companies, gross revenue climbed almost 13 per cent over the previous year, to $8.7 billion SOURCE: BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE: THE MINING INDUSTRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 2016, PWC 2014 2015 2016

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