BC Court of Appeal dismisses appeal from province over exploration tax claim for Galore Creek.

The $10 billion Trans Mountain pipeline twinning project is one of four major energy-related construction projects underway in the province.

All of the major investments in carbon capture have been in Alberta and Saskatchewan, in oil and gas and coal power.

Court found the B.C. government infringed the Blueberry River First Nation’s treaty rights by allowing decades of industrial development in their traditional territory.

The province tightened up Tailings Storage Facilities regulations after a tailings pond at the Mount Polley copper mine collapsed, flooding Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake with slurry.

The agreement will likely see new restrictions on jade and placer mining in Tahltan territory.

In 2017, the project was estimated to cost C$7.4 billion. It was revised to C$12.6 billion in 2020.

But the provincial government needs to unclog its permitting system to generate the potential 6,400 new jobs the investments would bring, says MABC president.

The International Energy Agency estimates global demand for petroleum products won’t be back to pre-pandemic levels until 2023 and may never return to “normal.”

Almost a year has gone by since the company first informed the government of its plans to move a mine shovel from one pit to an older adjacent pit, and it still hasn’t gotten permission.

Known to the Tahltan First Nation as Ice Mountain, the area is culturally significant.

Chevron owns a 50% stake in the project and will halt further funding after failing to find a buyer.