text: You wrote "... such as lumber, metals/ores, natural gas, et cetera- that are in high demand world wide today, and that will, in future, only increase in their value to the province as exports..."
  
  If lumber is in such high demand, why has the GDP contribution of forestry and lumber industry declined over 20% and mining, oil & gas declined by over 5%? Why did Ottawa just announce an almost $1 billion assistance program for the softwood lumber industry? Why is there still no LNG industry in BC? If you ask the mining industry they would say that the global demand for and prices of metals and ores has dropped off to the point where they are closing mines.
  
  BC should open our eyes to the fact that resource industries in general, and oil & gas in particular, are a sunset industry sector. Our only profitable path to a strong economy is through knowledge-based high tech manufacturing, financial, and service industries.