On Nov. 26, I was sworn in as B.C.’s new minister of forests, lands, natural resource operations and rural development. I was also honoured to return to my role as minister responsible for the Columbia Basin Trust, Columbia Power Corporation and last, but definitely not least, the Columbia River Treaty.

I want to take the time to celebrate the people working in B.C.’s mining sector, for their continued hard work, especially this year, during the COVID-19 pandemic. I applaud their efforts to work every day in a safe and sustainable way, to help build an economy that works for people.

This year for Mining Month, I ask all British Columbians to take a brief look around them right now.

BC Hydro has used regulatory accounts since the early 1990s. They are normally used to match costs with benefits to customers, capture differences between forecast and actual costs typically related to uncontrollable factors (e.g., variation in water inflows, storm restoration costs) and manage the impacts of accounting changes.

Facts:

The Northwest Transmission Line (NTL) is key to new economic development in British Columbia's Northwest. B.C. has some of the best mining products in the world, including coal, copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, lead and zinc - much of it in the Northwest.

The past year was a challenging one globally. Here in BC, our government is working hard to ensure we all benefit from a strong economy.