Annual Service Plan Reports 2004/05 -- Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management

A vibrant economy supporting the social and environmental values of British Columbians.

Mission

Values and Principles

A) Organizational Values

The ministry's values are consistent with and enhance the government-wide corporate values. These value statements shape and guide development of our strategies, our decision-making and the daily work of each staff member.

Excellence	We excel as leaders in sustainability. We strive to improve our performance and reward our progress.
Innovation	We encourage an entrepreneurial spirit by providing the tools for staff to make decisions to manage risks and get results.
Respect	We treat each other and those we serve with fairness, dignity and compassion.
Integrity	We exemplify the highest standards of dedication, trust, co-operation, pride and courtesy in the work environment.
Teamwork and Collaboration	We support each other and work together, across divisional and geographic boundaries.
Diversity	We value our diverse workforce and create a work environment that is welcoming and inclusive.
Communication	We listen to each other and remain receptive to ideas regardless of their origin. We engage people at all levels of the ministry as we communicate our expectations and decisions.
Balance	We balance personal and workplace expectations and strive to keep both in mind as we meet the demands of public service.

B) Governance Principles for Sustainability

Governance principles for sustainability have been developed by the ministry to guide strategic policy and planning initiatives and the delivery of public services. These principles help ensure that economic, social and environmental perspectives are integrated (see http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/srm_sp_report_04-05/docs.html).

Ministry Overview, Core Business Areas and Structure

Ministry Overview

The Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management provides provincial leadership, through policies, planning and resource information, to support sustainable economic development of Crown land and resources. This is an important task in a province where 94 per cent of the land base is administered by the provincial government. Our work brings together people and information to identify land-use priorities, inform decision-making, reduce resource conflict and improve access to resources while maintaining environmental integrity. This is essential to improving the global competitiveness of BC industry and our ability to attract private investment, which in turn helps stimulate economic growth and job creation.

As the BC Progress Board pointed out in its report on the economic state of rural British Columbia², the revitalization of land-based industries will be one of the critical determinants of the future of rural communities across the province. The ministry is playing an important role in this revitalization by providing secure access to natural resources through land and resource management plans, making timely decisions, ensuring a competitive regulatory process, providing consistent principles for First Nations consultations and facilitating First Nations partnerships and businesses.

The ministry draws its mandate from several pieces of key legislation (see Legislation Administered on page 15), the decisions of the Core Review in 2001 concerning the role and focus of ministries, and the support and acknowledgment of its clients and partners.

Services

The ministry is also committed to organizational excellence and provides its staff with corporate support services, including administrative, financial and human resource management.

Clients

The ministry's principal clients include Cabinet, related provincial government ministries and agencies, federal and local governments, First Nations, resource businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals. The results of its land and resource planning and policies are largely implemented through other ministries and agencies, such as Land and Water British Columbia Inc. In addition, the ministry's integrated registries, resource and geographic information and business services are used directly by both private and public clients.

Primary resource clients cover six major industry sectors: forestry; tourism; mining; oil, gas and energy extraction; agriculture; and aquaculture. These sectors directly account for about 17 per cent of British Columbia's gross domestic product (GDP)³.

The ministry also affects, to a lesser degree, other industry sectors, including telecommunications, real estate, transportation, health and community services. Together, primary and secondary clients directly account for 32 per cent of the provincial GDP.

Legislation Administered

The ministry administers key legislation such as the Land Act, the Water Act and the Land Title Act. For a full list of legislation administered by the ministry, see http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/srm _sp_report_04-05/docs.html.

Core Business Areas

The ministry relies on five core business areas to achieve its goals and objectives.

Core Business 1

Sustainable Economic Development – Goal 1. This core business is involved with the development of resource-based economic opportunities through land and resource plans, improved tools for balanced decisions and increased participation with First Nations. (104 FTEs, gross expenditure $18.7 million, recoveries $2.6 million.)

Core Business 2

Land Information BC – Goal 2. Land Information BC serves the people of British Columbia by providing leadership in geographic and spatial information. (414 FTEs, gross expenditure $57.8 million, recoveries $13.4 million.)

Core Business 3

Sound Governance – Goal 3. To ensure optimal use of Crown land and resources, the ministry develops principles, policies and legislation to guide resource planning and management, tenuring, disposal and pricing in a sustainable manner. It also sets strategic policies concerning property assessment, manages and remediates contaminated sites on provincial land and leads performance management. (22 FTEs, gross expenditure $37.3 million, recoveries $0.03 million.)

Core Business 4

Property Assessment Services – Goal 3. The ministry manages more than 70 Property Assessment Review Panels across the province and supports management of the Property Assessment Appeal Board. Costs are fully recovered. (10 FTEs, gross expenditure $2.3 million, recoveries $2.3 million)

Core Business 5

Executive and Support Services – All Goals. The offices of the Minister, Minister of State, Deputy Minister and Corporate Service Division (CSD)⁴ constitute this core business. (163 FTEs, gross expenditure $17.2 million, recoveries $8.4 million)

The resources shown above are 2004/05 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff numbers and gross operating expenditures before subtraction of the cost recoveries shown. Net operating expenses are provided in the Resource Summary table on page 47.

Ministry Operating Context

The ministry has continued to focus on consolidating its client relationships; meeting previous commitments, particularly in the areas of land-use planning; improving spatial and geographic information, and excelling in contaminated sites management. A number of strategic shifts in policy and services were made in response to the external and internal factors below. Many of these were anticipated in the 2004/05 Service Plan.

External

Strong commodity markets, particularly in energy and minerals, resulted in on-going, high levels of demand for the ministry's resource planning and information services. The strong domestic real estate market continued to place high demands on the ministry's land titles and survey services. External industry and other stakeholder clients are also demanding greater ease of access and the ability to work more closely with the ministry.

The ministry has responded with a number of specific initiatives. The operation of the Land Information BC Client Council was reviewed and greater emphasis was placed on formal and higher level inter-ministry and inter-agency consultation through Inter-Agency Management Committees (IAMCs) in each region. In addition, inter-ministry consultation and co-operation has been assisted through the evolving role and efforts of the Deputy Ministers' Committee on the Environment and Resource Development. In addition, the Land Title and Survey Authority was created.

Supreme Court of Canada decisions concerning First Nations consultation and accommodation have had a major influence on the ministry. Target dates were extended for finalization of a number of Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs) and other strategic land-use plans to provide increased time for government-to-government consultations with First Nations.

Public consultations, among other factors, had a strong influence on ministry land and resource-use planning. The government has increased the priority for reviews of some existing land-use plans as a consequence of two factors: public consultations during the year concerning the value of land-use planning and the potential obsolescence of some plans due to the impacts of natural events such as mountain pine-beetle infestations.

After extensive consultations and submissions on the Working Forest policy, government decided to use the existing provincial forest designation and land-use planning tools rather than making new designations under the Land Amendment Act (2003) . It was decided that resource targets should be specified for land areas supporting forestry and other uses and values such as wildlife habitat. These changes resulted in some reallocation of resources.

There has been an increased focus on managing contaminated sites on Crown land, including the redevelopment potential of some sites. Government funding for remediation work has increased as a result of input from the Office of the Auditor General and the public.

Internal

Some challenges were addressed by supplements to the ministry's budget. The ministry received $38.1 million in supplementary funding, including $25 million for the management and clean-up of three specific contaminated sites on Crown land and $1 million for the implementation of the six strategic land and resource management plans under consultation.

The ministry has faced heightened demand on the implementation of strategic land-use plans; related First Nations accommodation and relationship building; the government's Working Forest policy decision; and new government priorities requiring the review of existing plans. As a consequence the ministry has not met one of its service plan targets dealing with the development of resource targets.

The ministry has been unable to fully respond to the increasing and changing needs of Land Information BC clients, in particular client demands for decision support services information. The ministry is examining a number of alternative approaches to address this situation.

The ministry is committed to employee training and career development and has expanded its efforts to address expertise loss in specific areas as a consequence of demographics, most notably in relation to resource information and First Nations relations.

Two partnerships established in 2004/05 had a significant effect on ministry resources. The establishment of the Land Title and Survey Authority involved the transfer of 133 ministry staff to the independent, not-for-profit authority. The effect of the transfer on ministry costs was marginal. The ministry also entered a public-private partnership with EPCOR Britannia for the design, construction, financing and operation of a waste-water treatment plant at the former Britannia Mine on Howe Sound near Vancouver. Compared to a traditional delivery method, this will save $12.5 million in net present value terms over 20 years, and saved $4.55 million in 2004/05 in planning and construction costs.

Strategic Shifts and Significant Changes in Policy Direction

Strategic shifts in policy direction helped ensure that the ministry remains up to date with the changing needs of the global marketplace, therefore enhancing the economic strength and diversification of British Columbia. Changes that have been made include:

New Era Commitments

Status Report — New Era Commitments and Key Projects
March 31, 2005

In a June 25, 2001 letter to the Minister of Sustainable Resource Management, the Premier requested the Minister to focus, among other things, on the completion of eight New Era Commitments and 10 Key Projects. All have now been achieved as reported at http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/srm _sp_report_04-05/docs.html. A number of these are referenced in the accomplishments listed under each goal in the performance report.