I am here for the VIEA Summit 2017 on behalf of Council. Â I’ll be doing a report like I have done for UBCM. Â It is just a two day conference with just three or four sessions that I’ll be able to attend but I have always found it to be very valuable. Â Below is my schedule:
It is now 3:30PM and I’ve already had a number of great conversations with folks, from a solar installer in Nanaimo, to Sheila Malcolmsen NDP MP for Nanaimo about derelict vessels and a rep from the Coastal Community Credit Union about community funding of local agriculture!
First session I attended was on Trade and Transportation.
Here are my notes:
Keynote – Dan Tisch
Mr. Tisch spoke about the fake news phenomenon and how to manage communications with customers and clients and constituents in that new world.
He emphasized the need to create trust and how the (social) values of an organization has become extremely important to their overall reputation and success.
Openness, willingness to listen, and willingness to take and maintain principled stands will lead to success for the organization as a whole. Â This is definitely something that applies to Cities as well.
VIEA Trade and Transportation Session
Short Sea Shipping –
Peter Amott – Pacific Basin
They moved log shipping (export) from Fraser port to Nanaimo because of shipping costs, delays, etc at Lower Mainland. Realized major volume increase in Nanaimo, 60 jobs.
Tabare Dominquez – DP World – Major Container Shipping (10% of world shipping). Only lift on/off (no dreyage, no trucking) on Vancouver Island for import/export to Asia.
Adam Cook – CN Rail
“Truck like service at the cost of railâ€Â Partners with Southern Rail of VI at Annacis Island to Welcox Seaspan – BC Ferries – DP World – Steamship Lines
Alison Boulton Small Business BC – Export Navigator Pilot (also in Port Alberni through Community Futures). Facilitates communication with exporters. Export Advisor in each community…
…… QUESTIONS ….
To DP World —
Infrastructure is a significant constraint. It is fragmented. It would be good to concentrate volume. We are ready to invest if there is more volume.
Q: Nanaimo/Alberni or Prince Rupert is place for expansion if Vancouver is maxed?
A: vancouver capacity is tight. Rupert and Island do not compete. He sees opportunity for direct calls to the Island.
Renewable Energy Session
Solar energy installation in the world is currently at “one Site C per month”. In 10 years, world will install 1 Terawatt per year. In US, grid parity has been achieved (solar is as cheap as coal or gas) in 27 states.
Price for utility solar is now $1 per watt. Residential in US is about $2 per watt (installed). Resource on Vancouver Island is good in SE, plus Port Alberni and Comox Valley.  Maps available here.
Gave an example of Sooke first Nation for net metering (which is similar in payback to WCGH installation)
The cost needs to be below 11c/kWH to beat BC Hydro and achieve a payback. Â The grah below shows the potential. Â 2 axis refers to the solar panels being able to track the sun horizontally and vertically. Â Most installs, like WCGH are fixed (blue dots).
Nanaimo, Tofino and Comox are listed and are indicated to be just above the threshold. Port Alberni should be as well.
Renewable Natural Gas – Fortis BC
“Carbon Neutral optionâ€. “Biogas†is injected into the conventional natural gas stream.
Take gas from landfills, farms. 200,000 GJ of NG in 2017. City of Surrey is doing a biofuel plant in 2018 that will take organics. Will provide 120,000GJ. City of Surrey uses CNG for their garbage trucks, will potentially use RNG for their trucks will reduce their carbon footprint.
Percentage RNG – is currently 0.25% of installed capacity of traditional gas. Fortis can move up 5% or 9 petajoules per year to RNG. (How likely is this??)
VIU Allan Cumbers -Geo Exchange utilizing old Mine shafts
Water is 12°C year round. Will be used for multiple buildings on a 3 loop system for both heating and cooling. Health and Sciences centre (being built now) will be first building.  Then Gathering Place and Building 205. Then HSC 2.  If pilot project is successful should be able to expand district system to all buildings where it makes sense to retrofit for geo-exchange.
Expect to save 320 tonnes of CO2 on first building on Phase 1, payback is 18 years.
We will be hearing from the Premier at dinner tonight. He is addressing us by video link from Victoria (due to needing to be in the Legislature for votes in the house). Â Will report back tonight or tomorrow.
Thursday morning.
We started with a breakfast and keynote focusing on Earthquake preparedness and risk management and then that continued into the first session of the morning. Â Here are notes from that:
- At LA International Airport they focused on what was needed to operate. Only two things… runways and communications not buildings. Â So they focused on hardening those.
- Nothing in BC is designed to survive mega earthquake
- Japan earthquake. Nuke damage was done by tsunami, not earthquake. The company built a 7m wall when data said it should have been 15m. Has cost Japan $1 Trillion.
- Another nuke plant, Onagawa… undamaged. Had a 15m wall. The ground dropped in earthquake (much closer to epicnter) by 1m. Tsunami was 13.5m. Â Largely undamaged and safe.
- The risk in Vancouver Island is very high.. as high as any japan, mexico, just less frequent. Studies are often too academic. Frequency is almost irrelevant. Focus on simple study of elevation and practical steps to harden buildings. For houses… keep them on their foundations. Bolt them down.
BC Code should be closer to Chile and California, we need to compare Canada and other codes to learn from their experience.
- Municipalities – do a strategic risk – find the most critical pieces.
- The building code is not always the end all be all… building code is for life saving, not business interruption. Low bidders may be life saving minimum code only… higher cost, possible business interruption which is key.
For mitigating Tsunami. Really can only build a wall (backfilled with parkland) direct the water away from downtown…. or long term plan to move people/business out of flood zone.
Film and TV Session
BC is the 3rd largest film production in North America, biggest in Canada. #1 for visual effects in the world
$2.6 Billion in production this year. $1 Billion in wages. $23 Million in wages on the Island. 50 productions on the Island, 250 filming days. Chesapeake Shores spent $5M alone. Streaming services (Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Google) will add $25 Billion to global production business.
32,000sqft of stage space in Parksville. 3-4 Million sqft of stage space in BC.  Why B.C.? -> locations. Every possible type. Episodic TV is now main source of revenue in BC.
There is no Commercial space in lower mainland. 1% vacancy. Film Commissions cannot charge fees… so are left to ask for community grants to help fund their activities.
For Film Studio space you need high ceilings, Â 30-40ft. Clear span no pillars. Purpose built is usually best though small productions can use smaller spaces, but are unlikely to commit long term.
Parksville is going out on a limb. Because it is a location spot, not studio.  There are numerous people on the Island and the training is key. Need more infrastructure in terms of rentals for video and lighting and audio.  Usually if a space is built, and a long term contract found, then the rental infrastructure companies come.
Tofino was great to shoot but no hotels… so used Best Western in Port Alberni for shoots for a commercial. Â Major production facilities requires 5 star hotel for the actors. So only Victoria and Vancouver currently. However, small scale commercials or TV could use production space on an interim basis.
X-Men spent $40,000 just on ferries.
Biggest takeaway is for communities to always be welcoming, not to lie or gloss over locations, and to roll with the punches. Â TV Industry is extremely fast paced, last minute, and unconventional. Â They respond to places that can meet their idiosyncrasies with a smile.
That’s it! It was a very quick, but very good conference. Â Lots of things to take away and learn from. I’ve already sent a number of emails to a bunch of people following up about it.