B.C. premiers have a history of magnificent dreams involving either untold riches or epic public works — or both — in northern B.C.

W.A.C. Bennett dammed the Peace River, of course. He also had a career-long preoccupation with building the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (a.k.a., Prince George Eventually) into a north-south economic lifeline that would enrich everyone along the line. Dave Barrett was just as keen on the rail line clear to Alaska to open up the north.

Bill Bennett’s government built Tumbler Ridge to create a coal boom. Glen Clark got wildly enthusiastic about the potential for three new aluminum smelters on the north coast. Christy Clark promised a debt-free B.C. based on multiple LNG plants up north.

That’s just a sampling.

Premier David Eby joined the vision quest this week, announcing a new drive to seize the “generational opportunity to build lasting prosperity” by way of multiple mines in the northwest.

He said the surging demand for critical minerals and metals and the geo-political uncertainties about current sources make for $50 billion worth of lucrative mining value there for the taking.

That means tens of........

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