British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation facts for kids
BC Resource Investment Corporation - Bearer Share Certificate - 5 Shares
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The British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, often called BCRIC (and pronounced "brick"), was a special kind of company. It was created by the government of British Columbia in Canada. Its main job was to own and manage different businesses, especially sawmills and mines. These businesses had been bought or helped out by the government. Later, the company's name was changed to Westar Group Ltd.
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What Was BCRIC?
BCRIC was a "holding company." This means it owned parts of, or all of, other companies. Think of it like a parent company that has many smaller companies as its children. The idea behind BCRIC was to help the province's economy. It aimed to make money from natural resources like forests and minerals.
Why Was BCRIC Created?
The government at the time, led by Bill Bennett, wanted to involve regular people in the province's economy. They hoped that by owning parts of these big resource companies, people would feel more connected to the province's success. It was also a way to manage businesses that the government had already invested in.
One of the most famous things about BCRIC was the "free shares" given to people. On August 7, 1979, every person living in British Columbia received five free shares of BCRIC. These were called bearer shares. A bearer share means that whoever holds the paper certificate owns the shares.
The government hoped this would encourage people to invest more money. They wanted people to buy even more shares in BCRIC. The idea was that as the company grew and made profits, the value of these shares would go up. This would allow people to earn money from their investment.
How Did BCRIC Grow?
After giving out the free shares, BCRIC started to expand. It bought many more companies involved in mining and logging. These were important industries for British Columbia because the province has lots of natural resources. The company aimed to become a big player in these areas.
Why Did BCRIC Run into Trouble?
Even with its big plans, BCRIC faced some serious problems. One major issue was a large investment made by one of its smaller companies, Westar Petroleum. They invested a lot of money in finding oil in the North Sea. Unfortunately, this investment did not turn out well.
Another problem came from Westar Mining, another company owned by BCRIC. They made some mining investments at the wrong time. The prices of minerals might have dropped, or the projects cost too much. Because of these bad investments, BCRIC started to lose a lot of money. Many people who had invested their own money saw their savings shrink.
Over time, the value of BCRIC shares dropped a lot. By 1995, the company had to combine its shares. This meant that many old shares were exchanged for fewer new ones. For example, 125 old shares became just 1 new share. This made the free five shares almost worthless.
In June 1997, the company's shares were bought out by another company called the Jim Pattison Group. Each new, combined share was bought for $70. This meant that each of the original free shares was worth only about 56 cents.
However, there was a time limit for people to sell their shares. This limit expired on June 30, 2007. After that date, any BCRIC share certificates that people still held became completely worthless.
