EDITORIAL & OPINION — Australia to Zimbabwe, and everything in between — Welcoming the World

The program for this year’s convention of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada tells one story. East Africa, Far Eastern Russia and the Cordilleran of South America have top billing in the first two days of this year’s event, while Canadian projects make up only two of the top eleven projects featured in the New Discoveries and Developments session.

At first glance, it appears that Canada is taking a back seat to the rest of the world at what is supposed to be the country’s premiere mining event. But a closer look tells another story. Most of the featured projects involve Canadian companies or foreign companies listed on Canadian exchanges. And the remaining foreign companies are either looking for deals with Canadian juniors or have already formed joint ventures with them.

The real story is that Canadian mining companies have gone global with a vengeance, taking service and supply companies along for the ride. Mining, like hockey, is something Canadians do well, and that expertise is now being exported all over the world.

The role played by the PDAC convention as the foremost meeting place for global miners would no doubt surprise the association’s founders. Many would be concerned about the implications for rural communities, for the North, and for established mining camps across Canada. Even today, we share those concerns.

A Natural Resources Canada study found that larger domestic firms have steadily increased their exploration budgets for foreign projects at the expense of Canadian ones. In 1992, these firms spent 43% of their exploration budget offshore. A year later, foreign projects consumed 49% of exploration dollars, which increased to 58% by 1994. By 1995, offshore projects took up 68% of worldwide exploration budgets, and by 1996 the number topped more than 70%. Yet that same year, more financing was raised in Canada for the mining industry than in any other country.

Federal and provincial governments across Canada must realize they face intense competition for exploration dollars from places as far afield as Mongolia and Argentina. Most African and Latin American countries welcome foreign investment in mining and appreciate the contribution it makes to their societies and economies. Granted, there is some criticism about Canadian involvement in foreign resource development, mostly on the grounds that environmental and social practices are not what they should be. However, these concerns can be mitigated by higher standards and open dialogue.

More difficult is the task of keeping miners happier at home. Some Canadian provinces — particularly Quebec and Manitoba — have done an excellent job attracting mineral investment. Ontario is doing a lot of the right things, but most other provinces have room to improve.

Federal and provincial politicians need to keep in mind that mining makes an important economic contribution. The mining industry produced commodities valued at $19 billion in 1997, which isn’t exactly chump change. As well, mineral products accounted for 60% of total volume handled at Canadian ports, and more than 50% of total rail revenue freight generated for the national railway system.

To keep mining alive in Canada, politicians should realize that they can’t change the rules in the middle of the game, as Newfoundland did after the Voisey’s Bay nickel-copper deposit was discovered. Mining companies shouldn’t be pressured to appease preservationist groups that are always changing the goalposts in the land-planning process, as happened in British Columbia over the past decade. Nor should mining projects be held hostage to native land claims.

The Canadian mining industry is welcoming the world to Toronto this month, and the world welcomes them in return. What’s needed now is a welcome mat here at home.