COMMENTARY — Marketing the mining industry

The federal government needs to develop a marketing strategy to attract more investment to this country’s mining sector and revitalize its competitiveness. A marketing approach should be developed with the participation and co-operation of Natural Resources Canada, other ministries such as External Affairs, and representative organizations within the industry itself.

Such a strategy demands changes in both fact and perception. By streamlining the regulatory regime, for example, the government could send a clear message that Canada is open for business. Offering investors a “1-window” approval process would both stimulate exploration and make mining more attractive.

Of course, Ottawa has heard this before, and even expressed agreement. Still, it has yet to take the necessary action to promote Canada’s potential for mining investment. The accord signed last September following the Whitehorse Mining Initiative discussions strongly recommended regulatory streamlining as a means to stimulate exploration and investment. This accord was the result of a consensus among prospectors and developers, the mining industry, government, environmentalists, labor and native interests. It was also a golden opportunity for the government to act. It has yet to do so.

The Whitehorse recommendations resemble the 10-point plan put forward by the “Keep Mining in Canada” campaign. They also resemble recommendations put forward by the Standing Committee on Natural Resources.

More recently, several members of Parliament, representing all three major parties, rose in the House of Commons to speak in support of a private member’s motion that included these same recommendations. To this day, they have been ignored, despite repeated calls for action from the mining industry, prospectors and developers, more than a hundred mining communities across Canada, the Standing Committee on Natural Resources, and several members of Parliament.

Stakeholders in the industry have been co-ordinating their efforts to attract investment, but government continues to drag its feet.

The exploration potential of Canada remains huge, as is illustrated by the recent discoveries in Labrador and the Northwest Territories. This potential will go largely untapped unless government takes action.

— John Hansuld, president of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, contributed this article at the invitation of “Keep Mining in Canada,” a national grassroots campaign which is attempting to increase awareness of mining issues.