EDITORIAL PAGE — 1993 report card

This was the year the world came knocking on Canada’s mining door. Representatives from countries around the globe came to entice Canadian explorers abroad. They came for our mine-finding and mine-building expertise. They came because we have the world’s greatest venture-capital exchange: the Vancouver Stock Exchange. (We hope the commission currently examining the exchange keeps that last point in mind.)

But within Canada, it was a year of mixed results for the industry. In British Columbia, there was the debacle of Windy Craggy. It was especially ironic this week, that Premier Michael Harcourt, leading up to a meeting with the prime minister and the provincial premiers, cautioned Ottawa not to cut transfer payments to the provinces. Had Harcourt not unilaterally — and prematurely, as it turns out — declared mining outlawed in the Windy Craggy area, he would worry less about handouts from Ottawa.

The Yukon deserves accolades for rebuking Harcourt over the

Tatshenshini-Windy Craggy wilderness fiasco. The territory has had a difficult time, what with Curragh’s Faro and Sa Dena Hes operations at a standstill. However, it is aggressively seeking new mining opportunities. The Northwest Territories seems to be on the verge of becoming a mining area of world repute. This is not to belittle its already considerable achievements, but we are thinking, of course, of the diamond plays of BHP-Dia Met and others. There are hurdles, yet, but we’re fully expecting the economics to turn out right on at least one of the projects. In addition, the signing of the Nunavut land claim deal, and everything we’ve heard and read since, suggest mining is welcome north of 60.

In Alberta, a province which has no metallic mineral production, the government is trying to promote some interest.

In Saskatchewan, the ruling New Democratic Party government swallowed hard early this year and endorsed uranium mining. However, in the same province, a joint federal-provincial panel recommended killing the Midwest Joint Venture, stalling

McClean Lake and developing the

Dominique-Janine project. The panel, though well-meaning, has asked far too much of mining. The questions of revenue-sharing and educational levels of local people are not issues that should stall a mining project. Nor can a province expect exploration to continue when projects are killed after a company has spent millions of dollars.

Manitoba deserves special praise this year. It seems to have gone out of its way to put together an incentive package for explorationists, and it has made all the right public noises about attracting mine investment. In Ontario, the government should be recognized for its prospecting grants — the Ontario Prospectors Assistance Program and the Ontario Mineral Incentive Program. But it has done much harm in the letting go of its core library geologists, a move occasioned by a $14.5-million cut in the mining ministry budget.

Quebec, on the other hand, provides a refreshing change. Its government has won rave reviews from the mining fraternity.

In the Atlantic provinces, we may well see a resurgence in mining, particularly now that the fishing industry is nearing collapse. The political utterances from a recent conference in Nova Scotia and the increased level of exploration activity down east bode well for the future.

To close out this last epistle of 1993, we would like to state our view clearly in the hope that those holding high office might better understand our perspective: We are pro-mining but do not endorse reckless industrial activity. The principle toward which mining must work is sustainable development.