A taste of things to come Living Legacy, Act One

The recent decision by Ontario’s minister of natural resources to reject an application for a granite quarry near Belleville and adjacent to the Mellon Lake Conservation Reserve is being applauded by Partnership for Public Lands (PPL). The group was created jointly by the World Wildlife Fund Canada, the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, and the Wildlands League, which, in turn, is a chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

A PPL spokesman applauded the decision because mining “destroys natural values and diminishes the Living Legacy accomplishment.” The Sierra Legal Defence Fund was “encouraged” by the decision, and, not to be outdone, the group No Quarry at Mellon Lake stated that industrial activity must not be permitted in a protected area. “The mining company’s bulk sampling and road work have already caused significant harm to this ecologically sensitive area.”

The environmental coalition then urged the government to “complete the process by acting to remove the claims in 190 new protected areas threatened by mining interests.” They said they were “looking forward to working with the minister and the mining industry to make parks permanently mine-free.”

Buoyed by their victory, the environmental groups issued a press release to various media. The story, as picked up by newspapers, focused on how the ministry’s decision had helped protect several significant species, including the Little Prickly Pear Cactus and the Five-Lined Skink, Ontario’s only lizard.

Unfortunately, the media never bothered to check the facts presented in PPL’s press release. The proposed quarry is not in a park — in fact, it isn’t even in the Mellon Lake Conservation Reserve. It’s in a Forest Reserve, a compromise designation that emerged from the province’s 1999 Lands for Life land-planning process. Living Legacy is the outcome of that process, which involved environmental groups, resource developers, and other stakeholders.

During the consultation process, all parties agreed that various types of resource activity would be allowed in Forest Reserves under certain guidelines. Mineral claim-holders and forestry companies were told that their pre-existing rights would be respected.

Government officials still insist that this will be the case. In the case of Mellon Lake, they say the minister turned down the proposal because the proponent failed to address concerns raised during the permitting process, as required under the Aggregate Resource Act.

As the law stands, the developer has the opportunity to try again with a revised application. But this isn’t likely, given the number of environmental groups lined up against the project. A small developer with limited resources would have to think twice about throwing good money after bad.

Gregor Beck of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists suggests that Mellon Lake is a test case for bigger things to come. “We see this site [Mellon Lake] as a tip of a very large iceberg. If this mine goes ahead, it will set a precedent that could allow for mines in many of our new parks.” (No mention, of course, that the quarry is not in a park.)

Events at Mellon Lake make it clear that promises made to claim-holders during the Lands for Life exercise may not be worth much. Time will tell how the government handles other cases coming down the pipeline. One thing is certain: environmental groups will do everything possible to ensure that no human activity takes place within, or near, any classification of land covered by Ontario’s Living Legacy program.

British Columbia’s mining community learned this the hard way, which is why they pulled out of the land-use planning process altogether. Environmental groups promised to respect multiple-use designations during the negotiation process in order to gain concessions from mining companies. There will be peace in the valley if you just agree to this . . . and this . . . and this.

At the end of the day, the “special management zones” and other compromise designations were all parks. Peace never came to the province, but hard times sure did, especially in rural areas.

The Mellon Lake quarry is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but it tells a tale that will be repeated time and time again across Ontario. Doubters need only peruse www.wildontario.org

To add to all this, Canada’s environment minister is trying, for a third time, to pass endangered species legislation. All sorts of promises will be made to bring rural landholders and resource developers on-side, but, as sure as God grows little green apples, most will be broken. Anti-development activists will have even more cause to portray resource developers as rapacious enemies of every “endangered, rare or significant” plant, bug and beast. The propaganda is insulting, unfair and untrue, but an effective project-killer all the same.

Sound far-fetched? Take a gander at the list of “rare and significant” flora and fauna prepared by opponents of the Mellon Lake quarry. In addition to the aforementioned Prickly Pear cactus and the Five-Lined Skink, we have the Prairie Warbler, Shining Sumac, Bulbostyle, Poke Milkweed, Pink Polygala, Bicknell’s Panic Grass, Northern Downy Violet, Hoary Vervain, Case’s Ladies’ tresses, and Swaying Rush.

Welcome to British Columbia, Ontario.