COMMENTARY — A better climate for mining

The Standing Committee on Natural Resources submitted nine key recommendations to the government last fall in order to strengthen the Canadian mining industry.

These recommendations were not reflected in the federal budget last February, the focus of which was fiscal restraint and responsibility. However, there are several concerns and challenges facing the industry which must be addressed if it is to remain a healthy and important part of our economy.

The central idea behind all nine recommendations was that the federal government should act to encourage more exploration and development in Canada. Suggestions as to how this might be accomplished include streamlining a costly and slow regulatory process, and treating mine reclamation funds as if they were “environmental retirement savings plans.”

These recommendations were also made in the Whitehorse Mining Initiative, and in the 10-Point Plan put forward by the campaign known as Keep Mining in Canada. Private citizens have called for these measures; representatives from the mining industry have called for them; and, now, members of Parliament (MPs) from ridings that rely heavily on mining are doing so. In early June, Benoit Serre, MP from Timiskaming-French River, presented a votable motion to the House of Commons, pertaining to all nine recommendations. The motion is only the most recent manifestation of the support the Canadian mining industry has at the grassroots level, and it demonstrates how significant the measures suggested by the Standing Committee on Natural Resources are to the future of mining. They are the same measures desired by people working within the industry, and, if adopted, they will create jobs and foster growth in the industry for decades to come.

— The author is Ontario’s member of Parliament for Kenora-Rainy River, and chairman of the federal Standing Committee on Natural Resources, which examined mining issues and made specific recommendations to Natural Resources Minister Anne McLellan prior to the last federal budget. He is writing this column at the invitation of Keep Mining in Canada, the national grassroots campaign designed to increase awareness of issues facing the Canadian mining industry.