COMMENTARY — B.C.’s plan for the future

British Columbia’s mining industry has developed a proposal called Mining Jobs 2000, a plan whereby government and industry work together to achieve the goal of meaningful job creation.

The government’s response to the plan was encouraging when it was presented last April, but the industry needs to see evidence that the government is serious about encouraging the development of new and profitable mines in British Columbia.

The Mining Jobs 2000 plan is simple. The industry has declared that seven issues are of vital importance to the province’s mining future, including: assured access to land; security of mineral tenure; the creation of a competitive tax structure; the development of an efficient and transparent permitting process; the resolution of native land claims; competitive electrical rates; and the streamlining of regulations. Each of these issues requires direct action from government to eliminate serious regulatory impediments to mining.

Implementing this 7-point plan will create more than 22,000 direct and indirect jobs, thus ensuring a sustainable mining industry in British Columbia.

Task teams comprising government and industry experts will identify areas for which the government is responsible that impede the growth and development of the mining industry, and propose solutions for the removal of such impediments.

To date, task teams have been set up to examine issues of land access, security of mineral tenure and regulatory streamlining. In order for government to demonstrate its commitment to British Columbia’s mining industry, it must take substantive action on these issues. National and international investors need to see real commitment to the industry on the part of government, including changes to relevant legislation, regulations or policies. To date, two changes have been proposed, including: * the formation of a new Mineral Exploration Code, which has been promised by the provincial government; and

* the implementation of a fair system of compensation for holders of land claims effectively expropriated and reclassified by the provincial government. Also, compensation should be paid to the 300 holders whose claims have been redesignated as park land.

— The preceding is an excerpt from “Mining Quarterly,” the publication of the Mining Association of British Columbia.