COMMENTARY — Canadian presence in Nevada

The University of Nevada in Reno recently dedicated Canada Hall, a student-designed dormitory. Built to meet the needs of students in the 21st century, it is the first new dorm built in northern Nevada since 1967.

It was the students’ idea to call the new dorm “Canada Hall.” The $US$7.5-million project, funded through student room fees, came up short of funds and several Nevada-based Canadian mining companies came to the rescue. The Canadian companies kicked in US$775,000, including a donation of US$375,000 from Franco-Nevada Mining. Other donors were American Barrick Resources, Rayrock Yellowknife Resources, Placer Dome and Lac Minerals. One of the speakers at the dedication was Seymour Schulich, chairman of Franco-Nevada. Part of his address dealt with the contribution of the Canadian companies to Nevada and to the U.S. in general:

“Canada is the biggest customer for U.S exports of goods and services of any single nation on Earth. Think about that. With only 28 million people, little Canada buys more than Japan, France, Germany, Britain and Mexico, which have two to three times Canada’s population. Recent numbers show that Canada buys 21% of all U.S. exports.

“Let’s home in on Nevada where Canadian-owned firms directly employ 4,000 people at an average wage of more than three times that available in the gambling industry. In addition, it is estimated there are 8,000 additional high-paying jobs in industries providing contracting and goods and services to Canadian mining companies operating in Nevada. Adding dependents, 40,000-50,000 people (or 4-5% of the population of Nevada) derive their economic support from Canadian-funded mining projects in Nevada. “Canadian-owned mining companies paid royalties of tens of millions of dollars to the state of Nevada last year, plus taxes to local municipalities, sales taxes, payroll taxes and all the taxes all U.S.-owned companies are subjected to today.

“At $40 billion, Canada is the fourth-largest foreign investor in the U.S. Of that, more than $5 billion is in mining, and about $4 billion of that is estimated to have been spent on projects in Nevada by Canadian corporations. . “Canada, a world leader in mining, has helped Nevada responsibly develop its mineral resource. Similarly, we hope Canada Hall serves in the development of Nevada’s greatest resource, its people.”