COMMENTARY — Changing of the guard

The author is project manager of Keep Mining in Canada, a campaign designed to increase awareness of the importance of mining in this country.

Now we start again.

The election is over and there are new faces on Parliament Hill. Many of the new members of Parliament, however, may be unaware of the importance of mining to Canadians and to the Canadian economy. They may not know that mining supports 150 communities and more than 1 million people across the country, nor is it likely that they have thought about how much mining contributes to the amenities they take for granted in their daily lives.

It will be up to the mining industry to educate them, and afterwards we will expect action. Although progress was made in mining-related areas under the previous government, pressing issues have yet to be resolved.

Canada still needs to create a climate that encourages investment and mineral exploration in this country. Discoveries of base metals at Voisey’s Bay in Labrador and of diamonds by BHP and Dia Met Minerals in the Northwest Territories have dominated headlines, yet a more accurate picture is to be found in a recent Price Waterhouse study. In British Columbia, the study notes, mining earned 59% less in 1996 than it did in the previous year.

The mining industry must continue to demand that government improve the current regulatory system, which is inefficient, cumbersome and uncoordinated. Despite the establishment, in 1996, of the Canada-Wide Accord on Environmental Harmonization, little has been done to eliminate the duplication of regulations.

Nor has the issue of workable provisions for site reclamation and liability been addressed. Industry and government must work together to develop reclamation requirements that not only meet public policy needs but are economically viable. Specifically, we have to look at the issue of environmental liability at former mining operations. For example, is there a continuing liability even if an operation was properly reclaimed years ago according to the standards of that time?

Moreover, there is still a need for progress in the settlement of land claims, and in the development of public policy that enables effective decision-Making surrounding land use. Without progress in these two areas, the mining industry will continue to operate in an atmosphere of significant uncertainty.

We have high expectations of the new decision-Makers in Ottawa. They must work to resolve these issues if we are to attract more mining investment to Canada.