EDITORIAL & OPINION — Education misstep warrants letter campaign — Save geology

We might understand if it had happened in New Jersey, or Hawaii, where little or no mining takes place. But we don’t understand why one of the most resource-rich regions of the world is shunning the discipline that unlocked this mineral wealth for the benefit of its citizens.

We’re talking about the decision by the province of Ontario to remove geology from all science and geography curricula in its high schools. Unless the mining industry joins forces to reverse this decision, students enrolling in courses for next fall will not be allowed to select geology as an option.

Try as we might, we simply can’t understand why the government is turning its back on an industry that directly and indirectly contributed $5.5 billion to the Ontario economy in 1997.

Mining is the lifeline of many northern communities. The industry also keeps Bay Street brokers busy, who in turn, patronize many of Toronto’s fine restaurants and bars. Supply companies have grown up around it, and are now shipping products developed here all over the globe. Sophisticated technologies have been developed to support it, putting Canada on the map as having one the most technologically advanced mining industries in the world, and now it’s being taken for granted.

The mining industry needs to fight this gross oversight, which doesn’t make economic sense, or common sense for that matter. In recent years, institutions such as the University of Toronto have beefed up their geology and mining departments, helped in part by major contributions from former students who have found extraordinary success in their mining-related careers. What is the point of all that if most students in the province have little or no exposure to geology in high schools?

If ever a letter-writing campaign were warranted, it is now. Everyone in Ontario whose livelihood is affected by the mining industry, directly or indirectly, should fire off missives to their members of provincial parliament, Premier Michael Harris, and Education Minister David Johnson.

And we don’t mean just geologists and mining engineers. Brokers, analysts, secretaries, computer salespeople, hotel operators, manufacturers, drillers, suppliers, miners, mining executives, pilots, mechanics, lawyers, accountants, rockhounds and professors — all should express their concern.

Start with your MPP. Then drop a line to Premier Harris at Room 281, Legislative Building, Queen’s Park, Toronto, Ont. M7A 1A1. David Johnson’s address is Mowat Block, 22nd Floor, 900 Bay St., Toronto, M7A 1L2. Send copies to Lyn McLeod, opposition education critic, Room 469, Main Building, Queen’s Park, Toronto, M7A 1A4.

Remind these politicians that Ontario’s history is inextricably linked to mining history. Tell them that the communities of Cobalt, Kirkland Lake, Timmins, Sudbury, Red Lake, Elliot Lake, Geraldton and Atikokan all came into being because prospectors, geologists and mining engineers unlocked their mineral wealth. Let them know that this mineral wealth built companies such as Inco, Falconbridge and Algoma Steel, and that it built modern cities and a standard of living that are envied worldwide. And remind them, too, of the rich harvest that came from the rocks of the Precambrian Shield, which covers two-thirds of Ontario, and how geology played a role in unlocking that treasure.

These politicians need a geology lesson.