EDITORIAL PAGE — GSC move a few rocks short

Federal Mines Minister Anne McLellan was recently taken to task in the House of Commons by Lee Morrison, the Reform Party’s mining critic. The minister was questioned about a proposal to relocate the British Columbia branch of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) to Victoria from Vancouver.

It is safe to say that this announcement, pertaining, as it did, to the “hinterlands” west of the Rockies, did not warrant comment from Bloc Quebecois Leader Lucien Bouchard who was, no doubt, preoccupied with keeping the country paralyzed by a national rail strike.

Clearly perturbed, Morrison pressed McLellan to explain the reasoning behind this “boondoggle.” The minister said the move was part of the government’s attempt to rationalize and amalgamate government offices and that it did not make sense to have two geological offices in the province.

But this rationale is “a few rocks short” of a load, said Morrison, who pointed out that the vast majority of British Columbia’s geoscientists are based in Vancouver. “What is the point of even having a GSC office in British Columbia, if it is to be made inaccessible to the very people it is suppose to serve?” the mining critic asked. “You might as well move it to Port Hardy.” (For those that don’t know, Port Hardy is a remote logging community on the northern tip of Vancouver Island. To our knowledge, no mining companies are based there, or, for that matter, in sleepy Victoria, a popular tourist destination and home to many provincial politicians and civil servants. Vancouver, in contrast, has a vibrant and dynamic mining community which has been involved in finding and financing some of this country’s most significant mineral deposits.)

It appears that, despite Morrison’s protest, the federal government is moving ahead with plans to transfer more than 30 geologists and their support staff to Victoria. The relocation will involve the cancellation of a 10-year lease for Vancouver premises at a cost of $6 million.

Still, the Reform Party’s drubbing of McLellan was mild compared with that of the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA) which, last month, awarded her its “Bozo of the Month Award.” The OPA noted that none of the recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Natural Resources had been implemented; in particular, measures to stimulate exploration and allow companies to defer taxes on earnings in mine reclamation trust funds remain on the side. The OPA also took McLellan to task for not ensuring that cuts to her department will be done fairly. According to the association, it is unfair to the mining industry that Natural Resources Canada staff will be trimmed by almost 50% during the next three years.

If it is any consolation to McLellan, the Bozo award was also presented to Liberal MPs from northern Ontario who, the OPA maintains, failed to look after the economic interests of their constituents in the recent federal budget. Recipients of the dubious honor include Reginald Belair, Raymond Bonin, Joseph Comuzzi, Stanley Dromisky, Ronald Irwin, Diane Marleau, Ben Serre, Brent St. Dennis, Peter Thalheimer and Robert Wood.

These politicians will likely be none too pleased that they are being singled out for allegedly failing to support the mining sector. But, hey, we don’t make the news, we just report it.