EDITORIAL PAGE Questioning the motives

Sometimes it seems you can’t do anything right. Consider Falconbridge Ltd.’s latest public relations coup. The company surrendered its interests in the Baie Fine industrial mineral deposit largely because the area is treasured as the subject of several paintings by Group of Seven artist A.J. Casson.

The mining claims — covering Casson Peak in the hilly area that overlooks Georgian Bay’s North Channel area — are rich in silica. Indusmin, a division of Falconbridge, however, had not expected to mine the property for at least 20 years.

Falconbridge received great applause for giving up the claims: “By allowing these lands to revert to the Crown, Falconbridge has acted in the long-term interest of this riding and the province,” said Mike Brown, MLA for the area.

Others, suspicious of Falconbridge’s motives, questioned the company’s explanation: giving up the claims was a way of showing it takes its environmental responsibilities seriously. One newspaper columnist, for example, noted that such environmental concerns were difficult to reconcile with “one of the four biggest producers of acid rain pollution in Ontario” and said a citizen’s campaign deserved the credit for keeping the orebody from being mined.

The implication is that Falconbridge really has no environmental scruples and only gave up the property because of pressure from a local environmental group.

Falconbridge would probably not have given up the claims if their economic significance matched that of the company’s Sudbury nickel operations. To that extent, perhaps the company got the best mileage out of a no-win situation.

But, by the same token, Baie Fine is a valuable mineral resource. Returning the claims to the Crown, while under absolutely no obligation to do so, comes at a significant cost to the company.

Falconbridge is no saint when it comes to an environmental record, but it is far from being the environmental villain to whom one should automatically attribute ulterior motives. It runs one of the cleanest copper and zinc smelting operations in the world at Timmins, Ont. As well, it is spending $38 million toward reducing sulphur dioxide emissions, cited as a cause of acid rain, at its Sudbury smelter.

Even if the company’s motives were as Machiavellian as some are prone to believe, the fact that it has found it expedient to respond to concerns regarding the property should be a welcome development.

We believe companies like Falconbridge are making great efforts to meet their environmental responsibilities. Giving up the Baie Fine claims is one example. Others might believe the company is giving up the claims for purely self-serving reasons, but whatever the motives, results are what count.