Epp preparing miners for era of deficit control

While, the 49-year-old Manitoba native is glad to refer the calls to 0506,0000 Perrin Beatty who succeeded him at Health and Welfare, four years in that department has made him something of an expert at handling crisis calls.

But if his new job promises to be relatively pressure- free by comparison, the practicing Mennonite and former school teacher will still have to draw on his vast experience to balance the needs of an industry which may be running out of base metals reserves, with the concerns of a growing environment protectionist movement.

In the energy portfolio, he will also have to reconcile the demand by the provincial associations for research and development money while being mindful of the federal government’s desire to reduce the deficit.

As he prepared to introduce himself to an expectant mining industry at the 1989 Prospectors and Developers Banquet, Epp appeared equal to the task.

“I come with an attitude of wanting to work with an industry that functions best with a minimum of government interference,” Epp told The Northern Miner during an interview in his Toronto hotel room. No dichotomy

“I’m a fiscal conservative and I have never seen a dichotomy between the need for mining companies to make a profit and our responsibilities toward society.”

“Everything I’ve seen from the mineral associations tells me they recognize the need for the deficit to be controlled.”

With 16 years in federal politics under his belt, Epp is well known for his anti-smoking, anti-drinking stance. He wants to make Canada smoke free by the year 2,000. But the grandson of a Ukrainian immigrant claimed his social reform background won’t necessarily put him at odds with the desire of mining companies to make a profit.

“Mining companies have come a long way in the past few years and I don’t hear from them that its a case of development at all costs. On the other hand you can’t stop development just because it will have an environmental impact.”

Despite concerns within the mining industry that it is being asked to become more competitive at a time when the federal government is in a debt reduction mode, Epp said he is a strong supporter of the new Canadian Exploration Incentive Plan. Economic life

“Mineral exploration and development is very much part of our economic life and it is part of the international view of Canada,” said Epp. “I don’t believe that you can put resources on one field and the service industry, for example, on another. They are all part of the Canadian reality.”

However, he refused to give any indication of what the government’s position would be on a number of federal/provincial Mineral Development Agreements which are coming up for renewal. Since 1984, all provinces and territories with the exception of Alberta received $253.5 million under MDA for geoscience, research and development programs.

He also declined to speculate on how much the federal government was prepared to spend to develop northern Canada. “We will be discussing those issues at the cabinet table,” he said.

Epp’s position on a number of important federal government committees including Priorities and Planning, Environment, Finance and Taxation as well as Economic Development has made him a welcome appointment to the Energy portfolio.

Like predecessor Marcel Masse who is thought to be more suited to his new Minister of Communications role, Epp has jurisdiction over the energy and minerals side the ministry. Industry profile

As a result, mining executives who say that their industry hasn’t received the credit they say it deserves, are hoping that Epp will be able to raise the industry’s profile in the years ahead. “There is quite a bit of good will for him,” said George Miller, chairman of the Canadian Mining Association.

Hopes for a renewed emphasis on Northern development have also been fuelled by Epp’s record as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development during the ill- fated Joe Clark government of 1979.

During a brief stay at Indian Affairs he gave the green light to development of Cominco Ltd.’s (TSE) Polaris lead-zinc operation, which at the time was Canada’s most northerly mining project. He is also on record as saying “it is time to open up the north.”

“Residents of the north don’t want to be any more dependent on tax payers money than people who live in other areas,” said Epp who will move quickly to resolve the resource sharing issue.

The issue arises because the federal government has agreed in principle to negotiate land claims by the Deni/Meti Indian tribes in the Northwest Territories. The agreement may involve sharing mineral revenues with native groups and the territorial government. Land claims

Where native land claims conflict with mineral exploration, he promised to try and strike a balance between the needs of groups involved. “I don’t see myself as someone who is coming into this with a cudgel,” he said. “We will try and work out the best possible regime in which people can co-exist and make a profit.”

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