Harper gov’t inspires cautious optimism

Like the rest of the country, Canada’s mining sector is cautiously optimistic about Stephen Harper’s new Conservative minority government.

Although the minority is even smaller than former Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberal minority, most agree that there will be some measure of stability in the new government — if for no other reason than election fatigue on the part of both voters and federal parties.

“I don’t think any of the parties are going to want to go back to the polls anytime soon,” says Pierre Gratton, vice-president of sustainable development and public affairs with the Mining Association of Canada.

In any case, he adds: “Some kind of stability would be good for everyone – the mining industry is no exception.”

Under Harper, the Conservative Party won 124 out of 308 seats in the Jan. 23 federal election.

Stability isn’t the only thing to look forward to under Harper, Gratton says.

“One thing that the new government will bring is a much stronger voice for rural and remote Canada that we did not see so much in the previous government.”

The Conservative platform includes support for Canada’s more traditional sectors associated with those areas, Gratton adds, including mining.

Although the Tories — which have been destroyed and rebuilt more than once during their 12 years out of power — don’t have a fully fleshed out platform or policy directions, their commitment to renew the investment tax credit for exploration is music to miners’ ears.

“The exploration community should be very pleased with the fact that in Stand up for Canada (the Conservative party platform), the Tories have committed to renewing the enhanced flow-through provision, which lapsed on Dec. 31, 2005, after some five years,” Gratton says.

“We’re encouraged from that point of view,” agrees Peter Dimmell, president of the Toronto-based Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. “Obviously, statements made in an election campaign don’t necessarily follow through, but we were encouraged by that sort of approach to our industry. . . I think they realized the value of (flow-through shares).”

The Liberals, which enacted the policy on a temporary, 5-year basis, had decided not to renew the provision.

Of course, being something of an unknown entity, the Conservatives will have to go further to prove that they have something to offer the mining industry. Gratton, for example, would like to know if the party plans to follow through on a resolution to reinvest in geoscience that was passed at the Conservatives’ last convention, but never made it into their platform.

“(Public geoscience) was cut back seriously during the 1990s and we’ve paid the price,” says Gratton, who is hoping for an additional $20 million per year for five years to top up the Co-operative Geoscience Mapping Strategy (CGMS). “Our mapping is woefully out of date. If we don’t do something soon, we feel that the base metals industry, in particular, is at risk.”

The mish mash of provincial and territorial securities regulators in the country is also an important issue that was absent from the Conservative platform, adds Dimmell.

No matter what direction the Tories take the new government, Dimmel says they’ll have to do it by consensus-building. And as hard as working together with ousted Liberals, the separatist Bloc Quebecois, and leftist New Democratic Party MPs may be, Dimmel predicts none of the parties have a choice if they want a shot in the next election.

“Anybody who doesn’t work diligently to try and make it work is going to be punished in the polls.”