MINER DETAILS (May 11, 1992)

British Columbia’s mining industry and the New Democratic Party traditionally mix like oil and water. The two solitudes clashed when Dave Barrett took power in 1972, and it’s beginning to look like it could happen again.

NDP Premier Michael Harcourt has taken great pains to show he’s no Dave Barrett (or Bob Rae, for that matter). He’s traveled to New York, and other foreign destinations in his pinstripe suit preaching fiscal responsibility and reassuring the financial community that yes, British Columbia is indeed a safe place to invest.

What’s wrong with this Polyanna picture is the NDP’s recent introduction of legislation freezing legal actions where compensation is being sought as a result of government expropriation of mining claims or other rights. The legislation was introduced by Attorney-General Colin Gablemann, who earlier in the month set up a commission of inquiry into the compensation issue. Gablemann says government wants “fairer, less confrontational methods” for settling compensation as the current procedures (the courts) are “expensive and time-consuming”.

The freeze is “temporary” while Richard Schwindt, a professor at Simon Fraser University, completes his report. This is expected by the end of June, but Gablemann says the period before the government responds to the recommendations will be “quite brief.”

The speculation is that the “temporary” freeze could become permanent if the report recommends a new mechanism be put into place to assess entitlement and the amount of compensation in expropriation cases under new guidelines. Why the big push? In recent years the government has shelled out millions to settle expropriation cases. The NDP now wants to double parklands and settle native land claims, and knows that under the current system, it faces massive payouts to companies with rights to log or mine on the same land. So far, the law of the land has been consistent, that where government takes an interest in land or chattels from another, there must be compensation. This has been upheld in the Supreme Court, and in the appeal process. The court process may not be perfect, but it’s well known; the rules and procedures are clear and based on fairness. The course the government appears to be taking — a clear assault on property rights — will send a negative message to investors that no amount of salesmanship and trips to world financial centres will ever be able to overcome.