MINER DETAILS — B.C. government plays hardball

Mining is being given a red-carpet welcome in Manitoba. To drive home the point, officials from the province came to Vancouver to talk about a new package of incentives designed to attract investment and help industry be more competitive.

At a presentation given to what’s left of British Columbia’s mining community, the delegation provided details of a revamped mining act, tax holiday for new mines and exploration incentives. It was bittersweet stuff for the mining executives, who were forced to compare these progressive policies with ones at home that go in the opposite direction. Take the government’s recent dispute with Fording Coal which had planned to build a $200-million coal-fired power plant in the East Kootenays. The company says it was forced to pull the plug on the project because the New Democratic

Party government wanted it to meet a sulphur emissions standard so overly conservative as to make the project uncompetitive.

The government is taking heat for this turn of events in the Elk Valley where thousands of jobs are already on the line because of the bankruptcy of Westar Mining and labor disputes. (Two mines are on the block, and sources predict finding a buyer would be more difficult if the government brings down tough labor laws similar to those proposed by Ontario.)

The district is represented by Mines Minister Anne Edwards, who says Fording had no market for its power anyway.

But Fording says it can’t sell power without a price, and it can’t determine price without resolving the issue of acceptable emission levels. All this is fuelling speculation that the dispute may have less to do with emission limits than a change in policy to have all power under B.C. Hydro (soon to be headed by Marc Eliesen of Ontario Hydro). The government will only say it is “reviewing” the policy of the previous government which promoted independent power production.

But if a policy change is in the wings, it might explain the curveballs the government is throwing Cominco Ltd. over a program to ensure the Trail smelter complex keeps operating during an ongoing modernization program. The company was told the government would accept the recommendations of its special commissioner to pare down onerous taxes, including water rental fees. But the government changed its mind, and now says it will only help Cominco through a “business” arrangement if the company sells its hydroelectric generating plant to Victoria.