ON THE LEVEL — NDP killing mining

With exploration expenditures way down, mining in Canada is withering and dying, yet Canadian mining companies are doing quite well. Unfortunately, this is occurring in other lands where they are welcomed and recognized as world leaders.

This is a sorry state of affairs, for this country is still rich in mineral and human resources, if only we could throw off the mounting restraints and disincentives being imposed by incompetent and wildly spending governments. Hardest hit are Ontario and British Columbia, both now under anti-business, pro-labor socialist administrations with little understanding or sympathy for the mining industry.

Indeed the Bob Rae-Bob White New Democratic Party administration is proving downright dangerous to Ontario’s economy. It has the weakest, most naive and bureaucratic cabinet that province has ever seen. And going from bad to worse, it is now putting into the statute books grossly unbalanced pro-union labor laws on top of ever rising and punishing taxation decrees that will unquestionably discourage investment.

To give the devil some due, Ontario’s Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, which unfortunately holds a low cabinet priority, has come up with a number of Mickey Mouse schemes to encourage grassroots exploration. This is not the answer for a major industry that still generates $5 billion in exports and some 37,000 well-paid jobs.

Rather it’s the myriad of costly bureaucratic regulations that must be addressed. Heading the list are soaring taxation and environmental costs, pay-in-advance closure costs, harsh directors’ liabilities, and countless other social policies making mining investment in Ontario unattractive. Little wonder there is only one new mine currently under development in that province.

And it’s just about as bad in British Columbia where mining, once the second largest resource industry, is in serious decline. Exploration spending is at its lowest level in a decade, the Mining Association of British Columbia warns. Only one mine opened last year while 10 are likely to close by the end of this decade, it says.

Simply getting a permit to work can take ages in British Columbia, now home of the country’s toughest environmental laws. Even permission to proceed with technically feasible projects can be withheld almost indefinitely for political reasons, as Geddes Resources has certainly learned. Its huge Windy Craggy copper-gold-silver project, on which the company has spent more than $50 million in outlining an $8-billion prize, is not likely to see any go-ahead until Michael Harcourt’s dangerous socialist administration is thrown out of office.

Nor is the Yukon much better off, with exploration spending at the lowest level in 20 years. But the NDP there just had its sails trimmed in a recent election, forcing it to give up its hold on power. So there is probably new hope.

In sharp contrast, Alberta’s provincial government, realizing that it had overtaxed its golden goose (oil and gas), has drastically overhauled its crippling royalty system that will save the industry $250 million a year. In addition to significant across-the-board royalty cuts, there are incentives for developing oil discoveries coupled with administrative streamlining that should see drill rigs back in the field restoring the flow of oil and gas. Manitoba, too, is putting out the welcome mat for mining exploration and development. The province’s new approach is bound to pay off in time. However, mining’s current bright spot is in the Northwest Territories, thanks to a major diamond play that is attracting worldwide attention. But this, too, could come under a cloud just as dark as any NDP administration if aboriginal peoples’ demands for huge land claims and self-government materialize.

Any form of native self-government would almost certainly plunge this country into a legal morass that could go on for years and cost the federal government (or we taxpayers) much more than the $4.5-billion annual tab we presently pick up. And any mine seekers who would then venture into that vast land would undoubtedly face harsh royalty demands, as well as permitting and countless other hurdles at every stage of development.

Remember, you read it here in On the Level.