EDITORIAL PAGE — Lining up at the trough

Something has gone wrong with the government process currently reviewing a proposal to mine diamonds in the Northwest Territories.

The review and public hearings are supposed to focus on the environmental aspects of the proposed mine, but, instead, the project has become the pawn of government agencies and special interest groups, many of which are drawing on “intervener funding” — taxpayer’s money, that is — to pursue their own agenda.

The hearings have turned into a forum for native groups wanting to stall the project until land claims are settled, for environmental groups to get on the soapbox about preserving eco-systems, and for Australian lawyers to remind the world of the problems BHP (whose Canadian subsidiary, BHP Minerals, would operate the proposed mine) had with landowners near the Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea.

The scope of the review has become so wide, and so intense, one might think BHP Minerals was some fly-by-night outfit planning to build a nuclear power plant using Albanian technology, rather than a serious major planning to build one of the most environmentally benign mines ever proposed in Canada.

No chemicals will be used to process the kimberlite, and there are no sulphides to speak of in the tailings, which means no danger of acid-rock drainage. Wildlife will be protected and the land will be revegetated after mining ends.

Granted, five lakes will be drained, since most kimberlites found in the North exist under lakes. But these are so small, and so few, that their drainage will not have an appreciable effect. And let’s not forget that there are many thousands of lakes there, including about 8,000 in the BHP-Dia Met Minerals claim block alone.

But, critics ask, what about the charges filed against BHP for allegedly damaging fish habitat by kicking up a bit of sediment during drilling? Much ado about nothing, we say. BHP’s drilling did not kill any fish, but we can’t say the same for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), which filed the charges, and then killed 40 of 90 fish in one lake, presumably to check their internal organs to find out what damage had been done by BHP’s drilling. It appears that the medicine was worse than the perceived disease, at least for those 40 hapless members of the aquatic community.

As part of its mine plan, BHP was prepared to compensate for any loss of fish, and had looked at a variety of options, including the idea of enhancing or restoring fish habitats closer to native communities. This “no net loss” concept is a sensible solution which would reduce the burden a frivolous lawsuit would have on taxpayers, and free up all those DFO officers to concentrate on saving what remains of the commercial stocks on both coasts.

Let’s not forget that Jean Chretien’s election campaign was about jobs. Perhaps the prime minister needs to be reminded that the diamond mine will bring jobs and major economic benefits to the Northwest Territories, which aspires to reduce its dependency on government spending by assuming greater control over its natural resources. This aim is commendable, if not necessary, considering that Ottawa has financial woes of its own.

As for native land claims, let’s be blunt: natives did not find those diamond deposits, and the market value of the surface land to be affected by the mine is a pittance. Local native groups have every right to take part in the review process and to share in the mine’s benefits, but let’s not forget that BHP has made every effort to include those aspirations in its mine plans.

And opportunities such as this do not come along every day.