LETTER TO THE EDITOR — Lobbyists pose threat to responsible mine development

Mining in Canada is important to local communities, particularly those in remote regions. Employment opportunities in the mining industry provide local economies with substantial and often essential economic benefits. Operating mines also provide incentive for infrastructure upgrades necessary for economic diversification. A strong, diverse local economy is an essential element of a healthy community.

Although the mining industry is fundamentally important to our society, we should not support it at any cost. The industry has a responsibility to ensure that mines are constructed and operated in an environmentally sound manner.

For more that two decades, polices have been enacted by the government of British Columbia to regulate the industry. For example, the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act requires that any new project undergo a comprehensive analyses that takes into consideration the rights of the First Nations and the interests of local populations, issues of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity, third-party interests and economics.

The Act is designed to provide a balanced and rational evaluation of a project to ensure that all issues are considered. The objective of the Act is to ensure that we achieve sustainable and equitable economic growth.

But this new process is not good enough for the environmental groups that refuse to participate in it, or work outside it by opposing mining development projects while ignoring its importance to British Columbia and its communities.

These groups state that they are not opposed to mining, but, judging from their opposition to current mining proposals, it is difficult to envision a project that would meet with their approval.

A case in point is the proposed reopening of the Tulsequah Chief gold-silver-base metal mine in northwestern British Columbia. The admirable proposal submitted by Vancouver-based Redfern Resources outlines that the project would be built and operated in an environmentally sensitive manner, and would remediate areas worked by former owners in the 1950s.

Because the project is difficult to fault, the environmental groups that have become involved in the review process have been relatively silent on the plans for the mine itself.

They have, however, loudly and aggressively opposed a proposed access road from Atlin, B.C., to the mine. Their opposition stems from fears that once a road is constructed, logging companies will be permitted to come into the area and clear cut forests. They also fear that hunters will be allowed free and easy access to the region and will decimate game populations.

The groups have repeatedly ignored Redfern’s assurances that the use of the road will be restricted to mine employees and other permitted tenure holders already using the area, and that no firearms will be permitted on the road or the mine site.

If the mining industry is expected to pay for the perceived sins of all human activity, mining in this province will cease to exist.

If our society is committed to sustainable and responsible economic growth, we must examine every new proposal in an open and honest manner. We must balance the need for environmental protection with the need to ensure the economic viability of our communities. Indeed, the two are not mutually exclusive.

The use of minerals is fundamental to our way of life, and the mining industry is essential to the economic health of this province. We must not be deceived by the hypocrisy of those environmental groups that enjoy the benefits of this industry but oppose it at every opportunity.

Christine Kelly

Atlin, B.C.