Newfoundland’s mines minister buoyant about minerals sector (June 08, 1992)

Three years ago, Rex Gibbons typed a short resignation letter and walked out the door of the Newfoundland Department of Mines where he had worked as a senior geologist for 13 years. One month later he walked back in the door, this time as minister.

“I was bitten by the bug for politics,” the 46-year-old member for St. John’s West explained recently during an interview.

His experience as a mines department functionary combined with his educational background — he holds a doctorate in geology from the California Institute of Technology (CIT) — makes Gibbons the most qualified mines minister in Canada. He admits it’s a great advantage when dealing with both bureaucrats and industry officials who don’t usually expect politicians to understand the fine print of the subjects being tossed at them. However, Gibbons’ journey to the ministerial suite of Newfoundland’s department of mines and energy wasn’t a straight one. There were a few curves along the way. For instance, when Gibbons started university in the 1960s, it was only by chance that he chose geology. He originally planned to be a teacher.

“Being from a little fishing town, the only way that I could afford to come to Memorial University was through education grants,” he said. A government policy at the time paid the tuition of prospective teachers. It was during the third year of his education degree program that he took his first geology course in order to meet a need for a science credit. That summer he got a job on a mining field project where he got hooked on geology. He returned to university and changed his degree program from education to science with a major in geology. Upon finishing his master’s degree in geology, a professor suggested to him that he should go the full route and work toward a doctorate.

That advice landed him at the CIT, and a job offer to work at NASA’s Lyndon Johnson Space Center in Houston, Tex. He stayed with NASA for two years, studying moon rocks and the effects of high pressure tests on minerals. With an offer from NASA to stay and work permanently, Gibbons faced the choice of applying for a Green Card or returning to Newfoundland. “As it happened there were jobs available here and I got a job with the department of mines,” he said.

Gibbons’ political career was similarly haphazard. It was his children who first pointed him in the direction of politics. Concerned about their schooling, he ran in a school board election and won a place on the board. Three years later he sought the chairmanship and won that post too. “That gave me bit of a political profile,” he said.

His term as chairman of the biggest school board in the province was about to expire when he got an unexpected telephone call.

“Clyde Wells called me and asked if I had any interest in the next level of politics,” Gibbons said. “I told him that I would think about it. I couldn’t say absolutely yes or absolutely no.” Soon afterwards, Gibbons heard Progressive Conservative premier Tom Rideout call the muck-anticipated provincial general election on his car radio.

“I realized then that I had to make a decision that night,” Gibbons said. The next day he went against the advice of a friend in the department of mines, drafted a resignation letter and embarked on the campaign trail. Proving both pundits and pollster wrong, Gibbons was elected as part of an historic Liberal sweep of St. John’s ridings that for years had been Tory bastions. Gibbons said the transition from bureaucrat to minister was easy. Everybody in the mines department knew him already and had a sense of what to expect. During his three years in office, Gibbons has earned a reputation as being one of the most honest men in the Liberal cabinet. And unlike many politicians who tend to make big promises, Gibbons is known for holding his cards to his chest right up until the very last moment. When the Hibernia oil mega-development was brewing last year, Gibbons was about the only big player in the deal who wasn’t speculating when, or even if the agreement would be signed. He waited until the day it was actually inked before he made the announcement.

“I don’t want to overplay anything,” he says. “I just try to be realistic. And then if we can get something done, great. I don’t want to have any pie in the sky promises that are not going to come true. We’ve had too much of that in Newfoundland.”

Continuing on a realistic note, Gibbons said the level of mineral exploration in Newfoundland is currently the lowest he has ever seen. He puts the blame on the world recession that is still shaking itself out. However, there are some bright spots, he maintains, predicting increased activity in the next several years in Newfoundland’s industrial minerals sector. And in the long term, Gibbons said there is a possibility several small gold mines might come to fruition in the province’s central region.

As for his political career, Gibbons is similarly buoyant. “I do plan to run again,” he says. “I look forward to it. As long as the people will have me, my plan now is to keep running.