Resource projects have long been the engine of British Columbia’s economy, but that may change if high-profile investments in this sector continue to be quashed by the province’s political leaders.
Resource companies are warning that Premier Michael Harcourt’s recent decision to kill Alcan Aluminum’s $1.3-billion Kemano II power project could lead to an investment chill in the province because of uncertainties involving security of title. The New Democratic Party government killed the project because of concerns about fisheries habitat, even though previous governments strongly supported the project over a period of three decades. The provincial government has side-stepped the issue of compensating Alcan for the project, except for a recommendation that Ottawa take economic responsibility for the matter. Federal government officials have firmly rejected this proposal, however. And small wonder: estimates are that compensation could be in the order of $1 billion.
The decision to kill the Kemano completion project follows an earlier decision to quash Geddes Resources’ plans to develop a large copper-cobalt project in northwestern British Columbia. The government did so by creating a park in the region, thus removing any possibility for development of the Windy Craggy copper deposit.
To date, compensation has not been paid to any of the companies whose mineral claims were expropriated by that land-use decision.
Be the first to comment on "B.C. gov’t slams door on Kemano"