COMMENTARY — Single window would cut costs

Companies wanting to invest in the Canadian mining industry often find themselves tangled in a seemingly endless sea of red tape; red tape which must be cut through, tied up, rubber-stamped, re-packaged, and sent to various federal and provincial ministries and agencies.

The mining industry has long been calling for a respite from this regulatory burden. At the same time, government continuously looks for ways to reduce bureaucratic costs while ensuring standards are maintained. Harmonizing the regulatory burden the mining industry faces would not only cut costs for both government and industry; it would help attract investment in the Canadian mining industry.

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) has taken some initial steps towards resolving this issue, but it has not yet made a definitive stride forward. The CCME seems more interested in making provincial and federal guidelines compatible than actually removing unnecessary levels of bureaucracy. Under its plan, mining companies would still have to gain approval from both levels of government, but the standards would be the same. Instead of streamlining the regulatory process, the CCME recommends duplicating it.

The mining industry supports the “single window” approach; one set of guidelines, one set of approval, one set of forms and applications sent to one governmental agency to satisfy both the provincial and federal ministries. This would allow mining companies to follow a defined, forward-looking path in the approval process, instead of facing countless detours.

Although governments in countries like Chile and Mexico are actively courting mining investment from all over the world, including British Columbia and the rest of the country, we have remarkable mineral resources to be developed in Canada, and enormous potential. Streamlining the regulatory process through the development of a “single window” approach would help attract mining investment to Canada, reduce government administration costs, and ultimately bolster the provincial and national economies.

— Gary Livingstone is President and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia. He wrote this column at the invitation of Keep Mining In Canada, a national grassroots campaign designed to increase public awareness of the importance of mining in Canada.