Harcourt offers moral support but little else for B.C. mining

We don’t want to see mining become a sunset industry,” British Columbia Premier Michael Harcourt told an industry audience during Mining Week ’92, a recent symposium sponsored by the province’s Mining Association.

But Harcourt also warned that his newly elected New Democratic Party government is facing a $2.5-billion deficit in the 1991-92 fiscal year, and hinted this will leave little room for the kind of tax relief the industry has been saying it needs to be competitive in a global economy. Hard hit by weak prices for metals and coal and by the exchange rate and interest rates, the mining industry had called for government scrutiny of such charges as water rental fees, B.C. Hydro dividend policies, resource management fees, and other government-imposed costs that have cumulatively eroded its financial base in recent decades.

The industry was also seeking an end to uncertainty over land-use issues and duplication of regulatory efforts by federal and provincial governments, as well as a speedier and less costly mine development review process. Mine projects are now taking two or more years to go through the review process at a cost of $1-5 million, compared with an average of one year and between $100,000-200,000 before the 1980s.

Harcourt received generous applause when he announced that a discussion paper would be released aimed at streamlining the mine development review process and making it “time-specific” and a “one-window” process.

But in an earlier presentation during Mining Week, Environment Lands and Parks Minister John Cashore confirmed rumors that his ministry will be proposed as the lead agency for the mine review process. There was no applause to this announcement, and the proposal is almost certain to be met with strong industry opposition.

Cashore also said his ministry was looking at changes to the waste charge permit fee system, and to an overhaul of environmental policies to ensure “polluters pay for pollution,” with the fines going into a fund that will be used for environmental research.

Harcourt, Cashore and mines minister Anne Edwards each reaffirmed the NDP position to double parklands in the province and to settle aboriginal land claims. But the mining industry was invited to take part in an initiative to develop a land use strategy aimed at striking a balance between the environment and the economy.

The mining industry was well represented at the symposium, and one of the most compelling presentations on the state of the industry was made by Sandy Laird, Placer Dome’s senior vice-president of project development. Laird warned that because mine development in British Columbia has become difficult and expensive, mining companies are turning their attention to international investment opportunities.

“Countries such as Chile and Mexico are reducing impediments to investment,” he said. “In Canada, and particularly in British Columbia, the opposite is true.”

On a more positive note, British Columbia’s coal industry appears to be encouraged by the NDP government’s initial response to its precarious economic position. During Mining Week, Anne Edwards reaffirmed that development of a long-term coal strategy is her “firm priority.” Government officials also took part in an awards ceremony. Harcourt presented the “Mining Person of the Year” award jointly to Roger Terhune and Jack McDonald of Rossland, who were recognized for their combined 50 years of dedication toward the development and operation of the Rossland gold mine and museum complex.

Edwards presented the newly established “Mining Industry Person of the Year” award to Joe Bagg, former executive director of the Mining Suppliers, Contractors and Consultants Association of British Columbia. Awarded retroactively for their contributions to the province’s mining industry were Marilyn Mullan, executive director of the British Columbia Museum of Mining in Britannia Beach, and Emile Brokx, former mine manager of Brenda Mines.