LETTERS TO THE EDITOR — Keep mining in Canada, but at what

The vast majority of workers in the mining industry, myself included, agree that the taxation of mines should be competitive with the rest of the world. But in other parts of the world, what are the citizens of the country getting in return for the mining of a finite resource?

In the U.S., the state and federal governments get little in return; it is the shareholders who get the revenue. In Canada and many other nations, the revenue helps to finance social programs, medicare plans and other programs such as employee retraining.

I believe that any fixed fiscal costs that have been imposed on the mining industry by government should be reviewed and a decision made as to whether to retrain, reduce or remove the fixed costs.

In order for the labor movement or any other group to support any type of campaign by the mining industry, the industry must come clean as to what its agenda is, or will be, with the additional income it receives from tax breaks. The question I must ask is: Has the mining industry identified where the lost revenue will come from? In all the information I have read, the industry has failed to answer this question.

Another area in which the mining industry has fared poorly is explaining what all the taxes are and what it is costing the industry. People do not know what a marginal tax is. They do not fully understand what a royalty tax is and how much it is costing the industry, nor any of the other taxes that the industry is trying to have reduced or removed.

Another point that must be brought into the open is how much in deferred taxes the mining industry owes to the government. If the industry has deferred taxes, is it willing to pay up now, and in return receive the tax breaks it wants? The feeling is that the industry wants it from both ends. As a member of one of Canada’s largest mining unions (United Steelworkers of America), I have monitored the projects in South America and am aware of the unsafe working conditions and the unfriendly environmental policies used by some companies that employ the citizens of the host country. The conditions that exist in South America would not be tolerated in Canada. I am not trying to paint the industry as a villain, but in the past it has not been environmentally friendly, not caring to employees, nor totally honest with the public. It is an image that is difficult to change; public relations must be improved.

If the industry wants to be successful in its “Keep Mining in Canada” campaign, it must earn the public’s trust and respect ,and that can be achieved only by being completely open and honest.

Bryan Lee

Member USWA, Local 9113

Tumbler Ridge, B.C.