Mines ministers agree on need to reduce red tape

The 52nd annual conference of mines ministers, held recently in Saskatoon, Sask., bore uncommon fruit this year: agreement between the ministers and industry representatives on the need to cut regulatory duplication on environmental issues.

From the beginning, said Mining Association of Canada President George Miller, the conference was more friendly than past meetings between government and industry representatives.

“The industry people felt they had a better debate with the ministers than they’ve ever had before. There was more give and take,” he said.

“The industry people really tried to make it clear to government that there is a serious overlap and duplication of environmental regulation in Canada. We’ve been saying this for years, but what happened at this conference is they [the ministers] finally seemed to be listening.”

Anne McLellan, federal minister of Natural Resources, told those at the conference that while the existing patchwork of environmental regulations is not exactly driving business out of the country, governments must nevertheless move now to ensure that such an exodus does not occur.

Said a surprised Miller: “This was a case where the provincial ministers said to McLellan, ‘We support you fully, and we’ll try to help you.'” At present, Miller explained, new mining developments such as Voisey Bay must clear environmental assessments at both the provincial and federal government levels. He described such assessments as time-consuming and costly.