Mines ministers seek consensus on industry’s future

A trio of mines ministers will spearhead plans to pull together mining, governments and other interest groups to create an action plan for the troubled industry, the Yukon’s mines minister said during the 49th Mines Ministers conference held here Sept. 20-23.

Maurice Byblow said the mines ministers of New Brunswick and Manitoba will help him prepare a progress report for the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) at their March meeting in Toronto. “I think this is the most encouragement that our industry has had in a good long while,” said Tony Petrina, chairman of the Mining Association of Canada, at the close of the conference.

Byblow said the move was a direct result of the mining association’s plea earlier at the conference for a “Whitehorse charter” to address the industry’s major problems.

“We have in mind as a model the Canada Forest Accord, in which earlier this year the federal government, provinces, the forest industry and its principal stakeholders (workers, aboriginal groups, environmentalists, educational authorities) accepted a common vision, mission and action plan for the forestry sector,” the brief read.

The mining association’s call was similar to that of the PDAC in its brief to the conference.

Some PDAC recommendations included a conference with governments and all Crown land users on land-use and park policies, capital gains tax breaks for shares in natural resource companies, and respect for claimholders during the land claims process.

Delegates spoke repeatedly of problems facing the industry, including loss of investment dollars overseas, unpredictable and costly environmental reviews and access to land.

Jake Epp, the federal minister of energy, mines and resources, appeared sympathetic to these concerns, but made few promises.

In a luncheon speech, Epp promised that the mining industry would be represented at the upcoming Canadian Council of Environment Ministers meeting. He said this is necessary to help streamline environmental rules, reducing the overlap of different jurisdictions and the cost to companies. “We have to get a 1-window approach,” Epp told reporters later. The minister said that Bill C-13, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act due to replace the Environmental Assessment and Review Process by January, does not address all the industry’s complaints about the review system. Epp also said Revenue Minister Don Mazankowski has agreed to look at tax-deductibility of mine reclamation costs.

“Regrettably, the highlight of our industry in the past number of months has been too much on the negative and not on the positive,” said Epp, referring to the deaths of 26 miners at the Westray mine in Nova Scotia and nine at Royal Oak Mines’ (TSE) Giant mine in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Louis Gignac, president of Montreal-based Cambior (TSE), said while there was some progress at the meeting, there’s still a long way to go, particularly on quicker environmental reviews.

Gignac said he thinks it’s at the cabinet level, where conflicting priorities surface, that mining interests are diluted.