ODDS’N’SODS — Time to Streamline

In December, 1995, the federal Standing Committee on Natural Resources tabled an interim report which examined mining issues and made specific recommendations to government. The committee was chaired by Gordon Kirkby, member of Parliament for Prince Albert-Churchill River, Sask., who wrote the following article at the invitation of the “Keep Mining In Canada” campaign.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources remains commited to improving federal policies affecting natural resources. As the committee’s newly appointed chairman, I was delighted to contribute to this effort by tabling a unanimous interim report calling for an urgent reform of the environmental regulations with which the mining industry must comply. The report, entitled Streamlining Environmental Regulation for Mining, contains 15 recommendations designed to help restore the industry’s competitive position, without sacrificing environmental standards. At the same time, it builds on the goals of the Whitehorse Mining Initiative Accord. (Signed in late 1994, the accord drew on the participation of four groups — workplace; environment; land access; and finance and taxation — in an attempt to lay the groundwork to improve mining practices and policies throughout Canada.) Three overriding themes are woven throughout the report.

The first is the need for regulatory speed, clarity and certainty within the federal government itself. To help achieve this, the Standing Committee on Natural Resources recommends the following:

* introducing binding time lines into environmental assessment; * establishing a regulatory code of conduct and practices for federal departments; and

* applying the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ “no net loss” principle, on a consistent, country-wide basis.

A second priority of domestic policy-makers is to reduce the regulatory overlap and duplication that exists between federal and provincial governments. To achieve this reduction, three things are needed: * bilateral agreements with the provinces, to ensure efficient and effective environmental assessment procedures;

* delegation of federal freshwater fish habitat management to the provinces and other jurisdictions; and

* harmonization of federal and provincial effluent regulations.

Finally, the committee’s report calls for a more realistic approach to federal regulation. This will entail revising regulations for fisheries and water quality, and arriving at a new definition of metal wastes, which distinguishes between wastes for final disposal and recyclable materials.

The Standing Committee on Natural Resources welcomes the mining industry’s continued involvement in its ongoing regulatory review, as the government prepares its response to the interim report.