Rickford: Mining bill cause for regional concern

News — 05 October 2010

Bill C-300, which deals with corporate accountability for mining companies, is causing concern with local corporations and Members of Parliament.

The purpose of this bill is to ensure that Canadian companies engaged in mining and receiving support from the government of Canada, act in a manner consistent with international environmental best practices and with Canada’s commitments to international human rights standards.

This bill will allow any individual to register a complaint against the mining company, with little or no reason. The complaint would be registered with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, who will then examine the complaint made by the individual, and decide whether the complaint is valid or frivolous. The Ministers have eight months to complete this, and will publish their results in the Canadian Gazette.

“This is the kind of stuff the Liberals are bringing forward, and they’re completely disconnected from regions like the great Kenora riding,” says Greg Rickford, MP for the Kenora district. “It’s bad enough to have been decimated by the forest sector, now they want to go after this mining and cut fundamentally into our ability to be competitive. This is putting people’s jobs at risk, and it isn’t necessary.”

If found to be a valid complaint, the penalties for the mining company in question could be the withdrawl of support from Export Development Canada, and the withdrawl of investment by the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) into shares of that mining company.

“This isn’t just about the mining sector, this is about financial markets that are largely driven by the mineral sector,” says Rickford.

The new proposed bill does not, however, outline what those infractions may include. There is no list of ‘cans and cannots’ included with the bill, and offers too broad of a scope on the proposed regulatory scheme.

“It puts the mining companies at risk and it puts into serious question whether some of the larger Canadian owned and operating mining companies will corporately continue to operate in Canada,” remarks Rickford. “That doesn’t mean that they won’t have mines here, but it does mean they would have to look at where they are corporately located. That’s not good for Canada.”

Although it is a federal bill, the Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, Michael Gravelle did comment that he will stand behind the mining industry.

“I will only speak positively about the fact that mining in the province of Ontario by all the companies that I work with is done in an extraordinarily responsible way, and one with great sensitivity to the environment and all also with great sensitivity to the benefits it brings to the communities,” says Gravelle. “I’m an advocate for the mining industry. I’m going to be somebody who will defend the interests of the mining sector certainly in the province of Ontario with the responsibilities that they have.”

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