http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html
Giving power to municipalities will make it harder to invest in new jobs
Jean-François Minardi is associate director of the Global Natural Resource Policy Centre with the Fraser Institute.
Until recently, Quebec was seen by mining executives around the world as having the best policy environment for investment, mainly thanks to a predictable regulatory environment, the absence of territorial claims in northern Quebec, high quality geo-scientific data easily accessible to miners, good infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and an attractive mining-tax system.
But with the introduction May 12 of Bill 14, to amend Quebec’s Mining Act, the province is now poised to introduce a high level of uncertainty that may scare investors away and seriously damage the policy attractiveness of Quebec to mining investment.
Bill 14 gives additional power to municipalities to control mining activities on their territory, something municipalities clamoured for during the heated debates over regulating the shale gas industry. But giving municipalities control over where and how mining can take place sidelines the provincial government as the sole mining regulator and runs the risk of erecting multiple barriers to mining investment, investment that creates well-paying jobs in many Quebec communities.
To date, provincial management of the mining sector has been characterized by certainty regarding the rules of the game, a transparent process, timeliness and predictability, which played a big part in the attractiveness of the province for global investors. It’s why Quebec was ranked as the top jurisdiction for mining investment by the Fraser Institute’s annual Survey of Mining Companies in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
But under Bill 14, more than 1,000 municipalities, most of which lack the necessary experience, expertise and knowledge, will be able to implement different rules applied on an individual basis in their respective jurisdictions.
For example, Article 91 in Bill 14 states that any areas within an urbanization perimeter and any area dedicated to vacationing is withdrawn from staking, map designation, mining exploration and mining operations. Article 91 also states that, in order to perform work, the holders of claims in an area that has been so withdrawn must obtain the consent of the local municipality concerned. However, no compensation is paid by any level of government for the consequences of an inability to perform work because of a failure to obtain such an authorization.
This means mining claims holders who have already invested millions of dollars in exploration in a parcel of Crown mineral land may retroactively lose, without compensation, their legally acquired right to explore for and develop minerals.
For the rest of this column, please go to the Montreal Gazette website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Bill+will+change+mining+sector+worse/5427785/story.html