http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/british-columbia/
Ravina Bains and Taylor Jackson are Fraser Institute policy analyists.
More than 10,700 British Columbians were employed in the mining sector in 2013 with an average salary and benefits totalling $114,600. That same year, the mining industry contributed $511 million in revenues to the B.C. government. However, the industry faces an uncertain future.
Depreciated commodity prices, a tough financing market for juniors, and a slowdown in global demand will make it difficult to attract mining investment in the near-term.
Last week the B.C. government announced that it will establish a Major Mines Permitting Office to streamline the permitting process for the industry. But a lengthy permitting process is not the biggest policy issue hampering mining investment in the province. That distinction belongs to disputed land claims — the greatest deterrent to investment in B.C.
According to the Fraser Institute’s Annual Mining Survey, in terms of pure mineral potential, B.C. ranks in the top five most attractive jurisdictions in the world. However, when government policy (or lack thereof) is added to the equation, B.C. starts to lag behind similar jurisdictions.
Why? Disputed land claims. In 2013, 70 per cent of survey respondents stated that disputed land claims were a deterrent to mining investment. And almost a third of respondents said that uncertainty on this issue was either a strong deterrent to investment or a reason to simply not invest.
Conversely, less than 50 per cent of respondents considered regulatory duplication and inconsistencies to be a deterrent to investment.
Based on survey results, the B.C. government should focus, first and foremost, on providing land certainty by addressing the nearly 50 land claim negotiations in B.C. Furthermore, in light of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in decision, unless there is more certainty around B.C. lands, streamlining the permit process could become irrelevant as mining companies decide not to apply in the first place.
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