Federal watchdog snaps at climate, Indigenous gaps in Ottawa’s critical minerals strategy – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – November 7, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Canada’s auditor general criticized the federal critical minerals strategy for not adequately probing the impact increased mining will have on the environment and Indigenous communities.

The government program issued in 2022 budgets $3.8 billion on critical minerals support over eight years. Yet, the strategy doesn’t properly measure results and progress on ecosystems and First Nations, the Office of the Auditor General, the government’s own watchdog, said in a report on Thursday. The matters included greenhouse gas emissions, the protection of culturally significant sites and improvements to local living conditions, it said.

“Moving forward, Natural Resources Canada will have to fully assess risks and impacts of the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy to help maximize the strategy’s benefits while minimizing adverse effects from increased mining activities,” report author Jerry DeMarco said in a release.

For the rest of this article: https://www.northernminer.com/news/federal-watchdog-snaps-at-climate-indigenous-gaps-in-ottawas-critical-minerals-strategy/1003873057/#:~:text=Canada’s%20auditor%20general%20criticized%20the,minerals%20support%20over%20eight%20years.