https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/
Simon Fraser University research survey indicates fast-tracking of project no guarantee of success
The mining industry is applauding the British Columbia government’s decision to fast-track permits for several projects amid the ongoing U.S. tariff threat, but research suggests economic factors have been behind long delays for many other proposals.
Simon Fraser University associate professor Rosemary Collard says research shows that regulatory fast-tracking of mining projects is no guarantee that they will all materialize. She’s the co-lead author of a recent study of 27 B.C. mining projects granted environmental assessment certificates since 1995 and projected to open by 2022, showing that most failed to open on time.
The study says that of the 20 that failed to do so, regulation was a factor in only three, with economic factors and viability instead being the most common cause. The B.C. government on Tuesday released a list of 18 critical mineral and energy projects, including four mines, that it said would be expedited to diversify the economy during what Premier David Eby called the “on-and-off tariff threats” from the United States.
For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mines-fast-tracking-1.7452976