Twitter

Canadian Media Resource Articles

Vale mine death plea disappoints union – by CBC News Sudbury (September 19, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

The union that represents workers at Vale says a $1-million fine and guilty plea related to the 2011 deaths of two of its miners aren’t enough.

The nickel miner’s plea agreement was the largest fine ever levied under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. Vale pleaded guilty to three charges, but six other charges were dropped.

“[The fine] will not have an impact,” said Mike Bond, chair of the health, safety and environment for Steelworkers Local 6500. The union conducted its own eight-month investigation into the tragedy, and Bond maintains the company should have faced criminal charges.

“We need support from the enforcement bodies that are there to protect and hand out penalties and discipline,” he said. The plea agreement means the case will not go to trail, and Bond said Vale won’t have to answer questions about what happened.

“In our views, the facts will never be on the books,” he said. Sudbury Police investigated the deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram, but announced last year that no criminal charges would be laid.

Read more

Inquiry unearths police cover-up in South African Marikana mine massacre – Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – September 19, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

JOHANNESBURG — An inquiry has found shocking evidence that South African police have lied and falsified documents to cover up the truth about their killing of 34 protestors at the Marikana platinum mine last year.

The explosive revelation of a police cover-up in the “Marikana massacre” has forced a halt to the official inquiry. The commission announced on Thursday that it is shutting down its public hearings temporarily while it investigates the cover-up.

The inquiry has already heard disturbing evidence that the police hunted down and killed fleeing protestors even after a first clash had ended. It also heard testimony that the police planted guns next to the bodies of dead miners in an attempt to justify the shooting.

The cover-up began to unravel last week in testimony by Duncan Scott, a lieutenant-colonel in the South African Police Services (SAPS). He agreed to give the inquiry a computer hard drive with videos and photos from the scene of the Marikana killings. The inquiry also obtained thousands of pages of police documents that it had not seen before.

Read more

Ottawa accuses Cameco of multi-million dollar tax dodge – by Geoff Leo (CBC News Saskatchewan – September 19, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/saskatchewan/

Saskatchewan may have missed out on $300M in corporate tax

One of the largest companies in Saskatchewan is in the midst of a multi-million dollar tax court battle with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Cameco has publicly estimated that it could end up owing $800-850 million in Canadian corporate taxes for the years 2008 to 2012, if it loses the case.

CRA contends that the uranium giant set up a subsidiary in Zug, Switzerland for the purpose of avoiding taxes in Canada. However Cameco’s CFO, Grant Isaac, disputes that claim.

He says there’s a compelling business case for having a marketing arm in Europe, close to customers there. “We believe that it was established in accordance with sound business principles and in accordance with relevant laws and regulations,” Isaac told investors at the corporation’s first quarter update in May 2013.

Read more

It may be time to step back on Keystone XL project – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – September 19, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

CALGARY — Canada is winning the battle for U.S. market share in oil, and, under President Barack Obama, the United States has been cutting its reliance on imported crude – all at the same time and all without Keystone XL. It has been five years, one global financial crisis, two U.S. elections and countless shuttles to Washington by officials from Ottawa and Alberta since TransCanada Corp. filed its initial application with regulators in the United States to build the pipeline.

Today, with the project as uncertain and divisive as ever, it’s time for Canadians to ask if they want their elected officials to keep spending money, time, effort and diplomatic capital trying to persuade Washington that one pipeline is necessary for both economies.

With several alternative export proposals to the United States and elsewhere being floated, perhaps the federal and provincial governments should take a step back, push Keystone XL down on the public agenda and let TransCanada and its shippers take the lead on touting their proposal.

A year ago, many in the oil patch were confident Keystone XL was just a presidential vote away. If Republican candidate Mitt Romney won, the thinking went, the project was a sure thing: he had already served notice that “that pipeline from Canada” was a go.

Read more

North America’s Forgotten Frontier: Canadian Arctic – by Diane Francis (The Huffington Post – September 18, 2013)

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/business/

YELLOWKNIFE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES — This charming lakeside town bustles as thousands of Japanese tourists come annually to view the spectacular Aurora Borealis lights and as workers in mining, construction and energy arrive to cash in on its boom.

I was invited to speak at the Prospects North 2013 conference sponsored by the NWT Chamber of Commerce and I also visited the Diavik Diamond mine, the biggest of three gigantic mines nearly 400 miles north of Yellowknife. These mines, and another to open soon, are why the Northwest Territories has become the third biggest diamond producer in the world.

The conference was organized by executive director Mike Bradshaw and well-attended by policy, political and business leaders. My message was simply that the territories needed a new metaphor. They are not isolated and helpless political jurisdictions. They must think of themselves as the world’s biggest mining and resource play.

The three — NWT, Yukon and Nunavut — are bigger than Australia and have only seven operating mines now. Another 20 mines are in advanced stages of pre-development approvals and hundreds more undiscovered ore bodies exist in the frozen north. Such mature projects and exploration must be their top priority — as the world’s biggest mining play — and will usher in an unprecedented amount of prosperity and the building of essential infrastructure.

Read more

Ottawa to step up support for mining – by Steven Chase (Globe and Mail – September 18, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

OTTAWA — The Canadian government is readying a campaign to promote this country’s mining sector abroad, an effort that will draw on Ottawa’s power and global network of diplomatic missions to help companies expand their exploration and extraction activity around the world.

It’s the latest step in the Harper Conservatives’ efforts to redirect foreign affairs, international development and trade spending so it’s more targeted to core economic interests. In recent years, Ottawa has jointly funded development projects in Africa and South America with large mining corporations.

International Trade Minister Ed Fast will launch cross-country consultations Wednesday to get feedback as he draws up an agenda on what support it should offer to Canadian mining firms. The effort is billed as helping the extractive sector, which also includes oil and gas companies, but is almost wholly focused on mining.

The timing is no coincidence. The Harper government, which is warming up its campaign machine for an expected 2015 election, is looking for ways to contrast itself with opposition party leaders Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair.

Read more

Oliver targets U.S. coal dependence as oil sands controversy builds – by Shawn McCarthy (Globe and Mail – September 18, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

OTTAWA — Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver has moved from defence to offence, deflecting environmental criticism of Canada’s oil sands by turning the spotlight on the U.S.’s emission-intensive coal-fired power sector.

In a Tuesday speech to a high-profile energy conference in New York City, Mr. Oliver sought to minimize the environmental impact of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and said burning coal to generate electricity represents the world’s biggest climate threat.

The Conservative government faces intense criticism over the Keystone project from U.S. environmentalists, including actor Robert Redford, who released a video this week in which he claimed the pipeline would spur production of the “world’s dirtiest oil” in Alberta.

At the same time, U.S. President Barack Obama is due to release this week long-anticipated draft regulations for the U.S. power sector that critics are decrying as a “war on coal.” The administration is bracing for a political fight in traditionally Democratic coal states such as Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The U.S. relies on coal for 41 per cent of its electricity, although that share has been decreasing with the advent of cheap shale gas.

Read more

Goldcorp chairman Ian Telfer eyes OSC settlement – by Barbara Shecter (National Post – September 18, 2013)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

One of Canada’s best-known mining executives, Goldcorp Inc. chairman Ian Telfer, is seeking to settle allegations brought against him by the Ontario Securities Commission. Mr. Telfer was not accused of insider tipping or trading. Instead, the OSC alleged that he acted “contrary to the public interest” by helping an old friend, the executive assistant to the chairman of GMP Securities LP, disguise her scheme.

The case against Eda Marie Agueci and eight others is scheduled to begin at the OSC’s headquarters in Toronto on Sept. 30. Ms. Agueci is described by the OSC in a statement of allegations last year as the “central figure” in the scheme.

None of the allegations have been proven. In a brief statement Tuesday, Canada’s biggest capital markets regulator said it has set aside time on Friday morning “to consider whether it is in the public interest to approve a settlement agreement entered into by Staff of the Commission and Ian Telfer.”

In the statement of allegations last year, the OSC alleged that Mr. Telfer advised Ms. Agueci to communicate using her BlackBerry’s PIN-based messaging service to keep her activities secret from GMP.

Read more

Once an economic mainstay, Alberta’s natural gas now struggling to find markets – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – September 18, 2013)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Barely a dozen years ago, Alberta was producing so much natural gas the resource was the mainstay of the provincial economy and a big reason Canada was the second-largest natural gas exporter on the planet.

Today, Alberta gas is dirt cheap and is struggling to find a home, pushed to the sidelines by shale gas discoveries in the United States and competition from British Columbia. Even emerging opportunities to export gas in liquid form from the West Coast could elude Alberta gas for years, as projects first draw from gas resources in British Columbia’s immense shale plays.

“There are no easy answers for the Alberta gas producers,” Peter Howard, president and CEO of the Calgary-based Canadian Energy Research Institute, said in an interview. “The next several years are going to be challenging.”

While the oil sands, heavy oil and shale oil have moved to the forefront of Alberta’s resource economy, the question of what to do with Alberta’s estimated 3,400 trillion cubic feet of natural gas resource has prompted provincial politicians to look for new uses, such as increasing demand in the province and promoting access to LNG terminals on the West Coast.

Read more

Specialize or risk losing funding, Ontario tells universities and colleges – by James Bradshaw (Globe and Mail – September 18, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Ontario’s government has taken its boldest step yet to compel universities and colleges to make hard choices about how they spend their resources, circulating a draft policy designed to stretch limited provincial dollars by narrowing some schools’ missions.

The draft framework for greater “differentiation” between schools was sent to higher-education leaders for feedback on Tuesday, marked “Confidential” but obtained by The Globe and Mail. After spending a decade investing in massive enrolment growth, the government is trying to climb out of a record deficit, and the paper argues that, without change, “Over time the sustainability of postsecondary education may be at risk.”

The paper sets the province and its schools on course for tricky negotiations, which could kick off before 2013 ends and drive some difficult shifts in priorities. Universities are ultimately free to set their own course, but where the province disagrees with a school’s direction, it can steer behaviour with levers such as funding, allocating extra student spaces and approvals for new programs.

Read more

Vale fined $1M in Sudbury miners’ deaths – CBC News Sudbury (September 17, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

Vale Canada Ltd. fined $1,050,00 after 2 workers fatally injured in 2011

Mining giant Vale Canada has been fined more than $1 million in connection with a double fatality in 2011 in which miners were buried in a torrent of mud. Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram were killed when wet mud and ore flooded the tunnel where they were working at Vale’s Stobie Mine in Sudbury, Ont., on June 8, 2011.

Chenier and Fram were working in an ore pass at the 3000 foot level, transferring broken rock and ore upwards when there was a sudden release of muck, sand and water. The run of muck came through a transfer gate, burying one working and hitting another causing massive crush injuries.

The Ministry of Labour laid charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the accident after finding there had been a blockage of wet muck in the ore pass. It also said Vale had failed to deal with earlier water issues in the mine. The company was fined $1,050,000, the highest fine ever given under the health and safety act, by an Ontario court.

Read more

Investors turn up the heat on Barrick for boardroom change – by Jacqueline Nelson (Globe and Mail – September 17, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Some investors are seeking reform in Barrick Gold Corp.’s boardroom and want the company to hasten the transfer of power from co-chairman Peter Munk, according to a published report.

In the most recent sign of tensions at the world’s largest gold miner, about 10 shareholders based in Europe will soon send the board of directors a letter to push for faster changes, the Wall Street Journal said, citing sources close to the company.

“Some directors have sought change at a faster pace than others have been comfortable with,” the report said. The Journal said director Robert Franklin planned to give up his board seat if some new directors weren’t appointed.

Earlier this year, a group of seven major pension funds took issue with the beleaguered gold producer’s board after a large sum was paid to Mr. Munk’s co-chairman, John Thornton.

More than 85 per cent of the company’s stakeholders did not approve of the $17-million payout to Mr. Thornton, voting against it and other multimillion-dollar payments to board members, including Mr. Munk.

Read more

Oil superpowers and their growth towers – by Peter Tertzakian (Globe and Mail – September 17, 2013)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

Bakken, Permian, or Cardium? Where is all this oil coming from? New production from brittle, oil-bearing rocks in North America – otherwise known as light, tight oil – has been impressive. Yet that’s not all. A wider glance at the world of oil reveals a lot more new barrels coming to market. Other regions are busy pumping up capacity too – for instance, the Canadian oil sands and Iraq are notable for their scale.

Process differences are also important to highlight. Pulverizing subterranean rocks with fracking equipment isn’t the only way to deliver another million barrels a day. Mining and steaming bitumen in northern Alberta works too. Drilling good ol’ vertical wells into virgin Middle Eastern geology is proving to add a lot of capacity in Iraq.

Our feature chart this week shows towers of growth for 11 regions in three countries: the United States, Canada and Iraq. Each tower represents average oil output spanning 2005 to 2013 (the current year is estimated). The number at the top of each tower diarizes the change in output over the nine-year period.

Across all its oil fields, the United States is currently pumping a total 7.2 million barrels a day (MMB/d), up a remarkable 2.0 in less than a decade.

Read more

Northern Promise: Mining projects spark much-needed Sept-Îles port expansion – by Nicolas Van Praet (National Post – September 17, 2013)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Northern Promise is a six-part series that explores the pace and progress of development in Canada’s remote communities. In this fifth instalment, Nicolas Van Praet explores mining projects in northern Quebec

SEPT-ÎLES, Que. – The sun is setting on a cool September evening in this northern Quebec port town and three cargo ships sit anchored in the half-moon bay.

From this distance several kilometres away, the ocean-going freighters look like giant match sticks waiting to be struck. Above them, storm clouds hang like a menacing hook and behind, you can sketch the outline of North America’s biggest primary aluminum smelter — Alouette, its hill-perched electrolytic pots powered by transmission wires stretching from Hydro Quebec’s massive Churchill Falls hydroelectric facility.

Sept-Îles, named for the seven-island archipelago that fronts the bay, is a 10-km wide natural harbour in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence some 650-km downriver from Quebec City. The waters here are deep, plunging down as much as 80 metres, and they’re free of ice for year-round passage — a huge advantage for commodity producers getting their goods to market.

Read more

Tories would speed up development of Ring of Fire, says Tim Hudak – by Richard J. Brennan (Toronto Star – September 17, 2013)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Tory Leader Tim Hudak is promising to release northern Ontario from the shackles that have prevented it from reaching its economic potential.

Tory Leader Tim Hudak promises to release northern Ontario from provincial shackles that he says have prevented it from reaching its full economic potential. In his party’s latest policy paper, Hudak said a Progressive Conservative government would speed up development of the Ring of Fire — site of one of the world’s largest mineral deposits, which the plan likens to the riches of the Alberta oil sands or Saskatchewan’s potash.

“The Ring of Fire is the great mining discovery of a lifetime, but the project has gone nowhere. Our once-burgeoning forest industry has shrunk and mills have closed,” Hudak stated in the policy paper, which blames high electricity and energy costs for gutting the pulp and paper industry.

“I see a north of great destiny. A Northern Ontario that is going to drive renewed prosperity right across Ontario,” said Hudak, who released his party’s position on the north in Thunder Bay on Monday.

Read more