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Canadian Media Resource Articles

Canada regulator seeks wiretap powers for insider-trading cases – by Cameron French (Reuters U.S. – March 27, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Canada’s largest capital markets regulator is pushing for an amendment to the country’s Criminal Code that would allow investigators to use wiretaps to investigate insider trading.

Such a step would give Canadian investigators a tool that their U.S. counterparts already have, and one that Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) Chairman Howard Wetston said on Thursday is needed to successfully prosecute a crime where proving intent is key.

The OSC is the largest and most influential of Canada’s provincial and territorial securities regulators, and has jurisdiction over the Toronto Stock Exchange. “In my opinion, we are missing a key tool that would assist in more effectively enforcing provisions against insider trading,” he said in a speech to a Toronto business audience.

“Wiretaps would allow us to obtain direct evidence of the intention – I underline intention – to engage in illegal insider trading and tipping,” he said. Tipping refers to the practice of passing along sensitive information that could then be used for trading.

The wiretapping would not be done by the regulator itself, but rather by provincial and federal police that work with regulators to investigate white collar crimes. Wetston said the OSC has been in early-stage talks with police about the issue.

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Barrick to revise executive compensation rules – by Rachelle Younglai (Globe and Mail – March 31, 2014)

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.

Barrick Gold Corp. will unveil pay packages for outgoing chairman Peter Munk and his successor John Thornton, as well as new executive compensation methods, after shareholder uproar over the incoming chair’s signing bonus.

Mr. Thornton’s $11.9-million (U.S.) bonus galvanized the traditionally passive Canadian pension funds to demand changes to how Barrick was governed, triggering the company to overhaul its board of directors late last year.

Barrick’s management proxy circular, to be filed on Monday, will present a new compensation scheme designed to align management’s pay even more closely with the miner’s performance. The company’s plan is expected to require executives to hold their shares until they leave the company.

That would be a departure from the previous arrangements, which allowed management to exercise their stock options at certain dates. “This is coming after they paid Thornton his big bonus. In some respects it’s like shutting the barn door after the horses have left,” said Robert Gill, vice-president and portfolio manager at Lincluden Investment Management, which holds $3.3-billion in assets including Barrick.

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China’s steel meltdown will ripple around the world – by Carl Mortished (Globe and Mail – March 27, 2014)

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.

LONDON — There’s too much mining, and too much iron ore. Overproduction will take the price of steel’s raw material down by almost a third over the next few years, says Australia’s official forecaster. A supply glut could be just part of the problem, because a swathe of Chinese steel makers are burdened with too much debt – and Beijing is not keen on bailouts.

Australia’s iron triumvirate – Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. – are ramping up production, and chasing market share at the expense of prices. The frenzied digging means that the country’s exports of ore are expected to rise by almost a fifth to 680 million tonnes this year.

Australia’s Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics is predicting that by 2019, the iron ore price will fall from last year’s average of $126 (U.S.) per tonne to $87.

The price has already declined by a fifth since the beginning of this year, moving close to $100 per tonne, amid concerns that China’s export engine is slowing.

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Stornoway stocks rise on confirming ‘advanced’ financing discussions – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 27, 2014)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The proponent of Quebec’s only diamond mine, Stornoway Diamond Corp, has conceded that it was in advanced negotiations with a number of parties regarding a comprehensive financing plan for its Renard diamond project, located in north-central Quebec, sending its shares up by as much as C$0.16 apiece on Thursday.

Despite the company affirming that it did not generally respond to rumours or media speculation, Stornoway said that management was encouraged with progress made in discussions to date.

It did, however, note that the outcome of such discussions was uncertain and subject to further negotiation and executing binding term sheets and definitive agreements, and receiving all applicable regulatory, shareholder and other approvals.

“There is no assurance that any transaction will result from these discussions, or as to the timing, structure or terms of any transaction (which may include any combination of debt, equity, forward sale of diamonds and other forms of financing) and no further comment will be forthcoming unless the situation so warrants,” Stornoway said in a statement.

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Constitution puts aboriginal front and centre on resource projects – by Mary Teresa Bitti (National Post – March 28, 2014)

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

Pick any province across Canada and you’ll find there are outstanding land claims for Aboriginal title. Even in the provinces that have treaties — which account for more than 30% the land mass that makes up Canada — Aboriginal title claims are being advanced. That means a large part of the country is subject to significant Aboriginal influence or control. Aboriginal and treaty rights are especially important because they are the only property rights in Canada protected by the Constitution.

“Generally, Aboriginal law has an impact on resource and land development but that is not just in rural Canada. Some aspect of Aboriginal interests or claims touch each of the major cities across the country,” says Charles Willms, a Band 1 ranked practitioner for aboriginal law and chair of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP’s aboriginal law practice.

“There are claims for Aboriginal title in and around the city of Toronto, the Ottawa Valley, Montreal, throughout the St. Lawrence Valley and into the Maritimes, for example. Aboriginal law affects all Canadians — that’s why it’s so important.”

While the first Aboriginal law case in the books was a family law case that dates back to 1813, the legal fight over land soon followed. It wasn’t until 1968, however, with the transformative Calder case that the courts recognized Aboriginal people had more rights than previously acknowledged.

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Raw oil exports offer big bang-for-the-buck for Canada’s economy, report says – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – March 28, 2014)

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

Canada’s raw oil exports are no hindrance to “high-paying, value-added jobs,” according to a new report. In fact, labour compensation in oil and gas extraction is the highest in the country, at more than three times the average hourly earnings in the Canadian economy generally, and nearly 50% higher than manufacturing.

Adding value to natural resources — from lumber to crude oil — is often seen as critical to creating high-end jobs in some quarters and some groups often view exports of ‘raw’ materials as a job-killer that robs the economy of taxes and revenues.

“It is completely false… to claim raw energy exports do not represent ‘high-paying, value-added jobs’,” Trevor Tombe, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Calgary and author of the report published last week by the School of Public Policy. “The opposite is true.”

Labour productivity in mining and oil and gas averages more than $200 per hour compared to about $160 per hour for utilities, the second-largest contributor. Manufacturing, often touted as a “value-added” industry, generates about $50 per hour, Statistics Canada data shows.

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Clark’s mining push meets resistance – by Mark Hume (Globe and Mail – March 27, 2014)

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.

VANCOUVER — Premier Christy Clark’s push for new mines in British Columbia is becoming mired in growing controversy.

On Wednesday, a delegation from Alaska was in Washington, D.C., to lobby the U.S. government concerning five proposed mines in northwest B.C. that are on watersheds draining into southeast Alaska. The delegation, representing 40 businesses, tribes, commercial fishing groups and environmentalists, claims the mines pose unacceptable risks to Alaska’s salmon fishery.

“We’re really worried about where this is going to go,” Brian Lynch, executive director of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association said about the proposed development of the mines near the Alaska border.

Mr. Lynch said he’s worried because the B.C. government seems to be simultaneously fast-tracking several mines without providing adequate resources for environmental reviews. “I doubt any agency could handle that work load,” he said. “The money is just not there to do that kind of work – and that scares us.”

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Gold bugs invade Northern Ontario – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – March 26, 2014)

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

It’s already bug season in Northern Ontario – gold bug season that is. The numbers of junior exploration companies eager to drill the region are almost as many as there will be blackflies when the weather warms up. Well … maybe not quite as many, but the winter drilling programs are promising for some.

Toronto’s Harte Gold Corp. is examining its Hemlo style Sugar zone property, located 60 km east of the Hemlo camp, between White River and Hornepayne. Having discovered what it calls the “Peacock Boulder” with gold values up to 87 g/t, Harte has mounted surface and airborne surveys. The next step is to conduct an induced polarization and magnetic survey to targets for additional drilling. The Sugar zone gas a 43-101 compliant indicated resource of 1.12 tonnes grading 8.41 g/t and an inferred resource of 417,000 tonnes grading 7.13 g/t. (HarteGold.com)

Lake Shore Gold has identified new, high grade structures near the current mining at the Bell Creek Labine deposit in the Timmins area. The previously untested gap in the North A zone and two hanging wall structures returned 14.12 g/t over 10.2 metres, 8.41 g/t over 12.0 metres, and 7.01 g/t over 10.7 metres. Near the active 685 level mine workings, core assayed 11.42 g/t over 3.6 metres, 8.47 g/t over 4.6 metres, 7.76 g/t over 8.7 metres, 5.96 g/t over 6.5 metres, and 6.38 g/t over 6.0 metres.

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Mining, fertilizer and chemical groups present myths about the rail industry – by Michael Bourque (National Post – March 27, 2014)

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

Michael Bourque is President of the Railway Association of Canada.

Additional intervention to a sector that is already heavily regulated has the potential to undermine good business practices and successful economic outcomes.

It’s not every day that a group of customers co-author an article in which they claim that their service providers “deliberately” provide poor service. That’s exactly what the heads of three major industry associations–mining, fertilizer and chemical interests–did this week in a commentary on this page. “Railways should serve all customers,” said the headline.

Another modest statement in the commentary was hard to argue with. “Simply, a railway should meet the customer’s needs.” Sure, the customer comes first; the customer is always right and we exist to serve our customers. But let’s unpack what is behind this statement, which has a lot of history in the long historical debate between commercialization and regulation of railways in Canada.

Canada’s railways operate with a view to serving all customer needs. One analogy is that we operate a bus route, where each customer’s needs are met by operating efficiently and in a predictable fashion.

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Oil sands’ clean-tech clash: Jim Balsillie looks to innovate as Tom Steyer sticks with pipeline putdowns – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – March 27, 2014)

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

Green the oil sands or kill the oil sands?

Those are the clashing views of two clean-tech advocates — Jim Balsillie, the Canadian co-founder of Research In Motion, now BlackBerry Ltd.; and Tom Steyer, the U.S. clean-tech promoter, former hedge fund billionaire and leading man in the campaign against the Keystone XL pipeline.

Both were hard at work this week. In a speech in Vancouver Wednesday, Mr. Balsillie, now chairman of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), said framing the debate as “for or against the oil sands” is unproductive and will “keep us from moving forward in a meaningful way.”

It’s innovation that will “truly put ourselves on a path towards sustainability,” he said. “Given our current capacities, radically reversing our natural resource policies is tantamount to economic and political suicide.”

Of course it is. The oil sands grew in the past couple of decades to become a Canadian economic stalwart. How? Through innovation that turned oil-soaked sand into a resource that could be sold to an energy-hungry world at an economic cost.

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Taseko launches second legal action over federal rejection of B.C. mine – by Peter Koven (National Post – March 27, 2014)

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

Taseko Mines Ltd. is taking the federal government to court for the second time in four months, claiming its rejection of the New Prosperity project was based on a highly unfair process that included inappropriate meetings with opponents of the mine that it only learned about through Facebook.

The Vancouver-based miner said these meetings were documented in Facebook posts by a First Nations chief. It claims the government declined to talk about them or let Taseko respond to what was discussed.

Taseko filed an application for a judicial review on Wednesday to try to force the government to reconsider New Prosperity, based on its belief that Ottawa did not run a fair process. It launched a separate judicial review in federal court back in December, claiming there was a key technical error in a review of the British Columbia project that influenced Ottawa’s decision.

“The process was flawed,” said Brian Battison, Taseko’s vice president of corporate affairs. “The findings were wrong and the decision to deny the project was certainly wrong. We expect to prove that in court.” The $1.5-billion New Prosperity has been controversial from the start.

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Ontario, First Nations ink RoF regional framework agreement – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – March 26, 2014)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The province of Ontario and Matawa-member First Nations on Wednesday took an important step to move development of the province’s vast northernmost mineral wealth forward, by reaching a landmark regional framework agreement that will ensure First Nation communities benefit from the proposed Ring of Fire (RoF) mining camp.

The agreement is a first step in a historic, community-based negotiation process, which began in July last year at the request of nine Matawa-member First Nations.

“This regional framework agreement is a landmark achievement in community and regional discussions. I am proud that our collaborative work with Matawa-member First Nations continues to progress.

“Together, we are moving forward on realising the RoF’s potential and making important advancements on regional, environmental and economic developments,” Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said.

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Railways should serve all customers — not just one industry – by Pierre Gratton, Roger Larson and Richard Paton (National Post – March 26, 2014)

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

Pierre Gratton is President and CEO, Mining Association of Canada; Roger Larson is President, Canadian Fertilizer Institute; and Richard Paton is President and CEO, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.

Rail services do not operate on normal market conditions

On March 18, the Railway Association of Canada defended its members’ service failures this winter to the grain sector (No way to run a railroad). Chemicals, mining and fertilizer have also experienced poor service that go beyond cold weather and are systemic and deliberate in nature.

Canada requires a customer-responsive rail network. The federal government has a key role to play in establishing and ensuring a well-functioning rail system that serves all of its customers’ needs.

While we understand and sympathize with what motivated the federal government to issue an Order-in-Council compelling CN and CP to transport certain volumes of export grain shipments, we are concerned about the effects of meeting one industry’s needs by allocating rail capacity at the expense of other industries.

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Desperate junior miners ‘Breaking Bad’ to stay afloat – by Armina Ligaya and Peter Koven (National Post – March 26, 2014)

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

Canada’s hundreds of tiny mining companies have had such a rough ride, with metal prices tanking and financing drying up to a trickle, that some have simply resorted to drugs. Medical marijuana, to be exact.

Canadian resource companies such as Next Gen, Sartori Resources, and, most recently, TSX Venture-listed Cavan Ventures Inc., have floated the idea of a foray into medical marijuana industry, with the buzz often sending their stocks to a (very temporary) high.

Junior miners’ increasing interest in the medicinal plant is “symptomatic of how difficult it has become in this sector,” said John Kaiser, mining analyst and research director of Kaiser Research Online.

It’s similar to the ploys by resources companies in the late 1990s and early 2000s to jump on the dot-com boom amid a similar tough economic environment, he said. “To me it has this smell of an end times type of mentality,” he said. “Where nothing means anything any more, [and] it’s hopeless to raise money for real stuff in the resource sector.”

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Despite what seems, the U.S. in a much better position than Russia after Putin’s Crimean adventure – by John Ivison (National Post – March 26, 2014)

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

President Barack Obama threatened Vladimir Putin with “broad-based” sanctions that would target the energy and financial sectors, if Russia continues to gobble up the territory of its neighbours. Mr. Putin, who knows that western Europe relies on his $160-billion in oil and gas exports, was probably not quaking in his boots.

At a press conference in The Hague Tuesday, Mr. Obama was asked if the threat was hollow, coming from an America whose influence is declining. The tone of much of the commentary is that a resurgent Russia is thumbing its nose at an impotent and waning United States.

But, according to one of the world’s foremost energy experts, the map of world energy is being redrawn in front of our eyes — and not to Mr. Putin’s advantage.

Daniel Yergin, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Quest – Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World, said the energy revolution in the United States has created a “new dimension” to American foreign policy, while “the bloom is off the rose” of Russian energy production, in part because of the flight of capital in the wake of Mr. Putin’s Crimean adventure.

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