Republic of Mining

‘Foreign money’ is a hypocritical diversion – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – January 11, 2012)

January 11, 2012

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.

It has been rich, even comic, to listen to the Harper government blasting away at “foreign money,” “radical groups” and Hollywood movie stars for interfering in the environmental review of the Northern Gateway pipeline that’s just starting.

Of course, such people and their money have entered the fray in Canada. It isn’t the first time (think of U.S. interventions against cutting old-growth forests in B.C.) and it won’t be the last. We live in a global world, and we share a continent with the U.S. (and Mexico) where one country’s decisions can affect the continent and planet.

Think back to last year, and the ones before that. TransCanada Pipelines sought U.S. approval for the Keystone XL pipeline to ship oil from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. Regulatory hearings were required. Ultimately, the State Department (read: President Barack Obama’s administration) had to decide.

As review begins for Gateway pipeline, a warning from wary first nations – Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – January 11, 2012)

January 11, 2012

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.

KITAMAAT VILLAGE, B.C.— Not far from the dark waters that could one day carry supertankers of oil-sands crude to the Pacific Ocean, the pitched battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline took a very public stage as opponents called on God and salmon to fight a project they see as dangerous.

Over the next two years, the federal review panel assessing the $6.6-billion proposed Enbridge Inc. pipeline will travel to dozens of communities, on the route and off it, and hear from the thousands who have asked to speak.

On Tuesday, the first day of public hearings, the three-person panel arrived in Kitamaat Village, a Haisla community on the shores of Douglas Channel. Although Ottawa has invoked the spectre of foreign-funded radicals plotting to derail the project, the real fight was here, in coastal communities where the Exxon Valdez spill still resonates and many first nations communities fear the consequences of a pipeline on their traditional territory and local waters.

Playing games with [Ontario] electricity prices – by David Robinson (Northern Ontario Business – January, 2012)

January 10, 2012

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Dave Robinson is an economist with the Institute for Northern Ontario Research and Development at Laurentian University. drobinson@laurentian.ca

Timmins lost 670 Xstrata jobs because Quebec has lower electricity prices than Ontario. Cliffs is making noises about refining in Manitoba because Manitoba offers cheaper electricity rates. Industries in Manitoba and Quebec pay under three cents per kilowatt hour, plus distribution costs, while in Ontario they pay a spot market rate that can be double that. Should we lower the price of electricity for industry in the North?

The price of electricity is actually a very political topic. Quebec and Manitoba offer low prices to attract businesses. Much of that business comes from Ontario. We call this a ‘beggar-thy-neighbor policy’ because it makes one province richer by making another province poorer.

[Timmins Goldcorp] Mine ramping up – by Chris Ribau (Timmins Daily Press – January 10, 2012)

January 10, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper

Blasting for open pit begins this summer

Corporate approval is all that stands in the way.

Representatives from Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines announced on Monday that it will commence development of the Hollinger Open Pit Mine Project following corporate approval to fund the project.

Construction is planned for the next 12 to 18 months at a cost of $75 million. Blasting is expected to start sometime this summer. The reasoning behind the 12 to 18 month timeframe is because the berm is the longest part of the construction. Construction of the haul road will start immediately.

The initial focus will be on equipment procurement, installation of the dewatering system, site clearing and stripping and the development of a five-kilometre haulage road between the Hollinger site and the Dome Mill.

No pipeline under any condition: Haisla – by Claudia Cattaneo (National Post – January 10, 2012)

January 10, 2012

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

KITAMAAT VILLAGE, B.C. — Ellis Ross, the elected chief of the Haisla Nation, hasn’t come lightly to his view of Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

The thoughtful leader of the 700-member community on the shore of Douglas Channel has immersed himself in the study of energy markets, risk of spills, and how the energy sector tends to behave when accidents occur. He has also personally been involved in spill response, in jobs in government and in the private sector.

His conclusion?

The pipeline will not be allowed under any condition by the Haisla, the aboriginal group most affected by the $5.5-billion project. It’s not about anti-fossil fuels ideology, environmentalism or dirty oil, said Mr. Ross, who is no green ally and would look at home in any corporate boardroom.

Radicals threaten resource development – by the Honourable Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources – (National Post – January 10, 2012)

January 10, 2012

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

An open letter from the Honourable Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources, on Canada’s commitment to diversify our energy markets and the need to further streamline the regulatory process in order to advance Canada’s national economic interest.

Canada is on the edge of a historic choice: to diversify our energy markets away from our traditional trading partner in the United States or to continue with the status quo.

Virtually all our energy exports go to the United States. As a country, we must seek new markets for our products and services and the booming Asia-Pacific economies have shown great interest in our oil, gas, metals and minerals. For our government, the choice is clear: we need to diversify our markets in order to create jobs and economic growth for Canadians across this country. We must expand our trade with the fast-growing Asian economies. We know that increasing trade will help ensure the financial security of Canadians and their families.

A war on green ‘radicals’ – by Terence Corcoran (National Post – January 10, 2012)

January 10, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper. Terence Corcoran is the editor and columnist for the Financial Post section of the National Post.

Never before has a Canadian politician challenged the hitherto saintly protectors of the environment in such direct language

Through most of 2011, Canadian energy officials in politics and industry watched with bewildered helplessness and some shock as Washington allowed environmentalists to seize control of TransCanada’s $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline issue. They stood by aghast as President Barack Obama, a captive of U.S. green activists and Hollywood movie stars, caved in to political pressure and postponed a decision to approve the project, a potential economic bonanza that promised to deliver thousands of jobs to Americans and billions of barrels of Canadian oil sands production to Texas.

No such green hijacking is going to take place in Canada, at least not without an official fight. On the eve of hearings, which begin Tuesday in Kitimat, B.C., into the $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline — to carry the same oil sands production from Alberta to the West Coast and on to China — the Harper government clearly aims to do what Barack Obama cannot or will not do in America, namely stand up to the growth-killing professional green movement.

For the Harper government, the Gateway must be open – by Shawn McCarthy and Steven Chase (Globe and Mail – January 10, 2012)

January 10, 2012

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 Harper government has launched an all-out campaign against opponents of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline as it seeks to blunt a global campaign by environmentalists to halt booming oil sands development.

With regulatory hearings set to begin in Kitimat, B.C., Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver singled out a Canadian charity, Tides Canada Inc., for channelling U.S. donor money to pipeline opponents, while the Prime Minister’s Office took aim at the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council.

In an interview Monday, Mr. Oliver deliver a blunt message – that the independent panel reviewing the Gateway pipeline should not allow foreign-backed opponents to hijack the hearings and kill the project through tactical delays.

Taming regulatory red tape key to [mining] investments in North – by Jennifer Brown (Canadian Lawyer – January 09, 2012)

January 9, 2012

http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/

If Canada wants to keep the investment community interested in the country’s natural resource sector it should find ways to better manage the red tape posed by regulatory regimes in this country.

As part of its Top 10 Business Issues with Legal Implications for 2012, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP cites the need to keep foreign investors interested in Canada’s Far North and specifically the need to address aboriginal consultation requirements and environmental regulations as potential hurdles.

In particular, Adam Chamberlain, the national leader and a partner in the climate change group at BLG, cited the special regulatory environment in Nunavut as an area with its own unique challenges. “You’re dealing with a regulatory framework that is substantially different than anywhere else in the country,” says Chamberlain.

He notes that Nunavut is the only territory that exists because of a modern land claim agreement.

NEWS RELEASE: Foreign Funding Poll: British Columbians Worried About Foreign Investment in Canadian Resources, Not Philanthropic Support for Environmental Groups

January 9, 2012

January 9, 2012

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – Jan. 9, 2012) – A poll released today by BC environmental groups shows that almost 75 percent of British Columbians are worried about foreign investment in Canadian natural resources. The poll results show that only a small minority of British Columbians (15%) are concerned about charitable funding provided by US philanthropic foundations to Canadian environmental groups.

The vast majority of British Columbians are worried about US and Chinese investment and control over Canadian natural resources.

“These poll results suggest that the oil lobby’s attacks against environmental groups are out of touch with the true values of British Columbians. The real issue is the unacceptable risk of a foreign-funded pipeline-oil tanker project that would ram pipe through unceded First Nations lands to ship some of the world’s dirtiest oil across thousands of fragile salmon-bearing rivers and streams,” said Will Horter, Executive Director of the Dogwood Initiative.

Nuclear waste-free zones promoted [in Northern Ontario] – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal – January 9, 2012)

January 9, 2012

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Two prominent Aboriginal organizations have come out against a proposal to bury nuclear waste in Northern Ontario.

The separate declarations by Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) and the Union of Ontario Indians (UOI) come as a half a dozen Northwestern Ontario municipalities continue to explore the possibility of hosting an underground storage facility for spent fuel bundles from nuclear reactors.

In separate news releases, NAN and UOI trash a search by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization to find a community willing to host a disposal site. “We have a mandate from the Creator to protect our lands and waters and have been doing so for thousands of years,” NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy said.

“Nuclear waste is a poison that will damage our homelands.”

Titanic clash looms over proposed Northern Gateway pipeline – by Les Whittington (Toronto Star – January 9, 2012)

January 9, 2012

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.

OTTAWA—A biologist, an energy lawyer and an aboriginal geologist will sit down Tuesday in a recreation centre in the wilderness of northern British Columbia to initiate what could be the fiercest environmental standoff ever seen in Canada.

Before the hearings in B.C. and Alberta are completed next year, more than 4,000 people are expected to appear before the three-member panel vetting the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta through the Rockies to the B.C. coast.

Like the now-stalled Keystone XL project in the United States, the planned pipeline to carry tarsands-derived crude oil across the mountains to a new supertanker port in northern B.C. is shaping up as a titanic clash of economic and environmental imperatives.

Two peoples in one city – Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal Editorial (January 9, 2012)

January 9, 2012

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

WHILE issues unique to far northern First Nations unfold in places like Attawapiskat, a different set of challenges confronts aboriginal people who move south and the cities that become their homes.

Thunder Bay has always had native neighbours at Fort William. But the aboriginal population of the city itself grew 22.6 per cent between 2001 and 2006. It is estimated that one in five people living in Thunder Bay today is aboriginal, almost 40 per cent of them under the age of 20.

A recent report from Statistics Canada projects that in 2031, Thunder Bay will be one of five cities with the largest aboriginal populations in the country.

This growth will transform Thunder Bay in many ways. It is already straining services. A report to city council tonight updating the Urban Aboriginal Strategy recommends spending $125,000 to maintain the UAS advisory committee.

Oil-sands pipeline hits its highest hurdle – by David Ebner (Globe and Mail – January 9, 2012)

January 9, 2012

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.

KITIMAAT VILLAGE, B.C.— The struggle to transport the harvest of Alberta’s vast oil sands enters a new arena this week – a village on the rugged British Columbia coast where the hopes of Canada’s biggest pipeline operator will meet a business-savvy first nation with little appetite for black gold.

Public vetting of Enbridge’s proposed $6.6-billion Northern Gateway oil-sands pipeline begins Tuesday. The arguments concerning aboriginal land rights and environmental impact promise a regulatory fight that could travel all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Reflecting the high stakes, the Harper government prepared a new warning, to be made public on Monday, that regulatory reviews for major energy projects should be accelerated and protected from interference by “radical environmental groups financed from the United States.”

Radical groups’ spur Tories to speed pipeline review process – by John Ibbitson (Globe and Mail – January 9, 2012)

January 9, 2012

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 Conservative government will bring forward new rules to greatly shorten environmental reviews of pipelines and other major projects, arguing that “radical groups” are exploiting the reviews to block proposals vital to Canada’s economic future.

On the eve of hearings into the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver released a strongly-worded open letter Monday condemning some opponents of the pipeline. A copy of the letter was provided in advance to The Globe and Mail.

The letter warns of “environmental and other radical groups” including “jet-setting celebrities” funded by foreign special interest groups who “threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological ends.”

They system “is broken,” Mr. Oliver concludes in the letter. “It’s time to take a look at it.”