WHEREAS the current global economic crisis has resulted in significant job losses in the forest industry in British Columbia, and mining has been known as British Columbias second industry and could be providing jobs lost to forest industry cut backs; AND WHEREAS there are 800 to 900 mining companies in BC, and no metal mines have been constructed within BC since the Kemess Mine in 1996, even though promising exploratory data has been gathered and 25 to 30 projects are in the regulatory process: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM lobby the provincial and federal governments to conduct a review of the regulatory process for the approval of mine development within the province of British Columbia in order to streamline and expedite the approval process similar to the process in other Canadian provinces; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all existing environmental standards and regulations as well as community consultation processes remain in place as part of a streamlined process.
Ministry of Energy, Mines Petroleum Resources There are currently three mines in or about to begin construction in the Province New Afton, Copper Mountain, Mt. Milligan. There are also two more large mines that have cleared environmental assessment and are entering the permitting stage Red Chris, Prosperity. The Province is moving forward with new mine openings that will create jobs and local wealth across the Province to support further economic growth that is already leading the country due to the Olympics. Focus on Communities and First Nations and Protecting Workers, Protecting the Environment are cornerstones one and two of the British Columbia Mining Plan. Staff at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources will not and do not compromise safety and the environment in their planning and adjudication of mining projects. With respect to a review of the regulatory process for the approval of mine development within British Columbia in order to streamline and expedite the approval process, the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources agrees with the stated objectives and would like to highlight a number of initiatives that are moving towards that direction: - The Throne Speech, on February 9, 2010, made clear reference to regulatory streamlining and continuing protection of environmental values. A one project, one process objective was referred to also by Premier Campbell. - The Province has been advocating for an immediate amendment to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to give the Federal Government the power to enter into environmental assessment equivalency agreements with Provinces. These agreements would allow Federal and Provincial Governments to accept each others reviews as equivalent on a case by case or class by class basis thereby, truly avoiding duplication. This is a power that British Columbia presently has in its environmental assessment legislation and which has been used with success. The Province feels it is imperative the Federal Government be given the same ability. - Staff across all natural resource ministries are actively engaged in coordinating the various regulations and processes needed to get resource projects authorized. In the area of mining, this includes making use of regional mine development review committees to coordinate all agency permits, coordinating consultation with First Nations so that all aspects of a mine project are discussed together, and duplicate administrative processes are reduced or eliminated. All this is expected to save Government resources and provide a clear, single window process for applicants and a transparent process for communities. Work continues across Government on process improvement in the area of citizen centred service delivery. Initiatives now under way are expected to produce results within the coming months, and will continue to do so in the future.