Charlie Angus with the Fednor team at PDAC 2023/Raul Rincon photo

Charlie Angus

March 6, 2023

Investors from all over the world are in Toronto this week for the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of  Canada Conference (PDAC) convention. It is the biggest mining expo in the world. This year’s conference is taking place amid a global rush to secure critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and key base metals such as copper and nickel.

The climate crisis has arrived and our hope for survival is dependent on a dramatic transformation in energy sources. This is why critical minerals are key. They are essential for the development of battery and renewable technology. This century’s gold rush comes with an existential imperative, one that compellingly rationalizes political and regulatory choices whose impacts on both people and the planet, made in the name of sustainability, risk seriously backfiring if we allow short-term thinking, politics and profits to prevail.

Northern Ontario, with its immense potential in metals, could play a key role in meeting the need for critical minerals. At PDAC, the region is well-placed to tell its story. Exhibitors from Northern Ontario boast the single largest footprint of any jurisdiction at this global showcase.

So, what kind of story will we tell? The positive version is that the North could be a model for the world. We have the expertise to get the mines into production and a record of strong environmental and Indigenous engagement. The long-term sustainability of new projects will be one of the important boxes being ticked off by potential investors.

The other potential story is less impressive. On the eve of the conference, Ontario Premier Doug Ford dropped a regulatory bombshell with his plan to strip obligations for corporate accountability and environmental sustainability.

Under the proposed legislative changes, Ontario is absolving mining companies of the obligation to have finalized “closure plans” in place prior to opening a mine. This means the companies will be able to undertake mining development without having raised the required funds that serve as the bond assurances to protect the environment from long-term damage. And to speed up the process further, Ford is sidelining the public officials who oversee the remediation obligations of the mining industry. These decisions will now be rubber stamped in the provincial mining minister’s office.

Ford says it’s about cutting needless red tape. He points to the urgency of getting badly needed critical minerals to market. Indeed, the issue of moving new critical mineral operations into production is a priority for the federal government and the province. But there are a number of tools both levels of government can take to streamline the process of approval. The irony is that Ford’s plan to defer commitments on closure and clean up is likely to result in increased opposition to new mining developments.

Doug Ford’s attempt to fast-track mining projects by cutting environmental obligations downloads the risk to Indigenous communities and the people of Ontario, including the risk of turning the North into a conflict zone as Indigenous communities rightfully push back. And such conflict will only rattle investors and hinder development.

It is doubly ironic that Ford made his announcement as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was laying out her controversial plan to clean up abandoned oil/gas wells in Alberta. At a time when the oil industry is racking up record profits, the UCP has promised to shift $100 million in royalty credits to entice the industry to clean up its own mess. The Globe and Mail has rightly called this scheme “corporate welfare.” Such largesse comes on the heels of a one billion dollar payout by the federal government to deal with the damage of abandoned oil wells in Alberta.

This is what happens when you don’t have a strong regulatory program in place, including closure plans that compel resource extraction operators put money aside to pay for their damages.

No doubt, the Ontario Conservatives will tell you that they aren’t letting mining companies off the hook. They will claim that this is just about giving them a leg up in order to get vital projects off the ground. Once these companies start making money, they will put the money aside to protect future generations. Pinky swear.

I am sure every single oil and gas drilling company promised the same thing when given such a soft regulatory pass from Alberta energy regulators. And the result has been an environmental catastrophe, with Albertans on the hook to clean up 170,000 abandoned sites. This represents 37 percent of all wells in the province.

The people of Northern Ontario have seen this movie before. The province has paid millions to clean up a multitude of abandoned and toxic sites from walk-away mining companies. As an elected representative of Timmins-James Bay, I have heard many horror stories about the huge costs required to clean up the abandoned Kam Kotia Mine outside of Timmins. Locals called it an environmental “kill zone” of toxic waste. This is why people in my region support strong rules over mine closures. We have seen too many smash-and-grab mining ventures that have broken trust with communities. In my book, Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metal-Birth of a Mining Superpower I document the bleak history of environmental devastation that launched Canada’s massive mining sector.

Talk to anyone in mining and they will say we have turned the page on the bad old days. The environmental standards for getting a new mine into production are there to reassure the public that they won’t be stuck with a toxic time bomb somewhere down the road. Such assurances are essential as critical mineral exploration moves on the fragile ecosystems of the northern boreal and sub-Arctic lands.

The Ring of Fire project, for example, is in the heart of the fragile James Bay lowlands. One of the last undamaged ecosystems in the world, it serves as a vital planetary carbon sink. Mushkegowuk Cree spokesman Vern Cheechoo calls the wetlands “Yehewin Aski” – meaning land that is the breathing lungs of the earth. Little wonder. that the Mushkegowuk Cree are demanding a moratorium on such development. Will they be sold on Ford’s promise to cut environmental protection even further?

This is where mining investors need to get out their sharp pencils and do the political math. Do they think that promoting a mine on such fragile lands will be easier to accomplish by bypassing the need to raise the money for future mine closures?

Premier Ford has personally promised to be the one to drive the bulldozer to open up the Ring of Fire. But to get there will require crossing the territory of Indigenous people such as Neskantaga First Nation. This is a community that is no stranger to broken promises. They have gone 28 years without clean water. Representatives from Neskantaga were out at PDAC last year, not to make deals but to participate in a major Indigenous protest outside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Does anyone think that Ford’s cuts to basic environmental accountability are going to win them over?

I am at PDAC this week meeting with investors, companies and Indigenous communities to talk about how we move forward on this country’s critical minerals strategy. My message is simple: the push for a sustainable economy is about the future of the planet. You can’t cheat or short-change your way to sustainability. It has to be done right.

Doug Ford’s attempt to fast-track mining projects by cutting environmental obligations downloads the risk to Indigenous communities and the people of Ontario, including the risk of turning the North into a conflict zone as Indigenous communities rightfully push back. And such conflict will only rattle investors and hinder development.

Premier Ford may try to frame these as unintended consequences. He will not be able to claim they were unforeseen.

Charlie Angus has been the NDP Member of Parliament for Timmins-James Bay since 2004. He is the NDP critic for Natural Resources and the Just Transition, federal economic development initiative for Northern Ontario, Indigenous youth, and deputy critic for labour. He is also frontman for the Grievous Angels, and a regular Policy contributor. His latest book is Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower.