Economics & Taxation

In anticipation of the annual Mining Day on the Hill lobbying frenzy, MiningWatch Canada would like to provide you with an alternative perspective on several important issues. The mining industry is one of the most policy-privileged industries in Canada. This is despite the fact that at home and around the world, the industry has generated massive environmental impacts, created social conflicts, and infringed on Aboriginal rights and title.

Quebec is one of the world’s most important mining jurisdictions with mineral production of 4.5 to 5.5 billion in 2006 and 2007 respectively. It has also been ranked as the world’s friendliest mining jurisdiction and called a “Mining Paradise” by its Minister of Natural Resources.

For the 2009 budget and proposed stimulus package MiningWatch recommends that no more tax breaks be given to the mining industry, that support be provided to mining-dependent communities, that tax benefits be transferred to metal recycling, that support be given for innovation in recycling and closed-loop metals management, and that investments be made in reducing ongoing pollution and to cleaning up the legacies of past operations.

The Congolese government’s ‘fast track solution’ to its mining contract review may turn out to be a false trail unless it addresses civil society concerns, warns a coalition of Congolese and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) today [1].

Joint news release: At the start of the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town, an international coalition of non-governmental organizations warns that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s mining contract review process has been hijacked. The organizations say that it is increasingly apparent that new deals are being struck behind closed doors despite the lack of completion or transparency in the review process.

"State of Mine, An Investigation of Canada's Extractive Industries", a special edition of The Dominion Newspaper, was published in November 2008 and is now available online.

The Fraser Institute considers Québec to be the mining jurisdiction with the most favourable mineral and policy potential in the world. In Québec all mineral rights are reserved to the State, and anyone can stake mineral claims on an internet-based map system on a first-come first served basis (Québec Mining Act, Section 3). Québec has a free entry system for prospectors, allowing any prospector (someone who is 18 years old and pays the $30 fee), to enter on any lands and explore for minerals, with very few exceptions (Section 65). The only uncategorical exemption is for cemeteries, and some old patent lands where the mineral rights are still attached to the deed (pre-1911).

Many of the junior mining companies creating havoc in communities these days have no intention of developing a mine, and their investors don’t care, but these companies are raising millions in equity to keep their exploration programs going. This is possible because of two federal programs: Canadian Exploration Expenses and the Super Flow Through Share Program.