On May 28, Québec’s Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, tabled Bill 63, an Act to amend the Mining Act and other provisions. The Coalition Québec meilleure mine (QMM) carried out an exhaustive analysis of the bill. In this brief, we present our general comments and proposed amendments. A detailed article-by-article analysis of the bill is available in the French version of this brief, originally published in September 2024 and available online.
Executive Summary
The purpose of this brief is to provide an analysis by the Coalition Québec meilleure mine (QMM) of the Act to amend the Mining Act and other provisions (Bill 63). This analysis, led by QMM’s Legal Committee, is divided into two sections: a background on recent events leading up to the tabling of Bill 63, followed by QMM’s detailed analysis.
In the background section, we focus on three central elements that preceded the tabling of Bill 63. The first is the explosion in the number of mining claims in the province of Québec, made possible by legislation that has undergone too little reform since the first version of today’s Mining Act was passed 160 years ago. Next, we describe the reasons for the public outcry that emerged in response to this boom in mining claims, and provide some reflections on the consultations on the mining framework conducted by Québec’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MRNF) in the spring of 2023.
While Bill 63 does contain some interesting elements, we conclude that the bill – as proposed – is overall disappointing.
Here are our key findings:
- Prior to the introduction of the bill, QMM had identified six priorities for mining reform , including an end to the precedence of mining claims over other land uses and an end to the mining sector’s self-regulation. None of these priorities are present in Bill 63.
- During the public consultations on the laws and practices governing mining activities in Québec, QMM made 60 recommendations for changes to the mining framework. 50 of these recommendations propose legislative and regulatory change. Of these, only 5 are included (partially) in Bill 63.
- While the bill contains a handful of potentially interesting elements, several of these measures simultaneously present an immense risk of causing a boomerang effect. For instance, in an effort to curb mining speculation, the proposed bill deprives residents of one of their only means of protecting their territory – namely, by staking a mining claim as a preventative measure to ensure no one else can do so. In return, the bill offers no alternative measures for protecting territory.
- Finally, the bill represents numerous setbacks – net losses – in terms of adequate supervision of mining activity or environmental protections. The bill puts a cap on the years a mining company is held accountable for the duty to monitor its closed sites, and transfers responsibilities for mining road management from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests.
For years, civil society has demanded fundamental reforms to the extremely problematic issues that run rampant in the mining sector. As currently proposed, Bill 63 fails to address these demands for reforms and should undergo a significant overhaul.
Given this rare opportunity to improve mining laws and practices in Québec, however, and the fact that there are some interesting elements in Bill 63, the Coalition Québec meilleure mine recommends adopting Bill 63, an Act to amend the Mining Act and other provisions on the condition that the bill is modified to include crucial amendments addressing our six priority areas.
Legal Committee
This brief captures the essence of the Analysis of Bill 63, produced by the Legal Committee of the Coalition Québec meilleure mine and published on July 18, 2024. The Coalition QMM’s Legal Committee is made up of Émile Cloutier-Brassard, responsible for mining issues for Eau Secours, Marc Nantel, spokesperson for the Regroupement Vigilance Mines Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Frédérique Bordeleau, law student at the Université de Montréal, Louis Saint-Hilaire, spokesperson for the Coalition QLAIM, Jamie Latvaitis, Québec resident and Rodrigue Turgeon, National Program Co-Lead for MiningWatch Canada and co-spokesperson for the Coalition Québec meilleure mine.