B.C. mining industry is under serious threat by the NDP government in Victoria with UNDRIP and should concern all of Canada

blackbird · January 16

The B.C. mining industry is now under serious threat. Since all of Canada adopted UNDRIP in 2016, this should be of concern to all of Canada.

"A new Indigenous consultation process for mineral exploration in British Columbia could spell the end of its mining sector. If fully realized, Premier David Eby and the B.C. NDP would effectively shut down prospecting and early-stage mining exploration, killing investment needed to keep B.C. a leader in mining and metals production."

The province is bringing in a new mineral staking system, without making any legislative or regulatory changes, on March 26. Mineral staking is the first step to setting up a mine: miners are automatically granted exclusive rights to explore and develop an area of land in B.C. by staking out a claim to it and registering that claim with the government.

But, u nder the new system that takes effect this spring, claims will no longer be automatically granted when registered with the government. Instead, there will be a staking application process in which the government will not approve any claims until First Nations groups have been consulted.

Under the old way of staking a claim, written into the law in 1859, prospectors were required to literally pound stakes into the ground to be granted the right to search for minerals in that area. This system was designed to ensure that even the smallest prospector with the right intuition and a little luck would have the same opportunity at staking a major discovery as a large mining outfit. The province moved to an online system in 2005, in which mineral claims are digitally staked in a provincial online mineral tenure registry, without the need to physically set foot on the property.

The upcoming change in process is a response to a court challenge launched in 2021 by the Gitxaala Nation. The First Nation challenged the claims registry at the B.C. Supreme Court, claiming it violated their constitutional rights under Section 35. In 2023, Justice Alan Ross ruled in favour of Gitxaala , noting that while the environmental impact of prospecting was limited, the spiritual impact was significant enough to warrant consultation. The B.C. government could have appealed the ruling, but it chose not to.

It’s not hard to see how the government’s new framework for staking mining claims in B.C. is unworkable, wide open to abuse and devastating to independent prospectors and small exploration outfits. It requires prospectors to disclose where they plan to stake before they can secure the rights to do so, which is akin to forcing a company to give away intellectual property and trade secrets. Imagine requiring a tech company to disclose its proprietary idea, trade secrets or software prior to issuing a development permit. What would happen? Every tech startup in Vancouver would move to Seattle the next day. This is the gun barrel B.C.’s mining industry is staring down.

Further, the cost and time burden of consultation to stake a property based on a hunch is exorbitant for the prospector and is a poor use of many First Nations’ limited resources. These new requirements will ensure investment in B.C.’s mining exploration sector, already down $100 million  in 2023 compared to 2022, continues to fall. All told, the plan has serious implications for the industry, which had an $18-billion economic impact on the province in 2022 and supports 35,000 jobs.

The direction of travel of B.C.’s current government is causing difficulties that extend far beyond prospecting and staking. In 2019, the B.C. Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), Section 3 of which explicitly establishes the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as the province’s framework for reconciliation. DRIPA requires the B.C. government to “take all measures necessary to ensure” the province’s laws align with UNDRIP.

Further changes to the mining sector are in the works due to the province’s adherence to UNDRIP: the NDP aims to reform the law that regulates mineral rights in B.C., the Mineral Tenure Act, such that it aligns with DRIPA sometime in 2026.

It is important to understand that UNDRIP itself was never intended to direct the laws of Canada; its focus was primarily directed at countries without human rights guarantees or laws to protect their Indigenous peoples from real and ongoing abuses. Amen. But that doesn’t mean that countries like Canada, which uphold the rule of law and believe that strong First Nations make for a better country, haven’t fallen within UNDRIP’s scope. In reality, UNDRIP and DRIPA are often used by overzealous anti-resource advocates to halt economic development in the province.

Used as a guide, UNDRIP is a positive step to real reconciliation and should be celebrated, but it is currently being used as a blunt instrument that will cause more problems and animosity in the future.

The instinct of B.C.’s current NDP government and its adherents to stymie development rather than find solutions that create prosperity should concern all British Columbians and Canadians. The federal Critical Minerals Strategy , designed to make Canada a mining superpower, is completely useless if no one can prospect, explore and build a mine; a result that would impact the future prosperity and success of everyone in our country.

Prospecting is the creative destruction lab of mining. Without it, there is no future exploration and there are no future mines. Today, there are 16 proposed mines for critical minerals in B.C. Were they all to be built, B.C. would receive $36 billion of initial investment followed by an estimated $791 billion of economic  output over the mines’ lifetimes. None, absolutely none, of these mines would exist without prospecting and prospectors. The newly proposed staking reforms cast a chill over investment by killing off prospecting and thereby will slow or stop new mines from being found or developed in the province.

Perhaps the worst part in all of this is that the new system, despite working to protect First Nations from prospectors’ claims, will also negatively impact First Nations communities that would have benefited from new mines. This is sad. Richer First Nations communities make for a stronger province and country. Mining and other resource industries have a unique ability to contribute, via First Nations partnerships, to real prosperity and reconciliation.

The B.C. NDP must reconsider its planned changes to mineral staking and set prospectors free for the benefit of all British Columbians.

Adam Pankratz is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business and a board member of Rokmaster Resources.

National Post

Adam Pankratz: The B.C. NDP's plan to destroy the province's mining sector

Edited January 16 by blackbird

herbie · January 16

Oh my they have to consult with the people in the area. What a shame.
Rio Tinto should be able to tear down your house, strip mine your farm and boot your ass into a homeless camp if they wish.

NOBODY"S going to anything that affects the land or the environment without consulting the indigenous people affected anywhere in Canada, got it? Much as it upsets you it's not 1960s Brazil anymore.

blackbird · January 16

"

Currently, it takes up to 15 years to permit a new mine in Canada. To resolve the challenges with permitting and authorizations, provincial and federal governments must provide the resources to expedite environmental reviews and permitting. The federal government plans to accelerate permitting processes and expedite the production of critical minerals. However, other government policies continue to hurt Canada’s attractiveness for mining investment.

A recent decision by Canada’s Supreme Court has declared certain provisions of Canada’s Impact Assessment Act (IAA) unconstitutional. The ruling specifically found the IAA’s provisions related to the assessment of “designated projects” to be outside the jurisdiction of the federal Parliament and, therefore, unconstitutional.

This decision is expected to lead to significant revisions to the IAA, which was passed in 2019. A response by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) noted the uncertainty caused by the ruling will impact the mining industry and Canada’s energy transition, with many projects across the country currently undergoing federal assessment and more entering the process.

Highlighting the complex regulatory framework that mining projects face in Canada, including comprehensive provincial regulations and various federal requirements, the association argued there is a need to focus on regulatory certainty and investment competitiveness to position Canada for critical minerals success. It is essential that the effective and efficient regulation of the mining industry must become a priority for all levels of government in Canada."

To permit, or not to permit, that is the question! - Canadian Mining Journal

Up to 15 years?? Should anybody be surprised if companies find somewhere else to invest in. The bureaucracy in Canada is out of control and one reason why home prices in the major cities are way out of reach for the average middle class worker. The costs to be paid to the bureaucracy is apparently greater than the cost of the tradesmen who build the houses.

Now add to that another hurdle. Companies must not only get through all the federal and provincial bureaucracy and permitting and reviewing studies, but now they must deal with aboriginal bands that might simply say no or demand they have a piece of the pie themselves. This could cause further costs and delays to starting a mine or other resource project. Some might just give up and go elsewhere in the world taking the jobs and investment with them.

blackbird · January 16

2 hours ago, herbie said:

Oh my they have to consult with the people in the area. What a shame.

Natives do not have a right to control the resource industries. They may have a right to be consulted in the use of a piece of land which they occupy or may have a real impact on them. But apart form that, they should not expect to be involved.

Natural resources falls under the authority of the provincial governments.

Natives are about 5% of the population and should not be making decisions about natural resources that have a serious affect on the non-natives who are 95% of the population.

Court cases have said natives have the right to hunt, fish, and trap on unused crown land.

Edited January 16 by blackbird

taxme · January 16

2 hours ago, herbie said:

Oh my they have to consult with the people in the area. What a shame.
Rio Tinto should be able to tear down your house, strip mine your farm and boot your ass into a homeless camp if they wish.

NOBODY"S going to anything that affects the land or the environment without consulting the indigenous people affected anywhere in Canada, got it? Much as it upsets you it's not 1960s Brazil anymore.

That is the problem in BC. Any mining company or other big industry must now have to bend the knee and get the blessing of the feather before anything can get done in BC anymore. The white people just gave away their conquered BC land back to the Indians. What a bunch of buffoons some white people can be. They will sell their souls just to look virtuous. A bunch of sucky white batards. 👎

taxme · January 16

9 hours ago, blackbird said:

The B.C. mining industry is now under serious threat. Since all of Canada adopted UNDRIP in 2016, this should be of concern to all of Canada.

"A new Indigenous consultation process for mineral exploration in British Columbia could spell the end of its mining sector. If fully realized, Premier David Eby and the B.C. NDP would effectively shut down prospecting and early-stage mining exploration, killing investment needed to keep B.C. a leader in mining and metals production."

The province is bringing in a new mineral staking system, without making any legislative or regulatory changes, on March 26. Mineral staking is the first step to setting up a mine: miners are automatically granted exclusive rights to explore and develop an area of land in B.C. by staking out a claim to it and registering that claim with the government.

But, u nder the new system that takes effect this spring, claims will no longer be automatically granted when registered with the government. Instead, there will be a staking application process in which the government will not approve any claims until First Nations groups have been consulted.

Under the old way of staking a claim, written into the law in 1859, prospectors were required to literally pound stakes into the ground to be granted the right to search for minerals in that area. This system was designed to ensure that even the smallest prospector with the right intuition and a little luck would have the same opportunity at staking a major discovery as a large mining outfit. The province moved to an online system in 2005, in which mineral claims are digitally staked in a provincial online mineral tenure registry, without the need to physically set foot on the property.

The upcoming change in process is a response to a court challenge launched in 2021 by the Gitxaala Nation. The First Nation challenged the claims registry at the B.C. Supreme Court, claiming it violated their constitutional rights under Section 35. In 2023, Justice Alan Ross ruled in favour of Gitxaala , noting that while the environmental impact of prospecting was limited, the spiritual impact was significant enough to warrant consultation. The B.C. government could have appealed the ruling, but it chose not to.

It’s not hard to see how the government’s new framework for staking mining claims in B.C. is unworkable, wide open to abuse and devastating to independent prospectors and small exploration outfits. It requires prospectors to disclose where they plan to stake before they can secure the rights to do so, which is akin to forcing a company to give away intellectual property and trade secrets. Imagine requiring a tech company to disclose its proprietary idea, trade secrets or software prior to issuing a development permit. What would happen? Every tech startup in Vancouver would move to Seattle the next day. This is the gun barrel B.C.’s mining industry is staring down.

Further, the cost and time burden of consultation to stake a property based on a hunch is exorbitant for the prospector and is a poor use of many First Nations’ limited resources. These new requirements will ensure investment in B.C.’s mining exploration sector, already down $100 million  in 2023 compared to 2022, continues to fall. All told, the plan has serious implications for the industry, which had an $18-billion economic impact on the province in 2022 and supports 35,000 jobs.

The direction of travel of B.C.’s current government is causing difficulties that extend far beyond prospecting and staking. In 2019, the B.C. Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), Section 3 of which explicitly establishes the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as the province’s framework for reconciliation. DRIPA requires the B.C. government to “take all measures necessary to ensure” the province’s laws align with UNDRIP.

Further changes to the mining sector are in the works due to the province’s adherence to UNDRIP: the NDP aims to reform the law that regulates mineral rights in B.C., the Mineral Tenure Act, such that it aligns with DRIPA sometime in 2026.

It is important to understand that UNDRIP itself was never intended to direct the laws of Canada; its focus was primarily directed at countries without human rights guarantees or laws to protect their Indigenous peoples from real and ongoing abuses. Amen. But that doesn’t mean that countries like Canada, which uphold the rule of law and believe that strong First Nations make for a better country, haven’t fallen within UNDRIP’s scope. In reality, UNDRIP and DRIPA are often used by overzealous anti-resource advocates to halt economic development in the province.

Used as a guide, UNDRIP is a positive step to real reconciliation and should be celebrated, but it is currently being used as a blunt instrument that will cause more problems and animosity in the future.

The instinct of B.C.’s current NDP government and its adherents to stymie development rather than find solutions that create prosperity should concern all British Columbians and Canadians. The federal Critical Minerals Strategy , designed to make Canada a mining superpower, is completely useless if no one can prospect, explore and build a mine; a result that would impact the future prosperity and success of everyone in our country.

Prospecting is the creative destruction lab of mining. Without it, there is no future exploration and there are no future mines. Today, there are 16 proposed mines for critical minerals in B.C. Were they all to be built, B.C. would receive $36 billion of initial investment followed by an estimated $791 billion of economic  output over the mines’ lifetimes. None, absolutely none, of these mines would exist without prospecting and prospectors. The newly proposed staking reforms cast a chill over investment by killing off prospecting and thereby will slow or stop new mines from being found or developed in the province.

Perhaps the worst part in all of this is that the new system, despite working to protect First Nations from prospectors’ claims, will also negatively impact First Nations communities that would have benefited from new mines. This is sad. Richer First Nations communities make for a stronger province and country. Mining and other resource industries have a unique ability to contribute, via First Nations partnerships, to real prosperity and reconciliation.

The B.C. NDP must reconsider its planned changes to mineral staking and set prospectors free for the benefit of all British Columbians.

Adam Pankratz is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business and a board member of Rokmaster Resources.

National Post

Adam Pankratz: The B.C. NDP's plan to destroy the province's mining sector

The government of BC just gave away our white homeland to the Native Indians. If any industry wants to start something in BC, they must first now get the blessing of the feather and then slip a few thousand bucks under the table. As i have mentioned many times here. The white people just seem to want to give away all of Canada to the native Indians. And all of this is done without any input from me. Sit down and shut up they now say too old whitey. 🤢

taxme · January 17

21 minutes ago, blackbird said:

Natives do not have a right to control the resource industries. They may have a right to be consulted in the use of a piece of land which they occupy or may have a real impact on them. But apart form that, they should not expect to be involved.

Natural resources falls under the authority of the provincial governments.

Natives are about 5% of the population and should not be making decisions about natural resources that have a serious affect on the non-natives who are 95% of the population.

Court cases have said natives have the right to hunt, fish, and trap on unused crown land.

The only right that native Indians have is the right to shut the hell up. They should not be allowed to stop any job creation programs that can create thousands of good paying jobs here in BC. It seems like every bit of land here in BC is subject to the power of the feather. No feather blessing, no projects. ☹️

eyeball · January 17

2 hours ago, blackbird said:

Natives are about 5% of the population and should not be making decisions about natural resources that have a serious affect on the non-natives who are 95% of the population.

It appears a good half of that 95% have no issues at all with First Nations being so close to the decision making process.

We should all be so lucky to have such sway over our government.

blackbird · January 17

1 hour ago, eyeball said:

It appears a good half of that 95% have no issues at all with First Nations being so close to the decision making process.

Says who? You?

The truth is the citizens of B.C. were never asked. This is being done by Socialist, progressive woke politicians who could care less about the citizens of B.C. Their days are limited and when B.C. Conservatives get elected, it will be the end of this madness.

I would say any rational person would have an issue with giving aboriginals any right to be involved in the decision-making process for natural resource projects. It is non of their business and they should not involved in it any more than the average person.

Edited January 17 by blackbird

herbie · January 17

4 hours ago, blackbird said:

Natives are about 5% of the population and should not be making decisions about natural resources

And you being .000000023% of the population should have no say over your own yard?

Edited January 17 by herbie

eyeball · January 17

11 hours ago, blackbird said:

The truth is the citizens of B.C. were never asked

We just had an election that appears to have settled the issue.

11 hours ago, blackbird said:

I would say any rational person would have an issue with giving aboriginals any right to be involved in the decision-making process for natural resource projects. It is non of their business and they should not involved in it any more than the average person.

The average person is kept a lot farther away from the decision making process than First nations people. Thankfully we have them to provide a local voice that's often no where to be seen or heard.

herbie · January 17

The 'average person' doesn't need to be consulted on everything as they know jack shit on most things. The whole democratic process is about picking a representative who can make better, more informed decisions for you. Not for the colour of their socks or how many lies they can spew.

We have a couple good examples right here completely unaware that they cant make decisions on a gold claim in their own front yard. THe only decision you get is what lawyer can get you the best deal for them to access it while they dig it up and leave you a 'beautiful, beautiful' hole. On top of acting untrustworthy as Trump, ripping up signed treaties simply cuz you don't like it anymore.

Edited January 17 by herbie

blackbird · January 17

8 hours ago, eyeball said:

We just had an election that appears to have settled the issue.

So you're saying we had choice as to whether aboriginals should have a say in natural resource projects.

Seems to the election was about choosing between to political parties to govern. Nothing do with what you are claiming. No it wasn't even part of the election at all.

Same as the failing health care system and carbon taxes. Nobody had any choice on those things.

Edited January 17 by blackbird

eyeball · January 18

1 hour ago, blackbird said:

So you're saying we had choice as to whether aboriginals should have a say in natural resource projects.

Yes. We knew full well that's what the NDP was saying when we voted.

1 hour ago, blackbird said:

Seems to the election was about choosing between to political parties to govern. Nothing do with what you are claiming. No it wasn't even part of the election at all.

Yes but you're one these conservatives who maintain political parties never tell us what they're going to do when campaigning.

That may well be true of the sorts of politicians you vote for but not the NDP.

1 hour ago, blackbird said:

Same as the failing health care system and carbon taxes. Nobody had any choice on those things.

You're free to seek medical treatment anywhere in the world. As for carbon taxes, choice is at their very core - if you don't want to pay them you can invest in things that don't produce as much CO2.