It is with some disappointment that I found myself sitting at my desk composing yet another letter to another politician who is part of the process that is forcing me and many of my colleagues onto the unemployment line. As many of you already know, I work in the mining industry and more specifically in the exploration sector. Over the last several years, the Ontario Conservative Government has instituted various land access policies and initiatives that further restrict our ability as explorationists to earn a livelihood and provide a reasonable standard of living for our families.
There are several issues found within the Ministry of Natural Resources’ discussion paper on the Great Lakes Heritage Coast that need clarification. I will list these and in the following paragraphs, then will detail my objections to the issues:
- New Controls
- Single use/Economic Opportunities
- Simple Economics
- Loss of established Communities
- General Comments
New Controls
During the Lands for Life consultation process, there were several commitments made to the mining industry including the right to continue to explore and develop within the newly protected areas on lands legally held under the Mining Act. It would appear that the Great Lakes Heritage Coast controls will supersede these commitments. This is unacceptable. This creates further clouds over tenure which prevents investors from providing funds to explore for and develop new mineral resources. The mention of “adjacent areas” clouds the issue even further because there is no mention of how far this shadow may extend.
Single Use/Economic Opportunities
The Great Lakes Heritage Coast initiative will create a huge single use area restricting economic opportunities within the zone. There are several references to partnerships for economic development. However, these virtually all deal with environmental controls and increased tourism opportunities. The economic well-being of the north cannot, in my opinion, be sustained at the present level based on tourism. The fact that the only developments which will be allowed along the coast will be “recreational related infrastructure” means that there can not be any expansion of loading facilities or creation of new facilities at any of the existing ports Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay. This creates an economic hardship for these areas which are trying to compete with ports in the United States and on Canada’s east/west coasts.
Simple Economics
There are a number of economic realities which this Great Lakes Heritage Coast discussion paper overlooks. The fact remains that the bulk of the extraction of mineral resources comes from mines situated in northern communities. The mining sector contributes six billion dollars annually to the economy of Ontario. Mining provides 25,000 direct jobs and a further 84,000 spin off jobs.
The average annual income in the mining sector is >$60,000, totalling $1.5 billion in salaries. Based on a minimum income tax rate of 28% and the provincial rate of 48% of that total, the province gains $201,600,000 in income tax revenue alone. If you consider that approximately 51% of a person’s earnings are returned to all levels of government then the total loss of revenue equates to $750,000,000.
On a local level, one mineral deposit can have an even greater impact. The Kidd Creek Mining and Metallurgical Divisions in Timmins injected $250 million (1997 figures) into the local economy including $106 million in payroll and $8 million in municipal taxes. The discovery of a deposit such as this would therefore provide a great benefit to any of the communities mentioned in the discussion paper. The number of tourism related jobs to replace one deposit of this size is staggering. Tourism employment is unfortunately seasonal work for the most part, requiring unemployment benefits to be paid by the government. This results in a net loss of revenue.
Loss of Established Communities
In the Great Lakes Heritage Coast discussion paper, there is mention of several communities within the Great lakes Heritage area. If one looks at these communities with an objective view, one has to realize they are there because of resource development. Any loss of opportunities in the resource sector near these communities, has a ripple effect to tidal wave depending on the size of the community. Even in a city the size of Timmins, any talk of a shut down at the major resource companies causes an instant panic. People are ready to roll up the streets and move out of town within days. If the employees of the resource companies leave a medium city or small town, they take away the ability of the town to survive. This is a statement of fact. People who work in the resource sector today are light blue to white collar workers, highly skilled and highly paid, people no community can do without and prosper.
General Comments
Modern exploration is a low impact business dependant on the ability to investigate large tracts of land to find the resources needed to service a modern society. On average, it takes 25,000 claims to find 10 worth investigating further of which one may require advanced exploration. That is one 40 acre (16 hectares) claim, less area than the area occupied by a small mall and parking lot in a city. Once a mine is put into production, the rules under which we now work require us to utilize a small area to the maximum and to have a plan in place to return the area back to nature at the end of the mine’s life. No other business, shoping mall or factory is required, to my knowledge, to have a closure plan “back to nature”.
We, in the exploration and mining industry, are in no way advocating no tourism. We applaud all efforts to diversify the northern economy. We have always advocated multiple use of the land and we feel that we can all co-exist if we treat each other with respect and understanding.
Environmentalists and now the government make statements which we feel are condescending. They make it sound as if resource developers and the people who work in this industry do not enjoy clean water or clean air. Well, I can say that we do respect the land and we do enjoy the amenities of northern life as much as anyone. We are fishermen, hikers, cyclists and boaters. We enjoy the life style of the north and would be taking advantage of the increase in tourism opportunities more frequently than our southern cousins.
We hope that as the Great Lake Heritage Coast project moves forward, the Government will recognize our right as explorationists to survive and the Government will invite us to participate in this initiative as stakeholders.
