Paul Stothart is vice-president, economic affairs of the Mining Association of Canada. He is responsible for advancing the industry’s interests regarding federal tax, trade, investment, transport and energy issues. This article was published in January, 2011.

Bill C-300, the proposed Corporate Accountability of Mining, Oil and Gas Corporations in Developing Countries Act, was defeated in a House of Commons vote on October 27th 2010 by 140 votes to 134.  While this ends the life of Bill C-300, which was originally tabled by Liberal MP John McKay in February 2009, almost two years earlier, this will not spell the end of private members bills (PMBs) on the general issue of corporate accountability.  There are several factors that support a likelihood of future bills on related themes over the coming years. 

First, the notion of advancing social and environmental responsibility in Canada and abroad carries the same controversy as supporting apple pie.  Politicians, companies, the general public, and NGOs are on the same page in this respect and there is no apparent political downside for private members to propose or support legislation toward this end. This was a core reality with respect to Bill C-300, as numerous parliamentarians stated to MAC that they were not willing to be seen as “voting against social progress”, especially on legislation that in their view would not make it through the Senate side of the legislative process in any event.  They could therefore please their political constituents, while remaining confident that the flawed legislation would not actually become law.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Ontario Mining Association’s high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining has attracted more than 80 high-quality entries for the 2011 edition of the contest.  The deadline was March 31 and the bulk of the two to three minute films were received within the 24-hour window before midnight that day. 

This is more than double the number of entries received in each of the first two years of the competition 2009 and 2010.  The geographic range of the source of these videos showing the benefits of mining through the eyes and talents of high school students greatly expanded.  Teenagers in Mississauga, Markham, Sudbury, London, Timmins, Toronto, Collingwood, Woodstock, Pickering, Terrace Bay, Thunder Bay, Georgetown, Stratford, Clinton, Kingston, Ottawa and other centres have electronically submitted their mining stories.  Ontario’s mining industry is a presence in all areas of the province and all regions of the province are represented by SYTYKM productions.

While the quantity of entries has increased, from a cursory viewing of a portion of the entries, the quality of these productions has also been greatly enhanced.  The judges this year are going to have a difficult time indentifying the winners in each category – Best Overall, Best Directing, Best Writing of an Original Screenplay, Best Music, Best Comedy, Best Animation, Best video in a language other than English and the People’s Choice Award.  The competition is fierce and a lot of talent and creativity is on display in these productions. Read the rest of this entry »

Paul Stothart is vice president, economic affairs of the Mining Association of Canada. He is responsible for advancing the industry’s interests regarding federal tax, trade, investment, transport and energy issues. This article was published in April, 2011.

It is unlikely that any sector in Canada has undergone a transition in recent decades comparable to that seen within the mining industry. 

The mining sector in the 1980s and 1990s was an afterthought. Mineral prices worldwide were in the dumps. Exploration and prospecting, in effect a form of R&D aimed at finding tomorrow’s stream of commodities, was neglected and the amounts invested were piddling. Attention to attracting new talent to the industry was minimal. 

University mining programs closed. The sector was shunned by Canadian politicians and policymakers as old-school, dark and dirty, and non-technological. Economists and financiers held similar views. Even the leading companies such as Inco and Noranda were viewed as complacent and staid despite being world-leaders in many respects. 

The contrast with Canada’s shining beacons of the day was stark. Read the rest of this entry »

Ron Grech is a reporter for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at  
rgrech@thedailypress.ca

It is yet another show of disrespect and a slap in the face to Northern
residents. Is it any wonder that Northerners’ disdain for Queen’s Park
and the current provincial government is at a near-boiling point?
(Ron Grech-Daily Press, April 5, 2011)

After gaining the Ontario forest industries’ support on the prickly subject of tenure reform, the provincial government lost it again because of contentious wording in the draft legislation that passed second reading just over a month ago.

As it is currently worded, Bill 151 would empower the government to revoke a wood allocation if “the party holding the agreement, licence or commitment is not optimally using the forest resources.”

The industry is concerned that allocating forestry licences based on subjective interpretations of optimal or preferred use opens the door to political pressure.

Nonetheless, Ontario Liberal government seems intent on not only shooting itself in the foot, but severing it off altogether. Read the rest of this entry »

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant who writes extensively on mining issues. stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

The Sudbury Basin itself, is the third most strategic and richest hardrock
mining centre in the world. The four combined mining clusters found in
Sudbury – mineral operations, education, research and supply and
services – are globally unique. (Stan Sudol-April 6, 2011)

Ontario’s mining industry is facing a perfect storm of skills shortages – mining engineers and geologists – at a time of severe provincial budget constraints. These fiscal problems will only diminish the mineral sector’s post-secondary education programs at a time when global economies are experiencing the most extraordinary demands for metal products in the history of mankind – a commodity super cycle.

According to the Mining Industry Human Resource Council’s (MiHR) 2010 Canadian Mining Industry Employment and Hiring Forecast report, under the baseline scenario the Canadian mining industry will need to hire 100,000 new workers by the end of 2020. This is the number of workers required to fill newly created positions and also to meet replacement demand as workers retire or leave the mining industry.

That forecast represents MiHR’s baseline scenario, if commodity prices perform better than expected (the expansionary scenario), the cumulative hiring requirements could reach nearly 135,000 workers by 2020.

Last month in a speech in Calgary, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada remarked, “Commodity markets are in the midst of a supercycle. …Rapid urbanization underpins this growth. Since 1990, the number of people living in cities in China and India has risen by nearly 500 million, the equivalent of housing the entire population of Canada 15 times over. …Even though history teaches that all booms are finite, this one could go on for some time.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Sudbury Star, the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper. This column was published on April 6, 2011.

The new boss of Vale is no stranger to Greater Sudbury. Murilo Ferreira visited the city several times after the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce SA — now Vale — bought Inco in 2006.

In fact, Ferreira was chief executive officer of Vale Inco when he left Vale in 2008. He is returning to Brazil-based Vale, where he will replace Roger Agnelli as CEO next month. During his 2007 visit to Sudbury, Ferreira announced a $400-million investment in the company’s operations here, including work on Totten Mine.

“As I look to the future, there is again a simple word about our vision: growth,” Ferreira told more than 50 community leaders at a luncheon at Science North. “We are growing at CVRD. We are growing at CVRD Inco. And we are growing right here in Sudbury … This is an exhilarating moment for us on a number of levels. Read the rest of this entry »