October 6, 2012 – Republic of Mining

Will the Parti Québécois Alter Québec’s Mine-Friendly Policies?: Eric Lemieux – by Brian Sylvester (The Gold Report – October 5, 2012)

October 6, 2012

http://www.theaureport.com/

A plan to build roads into mining projects. Tax breaks for junior mining companies. Does the return to power of the Parti Québécois signal the end to the province’s mining-friendly policies? Unlikely, according to Eric Lemieux, equity analyst with Laurentian Bank Securities. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Lemieux says that even if the PQ tweaks current policy, it will take time, and he believes there are plenty of good stories to tell and invest in before that happens.

The Gold Report: Eric, you primarily cover mining companies in Québec, one of Canada’s most mining-friendly provinces. However, last month the Parti Québécois (PQ) won a minority mandate. Are the glory days for Québec’s mining sector over?

Eric Lemieux: Without saying the glory days are over, the election of the Parti Québécois will definitely put things on hold. The PQ has a very pro-environment and anti-mining perspective based on the personal convictions of certain ministers.

I think the PQ will change some of the priorities in Québec. I do not know if it will turn out to be effectively anti-mining. I think its people will just want to do things differently or give the perception that they are doing things differently. Recall the PQ held a very pro-ecological, anti-mining electoral stance that went in-line with the “printemps érable” (Maple Spring Arising) with the student protests.

First Nations want to be consulted first in mining talks – by CBC Radio News (October 5, 2012)

October 6, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/sudbury/

‘Complexities’ surrounding ‘duty to consult’ not addressed, First Nations leaders say

First Nations leaders in northern Ontario say new mining regulations that go into effect Nov. 1 don’t go far enough. The updated mining act makes changes to early exploration requirements to help minimize the impact on the environment.

It also includes some new rules about consulting with First Nations, and a plan to better protect sites of Aboriginal cultural significance. But Lake Huron Regional Chief Isadore Day said First Nations are still concerned about the consultation process.

“It’s very clear that … it didn’t go deep enough to look at the complexities that have to do with the duty to consult,” he said. The executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association said the province will inform First Nations if a claim is staked in traditional territory and put the mining company in contact with the correct person to consult.

“It’s always been a challenge to find the right person in the community to talk with,” Garry Clark said. “It’d be good because then we wouldn’t be exploring there and harming anything that has significance to the First Nations,” Clark said.

12,000 striking South African miners fired as unrest deepens – by Rodney Muhumuza (Globe and Mail – October 6, 2012)

October 6, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

JOHANNESBURG — The Associated Press – Anglo American Platinum has fired 12,000 striking miners for staging an unlawful strike that is one of several that are slowly paralyzing South Africa’s crucial mining sector.

About 80,000 miners, representing 16 per cent of the country’s mine work force, are currently striking in a wave of wildcat work stoppages that have serious economic and political implications for South Africa.

Strike leader Gaddafi Mdoda, a mine worker at Anglo American Platinum, or Amplats, said he was one of the workers who received e-mails or SMS messages telling them they had been dismissed. “Things are bad here,” Mr. Mdoda said. The strike leader said he was shocked by the decision to dismiss striking workers, even though “it is nothing to be afraid of.”

“Approximately 12,000 striking employees chose not to make representations, nor attend the hearings, and have therefore been dismissed in their absence,” a statement from Amplats said, according to the South African Press Agency.

You heard it here: Northern Gateway’s dead – by Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail – October 5, 2012)

October 6, 2012

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

The Northern Gateway pipeline that Enbridge proposes to build from Alberta’s bitumen oil to the Pacific coast of British Columbia is, for all intents and purposes, dead.

Yes, regulatory hearings before the National Energy Board will continue until the NEB approves the project. And yes, Enbridge will keep pushing for it. And yes, the Harper government, which is so publicly committed to the project, will continue to extol its virtues as part of the need to get Canadian resources to Asia.

But the project is dead. It has too many obstacles now, and there’ll be more in the future.

To survive, the Gateway pipeline would have to push past the growing opposition of British Columbians in general, the opposition of the current Liberal provincial government and the NDP government likely to replace it next year, the unanimous opposition of environmentalists, considerable opposition from at least some of the aboriginal groups along the route and, if all this were not enough, the likelihood of prolonged court battles.

Letting China Inc into the oil patch could scuttle Keystone XL – by Diane Francis (National Post – October 6, 2012)

October 6, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

If the CNOOC/Nexen takeover approval is given before the Keystone pipeline is approved, a new set of questions for the Americans will be opened up. So will any trade deal, now in Parliament, that gives China similar privileges as Americans get.

Letting China Inc. have special access could give President Obama a reason not to approve Keystone, and could also give Romney, if he wins, a reason to give approval, as he has pledged to do on Day One.

I raise the issue of Keystone XL, not because the Americans have a right to tell us what to do, but because they always do what is in their national interest. So does China and it has obviously targeted the oil sands with a view toward diverting its oil to China. That is the endgame, make no mistake about it. This is not about Nexen, or offering opportunities to Canadians to do business in China.

The proposed bilateral Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with China would give its entities the same recourse and dispute settlement mechanism (called Chapter 11 in NAFTA) as Americans have through NAFTA. They can claim discrimination if denied investments or immigration requests.

Chinese wall needed – by Michael Bloom and Glen Hodgson (National Post – October 5, 2012)

October 6, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

Separate Nexen management after takeover

Michael Bloom is vice-president and Glen Hodgson is senior vice-president and chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada.

China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s proposal to acquire Nexen for $15-billion should be approved — with specific conditions attached that address the underlying concerns of citizens and business leaders. The minister of industry should require CNOOC to assume a set of “undertakings,” so that Nexen looks and acts like other Canadian companies operating on normal commercial principles. In addition, the minister should commit to modernizing the Investment Canada Act in the near future.

By creating the right policy framework around the Nexen deal, Canada would finally clarify for investors at home and around the globe what they can expect when making a major capital investment in the Canadian economy.

Canada has had a long history of large foreign corporate takeovers — including acquisitions by European state-owned enterprises (SOEs) — that government approved. However, BHP Billiton’s bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. was arguably the most significant challenge to Canada’s investment review policy since the inception of the Investment Canada Act in 1985.

Revenge of the fossil fuels: Setbacks mount for renewable energy sector – by Yadullah Hussain (National Post – October 5, 2012)

October 6, 2012

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

After a fantastic run spanning a few years, the renewable energy sector has taken a number of hits recently, which suggests its inevitable march as the energy source of the future is far from certain.

“It’s pretty bleak — there is no way to sugar coat it. But I wouldn’t call it a lost cause,” says Matt Horne, director of climate change at the Pembina Institute.

While all sectors have ups and downs, there is a fear that renewables’ weaknesses could lead to structural changes, as policymakers no longer have the luxury of supporting and extending subsidies at a time of fiscal austerity.

And much to the dismay of environmentalists, fossil fuels are clawing their way back into the public’s good books. Or at least they are offering a compelling economic case that few can resist at a time of slow economic growth.

A number of factors have turned the tide. Plentiful oil and abundance of cheap natural gas, especially in the United States and Canada, with its promise of high-paying jobs has been an irresistible lure for governments desperate to create employment.

Environmental group starts Ring of Fire campaign – by Shawn Bell (Wawatay News – October 3, 2012)

October 6, 2012

Northern Ontario’s First Nations Voice: http://wawataynews.ca/

The environmental organization CPAWS Wildlands League is hoping pressure from people across Canada will convince the Ontario government to refocus its involvement in the Ring of Fire.

CPAWS kicked off its latest campaign in Toronto in September with a series of media advertisements geared at the Ring of Fire.

The goal is to convince Ontario to create a regional plan for development in northern Ontario’s mining sector, said CPAWS spokesperson Anna Baggio.

“For many years now we’ve been hoping (the government) would do some sort of regional planning in regards to the Ring of Fire,” Baggio said. “We’re very worried – I don’t think they have a plan for the region. Instead, the development is happening in a piecemeal way, where everyone’s got their own little part of it.”

Baggio said CPAWS is concerned that ecosystems are being put at risk, endangered species like woodland caribou are being ignored and First Nations communities are being left on the sidelines as the government pushes forward with the massive mining development.

Northlander employees bring anger to Sudbury – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Star – October 6, 2012)

October 6, 2012

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Ontario Northland employees were outside Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci’s downtown office Friday to protest the cancellation of the Northlander passenger rail service Sept. 28.

“People are angry,” said Brian Kelly, spokesperson for the General Chairperson’s Association, the umbrella group that represents all of Northland’s unions. “They’re venting. We’ve had a lot of people quit and people retire because they just don’t think there’s a future.”

The Northlander had carried passengers from Toronto to Cochrane for more than 100 years. Passengers who don’t want to fork over extra money for flights will have to rely on Ontario Northland’s bus service for the same trip.

Bartolucci, who is also Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines, said the government could not continue to subsidize the passenger train service while use remained “stagnant.” In 2003, 329,000 people used the rail service, he said. That declined to 321,000 last year.

Northerners must unite to overturn camping ban – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – October 6, 2012)

October 6, 2012

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Unless you’ve been out in the bush for the past week, you are probably aware of the provincial government’s cost-saving plan to eliminate overnight camping at a series of provincial parks in Northeastern Ontario.

Regional provincial parks impacted by the decision include Ivanhoe Lake in Foleyet, Greenwater in Cochrane, Rene Brunelle in Kapuskasing, Fushimi Lake in Hearst, The Shoals in Chapleau and Tidewater in Moosonee.

On Wednesday night, the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is having a special public forum to discuss the issue. The camping ban has struck a raw nerve with many Northerners, particularly those who enjoy seasonal camping at these facilities.

Leaders with FONOM, such as Kapuskasing Mayor Al Spacek (the organization’s president) and Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren (the vice-president), recognize the important role these campgrounds play, not only in facilitating the Northern lifestyle but in support of the region’s economy.