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Weekly UpdatesThe first peak at Ontario's revamped Mining Act is being called a good first step by stakeholders toward eliminating land use conflict and misunderstandings between industry, First Nation people, private property owners and government.
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Ontario Prospectors Association executive director Garry Clark called the first draft of the legislation a "good compromise" by Queen's Park and the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in representing all interests.
"We didn't get everything we wanted but they did a really good of balancing everybody's concerns."
Bill 137 was introduced April 30 for first reading and will go to committee for further public consultation after second reading. The government is intent on making the Mining Act law by this fall.
The Mining Act is one of the building blocks in the McGuinty government's upcoming Far North land use planning strategy to protect half of the Boreal Forest from development.
With a day of the legislation being released in late April, Clark began fielding phone calls from prospectors whose reactions were "all over the map" from supporting the bill, to outrage, to ambivalence, especially on the issues of staking and access to land.
Among the features of the act includes allowing private land holders in Southern Ontario to withdraw their property from prospecting.
In the North, landowners can do the same, but only after a mineral assessment by the government.
The dividing line between north and south is the French-Mattawa Rivers and Lake Nipissing.
The bill also calls for a dispute-resolution mechanism and requires awareness training to educate and promote better understanding between industry and local interests.
Clark found no big surprises in the government's 51-page document, but the "devil's in the details" especially in how a new regulatory scheme of pro-vincially-approved exploration permits and work plans will be fleshed out. He believes this act should streamline the regulatory, exploration and development process.
Work permits were eliminated years ago in a government sweep of removing red tape.
In the last two years, the exploration sector has attracted unwanted attention because of conflicts on the consultation front between mining companies, private property owners and Aboriginal people.
In places like Big Trout Lake in northwestern Ontario, and Frontenac County in eastern Ontario, First Nation leaders have been jailed for obstructing exploration activity They've argued the province has neglected its legal duty to consult with bands before allowing companies to explore on their traditional lands.
It's put pressure on Queen's Park to make changes in clarifying the rules.
To help address these concerns, the government proposes 'required awareness training' when people plop down $25 to become a prospector.
Clark said one suggestion being kicked around in industry circles is to include some respected First Nations chiefs on a dispute panel with stakeholders including industry and environmentalists.
He hopes the new regulations will eliminate the Big Trout Lake controversies by starting dialogue early.
"If you have a work permit or work plan, the First Nation will get a copy of that, and they'll see what you're planning to do. And companies will discover whose traditional land they're on."
Some of the best land use practices have involved confidential impact benefit agreements struck between exploration companies and First Nations. Clark said private surface rights holders could likely cut their own deal with a prospector, "no different than an arrangement made with the owner of patented landholder."
One northwestern Ontario First Nations leader wants his people in the Far North to take a larger economic role on their territory
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Stan Beardy recognizes this is the first time the Ontario government has made a genuine attempt to work with First Nations to address their concerns.
"We're happy that we have dialogue with the Ontario government and will continue to push as much as possible to ensure that First Nations have a say on what happens on their traditional homelands."
The 49 communities of NAN, which cover the northwest and the James Bay Coast, are heavily engaged with industry Roughly 65 per cent are involved from exploration, to the early stages of development, to even becoming full partners at De Beers' Attawapiskat diamond mine and Goldcorp's Musselwhite Mine.
Beardy said First Nations are not against development, but want guarantees of high environmental monitoring standards and want greater economic benefits that deliver direct jobs, training, with spinoffs in transportation, equipment and supplies. They also want a say in government-collected royalties and user fees generated from mining activities.
"When we talk about benefits, we're not talking about handouts. We want to be key players in the global economy. IBA's (impact benefit agreements) are something from the past where you get very little just to keep you quiet. We want to be part of the wealth creation here."
One national conservation leader, Monte Hummel, calls the legislation a "huge step in the right direction."
The President Emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund Canada, has long called for an overhaul of the 136-year-old Mining Act, since the last revisions in the 1990s when mine closure plans and financial assurances were included.
A past critic of the province's land management planning, he likes what he sees so far. "One of my colleagues said this is like going from the fountain pen to the BlackBerry in one fell swoop."
First Nations will have an opportunity to withdraw traditional areas outright on cultural grounds, which could mean huge areas with mining claims on them, he said.
What's encouraging to Hummel is Premier Dalton McGuinty's pledge last summer that there will be no new mines in the North without a provincial and local community-approved land use plan.
He's predicting the the next round of public consultation will centre around the requirement for a full-fledged environment assessment provision as an exploration project approaches the final mine development stage. It will allow local and Aboriginal stakeholders to have a voice in mine projects. But there are steps to go before First Nations are given full veto rights.
Prospectors will still have free entry to do interim staking while Crown and traditional land use plans are being prepared, which could generate some conflict on the First Nations' concern of Prior and Informed Consent, said Hummel.
"Overall the moves on Crown land are a huge step for the better."
www.mndm.gov.on.ca
www.ontarioprospectors.com
www.nan.on.ca
http://wwf.ca
By IAN ROSS
Narthern Ontario Business
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