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While far from perfect, the BC Conservative Party appears to have the best policies for mining and energy ahead of the provincial election on Oct. 19, an AOTH analysis has found.
Goehring said MABC is pleased to see both parties committing to streamline the permitting process for critical minerals, and that “By unlocking the potential of critical minerals, we can attract the private investment necessary to fuel economic growth and secure well-paying jobs for decades to come. But this will only be possible if we act now to accelerate mine permitting and approval processes.”
He told reporters he plans to fast-track approvals for 16 mines, unlocking $11 billion in revenues that would go to the government, and $22 billion in wages and benefits annually. He did not cite a source for these figures. The act also inserted subjective criteria including “social impact” and “gender implications” into the evaluation process of major energy projects. , in 2022, investment in the oil and gas sector dropped to $29 billion, from $76B in 2014. In a survey of the investment attractiveness of 15 energy-producing provinces and US states, no provinces were in the top five.
On March 7, 2024, orders were made under the Environment and Land Use Act to establish a five-year moratorium on certain mining activities within the Ehattesaht Hay-na Mining Deferral Area and the Lax K’naga Sts’ool Mining Deferral Area, as well as an indefinite pause on the registration of new mineral and placer claims in those areas.
“The BC NDP’s mining platform, while commendable, falls short by not explicitly supporting the indispensable role of mineral exploration,” he said. “We urge all political parties to integrate a comprehensive approach to mining that includes robust exploration initiatives to support a thriving mining sector in BC.”
“53 per cent of the exploration spending in B.C. in 2020 went to the northwest of the province, home of the Golden Triangle exploration and mining district around Stewart B.C.” — Gordon Clarke, director of the B.C. Mineral Development officeBritish Columbia produces just over half the nation’s copper compared to 29% in Ontario and just 6.5% in Quebec. The only copper processing facilities in Canada are the Horne smelter located in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, and the CCR refinery in Montreal.
The party would implement guaranteed permit review timelines for priority critical minerals projects, as well as improving highway infrastructure and building out the electricity grid. While coal shipments per tonne decreased annually during the six-year period, the price of coal rocketed higher. How much higher was coal sector revenue? Not coincidentally, over $6 billion.
Now let’s fact-check the NDP’s claim that “Mining is a foundational part of British Columbia’s economy and the BC NDP is supporting it to grow.”According to Northern Beat, the number of operating mines in BC has decreased under the NDP, from 16 in 2017 to 14 in 2024. BC Greens’ leader Sonia Furstenau has said she would keep the carbon tax and increase it for companies creating the most pollution. The Greens’ plan also focuses on the protection of local ecosystems and ending fossil fuel subsidies. No new permits for fracking, pipelines or LNG would be granted and gas production would be phased out. The party would kill the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline, designed to feed natural gas from northeastern BC to the Ksi Lisims LNG project.
He’s right. Earlier this year, advocacy group, Energy Futures Initiative , said that BC’s electrical system is not ready to handle the ever-increasing demand for power, as the province sets ambitious targets for the shift from fossil-fueled transportation and energy generation. EFI saying that BC could become “at risk” for power generation as early as 2026.
How stupid is BC’s energy policy? We could be the Saudi Arabia of electricity for the price of one $16-billion Site C dam — Richard Millssaid a review of the provincial election campaign by Clean Energy Canada — a clean-energy think tank — shows that the BC Conservatives would introduce policies to spur LNG that are much more aggressive than those being followed by the current NDP government.
This is a terrible deal for British Columbians. Subtract a minimum $21.3B from $22B and we barely break even. And that’s just the financial side, the environmental side is an even bigger loser. We don’t get the electricity, instead we get polluted water and air, and we get dead killer whales and other dead cetaceans from all the extra tanker traffic.
The NDP’s record on mining speaks for itself. There are less mines now compared to when they took power in 2017 — despite massive deficits predicted for copper, silver, graphite and other minerals. Can we trust David Eby when he says the NDP will provide guaranteed permit review timelines for priority critical minerals projects? Or will the party succumb to the interests of anti-mining groups?
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