Activists attack Quebec's miningThe mining industry is under attack everywhere in Canada, even in the country's friendliest location, Quebec.
Activists no longer offer constructive criticism and advocate one thing: an outright destruction of the mining industry.
Nowhereis this attitude more prevalent than in a recent report from theInstitute for Research and Socio-Economic Information, an organizationthat suggested nothing less than an end to mining in Quebec.
Theirsimplistic argument can be summed up as: "The economic, social, andenvironmental costs of the mining industry seem to outweigh thebenefits, and the economic prospects of the sector in the coming yearsare not promising."
Yet, according to the mining associations ofQuebec, the IRIS study is riddled with factual errors that undermineits conclusions.
Rather, the study presents a radical agenda todestroy the mining industry, a "salami-slice" strategy that aims toeliminate mining, slice after slice, until nothing remains. Initiallythe goal is to reduce the competitiveness of the mining industry byincreasing the burden of taxation and regulation, leaving Quebec minersat a disadvantage with the rest of the world and thus scaringinvestment.
Next, the study's author proposes to nationalize themining industry. She writes: "The nationalization of the sector shouldalso be an opportunity to submit mining to higher social andenvironmental standards." Aside from the inefficiencies andpoliticization inherent in nationalization, the move would be aregulatory disaster.
Governments cannot properly regulatethemselves. Look at the dismal history of Cape Breton, wheregovernments spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars to mine thesecond-most polluting coal in North America. The most polluting was agovernment-owned mine in New Brunswick.
If the study'ssuggestions were actually implemented, Quebec would in little timeplummet to the bottom of the rankings in the Annual Survey of MiningCompanies, joining such economic standouts as Zimbabwe, Ecuador, andVenezuela.
Once the mining sector is decimated, the IRIS studysuggests it will be "desirable to consider a gradual conversion to...other more promising and cleaner economic sectors, like the environmentindustry."
This plan seems to be based more on fantasy thanreality. The idea that the magic wand of government will be able toreplace thousands of mining jobs with green jobs in the regions ofQuebec seems farfetched and has all the trappings of an economicdisaster financed by the taxpayer. The likely result would be theemergence of ghost towns in rural Quebec. Anti-mining groups based inMontreal and Quebec City might not mind, but it would be catastrophicfor the regions.
What the anti-mining activists fail toacknowledge is the substantial contribution of the mining industry tothe Quebec economy. Mining represents 2.4 per cent of Quebec's GDP andmore than 52,000 jobs. The value of exports from the mineral sectorgrew on average by 8.2 per cent since 2000, reaching $8 billion in2008. And the sector has provided the Quebec government with annual nettax revenue of $281 million since 2000.
The truth is thatindustrial minerals are omnipresent in our everyday lives and a worldwithout them is simply impossible. The demand of industrializingcountries will grow in the future and it would be absurd for the Quebececonomy to not cash in on this potential windfall.
The interestsof average Quebecers are best served by creating wealth, not destroyingit. The mining industry generates wealth for Quebecers. The provincehas a strong mining tradition in places like Côte-Nord andAbitibi-Témiscamingue and an exceptional mineral potential especiallyif one considers the new deposits on the relatively unexploredterritories of James Bay and Nunavik in Northern Quebec.
Themining community is striving to improve its environmental record andtrumped-up, ill-considered accusations and over-the-top rhetoric shouldnot be an excuse to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Jean-François Minardi is a senior policy analyst with the Fraser Institute.