Editorial Does Manitoba need Inspiration?

Unfortunately, Canada’s policy of contributing public funds to smelter modernization programs nation-wide appears to have run smack into a conflict with our foreign policy with regards to apartheid in South Africa.

In 1985, seven provinces signed an accord with the federal government to share the costly task of reducing acid rain. The pact was signed shortly after an international agreement was signed by Canada and nine other countries in March, 1984, committing them to a 30% reduction by 1993.

The nation’s nonferrous smelters were the main target of the clean-up. In 1987, the Quebec Liberals and federal Conservatives agreed to contribute towards the $125-million cost of constructing a plant which, by next year, will convert about half the sulphur dioxide which normally comes from the stack at Noranda’s Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., into sulphuric acid. That plant is scheduled to come on stream in 1989, producing 350,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid per year.

On the west coast too, the federal government and British Columbia’s Social Credit government co-operated to make sizeable contributions to modernization programs at Cominco’s lead and zinc smelters in Trail, B.C. Start-up of the new $260- million lead smelter there is planned for mid-1989.

And in central Canada, Inco Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd. have until December to submit details to Ontario’s Liberal government for cutting emissions in the Sudbury Basin.

Manitoba’s Conservative government has known the details of a major modernization program in Flin Flon for about 12 months now. Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting submitted details of plans to replace the smelter’s antiquated multiple hearth furnace and reverbatory furnaces with a zinc pressure leaching circuit and a continuous copper converter. The plan, which would cost $130 million, is to cut emissions by 25%, increase demand for Manitoba’s hydro-electric power by 10 MW per year and ensure the long term viability of the community of Flin Flon.

By signing the 1985 agreement, Manitoba’s NDP government committed itself to cut sulphur dioxide emissions in that province by 40% by 1994. This reasonable position was inherited by the present Conservative government of Gary Filmon.

If Mr. Filmon is waiting for the Mulroney Conservatives to make the first move, maybe he should think again. With a federal election on Nov 21, Mulroney is buying votes in every part of the country. But somehow the Flin Flon smelter has been overlooked. Why? Could it be that HudBay’s ties to two South African mining companies is a factor? (Anglo American Corp. and DeBeers Consolidated Mines, both of South Africa, have a 39% and 21% interest, respectively, in Minerals and Resources Corp., which in turn holds a 57% interest in Inspiration Resources Corp., HudBay’s parent.)

In his recent first-ever speech to the United Nation’s General Assembly, Mulroney said Canadians find apartheid repugnant, but he fell short of calling for all-out sanctions against South Africa.

In light of this speech, Inspiration Resources can resign itself to the fact that no such financial commitment, which characterized Canada’s other smelter modernization programs, will likely be forthcoming for the Flin Flon project. HudBay has recently lobbed off $60 million in debt and has two years of solid profits under its belt. But if Inspiration decides it can no longer continue to smelt zinc and copper in Flin Flon, it will be a dark day for this northern community.