LETTERS TO THE EDITOR — Little encouragement for mining

I am interested in your editorial, “It ain’t over till it’s over” (T.N.M., Nov. 22/93), concerning the Windy Craggy operation and attempts by the British Columbia government to declare the Tatshenshini wilderness area a World Heritage Site.

I am thoroughly ticked off to watch, once again, the minerals industry being blocked and denigrated while the forest industry goes blithely about its work with the full support of the provincial government (regardless of opposition from native peoples and environmentalists).

Why does the same government encourage one industry to bulldoze ahead (literally and figuratively) while another is hamstrung by environmental assessments and slothful bureaucratic decision-making?

Each industry makes use of the land which we all cherish. One industry strips thousands of hectares and is encouraged to do so, while the other, operating on only a few hectares, is frustrated at every stage.

In addition, the mining industry must now set aside funds for land reclamation before any work can commence. Imagine the howl if the forest industry had to set aside the cost of reforestation before it cut down a tree. Fortunately, in each case the vegetation eventually grows back, no matter what we humans do. But which scar to our landscape heals more quickly, the few hectares or the thousands?

No wonder Canadian investors and developers in the minerals industry are looking outside of the country.

Bob Cameron

Sudbury, Ont.