COMMENTARY — Timmins takes action

Vic Power, the mayor of Timmins, Ont., wrote the following at the invitation of Keep Mining in Canada, a national grassroots campaign designed to increase awareness of issues facing mining in Canada:

We came from across Canada and converged on Parliament Hill to talk to members of Parliament about the need to streamline the regulatory process that the mining industry currently faces. There were more than 50 of us, each with his own view from his own community. The reality of my home town, Timmins, Ont., was mirrored in the stories I heard from people from coast to coast.

The simple fact is that the future success or failure of mining communities, including Timmins, depends on meaningful action from our federal government. That’s why we came to Ottawa and participated in Keep Mining in Canada’s first Lobby Day, on Oct. 18. On hand were mayors of various mining towns, employees of mining companies, geologists, prospectors and developers and members of supplier industries.

We met with MPs and their staff members over the course of the day, informing them about the importance of the mining industry to Canada and urging them to take action to bolster mining. The action we proposed was sensible: cut red tape in order to reduce delays, provide for greater certainty, and save the government money.

When I met with government officials, I told them about Timmins, where 47,000 Canadians depend on mining. If these citizens are not working for a mining company or one of many supplier industries, they are working for a company that depends on the money that mining creates. Mining generates $244 million per year in wages in Timmins. Take that away and businesses — including restaurants, hotels, shopping malls and grocery stores — would be seriously threatened.

Timmins is sitting on a jewelry box. Our geology can sustain our city for years to come. But unnecessary duplication and lengthy approval processes could drive investment out of Timmins, and out of Canada. The regulatory process must be streamlined. This is the message I left with MPs, and it’s the same message more than a hundred other Canadian towns have been sending to Ottawa in the Keep Mining in Canada campaign. Lobby Day has already been called a success insofar as the government of Canada has heard the mining industry’s call for action. The Keep Mining in Canada delegates left Ottawa proud to have represented their companies, their industry and their communities.

The ball is now in the court of the federal government. The Liberals agreed to streamline the regulatory environment and improve the investment climate when they were elected. They said it again to me and the other Keep Mining in Canada delegates on Lobby Day. Now we need action, for only action will prove that Lobby Day was a success.