Liberal-Created Delays and Red Tape Barriers are Damaging Canada's Mining Sector!

Shannon Stubbs, Shadow Minister for Natural Resources, wrote a letter to the Minister of Natural Resources, the Minister of Fisheries, and the Minister of Environment:

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Natural Resources
580 Booth Street, 21st Floor, Room: C7-1
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E4
Canada

Hon. Joyce Murray, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E6
Canada
Mail Stop 15N100
Floor 15

Hon. Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Environment and Climate Change
200, boul. Sacré-Coeur
Gatineau, Quebec K1A0H3
Canada

December 09, 2022

Dear Ministers,

Regulatory delays are extremely damaging to the production and efficiency of Canada’s mining
industry. Clear timelines and fast approval processes are crucial to the extraction of Canada’s
natural resources.

Businesses large and small suffer from these delays and red tape barriers. Impala Canada
operates a mine in Thunder Bay, one of the few mines in the world that produces palladium as
the principal metal. The mineral is used for everything from car parts to surgical instruments.
Impala raised their concerns on the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations (MDMER)
assessment (essential for their business) conducted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
(DFO), and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). This permitting process, for a new tailings storage facility began over five years ago, but Impala is still awaiting a final
decision.

When Impala initially raised their concerns to DFO on their project impacts, DFO didn’t think an
assessment was necessary. However, DFO reversed that decision approximately a year later,
which has led to project delays.

Impala has since completed the technical work required to register their project on Schedule 2 of
the MDMER and submitted all documentation to ECCC/DFO for approval. Impala will need to
start breaking ground by July 2023 and needs your departments to render their assessment
decision before construction impinges on the affected water bodies.

Not only has there been constant setbacks during Impala’s mining permitting process, but – as an
illustration of Canada’s regulatory environment which advances at a glacial pace – their permit
to move a water pump from land to a barge took 8 months, pushing back installation until the
following year.

This type of uncertainty created by what seem to be your department’s complicated and arbitrary
processes is currently driving business away from Canada and to other countries.

Numerous unclear timelines compromise Canada’s future as a major mineral producer, and
regulatory delays and red tape deter investment. Resolving these concerns must be your top
priority, as ensuring the productivity of mines is crucial for Canada’s economy. I urge you to
engage with your counterparts to find a solution before a lack of action compromises the
Canadian mining sector’s progress.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Shannon Stubbs, M.P., Lakeland
Shadow Minister for Natural Resources