On September 11, the St. John’s Telegram reported that, “The (Sandy Pond Alliance) launched a federal court challenge in June, seeking the removal of metal mining effluent regulations from the Federal Fisheries Act. The regulations allow the government to approve the use of lakes and ponds across the country as tailings dump sites. …Lawyers for Vale Inco argued the company should be given intervenor status in the case, with a right to appeal. …The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and the Mining Association of British Columbia were also represented in court Friday, seeking intervenor status.”
What position does the Mining Association take on Schedule 2? In 2008, the CBC reported that, “Lakes are often the best way for mine tailings to be contained, said Elizabeth Gardiner, vice-president for technical affairs for the Mining Association of Canada. ‘In some cases, particularly in Canada, with this kind of topography and this number of natural lakes and depressions and ponds …in the end it’s really the safest option for human health and for the environment,’ she said.”
How does it lobby? As noted in their 2009 annual report, their “federal advocacy” has included, “General outreach to Members of Parliament, as well as grassroots lobbying, with more attention to the backbench across party lines, was a priority in 2009. Reaching out to caucus committees to ensure that MAC’s issues were understood was an integral component of the government relations strategy. MAC met throughout the year with committee chairs, party critics and key staff in both the Leader of the Opposition’s office and opposition caucus groups.” That annual report also notes, “During the year we reinforced key priorities through mini-lobby days organized by Mining Works for Canada, including another successful Mining Day on the Hill.”
Who does the Mining Association of Canada lobby? According to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying Canada, the Mining Association of Canada has lobbied on various issues, “Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Environment Canada (EC), Finance Canada (FIN), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAITC), Health Canada (HC), Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Industry Canada (IC), Justice Canada (JC), Members of the House of Commons, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Privy Council Office (PCO), Revenue Canada (RC), Senate of Canada, Transport Canada (TC).”
How powerful is the mining industry in Canada? In Canada the industry employs 193 registered lobbyists. Mining Association of Canada CEO Gordon Peeling has been listed as one of the top lobbyists in Ottawa by The Hill Times. Vale Inco (which wants to turn Sandy Pond into a tailings pond) made US $4.1 billion in profits in Ontario for 2006-08, while Taseko (which wants to store its mine waste in a drained Fish Lake) made $76 million in profits in the first three months of 2010.
This is what the Council of Canadians, Indigenous communities, other groups, and concerned people are up against when trying to stop mining companies from destroying freshwater lakes in Canada through the Schedule 2 exemption in the Fisheries Act. Mining industry lobbyists are undoubtedly now urging key cabinet ministers to approve the Prosperity Mine and the destruction of Fish Lake, seeking to intervene against our court challenge in Newfoundland (as noted in the Telegram article), and are surely tracking the private members bill against Schedule 2 recently introduced into the House of Commons by Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia, http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3959.
For more, go to http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/16/condemned-lakes.html, http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/729147, http://www.gcicanada.com/newsroom-pdfs/The%20Hill%20Times’%20Top%20100%20Lobbyists%202010%20%20The%20Hill%20Times%20-%20Canada’s%20Politics%20and%20Government%20Newsweekly.pdf, and https://ocl-cal.gc.ca/app/secure/orl/lrrs/do/publicSummary?_flxKy=®Dec=538483&sMdKy=&language=en_CA. For more on the lobbying activities of the Mining Association of Canada, go to their 2009 annual report at http://www.mining.ca/www/media_lib/MAC_Documents/Annual_Reports/2009_annual-report-en.pdf.
