On Thursday, British Columbia premier Christy Clark announced that her Liberal government is committed to opening eight new mines and expanding another nine in the province by 2015. The Globe and Mail reports, “The government would not be funding the mines but would speed up approvals and cut red tape to get the project rolling.” Another news report says the province will spend $24-million to reduce ‘regulatory delays’.
Clark did not specify the names of these 17 new or expanded mines, but they very likely will include these proposed mines currently being tracked by the Council of Canadians:
1. the Taseko Mines Ltd. ‘Prosperity’ gold-copper mine near Williams Lake that threatens Teztan Biny/ Fish Lake, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=5718
2. the Compliance Coal Corporation ‘Raven Underground Coal Project’ on Vancouver Island that threatens Baynes Sound znd the Cowie Creek and Tsable River drainages, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=10089
3. the KGHM Ajax Mining Inc. copper-gold open pit mine near Kamloops that threatens Jacko Lake and Inks Lake, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=6508
4. the Imperial/ Selkirk Metals Corp. lead-zinc mine at Ruddock Creek that threatens the headwaters of the Adams, Columbia and Thompson Rivers, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/10/bc-blockade-mine-deal-delay.html
Clark appears to have an ideological ally on mining with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In late-August, he defended the dumping of toxic mine tailings waste into freshwater lakes as a job creation and economic development strategy, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=10105.
Beyond the mines, Clark is also touting natural gas pipelines, liquefied natural gas terminals, and logging-related activity.
The next provincial election in BC is scheduled for May 2013.
