BC is at a crucial juncture. It must swiftly create an ideal policy climate to capitalize on the impending critical minerals boom fully.
The choice is clear: the province must cut regulatory red tape and create a stable investment climate. If BC resists these changes, mining investors will flock to other jurisdictions with better policy climates.
By demanding robust mining policy commitments from the government, citizens can pave the way for BC to become a mining powerhouse, attracting both explorers and investors.
Mining has become a hot button issue in provincial politics, especially as Canadian jurisdictions rush to develop critical minerals to serve the federal government’s misguided net zero ambitions.
Critical minerals are low hanging fruit. The International Energy Agency says demand for copper, nickel and zinc will explode over the next 15 years. A study by Mansfield Consulting identified 14 potential critical mineral mines in BC, along with two mine extensions.
BC will miss this boom if it ignores the twin problem of regulatory burden and investment uncertainty.
Parties in the election contest ought to consider mining policies adopting an international perspective that attracts investment and exploration. B.C. is not the only jurisdiction seeking to attract foreign mining investment and activity. Global investors and explorers have many jurisdictions with rich deposits and stable governments to drop their investment dollars.
Parties serious about improving the BC mining policy climate ought to set their sights on the mining regulatory burden. Mining is a long-term, capital-intensive venture requiring a stable, transparent, and predictable policy environment. A recent PWC study found government regulation was BC’s top threat to mining exploration and investment.
Parties seeking government would do well to address the first problem creating regulatory burden: An uncompetitive fiscal climate. The Mining Association of British Columbia identified the province’s new “output-based carbon pricing system’ as a main culprit.
Before building a mine, project proponents spend millions on Indigenous and community consultations before even applying for an environmental permit, assuming the province approves. The proponent deals with four separate provincial ministries. Then, they deal with Ottawa, which involves two federal bureaucracies.
Is it any wonder B.C. mines take, on average, 13 years to go from discovery to construction?
The NDP government has sped up permitting – like adding staff and creating a new chief permitting officer position – but these are not systemic changes. One idea proposed is adopting a ‘one stop shop’ or ‘single window’ approach to mining permitting. Adopting this approach would involve all regulatory steps handled in a single department. The oil and gas sector has successfully implemented this approach.
Beyond the regulatory burden, parties seeking to advance mining ought to consider the uncertainty over BC’s land base.
Canadian mining executives – when surveyed – list land claims uncertainty as a top deterrent to mining investment. Mining executives do not realize they can respect Indigenous rights and be against drastic Indigenous policy changes that imperil BC’s land base.
The NDP government’s ill-fated changes to the Lands Act over Crown lands and First Nations was a misguided step that would have created more instability for the natural resource economy.
The BC Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the province must revise its mineral claims law to ensure proper Indigenous consultation. The court gave the province 18 months to make necessary changes, so they have until early 2025. This is good news. Government can ensure it revises Indigenous consultation policies correctly the first time. It would be helpful if these revisions ensured proper consultation with the right people in Indigenous communities. This step will prevent future litigation.
BC’s Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) is the problem as it seeks to enshrine the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into BC law.
BC does not need UNDRIP to ensure proper Indigenous consultation. BC has constitutionally protected consultation policies that respect Indigenous rights.
The BC Supreme Court ruling, fortunately, did not find that DRIPA had implemented the UNDRIP into BC law; a new law would be necessary to do that.
One Indigenous party has already appealed this ruling to the BC Court of Appeal, partly over DRIPA. Parties serious about mining in BC should consider repealing or amending DRIPA, as this would make the legal issues moot.
A stable land base better facilitates mining, which is good for BC’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Both Nisg̱a’a Nation and Tahltan Nation demonstrate how Indigenous communities can achieve meaningful partnerships on mining projects.
This provincial election is the best time to discuss how our province can reduce and streamline mining regulations and ensure BC has investment certainty. This is how BC will ride the next mining boom.
Joseph Quesnel is a senior research fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
