Government of Canada Policy

The Minerals and Metals Policy of the Government of Canada

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Executive Summary

The Minerals and Metals Policy of the Government of Canada: Partnerships for Sustainable Development (the Policy) describes, within areas of federal jurisdiction, the Government’s role, objectives and strategies for the sustainable development of Canada’s mineral and metal resources. These are set out in eight separate parts.

Part I.
Introduction

The Policy builds on important commitments and initiatives of the Government including Creating Opportunity, the Government’s Mining Agenda, A Guide to Green Government, the Toxic Substances Management Policy, and the principles and goals of the Whitehorse Mining Initiative (WMI) Leadership Council Accord. It does this by contributing to three key elements of the Government’s agenda: promoting economic growth and job creation, furthering an efficient and effective federation, and meeting the challenge of sustainable development.

Minerals and metals are of vital interest to Canada and are relevant to federal policies and programs because of their substantial contribution to Canada’s social and economic well-being. Two important and inter-related developments have implications for Canada: the globalization of the industry, and the mounting need for governments around the world to collaborate in the development of solutions to environmental concerns and other challenges.

Provincial governments are responsible for mining within their respective jurisdictions. In this context, the Government’s role in minerals and metals has been more sharply focused on core federal responsibilities, including international trade and investment, science and technology, environmental protection, and Aboriginal affairs.The Government is committed to forging enhanced partnerships with others in exercising its responsibilities in minerals and metals.

The Government is committed to forging enhanced partnerships with others in exercising its responsibilities in minerals and metals. The Government has adopted the Brundtland Commission’s definition of sustainable development. The Policy applies this definition by identifying the key elements of sustainable development in the context of minerals and metals.

In light of the foregoing, the Policy has six major objectives:

• integrating the concept of sustainable development in federal decision-making affecting the minerals and metals industry;
• ensuring the international competitiveness of Canada’s minerals and metals industry in the context of an open and liberal global trade and investment framework;
• advancing the concept of sustainable development of minerals and metals at the international level through partnerships with other countries, stakeholders, and multilateral institutions and organizations;
• establishing Canada as a global leader in promoting the safe use of minerals and metals, and their related products;
• promoting Aboriginal involvement in mineralsand metals-related activities; and
• providing a framework for the development and application of science and technology to enhance the industry’s competitiveness and environmental stewardship.

Part II.
Federal Decisions in Minerals and Metals: Implementing a Sustainable Development Approach

To achieve sustainable development, environmental, economic and social considerations must be taken into account as early as possible in the decisionmaking process. To help the Government meet this challenge in the area of minerals and metals, the Policy enunciates a number of principles for sustainable development-based decision-making, including:

• a responsive public policy framework;
• the role of the market mechanism;
• the role of regulation;
• the role of non-regulatory approaches;
• the importance of science;
• endorsement of the concept of pollution prevention;
• affirmation of the precautionary principle; and
• recognition of the polluter pays principle.

Part III.
The Business Climate: Ensuring the Competitiveness of Canada’s Minerals and Metals Industry

Canada must compete as never before to attract investment capital to sustain its minerals and metals industry. In this environment, all governments must work together to ensure that a positive investment climate is maintained. As a consequence, the Government makes a series of commitments in the spheres of finance and taxation, regulatory efficiency, and investment and export promotion.

The Government affirms its support for the creation of a Canadian Securities Commission, in partnership with interested provinces, and establishes four principles to guide the development of all federal fiscal measures affecting the minerals and metals industry. The Government also sets out a seven-item checklist for the development of any new federal regulatory processes that affect minerals and metals. As well, the Policy states that the industry must continue to assume greater responsibility for environmental performance and for stewardship of minerals and metals throughout their life cycle.

Part IV.
Minerals, Metals and Society: Promoting Products, Markets and Stewardship

The Government supports the responsible use and management of minerals and metals. Given Canada’s role as a world leader in the production of these commodities, managing issues related to health and the environment is a policy priority. The Policy introduces an approach to the responsible use and management of minerals and metals called the Safe Use Principle.

The Safe Use Principle takes a life cycle-based approach to the use and management of minerals and metals, including the application of risk assessment and management strategies, in accordance with well-established stewardship practices. The Principle builds on and complements the Toxic Substances Management Policy (TSMP). In doing so, it sends the message domestically and internationally that minerals and metals and their products can be used safely and responsibly.

Recycled minerals and metals constitute an important source of secondary materials for industry, and generate environmental benefits. As a consequence, the Government will work to: enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of regulations; promote a more efficient metals recycling industry in Canada; advance recycling as a feature of product design; and, at the international and domestic levels, promote common approaches to the definition of waste (including a distinction between metal-bearing recyclables destined for recovery and wastes destined for final disposal).

The federal government has a role to play in the reclamation of mine sites within its areas of responsibility, including establishing fiscal and regulatory conditions respecting reclamation for mine development on federal lands. The Policy recognizes the need to clean up those abandoned and orphaned mine sites within federal jurisdiction that represent an unacceptable risk to the environment or human health and safety. It also acknowledges the need for site owners, where they can be identified, to pay for clean-up costs.

Land access for mineral exploration and development is necessary if the minerals and metals industry is to continue to contribute to Canada’s economic and social well-being. In regard to Canada’s ocean territory, that access will be determined through an integrated oceans governance strategy adopted by the Government. In addition to land access, governments must provide reasonable certainty to the industry that when it finds a mineral deposit, it can develop that deposit.

The Government affirms its commitments respecting the completion of the National Parks network and the establishment of National Marine Conservation Areas. It also remains committed to identifying and protecting terrestrial and marine critical wildlife habitat in Canada, and developing and implementing protected area strategies for federal lands and waters. In meeting these commitments, the Government will follow certain guidelines that recognize the important economic and social role played by the minerals and metals industry in Canada.

Part V.
Aboriginal Communities: Promoting Involvement in Minerals and Metals Activities

Aboriginal concerns and interests in relation to mineral development are important factors in the Government’s policy approach. The Government also respects existing provincial, territorial and municipal mechanisms for mineral development. Within matters of federal jurisdiction, it promotes cost-effective regimes for the sustainable development of minerals and metals on lands under claim, settlement areas, and Indian reserves.

The Government affirms its support for the timely resolution of land claims to remove uncertainty over the ownership and use of land and resources, as well as to encourage self-reliance by Aboriginal communities and promote their participation in economic opportunities.

The Government acknowledges Aboriginal concerns about the effect of mineral exploration and development on traditional lifestyles and the environment, as well as the desire of Aboriginal peoples to be involved in decision-making. Collaboration between the industry and Aboriginal communities is encouraged. The Government supports partnership approaches involving Aboriginal communities and the industry.

Part VI.
Science and Technology: Progress through Innovation

Science and technology (S&T) play a critical role in the health and well-being of Canadians, our ability to protect the environment, and our success in creating jobs and fostering economic growth. Federal S&T activities that are based on associated goals (i.e., job creation and economic growth, improved quality of life, and the advancement of knowledge) will continue to support sustainable development objectives. In addition to focusing on these goals in an integrated manner, the Government supports the development of stronger science-policy linkages.

In this light, the Government is committed to pursuing a number of goals related to Canada’s S&T activities in relation to minerals and metals. It also affirms its commitment to promote partnerships among stakeholders in pursuing these goals.

The Government will pursue the following strategic, long-term directions in S&T related to minerals and metals:

• providing a comprehensive geoscience information infrastructure;
• supporting a sustainable minerals and metals industry (through the use of S&T to promote technological innovation both in mining operations and in the safe and efficient use of minerals and metals);
• enhancing the health and safety of Canadians;
• promoting the competitiveness of the Canadian industry; and
• developing value-added mineral and metal products.

Part VII.
Minerals and Metals at the International Level: Providing Leadership in the Implementation of Sustainable Development

Canada plays a leadership role at the international level, deriving from its position as the world’s largest exporter of minerals and metals and a major player in the promotion of sustainable development, including the implementation of the Rio Summit’s Agenda 21. The international nature of many of the pressures on the sector and the lessons learned to date, including the potential of initiatives aimed at environmental, health and social concerns to affect the competitiveness and acceptability of minerals and metals in the marketplace, requires an effective and flexible response by the Government.

The Government reaffirms its commitment to a liberalized, predictable, rules-based international trading and investment regime. It also sets out objectives and conditions for the promotion of the sound management of minerals and metals through a variety of instruments from legally binding agreements to government-sponsored non-regulatory approaches to voluntary industry initiatives. Central to the Government’s approach are the concepts of risk assessment, risk management, and the application of the Safe Use Principle. The Government reaffirms the value of bilateral and regional cooperation, and makes a commitment to continue to provide technical cooperation based on Canada’s solid foundation of minerals- and metals-related knowledge, expertise and worldclass technology.

Part VIII.
Measurement and Follow-Up

Part VIII focuses on the effective implementation of the Policy, noting the importance of developing sustainability criteria and indicators related to minerals and metals. The Policy recognizes the need for ongoing accountability for, and assessment of, results that flow from the Policy. To this end, the Minister of Natural Resources, in cooperation with other federal departments and agencies, will issue periodic progress reports on its implementation.