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New Brunswick has proposed a new mining law, which the government says is partly aimed at faster project approvals.
But Natural Resources Minister John Herron said the bill tabled Wednesday would also strengthen environmental protections and boost engagement with First Nations during that approval process.
Speaking with reporters at the legislature, Herron said regulations to come later would offer more detail on how the bill would achieve those things.
“We want to test those project proponents at every corner, but we want to do it faster,” Herron said. “If you don’t have that, you risk losing social licence. That’s a key element.”
WATCH | Minister wants to test project proponents ‘at every corner,’ but faster:
Minister says new mining law would get projects approved faster in N.B.
The New Brunswick natural resources minister says the “streamlined” project approval process wouldn’t come at the cost of public consultation or environmental impact assessment.
Herron added the process would look different, depending on the mining project.
“If you’re restarting a pre-existing mine … the level of of consultation and engagement may not have to be as robust because there’s already a high degree of understanding in terms of what that opportunity is,” Herron said.
He cited former mine sites in Mount Pleasant and Lake George as examples of where this might apply.
The bill comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney designated the long-delayed Sisson Mine as a major project — a status that carries added federal support, such as funding and faster approvals.
Glen Savoie, the interim PC leader, said he worries about government cutting corners with a faster approval process. (Tara King-Stewart/CBC)
Ultimately, Herron said the goal is to position New Brunswick to become Canada’s top mining jurisdiction.
But Glen Savoie, the Progressive Conservative interim leader, questioned whether the bill would deliver on Herron’s promises, calling it “aspirational” while speaking to reporters.
“I hear government talk about speeding up things … my concerns lie with this government’s ability to manage their way through this without taking shortcuts on either side,” Savoie said.
“So whether it’s environmental shortcuts, whether it’s consultation shortcuts, whatever that means for this government … does it mean that’s to the detriment of other important factors during the process?”
Green Party Leader David Coon said the bill’s purpose is contradictory. (CBC News)
Herron said Indigenous communities did not see the bill in advance of government tabling it, which Savoie said confirms his concerns.
But Herron said First Nations leaders will have the chance to provide input on the regulations to be drafted in the coming year.
Green Party Leader David Coon wasn’t convinced by the bill’s dual promise to strengthen environmental protections and competitiveness for the mining sector, calling it an “inherent contradiction.”
Coon noted the Sisson Mine project as an example.
“Sisson could be far more sustainable if it were developed with dry stack storage for the tailings, rather than submerging them under a massive … artificial water body behind a huge dam,” he said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney designated the Sisson Mine as a so-called nation-building project last year. (Pratyush Dayal/CBC)
“But it’s more expensive to do that, so it makes it less competitive to do the right thing.”
Robert Murray, president of the New Brunswick Prospectors and Developers Association, is optimistic for the future of the industry in the province.
Robert Murray, left, president of the New Brunswick Prospectors and Developers Association, hopes the bill will make the province a more predictable environment for project proponents. (Savannah Awde/CBC)
Murray said his experience as a prospector trying to attract mining companies to New Brunswick has changed dramatically over the past few years.
“In the past … it was really difficult to talk about New Brunswick to mid-tier to upper mining companies, and to get any kind of traction with them,” Murray said outside the legislature Wednesday.
“In the last few years, that’s totally changed.”
He hopes the bill will ultimately make New Brunswick a more predictable environment for interested mining companies.