Partnerships for Sustainable Development

The Minerals and Metals Policy fulfills important commitments made by the Government in Creating Opportunity, its Mining Agenda and A Guide to Green Government. The Policy affirms provincial jurisdiction over mining, delineates a role for the Government in minerals and metals that is tied to federal responsibilities, and commits the Government to pursue partnerships with stakeholders in addressing issues within its jurisdiction.

The Minerals and Metals Policy was developed after extensive consultations involving federal departments and agencies, provincial and territorial mines ministries, industry, environmental groups, labour, and Aboriginal communities. In 1995, as part of this process to develop a new policy, Natural Resources Canada published, for discussion, an issues paper entitled Sustainable Development and Minerals and Metals.

The Minerals and Metals Policy: Foreword

A decade after the federal government last unveiled a minerals and metals policy, and as we approach the end of the 20th century, Canada remains among the foremost producers of minerals and metals in the world, and the leading exporter. The industry continues to play an essential role in Canada's economy. It provides jobs for more than 340 000 Canadians and is the economic foundation for some 150 communities in Canada's rural and northern regions. These contributions cannot be over-emphasized, for they are an important part of the economic and social fabric of Canadian society.

Yet, as we look ahead to the future of Canada's minerals and metals industry, dramatic change is occurring. This change is brought on by several challenges:

• concerns about the state of our natural environment;
• rapidly growing competitive forces brought on by globalization and the emergence of new mineral-producing countries in the developing world;
• a need for a more efficient and effective federation; and
  the need to achieve sustainable development.

The new Minerals and Metals Policy addresses these challenges and responds to important government commitments. For example, in Creating Opportunity, the Government acknowledged that sustainable development must be integrated into the way the Government defines its business and makes its decisions. It also made jobs and growth the centrepiece of its agenda for the 1990s, and committed itself to the renewal of Canada's rural regions. In A Guide to Green Government, the Government elaborated upon its commitment to a sustainable development approach. All ministers undertook to ensure that the concept is given due consideration in their respective mandates.

In the Mining Agenda, the Government made a commitment to update the 1987 Mineral and Metal Policy and to formulate a strategy for the sustainable development of the Canadian minerals and metals sector. In September 1994, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and I, along with representatives of industry, labour, the Aboriginal and environmental communities, and many provincial and territorial governments, signed the Whitehorse Mining Initiative (WMI) Leadership Council Accord. WMI participants developed a common vision of a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable and prosperous mining industry in Canada.

In fulfilling these commitments, the Policy represents the first attempt by the Government to incorporate the concept of sustainable development into a comprehensive policy document in the natural resources area. It incorporates many of the principles found in the WMI Leadership Council Accord, and supports the Government's agenda for jobs and growth by presenting a framework that promotes the industry's prosperity in Canada.

In the 1996 Speech from the Throne, the Government stated its willingness to withdraw from functions, in such areas as mining, that are more appropriately the responsibility of provincial governments, local authorities or the private sector. The Policy gives effect to the Speech from the Throne by:

• affirming provincial jurisdiction over mining;
• delineating a new role for the federal government in minerals and metals that is tied to core federal responsibilities;
• and committing the Government to pursue partnerships with industry, the provinces and territories, and others in addressing issues within its jurisdiction.

The Policy flows out of an intense consultative process with all stakeholders. It represents an important source of guidance to federal decisions on minerals and metals in the context of sustainable development. For example:

• it sets parameters for federal decisions on minerals and metals, including a recognition of the need for sound science, the importance of global markets, and the benefits of both regulatory and non-regulatory approaches in pursuing environmental protection;
• it commits the Government to continued efforts to secure international mineral investment for Canada and notes the importance of a fiscal and tax environment that recognizes the special challenges of the industry and its global context;
• and it enunciates the Government's support of the principle of safe use of minerals and metals and engages the Government to advance this principle both domestically and internationally.
  

Turning the concept of sustainable development into practice will require stakeholders to question their old assumptions, and to examine minerals- and metals-related issues in light of the integration of economic, environmental and social objectives. This shift to a multi-disciplinary approach in decision-making will not happen overnight, but I am confident that if we continue to work together, we will be able to achieve our goal of an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable minerals and metals industry.

In times of change, challenges can and should be turned into opportunities. The Government remains committed to a prosperous Canadian minerals and metals industry. The Minerals and Metals Policy provides the Government with the direction and decision-making tools that will help to ensure that the industry flourishes into the 21st century.

Minister of Natural Resources Canada

Obtaining the Minerals and Metals Policy

Copies of the Minerals and Metals Policy of the Government of Canada
may be ordered, at no charge, from:

Publications Distribution Office
Minerals and Metals Sector
Natural Resources Canada
580 Booth Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E4

Tel.:  (613) 947-6580
Fax:  (613) 952-7501

Minerals and Metals Policy of the Government of Canada (PDF) - Accessibility Notice