2013 Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference

Canada’s Annual Energy and Mines Ministers’  Conference-Mining

          Mining and exploration activities  are contributing significantly in terms of economic and social benefits to  provinces and territories. At the Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference  (EMMC), the mines ministers and senior government officials discussed current  challenges the mining sector is facing and the opportunities that lie ahead.
          The  Ministers agreed to move forward on key issues requiring continued attention  and a coordinated approach. The following key themes and priorities were  discussed:

Benefits From Mining
          The value of mineral production in Canada was  nearly $47 billion in 2012, and Canadian-headquartered mining companies  accounted for nearly 37 percent of budgeted worldwide exploration expenditures  in 2012. In Canada, the industry directly employed about 400,000 people in 2012  and contributed $60 billion to Canada’s nominal GDP in activities from mining  to downstream processing. The mining industry is especially important for  Aboriginal peoples, who made up about 8,000 people in its workforce in 2012.  During this year’s conference, priority areas that the Ministers discussed  included: green mining, the mining sector performance report, regulatory reform  and mandatory reporting standards for Canadian  extractive companies.

Mining Sector Performance  Report
          The Ministers released the 2013 edition of the Mining  Sector Performance Report (MSPR), which provides analysis of the Canadian  mining sector’s economic, environmental and social performance over the  1998–2012 period. The report assesses the performance of the mining sector  through 23 different indicators and was developed in collaboration with an  intergovernmental Working Group Subcommittee. The subcommittee was made up of  members from 9 provinces and territories, and consulted with an external  advisory committee representing stakeholders from industry, NGOs, academia, and  Aboriginal groups.

Mandatory Reporting  Standards for Canadian Extractive Companies
          Canada  is recognized as a world leader in promoting transparency and accountability in  the extractive sector both at home and abroad. Prime Minister Harper announced  at this year’s G8 summit that Canada will be establishing new mandatory  reporting standards for domestic extractive companies.
          It is  anticipated that the regime will enhance transparency and accountability with  regard to material payments such as taxes, licence fees and other receipts to  all levels of government domestically and internationally.
          Going  forward, the federal government will continue to consult closely with the  extractive industry provincial and territorial governments, First Nations and  Aboriginal groups and non-governmental organizations on how to establish the  most effective regime.

Green Mining Initiative
          The Ministers endorsed  and approved the Green Mining Initiative (GMI) Progress Report entitled Addressing Regulatory Barriers to the  Adoption of Green Mining Technologies in Canada. The results of the  study will foster innovation by helping regulators when creating or modernizing  regulations.
          Ministers tasked officials to continue their work  on the role of regulations in adopting new technologies. As part of this work,  an untested green mining technology will undergo a rigorous standard assessment  to verify its performance through Environment Canada’s Environmental Technology  Verification Program. The outcomes will be discussed with regulators and  industry. Officials worked closely with regulators to ensure that there would be  adequate incentive to use the verification processes in the mining sector.  Three important aspects of GMI include:

   
• Enhancing industry engagement and communication to  raise regulatory awareness and level of comfort with new technologies;
   
• Assessing the feasibility of GMI-Environmental  Technology Verification (ETV) programs; and
   
• Assessing the use of outcome-based regulations as a  means to foster mining innovation.  

          The GMI was created to help the Canadian mining industry in R&D  focused on improved environmental protection and remediation, and to develop  new and better alternatives to existing technologies for mineral extraction,  mineral processing and environmental reclamation.

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The reports mentioned above are available at www.scics.gc.ca.