In July 2008, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced a world-leading commitment to conservation-focused land-use planning for Ontario's Great Boreal Forest, including protection for more than 50% of the area. To make this bold commitment a reality, we need a strong Boreal legislation that:

1. Creates a well-resourced joint Planning Board to allow First Nations and the Province to work together and share implementation of planning.

2. Details how Ontario will work in partnership with First Nations to determine the location, use and management of the 50% or more of the region that the Premier has committed to protect as conservation lands.

3. Sets out how community plans will be developed and integrated with regional objectives.

4. Describes how communities will realize long-term benefits from development and their role in management.

5. Provides a clear role for a Science Advisory Committee, including objectives for how it will inform land-use planning.

6. Sets clear rules for the development of roads, corridors and industrial activity outside of protected areas.

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Where does mining fit?

A new approach to boreal forest planning will also require a new approach to mineral staking and mine development in Ontario.

Ontario’s current Mining Act was first drafted in 1873 and then amended in 1906 to introduce what is known as a “free entry” system.  Essentially, under this system prospectors can stake claims to the minerals on any  public and private lands that have not been specifically closed from mining exploration (this includes much, but not all, of the private land in southern Ontario,  provincial and national parks, and First Nation territories).

Members of the KI community protest the arrest of community members who blockaded mining exploration undertaken without permission in their traditional territory.

A mining claim gives its owner significant advantages.  Only the claim owner can explore and develop the site or can sell or trade the claim.  The claim owner can also receive a mining lease for the lands that allow greater levels of development.

While this system provides a very large land area in which to explore and develop new mineral resources, it provides almost no rights to property owners or Aboriginal communities who wish to set terms for the exploration or reject it altogether.

It is also considered badly out of step with a more modern worldview of the value of natural areas.  Mining may not, in fact, be the best use for lands that may be critical for protecting biodiversity, water quality or fisheries.  That is why there is now a growing agreement, supported even by some members of the mining industry, about the need to revisit Ontario’s antiquated mining laws.  Many are calling for a revised Mining Act that:

• requires the consent of land owners and Aboriginal peoples before any prospecting, exploration or mining activities can occur on their lands;
• requires regional land-use planning prior to allowing exploration or mining operations to proceed to ensure environmental, social and development needs are balanced; and
• ensures that all exploration and mining projects face the scrutiny of environmental assessment to ensure that environmental and socio-economic impacts are minimized.

As a world leader in mining production and exports, Ontario’s mining industry should also be a world leader in promoting and engaging in sustainable, responsible mining practices. New legislation would could also reduce expensive and time consuming land-use conflicts.

The Ontario Government has indicated that it is reviewing the existing Mining Act with a view to developing approaches more in keeping with a modern mining industry and investors that increasingly require proof that land-use and social issues are being appropriately addressed.   In the meantime, many First Nations and conservation leaders are calling on the government to institute a moratorium on any further mineral staking in the Great Boreal Forest until comprehensive land-use planning is complete and areas appropriate for exploration have been clearly identified and agreed to by First Nations.

It’s time, they say, for Ontario to bring its approach to mining into the 21st century.