A federal audit of Canada’s strategy to promote the extraction of essential minerals finds the government is not giving due consideration to the potential impact of mining on the environment, biodiversity and indigenous peoples.

THE report on the federal critical minerals strategy was tabled in Parliament on November 7 by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Jerry DeMarco.

The Critical Minerals Strategy was announced in Budget 2022 and allocated $3.8 billion over eight years to focus on increasing the supply of critical minerals for use in the supply chain towards an economy net zero.

The government says increasing the supply of essential minerals is essential to transition to a green economy that relies on technologies such as electric vehicle batteries, digital devices and solar panels.

Ontario has its own Critical Minerals Strategy to promote and accelerate the extraction of minerals, primarily in the North, to supply the established supply chain in the South.

DeMarco says Natural Resources Canada has not done a good job of gathering information and analyzing the negative environmental effects of mining, including the construction of roads and power lines , and the fact that increased mining could lead to the production of greenhouse gas emissions and affect biodiversity..

He added that the goal of advancing reconciliation with Indigenous nations has also not been achieved and continued engagement is necessary.

Although economic reconciliation goals, such as revenue sharing and employment opportunities, were set in consultation with indigenous communities, DeMarco said there are few measures to ensure culturally significant sites are protected and that the living conditions of First Nations improve.

“In practical terms, the essential theme of our recommendations in the audit of Canada’s critical minerals strategy is: look before you leap, don’t solve one problem and just create another,” Demarco said during the questions that followed his presentation. “And also, learn from the history of previous mine contamination in Canada, which we reported to Parliament in the spring.”

The federal government moves forward with its recommendations

Natural Resources Canada provided written responses as part of the audit, approving the recommendations.

For example, it says it works with other federal departments to monitor environmental risks related to mining activities and related infrastructure development.

Additionally, the company says it is establishing ways to collaborate with Indigenous peoples in the future regarding current critical minerals programs and new projects.

In response to the report, the Wildlands League’s conservation director says the observations are important, particularly coming from the government itself.

Anna Baggio invites them to balance the pressure within the mining industry to move faster.

“I think Canadians expect their governments to do more than just promote the mining sector,” she said.

“Let’s do this thoughtfully and make sure we avoid these negative impacts. The only way to avoid them is to recognize and uncover them up front.”

She says the federal audit should send a message to Ontario to similarly include the possible risks of mining in its approach to extracting critical minerals.

The federal audit was one of five reports from the federal environment commissioner examining Canada’s progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

DeMarco said Canada is still not on track to meet its commitment to reduce emissions by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

According to him, so far, Canada has only fallen 7 percent from 2005 levels.