Earlier this week, the provincial government announced that they had appointed a 5-member Mineral Advisory Council to help attract investment in mineral mining.
The UCP government hopes that the advisory council can help develop strategy for mining such mineral deposits in Alberta as lithium, vanadium, uranium, diamonds, potash, and rare earth elements.
That strategy will include the following:
- Improving public access to quality data about mineral occurrences in Alberta
- Having a streamlined regulatory environment in place that assures environmentally responsible development
- Enhancing opportunities for Indigenous Peoples
- Promoting innovation
- Attracting investment
Here are the panel members, none of which are based in Alberta:
- Bob McLeod, former premier of the Northwest Territories
- Stephanie Autut , executive director of the Nunavut Water Board
- Eira Thomas, president and CEO of Vancouver-based Lucara Diamond Corporation
- Gordon Stothart, president and CEO of Toronto-based IAMGOLD
- Allison Rippin Armstrong, a Vancouver-based environment consultant
In addition to the panel, the government reports that they will be engaging “key stakeholders” as the panel develops the strategy, including:
- Indigenous groups
- Government agencies
- Industries
- Environment non-governmental organizations
- Research institutes
- Municipalities
- Financial advisors
- Land and mineral owners
2 replies on “UCP government announces new Mineral Advisory Council”
somethings wrong here ….why isn’t it a “blue ribbon” panel jason?
Didn’t this government tell us recently that they promise to leave NO minerals in the ground, as if that is a bragging point? The UCP has zero regard for our future. And now “mineral” includes sand and gravel. Look out, water table. If our drinking water supply is not contaminated by effluent from strip mining on the eastern slopes of the Rockies (look up rare earth minerals from coal mining, one example here: https://www.mining.com/scientists-find-efficient-way-to-extract-ree-from-acid-mine-drainage/), this promise to exploit sand and gravel will jeopardize our underground water sources.
Alberta will be a pockmarked desert wasteland when the UCP is done with it: sacrificing the health and safe drinking water supply of four million people, and the flora and fauna of this province, in order to line the pockets of a select few.
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/ucp-to-redefine-minerals-to-simplify-environmental-requirements-for-sand-gravel-industry
http://gravelwatch.org/water/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-coal-policy-rescinded-mine-development-environmental-concern-1.5578902
This important issue is slipping under the radar. Thank you for bringing it out in the open. We need to consider what will happen to provincial parks that revert to crown land in the near future. Dystopia awaits. I urge readers of your blog to look at the images in the first link to see what their former provincial parks will become, all to save $1.14 per person.