Teck withdraws application for Frontier Mine

[Anonymous]

Don't take our prosperity for granted.



Investors need reassurances about doing business in Canada



There is no sugar-coating the situation Canada now faces. Our nation is just not a good one to do business in. It's currently not an appealing place to invest.



That is an awful thing to say and it pains us to write it in this editorial space. Sadly, though, it is entirely correct.



On Sunday evening, Teck Resources publicly released a letter sent to the Environment and Climate Change Minister signaling their intent to cancel the Frontier oilsands project.



The letter notes that "the growing debate around this issue has placed Frontier and our company squarely at the nexus of much broader issues that need to be resolved. In that context, it is now evident that there is no constructive path forward for the project."



The company didn't outline in detail what specific issue they meant, but we all know it refers to the ongoing activism, blockades and legal challenges that have become all too common in the attempts to shut down any new oil and gas sector project in Canada.



This has sent shock waves not just through the energy sector but the entire Canadian business community.



It seems no matter what a company does to follow the law, get political approval and win over stakeholders, such as affected First Nations, if a few radical activists want to cancel the project, they can do it.



The fact it took almost three weeks to remove protesters from an illegal rail line blockade in Ontario, all the while products could not get out to market, shows us how widespread the damage can get until law enforcement and politicians decide it is time to act.



The truth is that no one should be allowed to block a rail line for three minutes, let alone three weeks. These individuals should have been removed on day one.



Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to undertake serious action to show to investors and the business community that the Canadian economy is something still worth fighting for.



Words are not enough. Buying off a project like Trans Mountain is not enough. [size=150]Actions are needed, ones that show projects can get built and that activists are not in control.



If not, Trudeau's government and the prosperity of Canadians will suffer.[/size]

[Anonymous]

Trudeau doesn't want a thriving middle class and Trump does.

[Anonymous]

Consider all the strings the Liberal government pulled ( some of them unethical, if not illegal) to save Quebec's SNC-Lavalin. Now contrast that with all the ways it has worked to scare away Teck – and Encana, LNG Petronas, Energy East and Northern Gateway – and to endlessly delay Trans Mountain.

[Anonymous]

Coal for steel mines and the thousands of people they employ directly and indirectly must go so says the Trudeau regime.



From Canadian Press



MINDING THE MINES

Feds to join review of Teck's B.C. coal project in a decision with implications for Alberta

OTTAWA — The federal government will join an environmental assessment of a major expansion to a proposed southern British Columbia coal mine.



"The potential for adverse effects ... may not be mitigated through project design, the application of standard mitigation measures, or through existing legislative mechanisms," says an analysis from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.



Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson used the analysis to make his decision, released Wednesday, on the Teck Resources project.



He had already reversed an earlier ruling and announced that Ottawa would take part in a review of the proposed Vista coal project in Alberta. Several other companies have made known their plans to mine coal in that province.



Teck is planning an expansion to its coal mines in the Elk Valley area of southeastern B.C. The Castle project would increase the area being mined by about one-third and allow the company to maintain production of steel-making coal at 27,400 tonnes a day.



The review involves fisheries, First Nations and international relations — all areas of federal jurisdiction. The mine expansion would also produce significantly more coal than the threshold required for a federal review.



Teck spokesman Chad Pederson called Wednesday's announcement an "unfortunate decision."



"The Castle project has already been proceeding through a rigorous provincial environmental review process," he said in a statement.



"We will work with the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to ensure a co-ordinated review and seek to avoid duplication."



Wilkinson was not available for an interview.



B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said the province will co-ordinate federal involvement.



"I appreciate that they understand and have committed to working within provincial timelines while they review matters of federal jurisdiction, such as trans-border issues," he said in an email.



The decision also has implications for Alberta, where the government has said it hopes to increase the province's production of steel-making coal.



Ian Urquhart, conservation director for the Alberta Wilderness Association, welcomed the Teck decision.



"The federal process is a more open, accessible process" — especially compared with Alberta's, he said.



Urquhart said Ottawa had little choice but to step in.



Teck's Pederson said the Castle project is "part of the existing Fording River operations and is necessary to maintain the associated jobs and economic activity."



The company's existing mines in the area are responsible for problems with selenium, an element toxic in large amounts. Reports on concentrations in area waterways show levels up to four times B.C.'s maximum for drinking water. Monitoring stations near the mines have reported levels 50 times what's recommended for aquatic health.



That contamination was a main concern of eight interveners who asked Ottawa to assist British Columbia in reviewing the expansion.



Those interveners included five First Nations on both sides of the border, 34 environmental organizations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.



Urquhart suggests Wilkinson's Teck and Vista decisions are a warning to the Alberta government, which recently revoked a decades-old policy restricting coal development in foothills and mountains.



"The issue this creates for Alberta is just how difficult it is, even with changes to the coal policy, to have as much control over coal development as (cabinet ministers) would like the province to have."