In addition to endorsing the Three Modest Proposals, FUME is calling for Southern Ontario to be exempt from all mining, exploration and claim staking. The basis of our rationale comes from the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines discussion paper, “Modernizing Ontario's Mining Act: Finding a Balance”, used during the Mining Act revision meetings in late summer, 2008.
1.Only 1% of all mining exploration dollars are currently spent in Southern Ontario. ($625,000,000.00 is spent in all of Ontario, 1% = 6.5 million). This is a drop in the bucket compared to the dollars spent by tourists and cottagers every weekend in Southern Ontario. The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines' own findings are that 1 in 10,000 claims becomes a working mine. Using their own numbers, how many working mines will be developed when only 1% of exploration dollars are spent here? We do not want the base of Haliburton's economy, tourism, to be threatened by fly by night exploration companies.
2.There is no security of investment for mining firms in Southern Ontario. During the stakeholders meeting regarding changes to the current Mining Act, we had the opportunity to speak with many representatives from the mining industry such as the Ontario Mining Association and mining companies such as Goldcorp. None of the representatives from the mining industry that we spoke to were interested in exploring in Southern Ontario. They all agreed that it was of no benefit to them to stake surface rights only (SRO) land, and that there was no security of investment in Southern Ontario because of the opposition raised by local residents.
3. The current Mining Act allows exploration companies to destroy land for speculative purposes. In the case of Haliburton, prior exploration for uranium has proven that there is not enough uranium to extract unless uranium prices skyrocket well beyond where they were in 2007 while staking and exploration was taking place. The findings in Haliburton are from ˝ pound per ton to 1 ˝ pounds per ton whereas the Saskatchewan uranium mines produce as much as 25 or more pounds per ton. Junior mining and exploration companies are well aware, given prior exploration results, that extraction is unlikely. We do not want our quality of life and right to enjoyment of our own land to be threatened every time there is a jump in the price of uranium.
4.Mining can be environmentally devastating and can pollute drinking water (our most valuable commodity) and the waterways used frequently by tourists and citizens of Ontario. In the case of Haliburton these waterways are the headwaters of the Trent system. In the case of Ottawa, the Mississippi watershed will be negatively affected. Both are protected waterways yet they are trumped by the Mining Act. We do not want our drinking water, nor the Trent waterway, threatened by further exploration for no other purpose than to boost the stock prices of junior exploration companies.
5.Mining in Southern Ontario is a threat to the right to enjoyment of one's land and property values. As an organization, we have heard many concerns from people wishing to purchase homes or cottages in the area, or who live in or cottage in the area, who are concerned about the impact a mine will have on their quality of life. Many are reconsidering their purchases, or wishing to sell their homes and cottages. For those of us whose land has been staked, we live with the constant threat that with only 24 hours notice, an exploration company could come on to our land with backhoes and bulldozers, chop down our trees and tear up our backyards and we have no legal means to stop them.