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Maurice Ruddick waited for nearly nine days near the bottom of a 4,300-metre-deep coal mine before he was rescued. An underground earthquake brought down ceilings and pillars and shifted debris into tunnels, trapping Ruddick and several other miners. Stuck in the darkness, with limited food and water Ruddick lifted his fellow miners’ spirits by leading them in prayers and song. 

In 1958, Nova Scotia’s Springhill mine disaster killed 75 men and trapped dozens in the tunnels. The world kept vigil for survivors as they were slowly rescued. Ruddick, a descendant of enslaved Black people, was among the last miners to be brought back to the surface. A media circus followed and the survivors’ stories were broadcast around the world.

“Maurice’s story is often celebrated for his heroism during the Springhill disaster but less attention is paid to the broader context of racial discrimination he faced,” Aderinola Olamiju told The Narwhal. Olamiju, a graduate student at Memorial University in Newfoundland, is researching the history of Black miners in Nova Scotia.  

“As an example, after the rescue, when he and other survivors were meant to travel to Georgia for vacation, there was still segregation in the United States at that time and he had to be housed separately from the white miners.”  

Ruddick’s story is one of the most well known of a Black miner in Canada. It was made into a Heritage Minute, covered in books and is now a musical play. Olamiju, originally from Nigeria, is looking to explore lesser-known stories. 

Maurice Ruddick recovered in a hospital after his rescue from a 4,300-metre-deep coal mine. He suffered a broken leg in the 1958 Springhill mine disaster. Photo: Robert Norwood / Nova Scotia Archives

As he digs through archives, libraries, union pamphlets and historical newspapers, he hopes to uncover “the hidden stories of Black miners in Nova Scotia’s industrial past, particularly how racial dynamics influenced their experiences with workplace safety and health risks.” 

The Narwhal spoke with Olamiju about his research into what life was like for some of the first Black miners in Canada and the challenges of trying to piece together this history. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What questions do you hope to answer through your research?

As part of the Mining Danger project, which investigates the history of accidents, occupational disease and pollution in Canada’s mines and mining communities, the main focus of my research is looking at the racial dynamics of mining labour, particularly how it connects to health and risk. 

My research will examine several key questions, but the main ones are: how did coal mining companies, labour recruiters and government institutions together create and reinforce racial hierarchies within the industry? And how did Black workers engage with unions and workplace advocacy to improve their working conditions and address workplace accidents and issues relating to occupational health?

What role did Black miners play in Canada’s first mining booms?

Historically, the coal industry in Nova Scotia was intricately linked to the steel industry, as coal was used to burn the furnaces in the steel-making process. So you had two industries heavily dependent on each other. During the industrial expansion of the 1880s and 1890s, there increasingly became labour shortages in the coal industry. Companies like Dominion Coal (Domco, later Disco) and Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company (Scotia) emerged as major players in the 1890s, and they turned Cape Breton into this industrial hub where you had rival companies running both steel and coal-mining operations. 

Dominion Coal was a key player in Nova Scotia’s coal-mining industry that surged from the turn of the century into the 1950s. Photo: E.A. Bollinger / Nova Scotia Archives

To address these labour shortages, some of these companies began to recruit labour from outside the country. Disco was actually a major facilitator of Black migration to Nova Scotia through agreements with the provincial government. The recruitment process sometimes used established networks within the North American steel industry, with company managers recruiting workers from industrial centres in Alabama, Buffalo, Maryland and Pittsburgh. 

Other times, you had labour recruiters going directly to Caribbean countries, and workers who returned home would also recruit their friends or families. As many Caribbean countries were colonized by the British at the time, it was easier to recruit labour from the Caribbean, particularly from Barbados and Jamaica. Nova Scotia’s location and shipping networks made this connection and recruitment easier and labour migration wasn’t only limited to the coal and steel industries. Domestic workers, particularly women, were also recruited from the Caribbean to work in Nova Scotia.

What do we know, so far, about what life was like as a Black miner in the early days of Canada?

We know these new labour recruits faced multiple layers of racial discrimination. Just like in our contemporary society, back then Black labour was devalued as Black workers were often paid much less compared to their white counterparts. Despite having skills, Black workers faced this constant discrimination that kept them in subordinate positions, doing the most physically demanding and lowest-paid jobs. During boom and bust cycles, these workers were often the last to be rehired and the first to be fired. 

Their housing situation was also subpar. For example, for some Disco workers, many lived in company shacks in the Cokeville section of Whitney Pier that lacked basic things like proper heating and running water. There’s this letter from 1908 where a blast furnace superintendent, J. McInnis, wrote to the general manager about how bad the houses were in the “Negro quarter” — they were unboarded and exposed to the harsh realities of winter weather. 

An archival photo of Whitney Pier taken in 1900 from the Chronicle Herald. Many immigrants settled in the community around Whitney Pier. The area was shaped by a history of coal mining and steel work. Photo: Nova Scotia Archives Photographic Collection

The work itself was extremely dangerous, especially at Disco’s blast furnaces and coke ovens. Black workers were concentrated at these positions because of racial stereotypes about their ability to withstand heat better than white workers. But despite all these negatives associated with labour and immigration, Black workers managed to build strong communities. They set up churches, schools and businesses to help each other cope with the challenges of industrial work and discrimination. 

What has surprised you most in your research so far?

Seeing how racial dynamics developed in Nova Scotia and what forces and factors shaped them. You had these companies actively recruiting Black workers from the Caribbean and the United States to address labor shortages, while at the same time Canada’s immigration policies were trying to restrict Black migration.

What’s particularly striking is how similar these dynamics are to what we see today — there’s still this tension between the economic need for immigrant labour and anti-immigrant rhetoric. 

Where are you looking for information and what do you hope to find?

Over the summer months, I will be conducting research at various archives and libraries in Nova Scotia, including the Nova Scotia Archives and the university archives at Dalhousie and Cape Breton. Some of the most important sources will be company records, print newspapers and magazines and union documents. Canada’s immigration records are also useful in understanding the policy of immigration discrimination based on race and looking at the scale of migration and countries of origin.

How challenging has it been to find information on the history of Black miners in Nova Scotia? 

Generally, the historical record of such stories is often fragmented. Racial discrimination affected what stories were told and kept in archives. Sometimes the most valuable information can be found in places like immigration paperwork or company letters, rather than the usual mining narratives. Archives also may only keep what society at that time deemed important.

Another factor is scale. Compared to white workers, there weren’t that many Black workers in Nova Scotia’s mining industry. The Afro-Canadian population in Nova Scotia is significant and has a rich history, yes, but when it comes to mining specifically, their numbers were smaller. This was partly because of Canada’s immigration policies — immigration agents were actually given secret instructions to keep Caribbean Black people out, even when they met all the official requirements. They would even work with U.S. officials to restrict African-American migration by getting American railway companies to increase ticket prices for Black passengers from $20 to $200, for example.

Updated on Feb. 28, 2024, at 10:45 a.m. ET: The subtitle on this story was updated to clarify the researcher interviewed for this story is based in the Altantic region, not the Maritimes. He is based in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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On Aug. 13, 2024, British Columbia’s environmental assessment office determined Record Ridge Mine does require an environmental assessment. 

In the grasslands of Record Ridge near Rossland, B.C., the little mountain holly fern is gearing up for the fight of its life. The rare plant is found in just two or three other places in Canada, and favours taking root in the cracks of magnesium-rich rock. But it’s not the only one lured by the critical mineral.

West High Yield Resources wants to build an open-pit mine on the ridge, stripping the surface to extract magnesium and other minerals. The company’s exploration and mining footprint stretches across an area bigger than 22 Stanley Parks — 8,972 hectares. The project is deep into the permitting process and the application is now up for public comment. 

The company describes itself as “working to be at the forefront” of North America’s transition towards a low-carbon economy, with magnesium on the federal government’s list of minerals described as “critical” to electrification. West High Yield Resources declined to be interviewed or provide a comment for this story.

A proposed mine near a popular hiking spot outside Rossland, B.C., is bringing out opponents who fear its impacts on the unique high-level grassland ecosystem — including the threatened mountain holly fern. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

The mine proposal has faced significant opposition so far from a local community group. Meanwhile Rossland city council has voiced numerous concerns and is calling on the province to conduct an environmental assessment. 

As a federally listed threatened species, the fern is likely to become endangered if nothing is done to stop or reverse its known threats, including mineral exploration, road construction and forest fires. And even though B.C. is the most biodiverse province in Canada, it lacks stand-alone legislation to protect the threatened fern and more than 1,300 plants and animals officially listed at risk of extinction by the B.C. government. 

Without any clear provincial law, Wildsight turned to Ottawa for an emergency order to protect the fern under the federal Species at Risk Act. An emergency order would permit the federal government to step in and make decisions that normally fall to provinces, such as whether to issue a mining permit. In the 21-year history of the Species at Risk Act, the federal government has only ever issued emergency orders to protect two species — the western chorus frog and the greater sage grouse. It can take many months for a final decision to be made. While the federal government has decided not to take action right now, Wildsight won’t be giving up. 

An emergency order is a long shot — but this small fern is running out of options.

Amateur naturalists, locals and plant lovers hike through the unique ecosystem of Record Ridge, near the mine site proposed by West High Yield Resources. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

What’s so great about magnesium?

Magnesium is one of 31 minerals the federal government describes as critical to a transition to a low-carbon economy. It can be used in batteries and mixed with aluminum to make lighter aircraft and automobile components for improved energy efficiency. 

“There’s the desire by modern society to advance and there’s the need for critical minerals in order to do that,” Barry Baim, director at West High Yield Resources told The Narwhal in an interview for a story last July. The Narwhal previously reported the company was planning to sell its ore to U.S.-based Galaxy Magnesium. Its clients use magnesium for a wide range of end-products like light-weight race cars and helicopters, water piping and nutritional supplements.

Its subsidiary Galaxy Power advertises pumps, towers and hydraulic systems used to extract oil from deep wells. In this case, the magnesium is mixed with metals to make lighter and faster oil pumps. 

West High Yield Resources is still waiting on permits from the provincial government as well as a decision on whether the project will require an environmental assessment. In B.C., a mine proponent can seek out project permits before a decision is made about whether or not an environmental assessment is needed. But if the environmental assessment office determines the project requires an assessment, some permits that were issued before the decision might not be valid.

The project’s mine permit application recently closed for public comment but the environmental assessment office is accepting comments until mid-June.

A stake on Record Ridge marks the corner of West High Yield Resources Ltd.’s proposed open-pit magnesium mine. The proposal has brought out vocal opposition among locals and environmental organizations who fear it will have detrimental impacts to the ecosystem of Record Ridge. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

The story of an ‘unlucky’ fern

Naturalist Iraleigh Anderson is gearing up to lead a field workshop for amateur botanists, students and young professionals through the unique grassland ecosystem of Record Ridge. While it won’t be his main focus, he will be keeping an eye out for threatened mountain holly fern. 

“It’s extremely exciting to find what you’re looking for,” Anderson said as he described previously finding a few thriving ferns, clinging onto steep vertical cliffs in the shade of mature fir trees. 

The conservation group Wildsight calls the mountain holly fern an “unlucky” plant whose “love of magnesium-rich soil could be its downfall.” Wildsight submitted its petition for an emergency order last June to Minister of Environment Steven Guilbeault, arguing the fern faces “imminent threats to its survival and recovery.”

If Guilbeault agrees the fern faces imminent threats to its survival and recovery, he can recommend cabinet issue the emergency order. Cabinet can reject such a recommendation without providing reasons. It’s a lengthy process with little transparency, environmental lawyer with EcoJustice Sean Nixon told The Narwhal last July.

“The legal basis for the request seems very strong to me,” Nixon said after reviewing Wildsight’s request. Nixon’s legal work is focused on biodiversity and ecosystem issues and he has been involved in other requests for emergency orders under the Species at Risk Act. 

The mountain holly fern is a classic example of a species that has a very niche ecosystem in need of protection, Nixon said. The areas it requires are relatively small and well-known, and mining and exploration is listed as a top threat by both the provincial and federal government’s recovery strategies for the plant. “This is the kind of thing that’s about as easy to protect under the law as anything gets,” Nixon said. “It’s pretty straightforward.”

Naturalist Iraleigh Anderson identified multiple groupings of threatened mountain holly fern on Record Ridge during a hike last June with the Kootenay Native Plant Society. The main threat to the plant is development in its magnesium-rich habitat. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

In March, ten months after receiving the order request, the federal Environment Ministry told The Narwhal it was in the “initial intake phase” and would not confirm whether it had started an imminent threat assessment. The minister declined several interview requests but his office provided an outline of the process for assessing requests.

Mapping data presented in Wildsight’s June petition for an emergency order showed the proposed project could destroy more than 90 per cent of the fern’s critical habitat on Record Ridge, which represents more than half of all its critical habitat in the province. 

After Wildsight submitted its petition, West High Yield Resources revised its application and said it reduced the size of the open pit.

In April, Wildsight received a letter from Environment and Climate Change Canada stating there will not be an imminent threat assessment for the fern at this time as, “there is not sufficient information available on the timing of the proposed mine and the specific threat of the species.” But the federal agency requested more information from the province about the project and acknowledged West High Yield Resources has submitted a revised application.

The federal government “should be taking stronger action to protect this fern,” from exploration and mining in the area, Wildsight’s mining policy and impacts researcher Simon Wiebe told The Narwhal. While the environmental organization hasn’t completely given up on pursuing an emergency order, Wiebe said it is also putting pressure on the provincial government to review the mine’s application and require an environmental assessment. 

In its most recent application, submitted in January, West High Yield Resources’ project plans acknowledge there are several plant species of concern in and and around the proposed project. The company lists more than two dozen other at-risk plant species that could grow in the project area, including the endangered Columbia quillwort. The application states monitoring, “mitigation and management strategies” will mean the risk to the mountain holly fern is “moderate” and the project will not cause “substantive irreversible” effects.

“The best means of protecting species and ecological communities of concern is to leave them undisturbed,” the application says. One strategy listed to protect the fern will include clearly marked “no-work” buffer zones where the plant is growing. The closest plant identified by the company is 26 metres from the west side of the planned open pit.

Even when the ministry determines there is an imminent threat to a species, an emergency order doesn’t automatically follow. No emergency orders were forthcoming after imminent threats to southern resident killer whales and southern mountain caribou were found. The federal environment minister recommended cabinet issue an emergency order to protect the spotted owl, but the government ultimately decided against issuing one. Now just one known wild-born owl remains (other spotted owls are in captivity) and Guilbeault is facing a legal challenge over his eight-month delay in making the recommendation to cabinet.  

In the past, it has taken years of political and legal wrangling to navigate an emergency order protecting wildlife. “At some point, if you wait too long, you are not fulfilling the purpose of the section,” Nixon said. “In the context of an emergency for a species, a year or two is an epoch.”

Mine critics call on B.C. government for an environmental assessment

West High Yield Resources is hoping to start building by the end of 2024, according to a January press release to investors. 

The Ministry of Mines and environmental assessment office sent a joint statement to The Narwhal saying the province has received the company’s updated application and “further public engagement and First Nations consultation is planned” for this spring. 

Members of the community have proactively and rapidly mobilized to try and prevent the project, public interest lawyer Ben Isitt said. He represents several residents who formed the Save Record Ridge Action Committee. The group is working to raise awareness about the project, has submitted letters to the province and made presentations to council outlining several concerns. 

While West High Yield Resources says it has addressed several concerns from the community, the group still believes the project is too close to homes and recreational trails and will increase traffic, dust and emissions in the area.

West High Yield Resources’ proposed mine is near a popular hiking area about eight kilometres from Rossland, B.C. Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

One of the group’s primary concerns is that the project may not be required to undergo a provincial environmental assessment. 

Whether or not a mine automatically goes through an environmental assessment depends primarily on the type of mine and its yearly production amount.

Industrial mines, which extract a range of substances including silica, trigger an environmental assessment if they plan to produce more than or equal to 250,000 tonnes per year. Mineral mines, which extract a range of minerals, trigger an environmental assessment if they plan to produce more than or equal to 75,000 tonnes per year.  

West High Yield is applying for an industrial mine permit that will extract “magnesium-bearing serpentinite rock” at a rate no greater than 200,000 tonnes per year for two years. That mineral serpentinite contains multiple minerals and substances including both silica and magnesium. In their investor presentation, West High Yield advertises a potential mine life of 172 years.

The Save Record Ridge Action Committee has raised concerns that the company describes the scale and type of the project in a way that avoids an automatic environmental assessment. Isitt said the mine should be categorized as a mineral mine as the plan describes extracting magnesium. 

In a letter to the environmental assessment office, Wildsight also petitioned for the mine to be categorized as a mineral mine and pointed to marketing and investment material by the company featuring magnesium. 

In response, Frank Marasco, CEO and director of West High Yield Resources, wrote to the environmental assessment office explaining it categorizes itself as an industrial mine based on the definitions in the Environmental Assessment Act that list silica as a substance mined by industrial mines. In the letter, Marasco points to the definition of mineral mines that says they do not “include a mine where industrial minerals are or could be mined.” Because silica will also be mined at the Record Ridge Project, Marasco argues, it should be categorized as an industrial mine.

“It is already challenging enough to develop a project in B.C.,” Marasco writes, “and we hope and trust all the foregoing will provide [the environmental assessment office] with plenty of solid reason to not allow any such mischief here.”

In an email to The Narwhal, the environmental assessment office acknowledged “there has been a lack of clarity over the classification of this proposed open-pit magnesium mine.” In a letter to West High Yield Resources, the office said it will be looking into whether or not the project should be categorized as an industrial mine or a mineral mine to advise the decision as to whether or not the project requires an environmental assessment.

Anderson has identified groupings of mountain holly ferns on the edge of West High Yield Resources’ proposed open-pit magnesium mine on Record Ridge. The company has since revised its mine application and reduced the size of its open pit. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

The assessment is a government-led process that looks at the potential economic, social, health and environmental impacts of a proposed project, including opportunities for public consultation and input. The presence of a threatened species does not mean a project will automatically get an environmental assessment. However, B.C.’s minister of environment and climate change strategy has the authority to require an environmental assessment for any project.

The office could then recommend a project cannot go forward, though it isn’t common.

The Sukunka Coal mine project, proposed for northeast B.C., was denied a certificate, in part because of the negative impact the project could have on at-risk caribou. Usually, the assessment will result in recommendations to address possible impacts.

In its email, B.C.’s environmental assessment office said “it takes the presence of threatened or endangered species very seriously.” If an environmental assessment is required, the office will consult with Indigenous communities, environmental organizations and the public to learn more about the presence of threatened or endangered species in the area. The office has several mitigation measures that it could require like habitat restoration or creating wildlife corridors.

It’s the fern-al countdown

Nature doesn’t “give up everything all at once,” Anderson said. That’s why he keeps coming back to the grasslands at Record Ridge. Depending on the time of year, some flowers might be blooming, while others are hiding away. 

Last June, Anderson and about 45 locals and amateur naturalists walked the trails along Record Ridge on a biodiversity and wildflower appreciation walk. One group was tasked with recording how many threatened mountain holly ferns they could find. The group spotted nine patches of fern, according to Wildsight, and some were added to iNaturalist, an online community database for naturalists and scientists.

The mountain holly fern is just one feature of the area around West High Yield Resources’ proposed mine site. Other plant and animal species take residence in the mountain grasslands, along small mountain lakes. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

On the walk this spring, Anderson and others gathered by the Kootenay Native Plant Society will be documenting life on the ridge while keeping an eye out for more mountain holly fern sightings.

But the entire grassland holds a special place for him. 

He’s seen garter snakes fishing for tadpoles in a pond. “There’s a lewisia rediviva (bitterroot), which is an extremely showy little flower,” Anderson said. “That’s a real showstopper, gorgeous flower that people travel to see.”

While his daughter is too young to join this spring, Anderson hopes one day to bring her to the trails so he can share what makes the area so special. 

“It’s a place of great beauty,” he said, a “bottomless well of inspiration.”

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

When Courtney Onstad was out in the field collecting samples and searching for gold, it wasn’t the thrill of the find she was after. What excited her most was the science behind everything. 

Geoscience is “all around” us. It’s something you can literally reach out and touch — “so much more than rocks,” she said. It explains how mountains form and water and ecosystems interconnect, it can help us understand hazards and weather patterns and reveals the Earth’s evolving history in fossils and formations.

At 29, Onstad represents one of the most sought-after resources in the mining and exploration industry today — young talent. 

Canada’s federal and provincial governments aspire to become world leaders in the rush for what are known as critical minerals — like manganese for wind turbines, cobalt for electric vehicles and tellurium for solar panels. Each is seen as crucial to building a higher-tech and lower-carbon economy. 

The federal government sees the push for critical minerals as “a generational opportunity.” It estimates the country’s 63 major critical mining projects planned or currently under construction are worth more than $60 billion in potential investment. But the industry will need a steady workforce, and multiple industry surveys suggest that isn’t in the cards.

At the Association for Mineral Exploration conference in Vancouver this January, elementary school students explore old and new mining technologies, as part of MineralsEd’s Rockhounds program which brings elementary students to the annual gathering. Photo: Jimmy Jeong / The Narwhal

Mining — long associated with dirty days spent deep underground — has a reputational challenge. The industry’s environmental footprint, the occupational risks and the remote nature of the work have all put off potential recruits. 

Jobs in mining are often the last choice for young people, according to a recent poll. Mining education programs are shrinking. Meanwhile the share of people nearing retirement from the industry is steadily increasing. Some CEOs are worried a new generation of miners is not stepping in fast enough. 

Without more young people taking mining jobs, industry groups warn production could slow and the clean energy transition could be derailed. 

Cleaning up the image of ‘dirty’ mining jobs

Finding enough young talent to support the mining industry is a “nearly existential challenge,” according to a recent survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The industry has a complex talent problem that could have a big impact on profitability and production over the next decade, according to the multinational accounting firm.  

One of the reasons people aren’t choosing mining as a career is its poor reputation, Ryan Montpellier, executive director at the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, told The Narwhal. The council is an independent non-profit that works with mining and exploration companies, organized labour, educational institutes and industry associations to address labour challenges in the Canadian minerals and metals industry. In 2020 and 2023, the council hired Abacus Data to survey 15- to 30-year-olds in Canada about their perceptions of careers in mining.

The survey painted somewhat of a bleak picture: mining was viewed as a good-paying job with benefits, but it was also seen as dirty, dangerous and physically demanding. Sixty-six per cent of respondents said they definitely wouldn’t or probably wouldn’t work in mining. However, survey results also showed a slight increase in those considering the sector, rising from 31 per cent of respondents in 2020 up to 34 per cent in 2023.

For Montpellier, it’s a communication and perception challenge. “The industry really is a safe sector,” he said. “It is doing a ton of work in the area of sustainability and in the area of responsible mining.”

Overall worker health and safety in mining has improved, in large part, because of labour unions and industry associations, according to the federal government’s annual mining performance report. Between 2011 and 2019, the rate of injuries and deaths have fluctuated and generally declined. 

Meanwhile mining reform advocates continue to call on the government and industry to address serious environmental concerns. Mine waste, which can be toxic, is a major and growing liability for the environment and taxpayers. In some cases, like B.C.’s Tulsequah Chief mine or the Yukon’s Faro Mine, projects have polluted sites for decades.

Mining also has a significant impact on the economy. It’s a major industry in Canada that directly and indirectly employs about one in 31 people. The jobs in exploration and mining are diverse. They can include geoscientists, engineers and skilled tradespeople like heavy equipment mechanics, electricians, welders and pipefitters. These positions can also be found in many other sectors, forcing mining to compete for talent. 

Environmental organizations are concerned about local watershed pollution from Teck’s coal mines in B.C’s Elk Valley, which could cost billions of dollars to clean up. Masaki Miyoshi, who leads student recruitment for Teck, said it’s also important to consider the efforts the company is making to improve its operation. Photo: Jesse Winter / The Narwhal

Promoting more positive attitudes toward mining is one of the key strategies industry groups are leaning on to bring in the next generation. In an effort to reach young people and present the sector as a viable career, the council launched a campaign titled, “We need mining, mining needs you.” Funded in part by the Government of Canada, the outreach includes videos, explainers and curriculum focused on presenting mining as a modern career, with a diverse workforce that is contributing to a green energy transition. The council also has co-op opportunities, ambassadors to meet with classrooms and Indigenous communities, as well as scholarships. It’s even on TikTok.  

Internationally, the World Gold Council, representing some of the world’s biggest gold companies, hired English actor Idris Elba to star in an hour-long promotional film. It “traces the human story of gold” and explores “why the element’s contributions remain crucial to our evolution.” The highly produced video opens in Val-d’Or, Que., and drops Elba down into one of Canada’s biggest gold deposits at LaRonde mine. In the final scenes, the actor says the “best thing about gold is being able to wear it” followed by flashes of royalty, hip-hop artists and actors decked in gold. Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Zendaya and Kate Middleton make appearances; descriptions of pollution, wildlife impacts and climate change do not.  

Conversations about mining pollution and the climate crisis come up often with the younger generations, Montpellier said, including with his own kids. He tells them being part of the industry is where you can have the “biggest impact on the environment you could possibly imagine.” He points to increasing the supply of minerals used to make things like batteries and solar panels, Canada’s domestic environmental mining record and the opportunity to design and build mines in a sustainable way. 

The industry is looking for ways to attract younger people into mining and exploration jobs. Virtual reality training programs can expose recruits to what it’s like on a job site and walk new hires through safety processes. Photo: Jimmy Jeong / The Narwhal

Attracting young talent for mining jobs and getting past old ways

Sarah Campbell has navigated conversations about mining’s “dirty” reputation. She was introduced to the world of mining when she was just 18 years old after joining her geologist dad in the field. She loved working outside with a small team and got on-the-job training as a geotechnician. She’s now 31 and working as a geotechnician, prospector and independent contractor for several companies.

One critical step Campbell sees to attract younger people to the industry is doing a better job of having honest conversations about environmental impact. “I tell people, yes, mining is inherently a dirty business. There’s no denying that.” Companies need to go beyond greenwashing campaigns and acknowledge the very real and valid concerns people have, she said. “I really wish companies were just more honest” rather than “preach that they’re completely clean.” Part of that is being frank and explaining what minerals are needed, how they are going to be extracted, how impact will be reduced and what is going to happen to restore the land as best as possible, she said.

It’s scary to think people are not choosing this career, she said, because it’s her belief that if Canadian mining falters, more minerals will be imported from places with weaker environmental laws. 

“I want younger people to join the industry,” she said. 

In particular, Campbell said she’d love to see more women in the workforce. Women represent just 13 per cent of the mining workforce in Canada, down from 17 per cent in 2021.

Raiyana Umar recently received an award from Women in Mining Canada, an organization focused on empowering women in the industry. The 26-year-old is in her final year of an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at Laurentian University, in the mining town of Sudbury. As a student, she has worked to promote gender diversity in sciences through the Laurentian Women in Engineering Club.

Students wandered through hundreds of booths at the Association for Mineral Exploration’s conference in Vancouver. A mix of prospectors, international mining companies, universities, First Nations and junior explorers set up information stalls. Photo: Jimmy Jeong / The Narwhal

Umar said, like her, many of her classmates are leaning toward mining jobs. Their campus is surrounded by mining complexes and refineries. “We have that exposure,” Umar said. “We have those companies come to our university to give presentations on the roles that they have and the importance of mining.”

But that sort of exposure isn’t the norm.

Students are generally unaware of career paths in the mining industry, Masaki Miyoshi, who leads campus talent acquisition for Teck Resources, told The Narwhal. Miyoshi points to challenges in the post-secondary education pipeline including Halifax’s Dalhousie University closing its mineral resource engineering program and a financial crisis at Laurentian University, impacting its ability to provide mining education. According to a recent survey by the Mining Industry Human Resources Council, mining education programs are small, shrinking, unresponsive to labour demand, geographically concentrated, have capacity issues and are struggling with diversity.

Miyoshi’s team visits campuses to recruit and advertise co-op opportunities and show students how mining has evolved. “It’s not grey beards with pickaxes covered in coal dust,” he said. “We’re talking autonomous vehicles, drone technology” and artificial intelligence. 

A new generation and a new way of mining

While the industry is hoping more exposure to students and prospective workers will shift the stereotypes that exist around mining, it could also catalyse conversations around how the industry can change.

Teck, where Miyoshi works, has had its own environmental challenges through its coal mining operations in B.C.’s Elk Valley. He points to Teck’s Nature Positive campaign investing in land conservation, as well as the company’s electrification and decarbonization efforts. Initiatives like this help him have conversations with people about environmental impact, he said “We want to be more sustainable and reduce our carbon footprint.”   

Figuring out how to address the environmental challenges involved with processing raw materials is one reason Umar is pursuing a career in mining — a multibillion-dollar contributor to the Canadian economy. “I was looking for a career where, not only I can use my skills and knowledge, but also where I’m able to give back to Canada,” said Umar, who immigrated from India.

The land around the northern Ontario town of Sudbury is spotted with mines. Students at the local university, Laurentian, are exposed to the industry in a way prospective workers from other schools are not — giving them a better understanding of what sort of mining jobs exist. Photo: Tony Webster / Flickr

Her first internship was at a mineral processing plant where she developed an interest in how waste rock is managed. Figuring out the most efficient way to extract minerals and addressing the waste in the process are two of the main ways Umar said the industry can reduce their environmental impact. “I’m pretty sure, down the line, we will build up more technologies to address the environmental concerns that we are facing right now,” she said.

In his classroom, Davide Elmo, a mining professor and associate dean in the faculty of applied science at the University of British Columbia, tries to impress on students that the industry needs to shift its thinking toward the impact on future generations. 

There are still irresponsible practices from the past that continue today, he said. “I always tell my students, we are not building anything, we are excavating,” he said. “So our job is to try to show to students that we are here not to profit from that, but to minimize the impact.”

Elmo also challenges the idea that a greater demand for minerals means there is a need for more labour. While people are retiring and there is a push for critical minerals, he asks how many mines are actually projected to open in the future and can efficiencies and automation reduce the number of people needed to operate these mines? 

Investments by mining companies have dropped over the last several years, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the federal government, and Elmo said this reflects the trends in student enrollment. The job prospects are not as good as the industry wants us to believe, he added. The focus for schools and industry, he said, should be on educating fewer students to change the way we mine, rather than increasing enrollment for the sake of the status quo. 

Facing hard questions head on

Onstad had been leaning toward a career in mineral exploration and mining when she discovered her love of sharing information about geosciences. She decided to switch gears, just a little, from geosciences to geoscience communications. 

She’s now a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University and works for MineralsEd, an educational organization that focuses on Earth science, mineral resources and mining education in British Columbia schools. She spent two days sharing her excitement of geosciences with several groups of school kids at the Association for Mineral Exploration’s annual Roundup conference in January. Sitting on the floor, with several different rocks spread out in front of her, kids in hard hats were invited to bring a rock from home and “stump the geologist” as they learned how minerals are formed and extracted.  

Courtney Onstad, who works in geoscience communications, speaks with a group of elementary school students about rocks and minerals. She says mining education needs to include discussions about the industry’s environmental impact, rather than shying away from it. Photo: Jimmy Jeong / The Narwhal

She thinks the industry can do more to have challenging conversations; not ignore pollution that gets into water bodies, she said, or disasters like the collapse of the Mount Polley tailings dam. “I think we have to tackle it head on and go to schools and talk about it in the curriculum — about that link between mining and the climate crisis.” 

If young people continue to turn away from the industry, the conversations could get tougher.

“To be fair, this industry has not been perfect in the past,” Onstad said. “It’s still not perfect. But we’re trying to change.” 

Updated on April 11, 2024, at 8:57 a.m. PT: This story has been updated to clarify in a caption that elementary school students are brought to the Association for Mineral Exploration conference as part of the MineralsEd Rockhounds program, which leads geology-related activities and field trips for students.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

The cost to clean up British Columbia’s largest mining complex is billions of dollars higher than government and industry estimates, according to a new report. It estimates it will cost $6.4 billion to remove just one contaminant from water affected by Teck’s Elk Valley coal mines. This number is $4.5 billion higher than what the provincial government currently requires as a financial security to ensure the project owners do not leave taxpayers with the future cleanup costs of the mine.

“They’ve severely underplayed the problem and B.C. taxpayers stand to foot a multi-billion-dollar bill if anything goes wrong,” Simon Wiebe, a mining policy and impacts researcher at Wildsight, said in a press release. The Kootenay-based conservation organization commissioned the independent consulting firm Burgess Environmental Ltd. to calculate the costs of Teck’s current plans to treat water contaminated with selenium, an element that can be toxic for fish and other aquatic life at elevated levels.

British Columbia’s multimillion-dollar mining problem

The report highlights concerns that not enough is being done to address a growing pollution problem in Ktunaxa Nation territory and that mines across the province could have cleanup costs far higher than what is currently acknowledged by the provincial government. It’s a gap mining reform advocates say could put the environment and taxpayers at risk if mine owners go bankrupt or disaster strikes.

The estimated cost to clean up all the mines in the province is $4 billion, according to the most recent report from the province’s chief inspector of mines. To ensure mining companies pay for the clean up before depleting a mine and walking away, the province requires financial assurance. This is returned once the company reclaims the site or as they do progressive reclamation. The amount a company has to provide is estimated by the company and reviewed by the government. 

Teck’s Elk Valley coal mines are B.C.’s largest liability with a current estimated cleanup cost of $1.9 billion. Photo: Callum Gunn

Teck’s coal mines are the province’s biggest liability with a current estimated cleanup cost of $1.9 billion. In an interview with The Narwhal, Wiebe said the report is strong evidence the amount held by the province is far below what will be needed to clean up B.C.’s biggest mines.

Teck, however, took issue with the report’s findings. In a statement, company spokesperson Dale Steeves said “the estimates provided by Wildsight are inaccurate and inconsistent with calculations made under B.C. government policy.”

“Their use of simplified assumptions overstate ongoing water treatment operating costs alone by 50-60 per cent,” he said. Steeves added the report’s approach is inconsistent with B.C. government policy around capital costs.

“We are committed to meeting all reclamation obligations at no cost to government or taxpayers,” he said. 

In a statement provided to The Narwhal after publication, Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation Minister Josie Osborne said ministry staff would review Wildsight’s report in the coming days.

“We regularly review reported liabilities for all major mines in the province, including those in the Elk Valley, ensuring they are consistent with our regulations and policy and are reflective of the latest site information,” she said. “B.C. is committed to ensuring that mining operators provide securities in accordance with our policy to ensure that polluters pay.”

Selenium contamination from Teck’s Elk Valley mines a long-standing concern

Coal has been mined from the Rocky Mountains in southeast B.C. for more than a century. To access the coal, Teck strips away mountaintops. It’s a process that results in an enormous amount of leftover waste rock. When these massive piles of waste rock are exposed to oxygen and rain or snowmelt, selenium and other naturally occurring minerals seep into the water and flow into nearby creeks and rivers.

“Waste rock placed decades ago continues to release selenium at a steady rate today, and is expected to continue doing so for many decades more,” Teck acknowledged in its Elk Valley Water Quality Plan, which it was ordered to develop in 2013.

Selenium is an important element for all living things in tiny amounts, but too much of it can be toxic. For years, selenium concentrations in waters downstream of Teck’s mines have been many times higher than the guidelines the B.C. government established to protect aquatic life.

Pollution from Teck’s mines flow through the Elk Valley into the Kootenay River, which passes through Montana and Idaho before returning to B.C. Map: Carol Linnitt / The Narwhal

A key concern is the risk elevated selenium levels pose for westslope cutthroat trout, a species of special concern under the federal Species At Risk Act. Too much selenium can cause deformities in fish, such as curved spines, misshapen skulls and abnormal gills, or eggs that fail to hatch. 

The B.C. government recommends the 30-day average concentration for selenium in water should be two parts per billion. In the Fording River, downstream of Teck’s mines, selenium concentrations ranged from 33 parts per billion to 68 parts per billion last year, well above the provincial guidelines. 

At times, these levels also exceeded the limits outlined in Teck’s permits, which include the standards Teck is legally required to meet. In the Fording River, Teck is required to keep selenium levels to 63 parts per billion. 

From the Fording River, contaminants from Teck’s mines flow into the Elk River, before moving into Lake Koocanusa, a cross-border reservoir, created by Montana’s Libby Dam.

While selenium concentrations in the Elk River are considerably lower by the time they reach Koocanusa, they remain above B.C. guidelines. 

In 2022, the average concentration just upstream of the reservoir — and about 80 to 120 kilometres downstream of the mines — was 5.77 parts per billion, according to a recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey. Researchers found selenium concentrations at this spot increased 551 per cent between 1985 and 2022.

“The waste rock that has been produced by the mines will continue to leach this — essentially poison — for decades, upwards of centuries,” Wiebe said. “This isn’t something that is just going to go away. This is something that will have to be treated.”

Selenium contamination from Teck’s mines has become a point of contention in Canada-U.S. relations. Recently, the two countries, in concert with Ktunaxa Nation, agreed to refer the issue to the International Joint Commission, which was established under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to study and recommend solutions to intractable disputes. 

In Montana, there are growing concerns about the risks to fish and other wildlife from contaminants that flow downstream from Teck Resources’ Elk Valley coal mines. Photo: Jesse Winter / The Narwhal

In the meantime, Teck has continued to invest in water treatment and other measures to reduce selenium contamination from its mines.

The company has spent more than $1.4 billion to reduce water pollution and currently has capacity to treat 77.5 million litres of water a day. 

According to Teck, its water treatment facilities remove 95 to 99 per cent of selenium from the water they treat. But the company is so far only able to treat a portion of the water contaminated by its mines.

Teck plans to build six more water treatment facilities by 2027, increasing treatment capacity to 150 million litres per day, Steeves said.

Data on the province’s Elk Valley Water Quality Hub shows Teck’s water treatment facilities are removing a portion of selenium pollution affecting the watershed. Graph: Government of British Columbia

“The goal of the Elk Valley water quality plan is to stabilize and reverse the trend of selenium, protect the ongoing health of the watershed and allow for continued sustainable mining in the Elk Valley,” he said, adding the plan is working to reduce selenium concentrations downstream of the treatment facilities.

Steeves said Teck is also working to develop technology that would control the source of water contamination, “with the long-term goal of protecting water quality without the need to build and operate active water treatment facilities.”

“We have a proven track record of successfully reclaiming mine operations in B.C. and beyond, and we are committed to protecting water quality in the Elk Valley,” he said.

‘Black box’: advocates say cleanup cost estimates lack transparency

The $6.4-billion cleanup estimate calculated by Burgess Environmental considers a fraction of the total costs. The firm focused on selenium removal as it is, by far, the biggest expense, Wiebe said. Other costs like habitat and land reclamation and removing other heavy metals are not included.

Wildsight shared the findings from the report with the B.C. government, Teck and Ktunaxa Nation Council before it was released to the public. Ktunaxa Nation Council and the B.C. government were not able to provide a reaction to the report before publication time.

In B.C., mining companies are responsible for providing cleanup cost estimates and they’re “incentivized to underestimate,” Wiebe said. There are government guidelines and a Microsoft Excel document to standardize the process. The government also adds a 15 per cent top-up to the industry estimate. But Wiebe believes there should be more transparency during the estimation process.

Alongside water treatment, Teck says it is working to control selenium contamination at the source: the piles of leftover waste rock produced by its mines. Photo: Jayce Hawkins / The Narwhal

“Unfortunately, a lot of this is a black box,” Wiebe said. “We don’t know what goes on.” The online calculators are out of date and not always used, he said. For the report, Burgess Environmental used public data, reports and plans from Teck and the B.C. government. The author also used other public technical analyses and visited the Elk Valley watershed this February. Teck also provided some limited data and comments to help with the calculations, Wiebe said.

Wiebe points to Nevada and Alaska as examples for B.C. to follow. In those states, reclamation calculations are disclosed and the public is invited to comment on draft estimates. This process would allow outside groups to raise concerns if they believe the estimates are not reasonable, Wiebe said. “We don’t have that option, because all we get is a total amount, once a year.” These estimates are published in annual reports from the chief inspector of mines. Wiebe isn’t satisfied with the level of transparency in B.C., where relatively little data about calculations is disclosed. “It’s really disappointing,” he said.

Elk Valley coal mines will soon be taken over by international mining giant Glencore

International mining giant Glencore is set to acquire Teck’s steel-making coal mines in the Elk Valley, subject to federal approval. In a statement announcing the deal, CEO Gary Nagle said the company was committed to “engaging in further reclamation efforts.”

The company said it “will continue to implement the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan, including by continuing ongoing research and development aimed at developing and implementing innovations to manage and improve water quality in relation to its operations.”

Canada, U.S. launch international inquiry into southeast B.C. mine pollution

But Glencore’s record worries groups on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. Last year, the company pleaded guilty to bribery and market manipulation charges and agreed to pay more than $1.1 billion in penalties. The bribery charges related to payments made approximately between 2007 and 2018 in what the U.S. Department of Justice described as a “decade-long scheme by Glencore and its subsidiaries to make and conceal corrupt payments and bribes through intermediaries for the benefit of foreign officials across multiple countries.”

Glencore also pleaded guilty to a “multi-year scheme to manipulate fuel oil prices at two of the busiest commercial shipping ports in the U.S.,” which took place between 2011 and 2019, the Department of Justice said in the news release. 

Glencore spokesperson Charles Watenphul said in November the company “has taken significant action over the last several years towards implementing a world-class ethics and compliance program.” 

“Glencore is a different company today and is committed to being a company that creates value for all stakeholders by operating transparently under a well-defined set of values, with openness and integrity at the forefront,” he said in November.

The International Joint Commission’s inquiry into pollution from Teck’s mines will bring experts and knowledge holders together on a study board to improve understanding about the risk of contamination. Photo: Jesse Winter / The Narwhal

As of B.C.’s most recent chief inspector’s report, Glencore had provided just a small fraction of the reclamation securities for two of its five B.C. mines, leaving a future cleanup bill of more than $8.6 million. 

If the deal goes through, Glencore will purchase a 77 per cent stake in Elk Valley Resources, which represents the entirety of Teck’s steel-making coal business. Nippon Steel Corporation would take a 20 per cent stake in the company, while POSCO, a steelmaking company based in South Korea, would gain a three per cent stake in the mines.

Watenphul said in November that the company would provide what it owes to the province in reclamation securities by the end of March 2024. He declined to comment on this new report and referred to previous statements to The Narwhal.

But Wiebe remains concerned that B.C. doesn’t hold sufficient security for the Elk Valley mines. 

“They could continue mining until it’s no longer profitable, go bankrupt and all of a sudden it’s on the taxpayer to fund the reclamation efforts and pollution cleanup,” he said. “That’s a huge risk. It’s going to be multiple billions of dollars, at least, potentially on our shoulders.” 

Updated March 19, 2024, at 5:55 p.m. PT: This story has been updated to include a comment from Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation Minister Josie Osborne

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When John Morris Sr. is asked where the sacred sites on the Taku River are, his answer comes easily. “This whole place is sacred,” the 84-year-old Elder says. In the spring, all five species of North American salmon fight the current to spawn. In the summer, bright orange salmon berries speckle the landscape. 

Morris Sr., a member of the Douglas Indian Association in southeast Alaska, said his grandparents, aunt, uncle and parents always reminded him that everything they needed was provided by the land there. 

The river and its tributaries meander throughout the territories of the Tlingit and the Tahltan peoples, and flow over the international border between British Columbia and Alaska. But for the past 67 years a small, oozing sore has leached untreated heavy metals into the waterways. The abandoned Tulsequah Chief mine in B.C. sits on the Tulsequah River about 10 kilometres upstream from its confluence with the Taku River. Cominco, now part of Teck Resources Ltd., opened the copper, lead and zinc mine in 1951. Cominco closed it six years later. Several companies took the mine over in the intervening years, but none was successful at restarting production.

Morris Sr. first saw the bright orange fluid, known as acid rock drainage, flowing out of a pipe when he was on a hunting trip in the late 1990s. There is no doubt this area is contaminated, he remembers thinking. Numerous water sampling programs have pointed to elevated levels of metals in the Tulsequah River. 

John Morris Sr., an Elder with the Douglas Island Indian Association, grew up fishing and hunting on the Taku River with his family. Photo: Chris Miller

Acid mine drainage runs through a culvert from the Tulsequah Chief mine, which has been polluting the Tulsequah River since the mine closed in the 50’s. Video: Chris Miller

The B.C. government permitted the site to remain in a state of “care and maintenance” after it stopped producing as it waited for various companies to restart the mine. None stepped up. For years environmental groups, Indigenous communities and the Alaskan government have called on B.C. to start a proper cleanup.

The mine’s last owner, Chieftain Metals Inc., collapsed with high debts. In 2022, the project was declared dead after lengthy receivership proceedings. The reclamation bill is estimated at $72 million with $1 million a year in monitoring costs. 

Though it no longer owns Tulsequah Chief, Teck said it has voluntarily supported the province and Taku River Tlingit First Nation’s interim reclamation and remediation work by contributing more than $3 million since 2021. Still, the B.C. government has less than one per cent of the security for reclamation and monitoring costs in hand.

Tulsequah Chief is one of several ugly remnants overshadowing a new era of mining aimed at building a low-carbon economy. The industry is looking to a future built on critical minerals needed for batteries, particularly for electric vehicles, but the legacy of past investment booms and a shortfall in the money set aside to deal with cleanup remains. 

Over several months, The Narwhal and The Globe and Mail have scoured publicly available records, reviewed financial data and interviewed experts about B.C.'s mine reclamation plan and found that in practice, the province was short $753 million of the estimated cleanup cost in its last financial year and some of the best-capitalized companies have not yet paid for future reclamation costs. 

A new interim government policy and push to collect money for clean-up costs could significantly close the gap in the coming months. Still, environmentalists, economists, Indigenous leaders and even mining industry players say the policy is falling short. They raise concerns that not enough is being collected, estimates for cleanup are too low and better incentives are needed for continuing remediation. In addition, there is a lack of protection if there’s a disaster, or as in the case of Tulsequah Chief, companies go bankrupt. 

For the last 67 years, the abandoned Tulsequah Chief mine has leaved untreated heavy metals into the surrounding waterways. The bright orange fluid is known as acid rock drainage. Video: Chris Miller

To address this, mining reform advocates are calling for the interim policy to be formalized as enforceable regulations. Mining policy researchers and communities downstream from mines said the regulations should include a better process for more accurately estimating the future costs of cleanup and a shared pool of funds to protect taxpayers from covering costs when disaster strikes. 

Without enough funds set aside for cleanup, B.C. taxpayers will continue to be at risk.

Closing the gap in cleanup costs amid a push for critical minerals

The federal government is staking its plans for the future economy on big bets on mass electrification and the supply chains that will feed a decades-long shift to renewable energy and electric vehicles in the race to net zero. Critical minerals production is the foundation of that strategy. Global demand for such materials surged to US$320 billion in 2022, doubling during the previous five years.

B.C. does not intend to be left out. Its mining industry is banking on being a major supplier of the ingredients pulled from the earth for batteries used in transport and energy production and storage, such as copper, lithium and molybdenum, to name a few. According to the Mining Association of British Columbia, mining companies are now proposing 16 critical minerals mines, representing capital investments of $36.5 billion. If they all proceed, the mines could dump $10.9 billion in tax revenues into government coffers.

A mine project can’t just focus on the profits, however. It also has to plan for cleaning up the site after production ends. The polluter-pays principle is enshrined in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. It means people and companies that disturb the environment must pay for cleanup and any other costs to society.

Several structures remain at the Tulsequah Chief mine camp along the banks of the Tulsequah River in British Columbia. The mine is one of several ugly remnants overshadowing a new era of mining aimed at building a low-carbon economy. Photo: Chris Miller

How much, when and in what form mining companies are required to pay differs from province to province. Generally, mining companies must give provincial governments a financial security to cover some of the cost of reclaiming a site. This is known as bonding and is meant to protect taxpayers if a company can’t or won’t reclaim a site. 

Compared with B.C., other provinces and jurisdictions have varying levels of stringency with security demands. Quebec requires hard financial securities to be put up in full and upfront to guard against a potential bankruptcy while a mine is still in operation. In Ontario, companies that can pass a corporate financial test can self-assure against reclamation cost, but in practice that rarely happens. Instead, almost all provide full security when they file their closure plans. 

Meanwhile, B.C. has no industry-funded pool of money set aside to deal with cleanup of mines that no longer have solvent owners, unlike what’s required for the oil and gas industry.

The province is playing catch-up to address the historical and growing costs of mine cleanup. Some companies have long since gone belly up, leaving taxpayers with millions of dollars in environmental liabilities. Others remain profitable, including some of the largest players in the province, such as Teck and Swiss commodities giant Glencore PLC, and they are still paying for the future remediation of past or currently producing mines.

In its most recent annual report, B.C.’s chief inspector of mines reported that it had collected $3.7 billion of an estimated total liability of $4.1 billion in 2022-23. It describes this as a shortfall of about $400 million. But that’s because costs are estimated and some companies have overpaid. Stripping out those overpayments, the difference as of March 31, 2023, was closer to $753 million. 

Over the past five years, the difference between the government’s coffers and what mining companies owe has shrunk. Last year, the overall gap shrank by $353 million. 

But a closer look at the report data shows that some mines are still millions of dollars short of securing their estimated cleanup costs, exposing taxpayers to potential costs. And, because the government’s current approach allows some mines to count minerals in the ground toward their security, the gap may never be completely closed.

The Tulsequah River flowing southeast toward the confluence with the Taku River. Numerous water sampling programs have pinpointed to elevated levels of metals in the Tulsequah River. Photo: Chris Miller

Acid mine drainage forms from a chemical reaction when surface water mixes with rocks that contain sulfur-bearing minerals. The resulting red, orange or yellow and can be harmful to humans, plants and animals. Photo: Chris Miller

The Taku River watershed also supports commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries in Alaska and British Columbia. Photo: Chris Miller

Uncertainty and risk in B.C.’s new mining policy

David Chambers, founder and president of the Montana-based Center for Science in Public Participation, said B.C. is behind most other jurisdictions as it tries to collect the full cost of mining liabilities. Chambers, who has more than 40 years of experience in mineral exploration and development, formed the non-profit corporation to provide technical assistance on mining and water quality to public interest groups and tribal governments.

“It's pretty accepted here in the U.S. … that you have to have a 100-per-cent coverage for your financial assurance when the mining starts,” Chambers said. B.C.’s new policy changes are a step in the right direction but still carry some risk, he said.

In B.C., the financial security can be in the form of cash, letters of credit, surety bonds, guaranteed investment certificates or cash equivalents. It’s returned once the mine is restored to a “safe and environmentally sound state.”  

Mineral reserves can also sometimes count toward financial security. The government describes this as an incentive for exploration. Mines that have been operating for more than five years and that have a lifespan exceeding 10 years can use up to 10 per cent of the value of their reserves toward a quarter of their security. 

The policy assumes that there is mineral wealth that can be dug out if needed, but that isn’t always the case. Allowing companies to use reserves as security is risky because demand for minerals and commodity prices fluctuate, Chambers, a geophysicist, said.

Counting minerals in the ground is an example of what’s called a “soft” assurance, since its ultimate value is somewhat uncertain. “Hard” financial assurances, such as cash in hand or trusts, don’t fluctuate and are readily available. Quebec, for example, requires hard financial assurances from mining companies. The Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, a global coalition of mining companies, labour unions, nongovernmental organizations and businesses buying minerals, has published international standards recommending closure funds be reliable and readily liquid. 

“What if the mine's reserves don't prove to be as viable or economic as you hoped? What if you can't find another owner for the mine in the event that that owner goes bankrupt? What if a commodity price downturn undermines the business case for the recovery of those reserves?” asked economist Jason Dion, senior research director at the Canadian Climate Institute.

The B.C. government’s policy of accepting soft assurances leaves taxpayers exposed, especially if a severe commodity-price downturn triggered a wave of abandonment, Dion said.

Today, amid the desire to become key suppliers of critical minerals, small mining companies are struggling to attract investment as prices for commodities have tumbled, prompting them to call for Ottawa to fund projects directly.

In B.C. there are five bankrupt or inactive companies that did not provide enough financial assurances to clean up their sites before going out of business, according to the most recent chief inspector’s report. These companies left an unpaid cleanup bill of about $80 million. 

And some historical projects will require maintenance in perpetuity. The closed Britannia Mine, near Squamish, B.C., cost taxpayers approximately $46 million to remediate and requires a water treatment plant that costs $3 million a year to operate. It was described as one of the “most contaminated areas in North America” and water treatment is expected to be needed forever.

Today in B.C., cleanup costs are estimated by mining companies and provided to the government. There are government standards and an Excel document to standardize the process. The province also adds a 15 per cent top-up to the industry estimate. The province said it is currently updating this process.

Guy Archibald, the executive director of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission, at home in Juneau, Alaska. He has worked on transboundary mining issues between Alaska and British Columbia to create more stringent mining regulation in Canada to protect the downstream Alaskan communities. Photo: Chris Miller / The Narwhal

But the government and industry drastically underestimate the true cost and timeline of mine cleanups, says Guy Archibald, executive director for the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission. The organization represents 15 sovereign tribal nations in Southeast Alaska. Archibald is an analytical environmental chemist who has worked for more than two decades helping industry control and monitor discharge and pollution. 

The current approach is “completely inadequate” and does not protect British Columbians from financial and environmental costs, Archibald said. The province needs to take a more precautionary approach and better assess the growing risks of major mines, especially for projects that will require water treatment for hundreds of years or more, he said.

For specialists working in reclamation, the growing cleanup costs of the abandoned Giant Mine and Faro Mine in the Yukon loom as a warning. Giant Mine, abandoned in 2005, is now expected to cost federal taxpayers more than $4 billion for remediation. Faro Mine, abandoned in 1998, could cost an estimated $2 billion for cleanup and continuing maintenance.

Selenium occurs naturally in rocks in the Elk Valley. When these massive piles of waste rock are exposed to rain and snowmelt, the contaminant slowly leaches into the water, eventually finding its way into nearby rivers and creeks. Photo: Jesse Winter / The Narwhal

Teck Resources, Canada's largest mining company, struck a US$8.9-billion deal to sell Elk Valley Resources in November 2023. Photo: Jesse Winter / The Narwhal

B.C.’s biggest mining liability gets a new owner  

For Teck, Canada’s largest mining company, 2023 was a pivotal year. After a lengthy saga, which included fending off a hostile takeover bid from Glencore and Teck shareholders voting down a plan to split off its B.C. metallurgical coal business, the company struck a US$8.9 billion deal in November to sell that business, Elk Valley Resources. The buyers: Glencore, Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. and South Korean steelmaker POSCO. 

These mines are the biggest liability on the books for the province at $1.9 billion. Teck currently has provided $1.5 billion and plans to have the full amount in place by March, as required by the government, said company spokesman Chris Stannell. The bonding Teck has set aside for the Elk Valley coal operations will be transferred to the new owners, Stannell said. Glencore said it has committed to keeping up with the rehabilitation and closure work. 

Meanwhile, as of the most recent chief inspector’s report, Glencore had provided just a small fraction of the reclamation securities for two of its five B.C. mines, leaving a future cleanup bill of more than $8.6 million. Glencore will provide what it owes to the province by the end of March 2024, company spokesperson Charles Watenphul said in an e-mail.

Five mines face possible penalties for falling behind on their reclamation securities, according to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. The ministry would not disclose which mines, but said the information would be posted on the B.C. Mines Information website once a final decision is made.

The current interim policy doesn’t have enough teeth behind it, said Allen Edzerza, a Tahltan Elder formerly with the BC First Nations Energy and Mining Council. According to the Mines Act, the chief permitting officer has a lot of discretionary power in how securities are collected. Edzerza wants to see clear laws to ensure mining companies are providing hard financial assurances toward the cost of reclamation. “If you want to be enforceable, if you want clarity, put it in legislation.”

Allen Edzerza, Tahltan Elder formerly with The First Nations Energy and Mining Council, believes there should be more stringent legislation to ensure there is enough money set aside to clean up after mines. Photo: Jimmy Jeong / The Narwhal

Warnings of a growing liability 

B.C. has faced criticism in the past for the big gap between the estimated cleanup costs of mines and the financial securities held by the province. In 1984, it held just $10 million in securities and the gap kept widening. By 2016, the B.C. auditor general warned that the cost of reclamation for major mines was more than $2.1 billion and the province held less than half that amount. Taxpayers were at risk for a $1.2 billion liability.  

The new interim policy aims to help close the gap. It requires new mines and those with less than five years of production left to pay in full for the damage caused for the next five years. The estimated liability of a mine is reassessed every five years.  

That schedule allows cost estimates to better reflect changes to costs over time and allows companies the flexibility to adjust their cleanup plans, the mines ministry said.

The mines department said it is confident the current financial instruments allow the government access to the reclamation security if required. Collecting beyond the first five years would create a negative incentive for mines to plan for an “artificially short” life span, it said. For example, if a project comes forward with a 30-year plan, the department does not want to penalize it for planning for a longer mine life.

“For many years, companies have been let off the hook,” Mines Minister Josie Osborne said in an interview. “It is a decades-old problem here in British Columbia, and our government is working hard to take action and change this.” 

Josie Osborne, B.C. minister of energy, mines and low carbon innovation, says the province is working towards closing the liability gap, which has been a decades-old problem. Photo: Melissa Renwick / The Narwhal

The province has made progress toward closing the liability gap, said Rangi Jeerakathil, a partner at law firm MLT Aikins. Jeerakathil specializes in environmental, energy and Aboriginal law, as well as corporate social responsibility. 

“In B.C., I think, the approach that they're taking probably makes sense,” Jeerakathil said. He described the securities system as a balancing act between forcing companies to tie up too much capital that could otherwise be used to expand the business and create jobs, and protecting the environment as well as taxpayers who could be left on the hook for cleanup.

Incentivize better designs and ongoing reclamation

While the legacy of current coal projects in the Elk Valley is debated, there are proposals for new mines in the region. NWP Coal’s Crown Mountain project is undergoing federal and provincial assessments and hosting community open houses for feedback. Its goal is to start building by 2026. 

The province’s new approach to fully bonding for the first and last five years of a mine covers the riskiest times for a project, NWP Coal project director David Baines said. At the start, a mine has its highest capital costs and lowest cash generation. Nearer to closure, production will slow down and so will revenues.

Tying up a lot of money at once just in case all the mines in B.C. go bankrupt at once doesn't make sense to Baines. Instead, he’d like to see more tools to encourage progressive reclamation — cleaning up while mines are still active — and better designs. 

Crown Mountain is still seeking permits and hasn’t put down a reclamation security or estimated the cost of cleanup yet. Baines said his philosophy is to try and reduce the impact as much as possible during the planning of the mine. It’s a practice of “designing your mine so that chemicals and materials don't leach out of the rocks,” Baines said. 

After a mine shuts down, it could need water treatment to ensure any mined materials left behind don’t pollute the waterways. Exactly how to operate and finance water treatment that could be needed for more than 100 years is a continuing discussion in the mining industry. It all feels “like a paper game”, Baines said. “No one knows what it's really going to cost, what those reserves are worth or what inflation is going to do.”  

Ultimately, if a company can’t afford reclamation then a project should not go forward, he said. 

The Tulsequah Chief mine has been polluting acid mine drainage into the Tulsequah River since the mine closed in 1957. Photo: Chris Miller

No protections from disaster

The idea that a lot of money could be needed all at once doesn’t feel far off to Archibald. He points to the 2014 Mount Polley disaster in which a tailings dam collapsed and sent a torrent of water and waste into the local watershed. The B.C. public paid $40 million in cleanup costs while no charges or financial penalties were brought against owner Imperial Metals Corp. The mine is back in operation today.

Beyond catastrophic failures, extreme weather from climate change presents new problems for major infrastructure. The lack of a contingency fund is a major gap in current policy, say mining reform advocates.

Archibald, Dion and others are calling for a shared pool of funds that all mine operators pay into to help cover costs that aren’t in closure plans, sudden closures and catastrophic events. Archibald imagines something similar to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund that was created in the U.S. after the Exxon Valdez spill that cost billions in cleanup costs. The fund comes from a fee on imported and domestic oil.

B.C. has its own template used in its energy industry. The province’s Orphan Site Reclamation Fund is a pool of money funded through levies on oil and gas permit holders for cleaning up wells and other facilities that no longer have viable owners.

“It's not really even realistic to think that a single mining company could provide assurance against the cost of a worst-case environmental disaster,” Dion said. He hopes that the B.C. government takes a hard look during phase two of its public interest bonding strategy. During the next year, the government plans to review financial assurance mechanisms for planned and unplanned cleanup costs for all types of industrial projects.

When asked about creating a specific shared pool for the mining industry, Minister Osborne pointed to existing “strong environmental legislation” and said the government plans to continue monitoring the interim policy for improvement. 

The province’s mining industry is an enthusiastic supporter of the government’s policy, saying it is stringent and should give taxpayers comfort that they won’t be left on the hook for cleanup and reclamation. It will encourage long-term stewardship that will help support future development of critical minerals, said Michael Goehring, CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia.

“That's good for industry to have the certainty, and I think it's good for British Columbians,” he said.

The Tulsequah River, and the greater Taku River watershed, sprawls through the wilderness of west coast of North America. The Taku has all five species of pacific salmon. Video: Chris Miller

But the policy hasn’t eliminated concerns for everyone. The area around the Taku is also known by a different name to prospectors and miners: The Golden Triangle. It’s a region renowned for its promise of gold, silver and copper deposits.

Just downstream from the Tulsequah Chief mine, on the west bank of the river, Canagold Resources Ltd. is seeking permits to start construction on its New Polaris gold mine. Canagold will file its plans for mine closure in its detailed project description in the coming weeks. It will include the bonding plans as required in the B.C. policy, as well as details of its consultation with the First Nations, said Canagold CEO Catalin Kilofliski. He described his company’s relationship with the Indigenous community in the region as collaborative and transparent.

John Morris Sr., an Elder with the Douglas tribe of the Taku River Tlingit, is shocked there could be another mine on the Taku River when the Tulsequah Chief mine still hasn't been cleaned up. Photo: Chris Miller / The Narwhal

The New Polaris project is different from Tulsequah Chief on the other side of the river, partly because there will be no acid drainage, he said. “The project does not resemble anything at the other project, due to natural reasons. And any historical legacy existing on our project will be dealt with and be an integral part of project planning all the way to closure and reclamation,” Kilofliski said. 

Still, Elder John Morris Sr. wrote in a recent op-ed that he finds it “almost unbelievable” the government would entertain an application for another mine while the legacy of the old one has not been fully dealt with. “The Taku will continue to feed people for thousands of years into the future, if we just keep it clean and flowing freely.”

He worries about the future of the watershed as it continues to tempt prospectors. He acknowledges there is demand for cellphones and minerals. It’s not about butting heads with industry, he said, it’s just about putting aside enough money to clean up.  

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I was feeling hopeful when I made my way to the Coal Association of Canada’s conference registration desk at the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver last week. The association had denied my media request to attend the conference but didn’t share their decision-making process or reasoning. I thought an in-person conversation would help clarify any concerns and hoped it was an oversight. 

Unfortunately, The Narwhal was denied access to the conference without any explanation, despite multiple attempts to learn why. This denial is part of ongoing attempts to prevent journalists from covering events where industry representatives or government officials are gathering.

“It’s really unfair and unreasonable,” president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, Brent Jolly, said of the decision and lack of transparency. It’s crucial to have a diversity of journalists at events and forums like this where important discussions are happening with those who have major influence, Jolly told The Narwhal.  

The Coal Association of Canada represents dozens of members involved in all aspects of the industry from exploration, production, transportation and consulting. It advocates for a vision that “Canadians understand the role and value of coal in Canada.” 

The conference was scheduled in Vancouver over three days. Guests included industry and government regulators as well as government bodies like the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and the privatized Canadian National Railway Company. Coal producers and miners like Teck Resources Limited, Conuma Resources Limited and Telkwa Mining Limited were also listed as presenters.

Teck Resources owns and operates a number of metallurgical coal mines in B.C.’s Elk Valley that provide coal for steelmaking. Photo: Callum Gunn

I was particularly interested to attend a session by Tim McMillan, from the public relations firm Garrison Strategy, titled, “Advocacy and Resource Development.” McMillan was the former president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, a major oil and gas lobby group. He also has decades of political experience, including as the minister of energy in Saskatchewan. 

Since I couldn’t be there, I requested a copy of Garrison Strategy’s presentation but have not yet received a response. 

Public relations firms play a huge role in climate change politics. How they do that is not always obvious. Environmental scientists are worried the risks posed by the climate crisis are being downplayed and important data is being misrepresented. Having reporters in the room to learn how lobbyists, public relations firms, government and industry are working together is crucial.

One of the Coal Association of Canada’s five key values is accountability, promising to be “open and transparent and held accountable for all we do.” The association invites registered media to apply for access to the conference through a form available online. It also states the association “reserves the right to limit and/or restrict media to the conference.”

After my application was denied, I followed up to provide more information about our team, professional record and ethics and offered to answer any questions about our news-gathering process. Despite multiple attempts I did not receive any response.

The Canadian Association of Journalists wrote to the Coal Association of Canada to advocate for The Narwhal’s access but also did not receive a response.

“We’re continually retreating into what I worry is this authoritarian creep, that is becoming more and more pronounced,” Jolly said. “The answer to that is more journalism and more accountability. And if we don’t take that seriously and allow this to continue to slide, we’re going to be in a far worse position in the long run.”

Why we care about coal

We have lots of burning questions about coal at The Narwhal. Our team has covered the industry for years, including stories of coal miners navigating the energy transition. We’ve looked at projects that threaten caribou herds, concerns about pollution in the Elk Valley and corporate influence in government decisions.  

Coal is a major player in the resource extraction industry in Canada. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that employs thousands of people across the country. Canada is ranked 14th in the world for coal production and is one of the top-ten world exporters of coal. The country produced 50 million tonnes in 2021 and exported more than half, according to government data. More than half of the coal produced in Canada is metallurgical coal — used in steelmaking — while the remainder is thermal coal, which is burned to create electricity.

Coal miners from United Steelworkers Local 1595 shared their stories of transition to other jobs as the industry winds down. Photos: Amber Bracken / The Narwhal

Coal-fired electricity is also one of the biggest contributors to climate change and a major source of toxic pollution. There’s been a shift away from the fuel and coal production in Canada has been declining over the last decade. Nearly five years ago, in 2018, the Government of Canada finalized its commitment to phase out coal-fired electricity by 2030. 

The industry still sees a future. “Our product is highly sought-after around the world and by bringing together representatives that span the full supply-chain, we can collectively chart a path forward which ensures a strong future for Canadian coal,” Robin Campbell, the organization’s current president said in a press release about the 2023 conference goals. 

Our reporting using freedom of information requests has revealed how influential lobbyists can be in shaping government policy.

Life after coal

Campbell is a former Alberta finance minister who is well-versed in the political scene. The association is an active lobbying group and policies on coal mining in Alberta have changed after government meetings with Campbell. In 2020, The Tyee reported the Alberta government removed barriers to open-pit mining in much of the Rockies after several meetings with Campbell. There was no public consultation. A large public outcry followed and eventually Alberta’s United Conservative Party was forced to reverse the decision in 2021.

Today coal projects continue across the country including in Alberta’s Rockies and foothills. An underground coal mine near Grande Cache is being resurrected and an open-pit mine in the Crowsnest Pass region is being reconsidered. In B.C.’s Elk Valley, Teck is planning to extend their operations. New projects and expansions are being considered in Chetwynd and Sparwood, B.C., and Hinton, Alta.

The scheduled keynote for the conference, Emily Arthun, CEO of the American Coal Council, wrote an opinion piece in the Duluth News Tribune advocating to keep coal in the conversation as a reliable energy source that keeps America energy-independent and reduces the country’s “exposure to hostile nations.”

“If we fail to support all available energy sources — including coal, nuclear and natural gas — we may find that in just a few short years we too will be asking for coal at Christmas,” Arthun wrote last year.

Arthun, Campbell and McMillan, likely did not have anyone outside of industry documenting what ideas, opinions and strategies they shared. While the media was invited to attend, so far, there has been no coverage of the conference. 

A ‘sustained assault on journalism’

If we shrug and accept that the people making major economic and political decisions can restrict the media, journalist Geoff Dembicki told me, then press freedom will continue to decline.

Last summer, Dembicki was denied access to a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) conference in Vancouver. It’s billed as the largest global liquefied natural gas conference in the world and a big part of the discussion was projects in northwestern B.C. These projects represent billions of dollars in investments and have major implications in the fight against climate change, Dembicki said.

Dembicki, who was reporting for Desmog, has written for VICE, The Tyee, the New York Times, Foreign Policy and the Guardian. He’s also written two books including The Petroleum Papers: Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change and has been invited to address a senate committee on energy, the environment and natural resources. 

“There has been really a sustained assault on journalism over recent years. Not just in Canada, but all over the world,” Dembicki told me. He pointed to politicians who have mocked journalists, painted them as the enemy or pushed conspiracy theories about climate reporters. “These denials to conferences that we see are just part of that overall trend of restricting press freedom. I think they represent a fossil fuel industry that’s feeling increasingly emboldened these days because of that political support.”

Robin Campbell is the current president of the Coal Association of Canada. Before his role as a lobbyist, he was an MLA in Alberta serving as the finance minister and environment minister. Photo: Jason Franson / The Canadian Press

We need journalists, “to fact-check the claims being made by industry and government and to basically ensure that Canadians have an accurate idea of what is actually being done in terms of fighting climate change, or making it worse,” Dembicki said.

As The Narwhal’s mining reporter, speaking with people involved in all aspects of the industry is extremely important. Last year, I attended the Association for Mineral Exploration’s annual conference. I spoke with geoscientists, exploration companies, prospectors, miners, financiers, First Nation representatives, government officials and other journalists.

“Hearing the questions from a diversity of media is really important,” Kylie Williams, director of communications and member relations for the Association for Mineral Exploration, told The Narwhal. “They reflect what the public is asking and what the public is seeking. And we have some work to do as an industry to reach beyond our normal audiences.”

The association has hosted the annual industry conference for the last 40 years. “It’s also a place where we have those difficult conversations,” Williams said, adding even if a journalist was writing stories critical of the industry they would be welcome to attend. “We accept everyone who has press credentials.” She could not comment on any decisions made by the Coal Association of Canada.

I go to conferences to meet people, better understand their work, where they are coming from and what’s motivating them. These conversations and relationships lead to a better understanding of the issues and more nuanced stories.

Being denied access to such a major conference is frustrating, but it doesn’t mean I’ll stop asking questions and looking for answers. 

Updated on Feb. 21, 2024, at 10:04 a.m. PT: This story has been updated to clarify the Canadian National Railway Company is a company and not government owned as previously written. The railway was previously a crown corporation but was privatized in in 1995.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

The Brooks home will never be like it was before the 2021 floods in British Columbia. Two years ago, extreme rain filled the Similkameen and Tulameen rivers. Water burst over the banks through a dike and flooded siblings Dian and Danie’s property just outside of Princeton. The two rushed to save their animals and waited for two days in the second level of their home before a rescue boat came.  

As Dian watched their homemade furniture bob in the deluge, she remembers thinking, “There goes our house. There goes everything that we have worked for our lives. We have just lost everything.” With help from volunteers, some funding from government and insurance they have since repaired some of the damage and are back inside. 

But the two pensioners are still waiting on the provincial government to respond to their appeals for more help. “We have no money. As it is, we’re broke. We will be paying for this for the rest of our lives,” Dian told The Narwhal.

Southern B.C. was hit by its first atmospheric river of the season last week, a fitting backdrop as the province debates how to address emergencies and disasters. The proposed Emergency and Disaster Management Act will define how citizens and communities across B.C. are — or are not — supported by the government when disaster strikes, Chad Pacholik, a disaster risk manager told The Narwhal.

The bill has seen years of engagement and delays and getting to the vote stage to implement the law could still take weeks, or longer. The province’s ombudsperson is also calling for urgent action to improve support for long-term evacuees after another summer of record-breaking wildfires. The hope is this bill will help address decades of government inaction as climate change increases the number and severity of disasters faced by people across the province. 

But some experts in emergency management say key elements are missing that would ensure the legislation is clear, easy to implement, properly acknowledges First Nations and supports enough capacity within communities to implement changes. 

“Quite literally, lives could depend on the framework and the law that’s being discussed here today. Communities depend on us, as well, to get this right,” Shirley Bond, BC United MLA for Prince George-Valemount, said last week in the legislature, as the proposal saw days of debate. “Time is of the essence.”

Dian and Danie Brooks are still working on repairs after their home just outside of Princeton, B.C., was hit by floodwaters in November 2021. Photo: Jen Osborne

Bowinn Ma, minister of emergency management and climate readiness, introduced the act on Oct. 3. The 122-page draft is a significant update from the previous 12-page Emergency Program Act, which was last updated in the 1990s. It recognizes First Nations’ inherent rights, aims to address modern risks like COVID-19 and climate change and acknowledges the importance of risk reduction, mitigation and preparedness along with response and recovery. There is also a clause that sets the act to be reviewed within five years.

“This legislation formally recognizes the rights of First Nations as decision-makers in emergency management,” Ma said as the bill was introduced. “The Emergency and Disaster Management Act moves towards a holistic four-phase approach of mitigation, preparation, response and recovery.” It requires climate risk assessments and updates the concept of what an emergency is, “to reflect modern realities.” 

Changes “will hopefully prove to be a step in the right direction,” Robert Phillips, First Nations Summit political executive said in a press release. The First Nations-led group supports nations in treaty negotiations. “It will be imperative that this new legislation results in strong government-to-government relationships with First Nations in all aspects of emergency management, premised on acknowledgement and respect for First Nations’ title and jurisdiction within their respective territories.”

Step in the right direction, but not far enough 

If done right, new legislation could help improve how displaced people are supported after major disasters, Tyrone McNeil, chair of the Emergency Planning Secretariat, Stó:lō Tribal Council president and Tribal Chief, told The Narwhal. But as it stands, the current draft of the bill is “disappointing.” 

McNeil, a member of Seabird Island Band, wants to see evacuee programs modelled after the United Nations Sphere Project, a humanitarian aid program better designed to address long-term disaster displacement. The province’s current program is “designed for an apartment building in Vancouver burning and people vacating for a week or two and they are rehomed,” McNeil said.

Indigenous people in B.C. are more likely to experience evacuations than non-Indigenous people, according to an analysis in The Tyee. In part, this is because colonizers forced First Nations onto reserves, government-created tracts of land that are often in spots prone to risks and hazards and don’t have enough protection, such as dikes to minimize flooding. The Indian Act also undermined the ability of First Nations to self-govern and make decisions for the safety of their communities. 

Tyrone McNeil, Stó:lō Tribal Council Chief and chair of the First Nations Emergency Planning Secretariat, pushed for more transparent consultation on the draft versions of the emergency preparedness bill before it was presented to legislature. Photo: Jesse Winter / The Narwhal

“The stress of evacuation, the stress of multiple evacuations by certain people is going to significantly impact their health over time,” McNeil said. A humanitarian approach would also encompass spirituality, how to take care of Elders and dietary needs. “Let’s be proactive and let’s invest early on.” 

While the draft recognizes First Nations’ inherent right of self-government and lawmaking in relation to emergency management, McNeil isn’t satisfied. “It’s a prescriptive piece of legislation that doesn’t fully incorporate our rightful place in emergency management,” McNeil said. 

In particular, McNeil is concerned about clause 162 which says that, in cases of conflict, the Emergency and Disaster Management Act prevails over all other provincial acts and regulations. McNeil worries this clause could be interpreted to mean this act supersedes B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. 

“Our rights and title are not properly placed and recognized and respected,” in the current draft McNeil said.

Community capacity is an issue 

Capacity is crucial as communities grapple with the growing frequency and intensity of disasters. That means having enough paid, trained professionals to handle everything from mitigation to recovery, providing access to standardized emergency management training, ensuring smaller municipalities and regional districts have enough funding and aren’t overly reliant on volunteers.

Frontline delivery of emergency evacuee support is done “overwhelmingly by volunteers,” B.C.’s ombudsperson Jay Chalke said at a press conference. His office reviewed the province’s response to the 2021 wildfires and atmospheric rivers. “We heard about people who were working 15, 16, 17 hours a day, seven days a week for months on end as volunteers … this model cannot be sustained.” 

Most local governments are already having trouble meeting current requirements, disaster risk manager Pacholik told The Narwhal. The new legislation adds “a lot more things to the plate, and we don’t have a lot more trained, experienced people to be able to take on those tasks.” 

Pacholik worked with local governments and Emergency Management B.C. when the legislation was still being developed and currently consults with First Nations and local governments to help them navigate disaster preparation, response and recovery. 

He said the new proposed act puts a lot more on local governments and First Nations, Pacholik said. “I think there’s going to be some struggles to try and keep up.” 

Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw lost a third of its structures in the Bush Creek East fire this summer. People in the area were forced out of their communities for weeks as wildland firefighters tried to get the wildfire under control. Photo: Mike Graeme / The Narwhal

While it’s a positive step that the act puts a greater emphasis on consultation and co-ordination, some First Nations already lacking capacity will now have multiple entities approaching them to maintain this requirement, Pacholik said. Consultation and co-ordination will, “undoubtedly lead to stronger emergency management and disaster risk management. But all takes time.”

The bill needs to enable First Nations to build capacity in a sustainable fashion, McNeil said. He’s called for government funding to be dispersed faster, more community access to professional support and incentives for people to take on advanced degrees and training.

Pacholik said the act does strengthen some opportunities for collaboration: it makes it easier for two or more local authorities or Indigenous government bodies to work together on certain requirements like preparing a risk assessment or emergency management plans. And overall, he thinks the bill is more inclusive and comprehensive than past legislation, Pacholik said. 

But while it has a stronger legal lens, he feels that many might struggle with the application of the bill if it becomes legislation in its current state. “It’s very aspirational language,” that envisions a world where disaster risk-reduction is prioritized and well-resourced and good relationships exist between all parties that need to work together. “That is going to take some work in some areas of the province to get there.”

Language matters 

The draft is too complicated and should be put into plain language, emergency management professional Tarina Colledge said, so that it can be understood and applied by people who aren’t academics or policy experts. “Reading through it sends you in circles as you follow various references to different sections and pages.” 

In her 17 years of experience working on public safety with local government, Colledge has worked in British Columbia and Alberta and has been deployed to disasters in New Brunswick, Texas and Washington.

Words matter and terminology needs to be consistent, Colledge told The Narwhal. The act, for example, doesn’t define what a “disaster” is, instead referring to the old act for a definition. “How can you have an emergency disaster management act that doesn’t have disasters?” Colledge asked, adding that a clear definition is fundamentally necessary to ensure a clear understanding of what actions need to be taken when. 

Clear alerting systems are important to ensure people know when to prepare for a possible evacuation. Many alerting systems across the province require residents to opt-in to receive messages by text. Photo: Mike Graeme / The Narwhal

It’s a confusing oversight as there already is common terminology established by Public Safety Canada, Colledge said. The federal department defines an “emergency” as a “present or imminent event that requires prompt co-ordination” like a neighbourhood fire that is growing out of control. A “disaster” is when a phenomenon “exceeds or overwhelms the community’s ability to cope” such as a major wildfire requiring evacuation.

She’s also concerned that the terms “critical incident,” “incident,” “emergency” and “disaster” are used interchangeably. Unclear definitions can lead to public safety issues down the road, Colledge said, because in a disaster, people on the frontlines need a common understanding to reduce miscommunication. It would be like changing the names of the tools in an operating room. “Your gurney is not a gurney, your scalpel is not a scalpel.”

Opposition parties respond to proposed Emergency and Disaster Management Act

During debate about the proposal, official opposition members from BC United said they were encouraged the government is acknowledging past issues but expressed concerns that this legislation falls short. 

“There certainly is a need for clarity on the disaster and emergency management response. I’m not convinced that this bill provides that clarity,” MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky Jordan Sturdy said.

The next step for the bill is a committee hearing where MLAs will ask questions, suggest changes and present a revised version for a vote. The House will then vote on the updated version and either send it back to committee for further changes or have further debate. A final vote by the members of the legislative assembly is needed before the bill is made into law. 

Bowinn Ma, minister of emergency management and climate readiness (centre), met with emergency volunteers, fire chief, crews and evacuees this summer as wildfires hit Central Okanagan. Six firefighters were killed in the province’s record-breaking wildfire season. Photo: Province of British Columbia / Flickr

“We have to really think about how do we get these big government machines to be more human-scaled, more oriented towards community and able to operate in a more effective and nimble way when there are real disasters that strike,” Sonia Furstenau, leader of the B.C. Green Party, told The Narwhal. Furstenau said she is looking forward to discussing the bill further and finding out if local authorities and First Nations have enough capacity, resources and authority to drive significant change.

McNeil is hopeful more changes will be made in the committee phase. He wants to see clear acknowledgement of Indigenous Rights, mechanisms for funding and language that encourages greater innovation and resilience. “We really need to enable and support innovation,” McNeil said. “Particularly when it speaks to climate resilience and nature-based solutions, because those are the two long-term solutions on any disaster, whether it be floods, fires, tsunami, sea-level rise … resilience is the best way forward.”

Alongside the legislation, the B.C. government is also creating an emergencies task force. This group is made up of 14 experts in emergency and wildfire management and will “begin work immediately and provide action-oriented recommendations on enhancing emergency preparedness and response in advance of the 2024 wildfire season.”

‘It’s past time’

While politicians debate legislation, flood survivors like Dian Brooks are still living in damaged homes, waiting for answers from government programs meant to help evacuees. After the 2021 atmospheric river events, she and her brother applied for funds through the province’s Disaster Financial Assistance program, which provides financial support to people who suffer “sudden, unexpected and uninsurable losses” as a result of an extreme weather event. Only disasters listed by the province are eligible. 

After months of navigating applications, assessments, site visits and paperwork, the Brookses received about $12,000 from their insurance, which the province’s program required them to spend before applying for any other assistance. They eventually received about $51,000 from Disaster Financial Assistance, far from what they say was needed. The siblings have since appealed the amount but still haven’t received a decision from the government. There is currently no required timeline for appeal decisions: as of February 2023, Emergency Management BC received 182 appeal requests for the atmospheric river events and had completed just 12 requests. It upheld the original decision in all appeals.

The same day disaster legislation was introduced this month, B.C.’s ombudsperson Jay Chalke released a report detailing the failures in government response to the heat dome, wildfires and floods in 2021. It focused on the two main programs designated to help evacuees facing everything from an apartment fire to major wildfires and flooding — Disaster Financial Assistance and Emergency Support Services — and found that neither program has been adequately adapted as major disasters increase in frequency and intensity.

The community of Merritt, B.C., had to evacuate as unprecedented amounts of rainfall triggered landslides and devastating flooding in November 2021. Approximately 7,000 people evacuated and many had to stay in hotels for months. Photo: Ian Willms / The Narwhal

Chalke found the programs are “outdated, under-resourced, inaccessible and poorly communicated.” His team surveyed almost 500 British Columbians affected by floods and fires. Many of them echoed Brooks’ experience of delays, bureaucracy, long waits and lack of clear communication. Chalke called on the government “to take urgent action to better support people who are increasingly being displaced from their homes due to climate-related disasters.”

Chalke also raised serious concerns about inequity in support delivery. The current “one-size-fits-all approach” of these programs “unfairly creates barriers for people to access the supports they need.” The report detailed evacuees’ long waits for decisions about their aid requests, and described the government’s communication as limited and confusing. 

It also criticized leaders for ignoring years of warnings, going back to 2003, that B.C’s systems were not set up for disasters that force people out of their homes for weeks or months. “Successive leaders in government have, so far, failed to respond to clear direction for improvement in the province’s disaster response programs and capacities,” reads the ombudsperson’s report.

Brooks agreed the government’s delay was unacceptable. “It’s past time,” Brooks told The Narwhal. Past governments haven’t followed through on their promises “because they don’t have to. That’s the thing that bothers me. There’s money spent to make these reports … and they get shelved. Nothing happens.” 

The ombudsperson made 20 recommendations on how to improve the province’s Disaster Financial Assistance and Emergency Support Services. 

These include more capacity to handle applications, better recognition for front-line volunteers, accessible reception centres and flexible and responsive support for all evacuees. Chalke also called for a plan to help people facing long-term displacement, greater capacity building and funding for First Nations and a policy to reassess insurance availability across the province. 

Chalke also called for changes to be implemented over the next two years. At a press conference following the report’s release, he acknowledged that new legislation could take years to see changes on the ground. “What can’t wait is a comprehensive plan to respond to people who are displaced from their homes for long periods,” he said. 

Dian Brooks is grateful she and her brother, and all their animals, made it out of the 2021 floods alive. But there is still frustration with government inaction to protect their home from flooding, the slow response and ongoing recovery. Photo: Jen Osborne

Minister Ma told The Narwhal the province wasn’t surprised by the recommendations and has accepted all of them. “We’ve already done a lot of work over the last few years to try to address or progress on addressing these concerns,” Ma said. “And there will still be work to do moving forward as well.” 

The province is transitioning to an online registration system in an attempt to provide assistance faster: it will send evacuees relief through e-transfers, instead of requiring them to stand in line, fill out paperwork and wait for vouchers. There have also been changes to the Disaster Financial Assistance program to expand farm owner and small business eligibility.

The new legislation “speaks to our desire to no longer focus solely on response to emergencies,” Ma told The Narwhal. We need to “get ahead and be better at preparing for mitigating the impacts of disasters before they happen.” The draft will evolve over the next few weeks as it makes its way through the legislative process. When implemented, it will still take years for related regulations to be developed.  

Brooks says she refuses to be defeated and is grateful that her brother and her as well as their animals made it out safely. But the to-do list of repairs feels relentless from the roof, fencing, field repairs, front deck and walkway. “We are not beggars at the gate. This is taxpayers’ money,” Brooks said. She estimates they still have about $150,000 of work to go. “I’m angry at our government because I think that they have a very large part in this … There’s stuff they can do about this. They’re just not doing it.”

Editor’s note: The ombudsperson’s report findings echo those in The Tyee’s Bracing for Disasters series, reported by Francesca Fionda in collaboration with the Climate Disaster Project. Both found people are being evacuated in B.C. for weeks, not just days, and government support has not adapted to the climate crisis. You can read Diane Brooks’ first-hand account of the flooding here.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

First Nations in British Columbia must be consulted before any mineral claims are made in their territories, according to a decision released Tuesday by the B.C. Supreme Court.

This spring, Gitxaała Nation and Ehattesaht First Nation argued in court that the current way of giving out rights to minerals is based on a “colonial holdover,” which allowed claims to be made in their territories without consultation.  

“The court’s decision makes clear what we knew all along: B.C. owes a duty to consult Gitxaała and other Indigenous nations prior to granting mineral claims in our territories, and it is breaching that duty,” Gitxaała Chief Councillor Linda Innes said in a statement.

The province’s current online system allows almost anyone to make a mineral claim. With a few clicks and a fee, certified individuals or companies can get the mineral rights to a plot of land. There is no duty to consult or notify First Nations if the mineral claim is in their territories before making the claim or exploring the area with handheld tools. 

Without consultation, the process “causes adverse impacts upon areas of significant cultural and spiritual importance” to Gitxaała Nation and Ehattesaht First Nation, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Alan Ross wrote in his written decision. The current process also affects the Nations’ rights “to own, and achieve the financial benefit from, the minerals within their asserted territories.”

Ehattesaht First Nation and Gitxaała Nation started presenting their case against how the province gives away mineral rights in April, 2023. Indigenous leaders, First Nation members, lawyers and mining reform advocates marched to the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver with signs of support. Photo: Jimmy Jeong / The Narwhal

The province now has an 18-month deadline to consult with First Nations and change the current process and include the duty to consult. 

“While the court suspended its declaration for 18 months, the case demonstrates that immediate overhaul of B.C.’s mineral tenure regime is required,” Innes said.

The case was also the first time courts considered the legal effect of the province’s commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

“Our position was … the court has a role in enforcing the application of the United Nations declaration,” Kasari Govender, B.C.’s human rights commissioner, told The Narwhal. The commissioner intervened in the case, meaning she could make legal arguments but was not involved in bringing the case forward. 

However, Ross did not agree and found that the court does not have a role in enforcing the declaration act in relation to the issues brought forward in this case. 

“This feels like a big disappointment and a step back,” Govender said. “When most of us saw that the declaration act was being brought into force here in B.C. we understood that to mean that UNDRIP was going to have real force and effect here in our laws and in our legal system.”

Gitxaała expressed concern the court did not give stronger weight to the United Nations declaration. Despite that, “the status quo has profoundly shifted,” Gitxaała Sm’ooygit Nees Hiwaas (Matthew Hill) said in a statement. 

The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation said in an email it is still reviewing the 148-page decision and it is committed to modernizing the process “in alignment with” the United Nations declaration.

No pause on existing, future mineral claims as nations await new process

Gitxaała Nation and Ehattesaht First Nation also asked for multiple claims in their territories to be quashed. Across the province each year, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 new mineral claims are made, according to submissions from the province.

The courts did not quash any claims or put a pause on any future claims. “We deeply regret that the court did not set aside the mineral claims we challenged in this case, and leaves our territory open for continued mineral claims staking without consultation for the time being,” Innes said.

Dozens of claims were made in Ehattesaht territory, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, while the case made its way through the legal process. A claim was also made in Gitxaała territory on Lax k’naga dzol (Banks Island), south of Prince Rupert, during the hearings.

While technically, claims can continue to be made over the next 18 months, “the landscape has totally changed as a result of this decision,” Gavin Smith, who was part of Gitxaała’s legal team, told The Narwhal.

“Consent and recognition of Indigenous jurisdiction is going to be required in how mineral rights are being addressed. And anyone who’s trying to sneak in the door in the next 18 months is going to be prejudicing their interests over the long-term by ignoring nations’ jurisdiction of the territories,” Smith said.

The pink shaded areas on the maps show areas with mineral claims. Lax k’naga dzol (Banks Island) in Gitxaała Territory (left) has more than 40 mineral claims on it. Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

Ross’ decision recognized there are systemic issues in how claims are made in First Nations territories across the entire province.

“There are many mineral claims throughout Gitanyow territory that are the result of the free entry system that have a lack of consent behind them,” said Naxginkw, Tara Marsden, a Gitanyow member from Wilp Gamlakyeltxw who has worked with local chiefs for many years. 

Gitanyow homelands span 54,000 hectares in northwest British Columbia. Mineral claims have made it challenging to protect salmon habitat or use the land for purposes other than mining.

Calls to change the Mineral Tenure Act, the legislation that guides how claims are given out in B.C., have gone back decades. “Now the province has the legal clarity that they claimed to have needed to actually act on this,” Marsden told The Narwhal.

A timeline emphasizes the urgency many First Nations and mining reform advocates have been pushing for, Nikki Skuce told The Narwhal. Skuce is the director of the Northern Confluence Initiative and co-chair of the BC Mining Law Reform network. Updating the process to include consultation and cooperation with Indigenous people will also achieve biodiversity and conservation targets, Skuce said.

Over the next 18 months, a new regime has to be created that addresses the needs of over 200 First Nations across the province, Marsden added. But they won’t be starting from scratch. “There is some background work that has been done in the previous efforts to reform the Mineral Tenure Act,” she said. 

“I’m really hopeful that they’ll return to those key messages.”

“There’s been years of First Nations efforts to try and overhaul the regime in British Columbia and it unfortunately did take this legal action to do that,” said Naxginkw (Tara Marsden). Photo: Jimmy Jeong / The Narwhal

One step closer ‘to make a better world’

The Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Prince Edward Island all have policy variations restricting people from entering private property to prospect or make a claim without the consent of the land owner, according to the coalition of environmental groups who intervened on the case.  

Modernization of the Mineral Tenure Act in B.C. was already underway, and the 18-month timeline allows the process to continue with “clarity and predictability,” Keerit Jutla, president and CEO for the Association for Mineral Exploration told The Narwhal.

“We believe that Indigenous participation is central to successful mineral exploration in B.C.,” Jutla said. The association has represented the mineral exploration industry since 1912. It was part of a coalition of industry groups intervening in the court case, arguing claim holder activities prior to permitting stages don’t impact Indigenous Rights and consultation is required when a proponent seeks permits.

As the new regime is developed, Jutla said the association will be encouraging proponents and partners to build relationships and meaningful collaborations with First Nations “as early in the process as possible, whether that’s contemplating staking or contemplating any projects.” The association offers best practices and resources online for companies who are looking for advice on how to start. 

Over the 14 days of hearings, the province argued against any immediate changes to the current mineral tenure system and asked for a minimum of 18 months to reform the mineral title system.  

Lax k’naga dzol (Banks Island) has been part of the Gitxaała First Nation’s homelands since time immemorial. It’s the community’s breadbasket, where members harvest salmon and halibut, seaweed, giant mussels and medicinal plants. Photo: Gitxaała Territorial Management Agency

In written and oral submissions lawyers for the province pointed to recent numbers from the British Columbia geological survey, which found spending on mineral and coal exploration grew to almost $660 million in 2021. Mining has generated a three-year annual average of close to $250 million in direct mineral tax revenue for the province, lawyers said.

While the province is citing the number of jobs and revenue the mining industry brings in, they are leaving out the cost of clean up and irreparable damages to the land, Gitxaała Hereditary Chief Nees Hiwaas previously told The Narwhal. “The damage is more than the money they make,” he said. “The people that come to do the mining are the ones that rape the land and then leave. They don’t have to live with it. We have to live with it. That’s what makes me sad.”

The economic arguments made by industry groups in court were almost seen as “parallel to constitutional rights,” Marsden told The Narwhal. “That is not the way to go about building relationships,” she said. There are progressive mining companies out there and now is the time to work with those who are ready to implement this “groundbreaking case.”

Gitxaała Elders, leadership and community members made multiple trips from their home territories of Banks Island and Prince Rupert to be present at the Vancouver hearings. Dozens of supporters joined First Nation leadership outside the courthouse for the final day of hearings and leadership left hopeful that change was coming.  

“Like many nations, Gitxaała has been living with the consequences of bad mining practices for years. We knew that bringing this case forward was not just the right thing for Gitxaała, it was also part of the broader work of ensuring respect for the laws and governance of all sovereign Indigenous Peoples in B.C.,” Innes told The Narwhal in an email.

“We see this as another step in the journey we are on to make a better world for the future generations of all Indigenous Peoples in this province.”

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They came from thousands of millimetres away to compete in what must be one of the slowest events on earth, Bowen Island’s annual slug races. That’s right: those slimy, soft, land-crawling invertebrates that love your garden greens can also be fierce competitors. 

On a muggy August day this summer, over a dozen local slugs were transported to the track by their human slug jockeys in makeshift stables of plastic fruit containers, used Tupperware or plush mini aquariums lined with moist moss, dried leaves and sticks. “You might not be able to see a blackberry but I have it inside,” said Bowen Smith, a five-year-old veteran slug racer who trained Dug the Slug for this year’s competition.  

Slugs of all sizes competed in the foot race for gastropods as part of Bowfest, an annual community event on the small island off the coast of Vancouver. The island tradition is a reminder for humans to slow down, create community and celebrate the quirky side of life, slug race organizers told The Narwhal. “Slugs of any political persuasion are invited to join,” read the call out for the first ever Bowen Island slug races in 1977. “The first three across the finish line will, after appropriate drug tests, be given appropriate prizes.”

Forty-five years later, the tradition and drama of slug racing continues. Slugs are placed in individual lanes lined with guardrails to direct racers towards the finish line and discourage slug pile-ups. Competitors have 20 minutes to get as far as they can on a wooden track of about 100 centimetres. 

The slug that makes it the furthest wins — competitors sometimes make it all the way to the finish line, but they often don’t. One controversial year, a speedy snail snuck in. It won and outcry ensued. Since Snailgate 2007, this 100-centimetre dash has been strictly slug-only. 

Race organizer Sarah Haxby gave the crowd updates as the race progressed including disqualifications — and an explanation that the red streaks were strawberry juice, not slug blood. Photo: Uytae Lee / The Narwhal

This year the competition was intense, with tentacle-to-tentacle finishes, disqualifications and even a slug-napping. 

“I didn’t invent this slug race, but I grew up with it,” Bowen resident and race organizer Sarah Haxby said. She’s kept the tradition alive for several years and loves seeing kids learn about and care for the tiny creatures. Part of the race is “celebrating our slugs,” Haxby added. While the lettuce-lovers might cause some challenges for gardeners, it’s important to appreciate local species, she said. 

“I just love it because it’s getting kids to look at small slimy things, to name them, to think about them, to learn about them, to identify with them and to care for them.”

Caring for slugs is important, especially in British Columbia, which is home to more than 25 different species. Nine are listed as threatened or of special concern by either Canada’s Species at Risk Act or provincial rankings. Slugs play a vital role in keeping ecosystems functioning by digesting dead and decaying plant and animal matter and pooping out the nutrients that enrich soil. 

“They’re part of the little micro critters that essentially keep the world clean,” Dwayne Lepitzki of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada said. Without slugs and snails the world would be full of leaf litter and plant matter. 

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, which assesses species at risk, started looking at “animals with fur, fangs and feathers” in 1978, Lepitzki said. But that only covers a small portion of biodiversity in Canada. Over time, the committee expanded to look at a wider range of life, including soft-bodied invertebrates known as molluscs. It now has a permanent molluscs sub-committee, of which Lepitzki is co-chair.

Climate change and habitat loss are some of the biggest threats to native slugs. Slugs have very specific micro-habitat environments and thrive in damp and dark areas. Hotter and drier conditions, heat domes and floods pose significant threats to slugs. 

“It’s been pretty bad here in B.C.,” Kristiina Ovaska, a biologist focused on species at risk, said. Last year was a challenge with a record-breaking drought, then came the cold. 

Slugs have various techniques to survive cold winters and hot summers. The Meadow slug, found north of Iqaluit on Baffin Island, can tolerate freezing for short periods of time and even survive submerged under water for days. To get through droughts and heat, slugs bury themselves and hide under root cavities or leaf litter to seek moisture. By huddling together they can reduce moisture loss. In the winter, some slugs hibernate, and in hot summer droughts they aestivate — the term for a dormant state of slowing metabolism in the summer.

The conditions this year have also been particularly challenging. British Columbia is experiencing severe drought across the province. We’re still getting through Canada’s worst wildfire season on record, killing and displacing all kinds of animals. And, unlike other creatures, slugs aren’t always able to make a quick escape. “If you’re a deer or a bird, you can fly, you can get away from that fire which is encroaching,” Lepitzki said. “But if you’re a slug and a terrestrial snail, what can you do?”

Slug race day

At the races, slug jockeys were hoping to motivate their slugs to a race-winning speed. Many jockeys carefully placed treats such as blackberries, strawberries, zucchini slices and lettuce leaves at various points on the track as an incentive. Eight-year-old Courtney Peerless, a longtime racer, trains slugs by placing them in lanes and bribing them with grass. “You should train them, but then after, let them rest,” Peerless advised. This year, she entered a big banana slug found under a “really wet log.”

The Pacific banana slug is a popular species on Bowen Island: the fair’s mascot is Bo the Banana slug who wears a ball cap, has a wheat stalk hanging from its mouth and has a very chill vibe. One of the largest slugs in the world, it can grow up to 26 centimetres long. The banana slug is “all over the place” and not at risk of going extinct, Lepitzki said, adding that the little creature is “one of the good guys” — a native slug that’s pretty benign and more interested in eating decaying plants than your garden. 

Land slugs are gastropods which means “stomach-foot” in Greek. The name comes from their large muscular organ known as a foot, which moves in a wave-like motion and secretes mucus to help slugs get around. Photo: Uytae Lee / The Narwhal

The Haida Gwaii slug is endemic to Haida Gwaii meaning it’s not found anywhere else in the world. Photo: Supplied by Kristiina Ovaska

Researchers say slugs have evolved to have either a tiny, remnant shell, an internal shell or no shell at all. Jumping-slugs, like this Dromedary jumping-slug, have a visible shell that’s partially exposed. Photo: Supplied by Kristiina Ovaska

The bigger threat to your kale patch, and to native slugs, are invasive slug and snail species. Many were brought over to North America in the 1800s. Some species likely hitched a ride over with European colonizers, while others were intentionally released into the wild. “Those are voracious eaters and they go after your green garden,” Lepitzki said. Invasive slugs and snails compete for resources with native slugs and can also eat native slugs or their eggs. 

One example is the predatory leopard slug, also known as the great grey slug, which can grow up to 20 centimetres long. It loves eating young crops and hunts other slugs at a top speed of 15 centimetres per minute. Thankfully, for the second year in a row, no leopard slugs showed up at Bowfest.

The first of three heats of the day saw eight slugs go tentacle-to-tentacle. Heinous, a black slug, caused controversy when it climbed over the guardrail and crashed into another slug shortly after the start of the first heat. Slug handler Sophia Glaubach was visibly upset after the disqualification. “Make sure they go the right way,” Glaubach warned future racers as Heinous was released back into the wild. 

“A lot can happen in one minute,” one hopeful slug-racer whispered as the clock counted down the final moments of one of three heats at this year’s slug races on Bowen Island. Photos: Uytae Lee / The Narwhal

The exact technique to ensure a slug goes forward is an enduring mystery. Staring down the race track, a slug doesn’t have the same view as a human would. Most slugs have two sets of tentacles, with the upper ones sensing light and dark and the lower pair tasting and touching the world. “If you had areas on your slug race track which are more dark and damp, they might actually go towards those areas,” Lepitzki said. Another tip for slug racers out there: mist your slug and keep its temporary carrier moist.

Food is likely a good motivator as well, Lepitzki said. He helped raise slugs and snails for research at the University of Alberta and fed them lettuce and carrots slices rolled in calcium carbonate. Slug contributions to science include helping us understand veterinary parasites and inspiring a life-saving medical adhesive.

After 20 nail-biting minutes, first prize was awarded to Selena, the slug raced by three-year-old Cali Smith. But the celebration was short lived as immediately after the race, Selena disappeared, snatched up by another competitor. As allegations swirled that the prize-winning slug was stolen for its speed, Smith’s sobs echoed across the race track.

Shortly after, Selena was returned by another racer. An investigation is not ongoing, as observers agreed the situation was most likely a case of mistaken identity.

Following the trail of slug races

Slug mix-ups were a concern for Bob Kingsmill, who brought the first slug races to Bowen Island in 1977. “I made runways with two-inch high walls so the slugs would just stay within the confines instead of going into a great mess, because I realized you couldn’t put numbers, like you do on horses, on slugs,” Kingsmill told The Narwhal.

The Bowen races were born during a time of turmoil and hope. As Vietnam draft dodgers sought refuge in Canada, the island’s burgeoning population saw old-growth trees being taken down to make way for development, Kingsmill said. 

“There were people on the island who wanted to slow things down,” he said. 

For Kingsmill, hosting playful, positive gatherings helped build positive connections and a sense of community. He couldn’t remember how he came up with the idea to start the quirky competition, but communities across the Pacific Northwest have been hosting slug races as far back as the late ’60s. 

The Narwhal found evidence of slug racing in communities across British Columbia, such as Richmond, Delta, Cortes Island and Victoria, going back to 1985. Cortes Island has hosted slug races on and off over the last 10 years. This year, conditions were too dry to host a competition.

Slug racing can also take place on a circular track. The slug that reaches the edge of the blue circle first, wins. “Some of them do go around and around in circles,” Heidi Ekstrand, who organized slug races in Alaska, told The Narwhal. Photo: Supplied by Susan Ewing

In Ketchikan, Alaska, the track is completely different than on Bowen Island, seeing slugs placed in the centre of a track painted with concentric circles and racing outwards. Heidi Ekstrand helped found the races, which take place at the annual Blueberry Arts Festival, in 1981, and was “slug master” for about 25 years before retiring.   

“It really is exciting,” Ekstrand said. “You can have 20 slugs on the track and every kid will know which slug is theirs. They are piled up along the edges of the track and yelling and cheering. And sometimes the finishes are really spectacular.”

“The main thing I would really emphasize to people is to treat their slugs humanely,” Ekstrand said. “We’ve never had a slug left behind on the track.”

The Ketchikan slug races were inspired by races in Florence, Oregon, which started in the mid to late 1970s at the community’s annual Rhododendron Festival. Organizers did not respond to questions if the race is still ongoing. 

And the earliest slug race The Narwhal found evidence of was in 1968, when Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in Northern California began hosting a “Banana Slug Derby.” As legend has it, the race was started by state park ranger, Paula Pennington. 

“There were a lot of banana slugs at Prairie Creek and you’re constantly moving them so they wouldn’t get stomped on,” Pennington told The Narwhal. One night, she and her colleagues — “a bunch of young college students entertaining ourselves” — decided to race them. It was so much fun they ended up building a circular track for what became an annual event.

The goal of the event was education about banana slugs and their important role in fertilizing soil and eating plants that compete with redwood trees for nutrients. “The public was always going, ‘ew’ to banana slugs, ” Pennington said. “Most of the public was not aware that slugs were anything but snails without a shell that you wanted to kill in your garden.” 

The slug derby in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park was open to banana slugs. Paula Pennington, who founded the races, remembers slug racers of the past with names like, Yellow Submarine and Big Bad Banana. Photo: Submitted by California State Parks

“We thought we had invented something,” Pennington said, when asked about whether she had originated North American slug races. “At that point there was no Internet, none of that stuff to look it up and see if anybody had raced before with slugs.” 

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park stopped hosting the event in the early 2000s, making it possible that Bowen Island is currently home to the longest-running slug races in the world. (But that is a hefty title and we are looking for more slug race history if you have evidence otherwise.)

An overlooked species

At the first slug races on Bowen, Kingsmill was worried people might transport big slugs from across the Lower Mainland to compete. The rules now limit entries to slugs found on Bowen Island to reduce the impact on the species.

Which makes sense, although it would have been an exciting surprise to see a dromedary jumping-slug at the races. This threatened species escapes predators by writhing and leaping around. It can be found on Vancouver Island and in northwestern Oregon and can live for more than a year. 

Slugs can be found in almost every kind of habitat from grasslands and tundra, to marshes and forests. They are found all around the world, except for Antarctica. Generally, except on race day, a large slug likely doesn’t move more than several metres over its entire lifespan — some tiny species likely don’t move more than a few centimetres. Bigger trips are thanks to rides on mammals and birds or getting swept away in strong winds and water currents.

“Being a slug is some distance from my reality, though I periodically feel sluggish,” Kingsmill said as he tried to recall the details of the first slug race.

The slug races bring attention to an important species that’s often overlooked. B.C. does not have standalone species at risk legislation and biologists, environmentalists and researchers have warned the lack of provincial protections leaves big gaps in protecting biodiversity. Species on some federal lands are protected, and most of the federally assessed slugs in B.C. are of special concern, one step before threatened. 

“If we don’t do things properly, if we allow the threats to increase, then that species could very well become threatened or endangered or even be lost from B.C.,” Lepitzki said. 

Despite the frustrations of slug-eaten plants, Lepitzki advises against killing all the slugs in home gardens, which could endanger native slugs that aren’t actually a big threat and could be at risk. “In terms of nutrient recycling, [native slugs] are really important to biodiversity,” and could be helping your garden by eating dead leaves and weeds and adding nutrients to the soil. He recommends people try to identify slugs before deploying any slugicide techniques.

“The most important thing is habitat protection, at all different levels,” Ovaska said. She advises people try to keep their backyards and property as natural as possible and be careful not to introduce invasive species, which might be brought to new areas on nursery plants or through moving soil and leaf litter around.

They say slow and steady wins the race, but when it comes to slug racing, the speediest gastropod takes the prize. While slugs are not known for their speed, they do play a vital role in forest ecosystems. Photo: Uytae Lee / The Narwhal

Back at the races, parents and kids alike spent the afternoon cheering and screaming for their little critters to move just a little closer to the finish line. “The slug race is something I competed in as a kid,” Verena Kaminiarz said. This year, she helped her seven-year-old daughter Freja prep a competitor named Tiny Hero for the final heat of the day. “It’s just something that has continued on and it’s great to bring my kid down here too.” 

Prizes were awarded to human jockeys as a token of time spent with their temporary slug companions. The slugs were quickly released back into nature, ideally close to where they were found. Following community fairs across the Pacific Northwest, retired slug racers are roaming the forests, tentacles held high as “ews” become cheers for their important, overlooked species.

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Melanie Mercier has a yearly tradition of mountain biking the Seven Summits trail near Rossland, B.C. It’s a 30-kilometre, singletrack ride through rocky terrain and blueish-green grass fields. The trail cuts through an area known as Record Ridge, and at different times of the year, speckles of reds, yellows or blues of bitterroot, larkspur, paintbrush and swale desert-parsley dot the landscape. As Mercier gets higher in elevation, she catches glimpses of bright green wolf lichen growing on mature fir trees and the pastel hues of stringy hair lichen blowing in the wind. People travel from all over the world for the technical and physical challenge of this ride. For Mercier, this is home.

But this year the ride was filled with mixed emotions. Just off the trail — and a few kilometres from her home — a resource company is hoping to start an open-pit mine just outside of Rossland.

West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources is applying to open a magnesium mine in an area known as Record Ridge, approximately five kilometres north of the U.S-Canada border. The Calgary-based company is waiting on the B.C. government to determine the next steps, including whether the project will require a provincial environmental assessment, which can put limits on projects or, in some rare cases, stop them altogether. 

The company has been active in the area for almost two decades, West High Yield Resources’ director, Barry Baim, told The Narwhal. But now the company sees a new opportunity. “The paradox of modern mining,” Baim said, stems from the juxtaposition of the industry’s environmental footprint with society’s desire to increase electrification to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

Baim is referring to the push from industry and government to dig up minerals deemed critical to building a lower-carbon economy. For an energy transition, the federal government says these minerals are needed to build things like batteries, electric cars and solar panels. Magnesium is one of 31 critical minerals listed by the federal government. It’s used for alloys in cars, aircrafts and wind turbines as well as in consumer goods like laptops and cameras.

As the global demand for magnesium continues to climb, West High Yield Resources wants to get in on the action. Meanwhile, many community members are raising concerns about what they know so far and the possibility the project might not undergo an environmental assessment. 

The Rossland Range is home to a variety of native plant species such as desert-parsley, larkspur and bitterroot. Metallic green sweat bees and cascadia blue butterflies help pollinate the grassland. Photos: Supplied by Valerie Huff

“We’ve been working together to do everything we can to stop this project from happening,” Mercier told The Narwhal. She’s part of the Save Record Ridge Action Committee, a group of 11 people who live in the area who want to protect the environment and raise awareness about the project. 

The committee is worried about the destruction of critical habitat for species like the threatened mountain holly fern and the impact on tourism and recreation. They also accuse the company of a lack of genuine consultation with residents and First Nations. Through petitions, lobbying efforts and presentations to city council, the group has raised questions about the different scales West High Yield Resources has used to describe the project, the provincial environmental assessment process, the qualifications of technical experts hired by the company and a perceived lack of transparency in reclamation plans. 

The proposed location of the project is on a complex, unique and rare grassland ecosystem. Mercier is skeptical reclamation could restore the area. She’s a geologist and horticulturist who says it would take years to collect seeds from the unique plants and germinate them to ensure the area could be properly reclaimed. “You can’t go buy [these plants] at the garden centre at Canadian Tire.”   

Residents in Rossland are at the centre of a paradox as West High Yield Resources’ Record Ridge proposed magnesium project pushes ahead. As the demand for minerals used in low-carbon technologies is expected to grow exponentially — and as B.C. vies to be a key player in the growing global supply — what happens here could set the stage for other communities. 

Long a mining town, Rossland is now a tourism hub 

Mining created the community of Rossland, in the west Kootenay region of south-central B.C., in the 1890s when the town was at the heart of B.C.’s gold rush. Rossland was incorporated in 1897 with a population of 7,000, making it B.C.’s fourth largest city at the time. 

“Rossland developed out of the heyday of gold mining,” Andy Morel, Rossland’s mayor, told The Narwhal. The last mine closed in the 1920s. 

By 1896, two different railway companies had built lines into Rossland to transport ore and goods. Hotels and businesses established themselves as the city grew with the gold rush. Photo: D-02384 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum

“Mining on a very small scale might have been done a few times over the last 80 years or so, but it never occurred to most of us that we’re going to be looking at substantial mining expansion again in our community,” Morel said. Mining still has its mark in the community. Less than 10 kilometres away in neighbouring Trail, Teck’s zinc and lead smelter has been operating for more than 100 years.

Today, Rossland’s population is about 4,000 and many are proud of its shift from resource town to resort destination. The Seven Summits trail is an internationally recognized mountain biking ride and the local Red Mountain ski hill brought in US$2.8 million in revenue last season and spent more than US$1 million in wages and benefits. Rossland is one of 14 designated resort municipalities in the province, making it part of a select group of small municipalities receiving funding to bolster their tourism industries.

Mayor of Rossland, Andy Morel, hikes the Seven Summits trail and takes in the surrounding alpine views. Photo: Supplied by Andy Morel

“Many people have moved and continue to move to the community because of the outdoor lifestyle of skiing, mountain biking and hiking,” Morel said. The development of an open-pit mine so close to the community and its impact on the environment are in conflict with this, Morel said. “From a personal standpoint, I am challenged to find any way to accept a project this size to be considered in this location.”

Proposed Rossland mine slips just under threshold for environmental assessment — sometimes

The proposed project is an open-pit mine about 7.5 kilometres from Rossland. West High Yield Resources intends to extract magnesium as well as nickel and silica. To do that, the surface will be removed and minerals will be extracted from a hole in the ground approximately 200,000 square metres, roughly the size of 125 hockey rinks.   

West High Yield Resources estimates 30 to 50 seasonal jobs will be created in the first two years of the project. The mine is economically viable, in part, because there is “a high grade resource,” of magnesium as well as silicon, iron and nickel, Baim, who’s worked in resource development for the last 20 years including projects in hydrocarbons and oilsands, said. “From a volume standpoint and a footprint standpoint it will be very small in nature relative to a lot of comparative mines.”

But the community has raised concerns the scale of the project is described differently for investors than it was in the company’s application to B.C.’s environmental assessment office. The economic analysis and technical reports available online were performed for a commercial plant of 250,000 tonnes per year with a project duration of 20 years and lifespan of up to 170 years. Meanwhile West High Yield Resources’ submission to B.C.’s environmental assessment office was for two years “at a rate no greater than 249,000 tonnes per year.” 

An application for 250,000 tonnes per year would automatically trigger an environmental assessment, meaning West High Yield Resources’ application falls just below the threshold. The assessment is a government-led process that looks at the potential economic, social, health and environmental impacts of a proposed project. There are opportunities for public consultation and input. The office might decide a project can’t go forward, though that isn’t common. Usually, the assessment will result in recommendations to address possible impacts.

The farther slice of land visible from Rossland’s main street, Columbia Ave., is Record Ridge, where an open-pit magnesium mine is being proposed by West High Yield Resources. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

If the project proves successful beyond two years, Baim said they hope to expand. “Within that time frame, that’s obviously our attempt to demonstrate responsible mining and environmental stewardship and develop a viable economic project that then, when we can, look to the government and amend and for a longer-term period.”

Amending a project after approval is a well-known industry strategy called “project splitting” Sean Nixon, a lawyer for environmental law charity Ecojustice, told The Narwhal. An application for a mine comes in below the requirements for an environmental assessment, avoids an assessment and then the company applies to expand or amend their project once approvals are in hand. 

Many of those amendments are likely to harm the environment, according to a study led by Ben Collison, PhD student at Dalhousie University. Collison and his colleagues looked at 23 approved mines and found more than half received amendments. Nearly half of the approved mines were granted amendments likely to damage water resources and fish habitat. The requests also lacked detail and data to back up decisions, Collison found.

When asked about the application discrepancies and if this was a strategy to avoid environmental assessments, Baim said it needs to show economic potential and viability for a longer-term project. The company is reacting to what the government is asking for and “complying with the rules and regulations as are outlined by the Ministry of Mines.”

Not describing the full scope of a project to the environmental assessment office undermines the credibility of the entire process, Collison told The Narwhal. “From the get-go you are not adequately assessing what the project is actually going to turn out to be,” he said.

The proposed project is less than eight kilometres from Rossland and approximately five kilometres from the U.S. border. The open pit could be approximately 200,000 square metres — or roughly the size of 125 hockey rinks. Map: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

“It’s very common for projects to come in just under the threshold,” Nixon said. “What’s not so common is for them to proudly trumpet that they’re trying to go around this limit and that they plan to expand. That, in my view, should automatically trigger an environmental assessment.”

Morel and the Save Record Ridge Action Committee both say an environmental assessment is needed to gauge the impact of Record Ridge Magnesium Project and allow more time for the community to provide input. 

“I can’t believe that they’re somehow able to be under the radar,” Morel said. “To me, it just seems ludicrous to even allow drilling and exploration in sensitive areas.” West High Yield Resources has been drilling and exploring the area since 2007.

A group of environmentalists, botanists and naturalists walk along the edge of West High Yield Resources’ proposed open-pit mine on Record Ridge near Rossland, B.C. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

The environmental assessment office is reviewing West High Yield Resources’ application to determine whether or not it will require an environmental assessment. In an email, the office said while an assessment hasn’t been automatically triggered, the project still falls within the range of a possible assessment. West High Yield Resources has been asked to provide more information to the provincial government to help it make a decision. Any submissions will also be posted online. 

To make a decision, the office said it looks at a number of factors including ”interests and concerns raised by the proponent, First Nations, the public, local governments and provincial and federal agencies.” Another question the office is considering is if an assessment would support their “overarching purposes to advance sustainability and reconciliation.”

Questions about First Nations consultation in ‘culturally important’ area

Even if an environmental assessment is not required, the project still has to receive permits from the the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. From exploration to closure, mining projects have to get various permits from the provincial government. Consultation with communities and First Nations doesn’t have to happen until the project applies for permits to start construction.

The province told The Narwhal early stages of consultation on the proposed mine in Record Ridge are now underway. It will be engaging with ten different Indigenous groups; Sinixt First Nation (Lakes Tribe of the Colville Confederated Tribes), Okanagan Nation Alliance, Osoyoos Indian Band, Penticton Indian Band, Upper Nicola Band, Lower Similkameen Indian Band, Okanagan Indian Band, Splatsin First Nation, Shuswap Band and Ktunaxa Nation Council.

Thomas Hunt, communications manager for the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, said First Nations are invited to participate in the mine development review committee. The committee is an advisory group made up of multiple representatives, including the City of Rossland. It does not have the authority to make decisions. 

While the province has a legal duty to consult First Nations, it does not need the consent of nations or nearby municipalities to move forward with a mine.

Like much of the province, the area in and around Rossland has no historic or modern treaties and continues to be occupied and cared for by varying Indigenous nations. There are also overlapping claims between different nations. 

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are made up of 12 bands with over 9,500 members. Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson wants to see better protections for waterways and communities downstream from mines in B.C. Photo: Francesca Fionda / The Narwhal

Jarred-Michael Erickson is chairman for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation made up of 12 constituent tribes. The tribes include the Colville Tribe and the Lakes Tribe. Harvesting, hunting and gathering continue to happen in the area around Rossland and downstream at the Columbia River. 

Erickson, who has been chairman since 2022, had not heard about the proposed mine when The Narwhal spoke to him in July. While he supports the push for a greener economy, he doesn’t believe government’s mining policies do enough to protect waterways or prevent pollution downstream. 

The Sinixt, which means people of the place of the bull trout, have territory in and around Rossland spanning from Revelstoke, B.C., to Kettle Falls in Washington. Due to the violent colonization carried out by the Canadian and U.S. governments, many Sinixt were displaced south and confined to a reserve in Washington and called the Arrow Lakes Tribe. In 1956, the federal government declared them “extinct” in Canada. In spite of the declaration of extinction, a recent Supreme Court win for the Sinixt acknowledged their rights to hunt and harvest in their territory.

The City of Rossland consults with the Autonomous Sinixt. As “autonomous” they are Sinixt who reject the authority of the governments of Canada, U.S.A., B.C, Washington State, Colville Confederated Tribes, Okanagan Nation Alliance and other governing bodies. Elder and Matriarch Marilyn James told The Narwhal she wasn’t contacted by West High Yield Resources or the provincial government about the project. When she reached out to the company, they invited her to provide feedback by email. She attended an open house hosted by the company in May.

Sinixt matriarch Marilyn James sits outside a pithouse in the Slocan Valley. The pithouse is located on an ancient Sinixt village site which James has caretaken since the early 1990s. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

“It is not a good plan,” James said. “Record Ridge has a lot of our traditional foods, gathering spots, it was an ancient trail, it hosts old camp sites.” She’s led a number of local projects including rewilding forests and developing trails and said she’s concerned the mine would destroy archaeological evidence and sensitive plants. “It’s culturally important because it also is right at the trans border line. The line that crossed us, the line that dismissed us, distinguished us, extinguished us, extincted us.”

Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band confirmed via email that his community is participating in the B.C. government’s mine development review committee, and currently reviewing the Record Ridge proposal from both an environmental and economic perspective. So far, West High Yield Resources “has been respectful of our rights and title and as such we are engaging with them actively,” Louie said. “The final decision on the project remains in the future and depends on ensuring the rights, title and needs of the Osoyoos Indian Band are met. In the meantime, we will continue to engage the proponent and the BC Government.”

The engagement process is in early stages and not all First Nations The Narwhal contacted were able to provide a comment before publication time.

The duty to consult is largely government-led, though proponents are encouraged by government and industry associations to engage early in their projects. Baim said West High Yield Resources reached out to and met with all nations who had a land claim in the area in 2018. In 2022, he said the company reached out to two more First Nations. He did not provide a list of which First Nations but said they will have the opportunity to comment on the project. “We’ll continue to move forward with guidance from the government,” he added.

Critics of mine concerned about qualifications of company’s experts

For the community in and around Rossland, the public comment period has yet to open. Once the public consultation opens, community members and groups can submit their thoughts on the project to the provincial government. “We’re waiting to see what the province’s next move is on the project so we can respond accordingly,” Ben Isitt, a public interest and environmental lawyer representing the Save Record Ridge Action Committee, told The Narwhal. He said he has no idea when the province will invite comments. When asked for an update the province said there is “no anticipated decision date” for next steps.  

Beyond the environmental impact of the project, the committee has also raised questions about the qualifications of people working on the project and the company’s history. 

In 2018, West High Yield Resources was ordered to pay a $200,000 settlement to the Alberta Securities Commission for publishing a misleading news release about a sale of its mineral deposits. The news release stated the company had reached a deal to sell the asset for US$750 million, a price reported to be 46 times its market value. In the days after the announcement, its share prices jumped from between 30 and 40 cents a share up to a high of $3.80. But the deal collapsed. West High Yield Resources had known the would-be-purchaser did not have confirmed financial backing to make the purchase at the time of its news release. West High Yield Resources was also ordered to train its officers and directors on best practices for public company governance and disclosure by the end of 2019.

The regulator also found the actions were not intentional and the directors or officers did not receive any personal financial gains from the incident. “It was unfortunate,” Baim said, who was not directly involved at the time. He said the training was taken shortly after the decision. The project has been years in the making and the team has demonstrated to investors its “resilience and ability to continue the project,” Baim said. If something like this was to happen again, it would be handled in a “totally different manner.” 

The Gold Rush Bookstore in Rossland, B.C., pays homage to the city’s founding in mining and resource extraction. Despite this, many residents oopose a proposal by West High Yield Resources to create an open-pit magnesium mine on Record Ridge just outside of the city. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

Critics of the mine proposal are also concerned about the credentials of the technical experts hired by West High Yield Resources. The company has three technical reports available online. These required reports disclose scientific and technical information about the project and must be authored by qualified professionals. None of the professionals listed in West High Yield Resources’ most recent reports published in November 2022 and February 2009 are currently registered in the provincial association of professional engineers and geoscientists’ database. 

Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia told The Narwhal it is possible the professionals listed meet requirements without being registered. A spokesperson said they are aware of the issue and while they are legally not able to confirm specific investigations, the professional association said it does look into incidents where non-registrants are listed on projects in the province.

When asked about the reports, Baim said the authors have all their credentials and are qualified. He added the reports are referring to the technical aspects of processing the material. “The only thing that’s going on on-site is the mining and crushing of the ore and it will be transported off the mountain.” 

Where it ultimately gets transported to is still not confirmed. The report says the location of the plant is “TBD in southern British Columbia.” Baim said it could be, “anywhere and everywhere. It could be in Trail, could be in Northport, could be overseas.” 

‘Critical mineral’ or a ‘destructive new wave of extraction’?

West High Yield Resources’ website says it is “focused on the exploration and development of strategic critical minerals that play a pivotal role in the global societal transition towards green energy and a net zero carbon environment.” The minerals are all going to advance the goal outlined by many governments in the United Nations Paris Accord to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Baim said.

For the first two years of the project, Baim said West High Yield Resources intends to sell its ore to U.S.-based Galaxy Magnesium. Its clients use magnesium for a wide range of end-products like light-weight race cars and helicopters, water piping and nutritional supplements.

It also has a subsidiary, Galaxy Power. The main products advertised are pumps, towers and hydraulic systems used to extract oil from deep wells. The magnesium is used in alloys to make lighter and faster oil pumps. In advertisements the company describes how the “energy-saving” power of using their pumps translates to being able to pull more oil per day out of fields in Kazakhstan.

For Mercier, the push for more mining to fuel a lower-carbon economy is greenwashing. “It’s an approach to keep fulfilling this need for consumption. It’s not an approach to actually protect the environment,” she said. She’d rather see policies that encourage alternative solutions to our transportation problems; like carpooling or biking rather than continuing to use cars. 

Along with the federal government offering a 30 per cent tax credit for critical mineral projects, the B.C. government is investing nearly $8 million over the next three years to develop a provincial strategy. 

Mining reform advocates have also raised questions about the critical minerals boom. A recent report written by Nikki Skuce of the Northern Confluence Initiative, a salmon watershed conservation group, questions how mining can help society out of the climate crisis. Skuce criticizes the lack of transparency provided by the government when determining what minerals should be categorized as “critical” and worries about the integrity of environmental assessments amid the rush to permit critical mineral mines. “In the months ahead as mining corporations line up to ask for support for a destructive new wave of extraction,” Skuce writes that policymakers should not be asking, “how can we get the minerals more quickly?” but “do we need them at all?”  

After Rossland open houses, company changes some plans but concerns linger

West High Yield Resources hosted two open houses to share more information about the project in May, where residents expressed many concerns about the project. There were “a lot of angry people” Morel said, who attended both meetings. People were extremely upset the project had advanced so far without their input, and at the first meeting the crowd grew hostile with cursing and name calling, Morel said. “It was a pretty challenging environment to be in.”

People were worried about truck traffic that would be transporting ore, possibly through Rossland’s main street which is lined with crosswalks, restaurants, the main grocery store, hostels and other businesses. Concerns were also raised about noise pollution and dust from blasting as well as possible surface and groundwater contamination.

The Seven Summits mountain biking trail is one of only four rides in Canada designated by the International Mountain Bicycling Association for its immersive ride through beautiful views and technical challenge. Melanie Mercier makes it a yearly tradition to head out on her bike. Photo: Supplied by Michael Wigley

Lifetime Rossland resident Kim Deane is in his early 80s and has seen Rossland change over the decades. Now retired, he was an electrical engineer who helped develop mines and worked at the smelter in Trail for 30 years. Currently, Deane describes himself as a “middle-of-the-roader” who would rather not see the project happen. His main concern is the area won’t be properly reclaimed. “The mine just isn’t worth it in terms of value and long-term cost to the region.”

Baim said since the meeting, alternate routes are being explored, the company is looking at using mechanized equipment for extraction instead of blasting and having enclosed environments to manage dust and noise. Baim also said part of the reclamation plan could be to replant or move local species. The reclamation plan is not public as it has not been approved yet, Baim said. 

Morel said he appreciates the company is trying to find ways around community concerns, but he doesn’t think it will be enough. The changes sound radical and costly to Morel and he wonders why the company didn’t consult with the community before submitting their application.

Hunt said the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation is in the early stages of reviewing West High Yield Resources’ permit application, which was submitted in June. He said the ministry would not provide an estimate for next steps, when a decision on the application could be made or when the project could start, adding the ministry is planning to have an information update meeting this fall. 

West High Yield Resources is hoping to have permits by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the community waits for answers to multiple lingering questions like details of the proposed reclamation plan, if there will be an environmental assessment and when they will be invited to submit official comments. 

If the project goes ahead, future generations won’t see how precious a place this is, Mercier said. “It just breaks my heart.”

— With files from Kelsie Kilawna, Louis Bockner and Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood

Updated on Aug. 16, 2023, at 3 p.m. PT: This article was updated to correct the spelling of Kim Deane.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

On Aug. 1, 2023, Vancouver-based The Metals Company announced to investors it plans to submit an application to mine an area of the Pacific Ocean, even though regulations are not ready. The company aims to start production by the end of 2025 and estimates it will need up to $70 million to submit an application.

At the most recent meetings of the International Seabed Authority, delegates tasked with coming up with rules agreed to not allow commercial deep-sea mining of the ocean floor until international regulations are in place. The authority committed to working on mining regulations over the next two years. 

While a Canadian company is pushing for deep-sea mining, the federal government is joining calls for a moratorium on extracting minerals from the world’s ocean floor. 

Eighteen countries, as well as financial institutions and companies, are taking positions against deep-sea mining in international waters. Canada’s July 10 statement confirms it will not support commercial extraction of minerals from the seafloor until more is known about the environmental impacts and there is a “robust regulatory regime” in place. 

“Seabed mining should take place only if effective protection of the marine environment is provided through a rigorous regulatory structure, applying precautionary and ecosystem-based approaches, using science-based and transparent management and ensuring effective compliance with a robust inspection mechanism,” the government of Canada said in a joint statement from the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Natural Resources, Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

The support for a moratorium comes as delegates and observers, including from Canada, negotiate next steps at the International Seabed Authority meetings this month in Kingston, Jamaica. The International Seabed Authority is an autonomous, intergovernmental body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is made up of 168 members and regulates the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction. These waters are beyond national jurisdiction. As it stands now, there are no clear and agreed-upon extraction regulations for the industry.

“The pressure is on to protect the deep sea, and Canada’s support for a moratorium comes at a critical moment,” Nicole Zanesco, Oceans North’s International Policy Advisor, said in a statement. Oceans North, a marine conservation group, is the only Canadian observer at the meetings in Kingston. 

There is still a lot to negotiate at the International Seabed Authority meetings over the next three short weeks including environmental protections, clean-up responsibilities should disaster strike, financial payment regimes for permits and how to structure contracts and enforcement mechanisms. For regulations to take effect, they must be adopted by consensus of the authority’s council, made up of 36 states. 

For the first time, the international regulator is also being asked to discuss a general policy on what a pause to deep-sea mining would look like, rather than solely focus on how to allow mining. A coalition of five states — Chile, Costa Rica, France, Palau and Vanuatu — have put forward a request to discuss how to implement a “precautionary recess” of deep-sea mining. 

Very little is known about the deep seafloor of the Pacific Ocean. It’s one of the least explored regions on the planet. The Metals Company is using new technologies to collect data on these ecosystems as they collect mineral-rich polymetallic nodules. Photo: The Metals Company

There is an enormous diversity of seafloor invertebrates that depend on the unique ecosystems hidden thousands of kilometres below the surface. Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization

There is a lack of scientific knowledge around extracting minerals from the ocean floor and without proper regulations, rules and procedures, “it is impossible to assess the extent of the harmful effects on the marine environment that may eventually arise from exploitation activities,” the request says.

The international moratorium Canada is calling for is an important commitment to protecting biodiversity and taking a precautionary approach, Nikki Skuce, director of the Northern Confluence Initiative and co-chair of the BC Mining Law Reform network, told The Narwhal. Canada said it would not support deep-sea mining within national boundaries in February. “There are so many unknowns of what the impacts could be,” Skuce said. On land, mining has huge impacts to waterways and there is still so much uncertainty about how mining below the surface will affect ocean ecosystems, Skuce said.

Deep-sea mining deadline rule meant to break filibusters, not expedite the process 

The current round of meetings comes after the International Seabed Authority failed to meet a rarely imposed deadline set by one of the world’s smallest countries. 

The provision, known as “the two-year rule,” which expired on July 9, was triggered when the Republic of Nauru said it wants regulations in place so it can start deep-sea mining in international waters. The island state, northeast of Australia, has a population of just over 12,500, with one in four people living below the basic-needs poverty line. Coral reef surrounds the tiny island which is now developing its first port. 

The International Seabed Authority, which has been working on regulations for years, created the two-year rule in anticipation of one or two members blocking a consensus for geopolitical reasons or to frustrate the process, explained ocean governance expert Pradeep Singh. 

The two-year rule compels members to complete regulations within two years or consider provisionally approving applications for mining before regulations are fully in place. The deadline has passed and the regulations are not complete. What happens next has legal experts, ocean scientists, environmentalists and deep-sea mining companies holding their breath as states decide on the future of the ocean floor.

“It was never anticipated that this provision would be used if one actor wanted to go ahead and could basically accelerate the whole process,” Singh told The Narwhal. “There's still a long way to go in negotiations. It would be really unrealistic to expect them to be prepared to adopt the regulations anytime soon.”

Right now companies can apply for exploration permits if they are sponsored by an International Seabed Authority member state — like Nauru. Canadian miner The Metals Company has been exploring parts of the Pacific Ocean floor for mineral-rich deposits known as polymetallic nodules — potato-sized rocks that sit on the sea bottom. It’s “a battery in a rock,” that can be collected “without any digging or drilling” according to The Metals Company. 

Nauru triggered the two-year rule and is sponsoring mining contractor, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc., a subsidiary of The Metals Company.

Investors and businesses argue the valuable minerals on the ocean floor are needed to shift society to a battery-powered future. There are more than two dozen projects already exploring more than 1.5 million square kilometres of seabed around the world — an area bigger than British Columbia and the Yukon combined. 

Critical questions facing the International Seabed Authority are what the two-year rule expiration means for the regulation process, and what to do if a company submits an application to mine before regulations are in place.

Could a Canadian company be first to mine the ocean floor?

Mining companies want to get started as soon as possible. “The exciting thing about this very moment in time — the final piece of the regulatory regime is about to fall into place which means that this resource is about to be open to business,” Gerard Barron, CEO and Chairman of The Metals Company, said in a YouTube interview for investors. “I can’t see anything stopping us,” Barron said as he described the company's shift from exploration to exploitation in the video, recorded in April.

The Narwhal asked The Metals Company if it would submit an application to mine if regulations are not adopted after the meetings end this month. “Our preference is to submit an application with exploitation regulations in place but we retain the legal right to submit an application in their absence and to have this considered by the council,” Dan Porras, company spokesperson said in an email after declining an interview request. 

The Metals Company is using remotely operated vehicles to explore and extract nodules from the ocean floor. The company has conducted multiple research campaigns and has already collected thousands of tonnes of nodules. Photo: The Metals Company

Porras also said an application for a commercial contract to mine would only come after the company completes “a high quality comprehensive, science-driven environmental and social impact assessment.”

The Metals Company is registered in Vancouver, B.C., and has multiple subsidiaries including six mineral exploration companies and eight holding companies. 

It has three exploration contracts through its subsidiaries Nauru Ocean Resources, Tonga Offshore Mining Limited and through an arrangement with its Singaporian subsidiary DeepGreen Engineering and Marawa Research and Exploration. These contracts are respectively sponsored by Nauru, The Kingdom of Tonga and The Republic of Kiribati.

While Canada has called for a moratorium, it can’t stop an application to mine on its own. Generally, if an application to explore or mine is submitted to the International Seabed Authority, it would first go to the legal and technical commission. If the commission recommends the application, shutting it down could be challenging. It would require at least two-thirds majority from the 36-member council to vote against approving the application, as well as a majority within each of the five chambers that make up the council to vote in favour of shutting it down. 

It’s unclear if this general procedure would still apply now after the two-year rule deadline passed and in the absence of regulations, Singh said. It’s an important procedure to clarify at this precarious stage because it favours going forward with mining. “It’s an incredibly difficult threshold to meet and it makes it almost impossible for states to vote no on a plan of work,” Zanesco said

Canada bans deep-sea mining, oil and gas drilling in marine protected areas

Compliance and enforcement top of mind as the International Seabed Authority looks to regulate deep-sea mining

Even if The Metals Company does submit an application to mine the sea floor, with sponsorship from Nauru or another member nation, Singh has doubts that extraction would happen anytime soon. 

Conversations among members are moving towards not approving applications before regulations are in place, Singh said. “I think there are significant chances that an application would be rejected,” Singh said. “In the off chance that an application is approved, it doesn't mean that mining will start because the contract can only be negotiated once the regulations are there. And that could take a long number of years before we get anywhere close to that.” 

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, a group of over 100 fishing organizations and law and policy institutes, is leading a global campaign to stop deep-sea mining. Photo: Comms Inc.

When exploration applications came into the authority in the 1990s, contracts were not signed until regulations were adopted years later, Singh said. “I think that puts a dent in the plans that The Metals Company has.” The “primary reason why there is no exploitation is because the regulations are not ready yet,” Singh said. But Nauru's nudge, using the filibuster rule, is urging that process forward.

Another question that looms over the council is how compliance and enforcement will work as companies with international operations are sponsored by countries to get approvals and permits from the seabed authority. 

The International Seabed Authority is a unique and peculiar organization, Singh said, because in contrast to other international bodies it’s capable of deciding who gets to mine and where. It sets standards and practices and is also responsible for enforcement. That’s unlike the United Nations General Assembly or World Health Organization, which leave it up to member states to create and enforce regulations in their own territory. 

Right now, states have control over a company’s activities up until the International Seabed Authority approves an application, Singh said. Once an application is approved, that control mostly shifts over to the authority. 

Seafloor landers, along with remotely operated vehicles, are used to take samples and collect data thousands of kilometres under the sea. Photo: The Metals Company

The corporate structure of The Metals Company shows the complexities of regulating this burgeoning industry. The Metals Company is registered in Vancouver, B.C., but also operates multiple subsidiaries including six mineral exploration companies and eight holding companies based out of Singapore, the United States, Australia, Tonga, Nauru, the British Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom, according to financial filings. 

Regulations are crucial to set out what states are liable for should they decide to sponsor any mining activities, Singh said. Without clear regulations, it’s unclear who could be held liable if disaster strikes. “Why would you expose yourself to such risks?” he asked.

Future of the world’s oceans rests with International Seabed Authority

The impact of the decisions before the International Seabed Authority cannot be understated.

“We're forgetting how absolutely massive this could be,” said Nicole Zanesco of Oceans North. “This would be the largest mining industry on the planet,” with projects in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and across the entire international seabed. 

While there are many legal and policy unknowns, there are also thousands of unknown creatures and lifeforms in the areas flagged for possible mining.

Calls for a moratorium or pause to deep-sea mining are growing around the world. Companies like Google, Volkswagen and Patagonia are committing to not use minerals from the deep sea. Photo: Comms Inc.

Delicate ecosystems and organisms live on the seafloor. These ecosystems also have deposits of sought-after minerals like cobalt, copper, manganese and nickel. Photo: Courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization

New studies continue to uncover the mysteries of the ocean floor echoing concerns of scientists and policy experts. A study published in May found there were more than 5,000 unnamed species in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, an area in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean where exploration is happening. More than 700 marine scientists and policy experts have signed a petition warning deep-sea mining would contribute to a “loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that would be irreversible on multi-generational timescales.”

“If countries are serious about changing how we are on this planet, a decision to mine flies in the face of all of that,” Susanna Fuller, vice-president of conservation and projects with Oceans North, told The Narwhal. For Fuller, these July meetings are a test to see if countries are serious about changing the status quo and how we deal with the climate crisis.

The International Seabed Authority meetings will continue until the end of July. While there might be some more clarity on procedures for decision-making, a clear path for the future of deep-sea mining and any regulations that could guide it will likely take much longer.

Canada's support for an international moratorium was a welcome announcement as the world meets to discuss next steps, Zanesco said in an email from Kingston, Jamaica after the first two days of meetings. But with so much to discuss it is impossible to pinpoint a timeline for what could follow, she said. “What is becoming even clearer, is that the [International Seabed Authority] is not prepared to oversee a mining operation — especially what will potentially be the largest on Earth.”

Updated on August 3, 2023, 12:25 p.m. PT: This article was updated to include the outcome of the International Seabed Authority meetings and an announcement that followed from The Metals Company. The list of countries calling for a pause to deep-sea mining was also updated to include Brazil, Finland and Portugal.

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