(Quebec, 22 October 2015) The Coalition Quebec Meilleure Mine welcomes most of the provisions in the new Mining Transparency Act (Bill 55) passed yesterday, but warns it should have required full disclosure of all payments made by mining companies to different levels of governments and their agencies – not just those above $100,000. In a brief presented in the Quebec National Assembly in August 2015, the Coalition also insisted on eliminating provisions which will allow international companies to not be subject to the same level of transparency as those with head offices in Quebec or Canada. Two of the opposition parties, Quebec Solidaire and Parti Quebecois, supported those recommendations, as well as –surprisingly– the Quebec Mineral Exploration Association. The Quebec government decided not to implement those recommendations, arguing it wants to harmonize its provincial legislation with the federal one – no more, no less. The Quebec Mining Association had also opposed those recommendations, arguing it would create “an administrative burden.”

Read more of the press release in French here.