The full brief is available only in French.
Executive Summary
The provisions of Bill 11, An Act to amend various provisions, mainly for the purpose of reducing the regulatory and administrative burden on the mining sector, appear to the Coalition Québec meilleure mine to be largely unacceptable as they introduce unreasonable setbacks in terms of transparency and predictability for the government and communities consulted by mining companies, while granting these same companies disproportionate advantages due to the limited administrative efficiency that can be expected from these measures. The possibility of significant gains in terms of regulatory and administrative relief is far from clear.
More specifically, the period of validity of impact work authorizations (ATI) should be harmonized with that of mining exploration rights, rather than being arbitrarily set at three years. The obligation to provide annual reports on mining exploration work should not be repealed, and the minister should still be required to justify in writing his decisions to renew any mining lease. In an effort to contribute to the effort to improve the efficiency and clarity of administrative procedures, we propose introducing an effective mechanism for renewing ATIs instead of always starting from scratch with new applications once they expire, as the bill provides.
Our reading of the context surrounding the tabling of this bill leads us to conclude that the Quebec government, in its quest to “accelerate” mining development, is seeking to imitate the federal government and other provinces by repeating the mistakes of the past. By proceeding piecemeal, focusing its attention on procedural details, it avoids taking bold action to ensure that the mining industry serves the interests and realities of Quebec, rather than the other way around. A reading of Bill 11 suggests that its content responds to the demands of mining lobbies rather than a concern for serving the public interest. During the press conference presenting Bill 11, the Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises attempted to justify the proposed measures by citing the existence of “approximately 160 permits” issued to the mining industry. We believe that this argument perpetuates a myth that benefits the industry, when in fact the actual number of major permits, leases, and authorizations listed by the Department of Natural Resources and Forestry is, in our opinion, half that for the most complex and advanced mining projects. The mining sector benefits from a self-regulatory regime, and as such, the issuance of permits to private entities that request the use of explosives and hazardous reagents to destroy ecosystems in perpetuity and affect public health, should not be presented by the state as a scourge, but as a prophylactic treatment.
Our harshest criticism concerns what is not in Bill 11. As international institutions erode and Quebec finds itself at the crossroads of threats from three imperial powers—the United States, Russia, and China—there is absolutely nothing in Bill 11 under consideration that allows the government to gain better control over the mineral resources of its territory or to aim for a certain independence from these hostile foreign powers.
If the legislature wishes to increase the state's ability to respond quickly to industry demands without increasing internal resources or changing the foundations of the system, the best way to legislate would be to continue its efforts to curb the mining boom by filtering mining projects so as to retain only those that are most credible, promising and, above all, accepted by Indigenous peoples and local populations.
Finally, the amendments to the Water Act proposed in Bill 11 undermine the relevance of Quebec's water assessment, a tool produced every 10 years that has the potential to provide us with important information on the evolution of the protection, restoration, or destruction of wetlands and water environments in the province. This proposal unjustifiably deprives the government of valuable recommendations for ensuring the sound governance of our collective heritage.