The Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) is asking the provincial government for legislative changes in the face of the mining boom. In a statement adopted at the forum on the integration of mining activities Thursday in Gatineau, the organization calls for municipalities to be able to determine which places are suitable or not for mining activities.
Concern is palpable among elected municipal officials, according to the president of the UMQ, Daniel Côté, so much so that more than 200 of them, from all over Quebec, came to attend this forum. In question: the explosion in the number of claims, mining exploration permits, in several regions of Quebec in 2021 and 2022. Several of them, such as the Outaouais and the Laurentians, have experienced practically no mining in the past. Citizens therefore react strongly to the possibility of seeing a mine appear not far from their homes, especially in resort areas and near lakes and rivers.
The Declaration for the harmonious integration of mining activities in the territories therefore requires the withdrawal of section 246 of the Act respecting land use planning and development, which gives precedence to mining, oil and gas activities over zoning regulations, plans planning or any other measure taken by a municipality to manage the occupation of its territory. This is a historic request from the UMQ, explains its president, who is coming back to the fore because of the current effervescence.
“Many people are comfortable with mining development, which creates wealth and jobs. But no one wants to see an activity as heavy as a mine in the backyard of residences or instead of a park, a natural space,” said Daniel Côté, adding that a mine could theoretically have the right to settle in a city centre.
According to Mr. Côté, local governments, being closer to citizens, are in the best position to guarantee the social acceptability of projects and avoid clashes between citizens and mining companies.
“If we are trusted to manage where industrial parks, residential areas and agricultural areas are located, why shouldn’t we be trusted to oversee the location of mining activities? asks Mr. Côté.
Protect the lakes
According to the president of the UMQ, local elected officials are also the best able to protect citizens’ sources of drinking water. He mentioned the possibility of designating riparian strip protection zones.
Moreover, a new group of 75 citizen associations for the protection of lakes, the Quebec Coalition of Lakes Incompatible with Mining Activity (QLAIM), was launched on Wednesday. The demands of this group go even further than those of the UMQ, in particular that of a moratorium on the allocation of new claims.
Aware of the issue of social acceptability, the Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, announced Thursday that she had “mandated the Ministry [MNRF] so that it launches an important approach for the harmonious development of mining activities”.
For its part, the MRNF specified that it would thus “evaluate the various facets of the mining regime, in particular the laws, regulations, mechanisms for granting mining rights, consultation processes, government procedures, guides to accompaniment, as well as the means of promoting regional spin-offs”. The objective is in particular to “facilitate a better link between local priorities and mining activity”, indicated the ministry’s press relations officer Stéphane Desmeules.