![Chamber of Mines News Briefs – July 1-2, 2013 [Note: News Headlines Are Hyperlinked to Their Stories in This Document.] NUNAVUT NEWS](http://data.docslib.org/img/615bfae30fa4b41e1aca49f1ce8545da-1.webp)
Chamber of Mines News Briefs – July 1-2, 2013 [Note: News headlines are hyperlinked to their stories in this document.] NUNAVUT NEWS ...... 1 Nunavut faces at Expo Labrador ...... 1 NWT NEWS ...... 2 Métis caribou ruling sets legal precedent in Canada ...... 2 Staying firm on Edehzhie ...... 4 Devolution is a done deal ...... 5 Sixty-years in the making, devolution deal signed ...... 6 Giant cleanup team will lean on Yellowknife ...... 7 RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ENERGY NEWS ...... 8 Mining group head sees tough times now, but better prospects ahead ...... 8 Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamonds debut in Israel ...... 10 De Beers and GNWT sign Gahcho Kué deal ...... 10 Diavik diamond sale to Dominion falls through ...... 11 Nervous time for U.S. coal ...... 12 ENVIRONMENT NEWS ...... 13 North America isn’t ready for climate change, say experts ...... 13 Feds must focus on fighting climate change ...... 17
NUNAVUT NEWS
Nunavut faces at Expo Labrador Premier talks partnerships and shared knowledge Lyndsay Herman Nunavut News/North – July 1, 2013 There were a few Nunavut faces in the crowd at this year's Expo Labrador, an annual event put on by the Labrador North Chamber of Commerce in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L. "Both Nunavut and Labrador's economies are expanding rapidly and host a variety of similarities despite the distance," states Debbie Purvis, events co-ordinator for the Baffin Region Chamber of Commerce, in an email from the event. "New opportunities (mean) developing businesses of all sizes and sectors can participate in this growth." These opportunities provide "a solid foundation for businesses to develop products and services for growing regionally, domestically and into international markets." Opportunities for both Nunavut and Labrador include exploration and development of world-class mineral deposits and public and private investment in transportation, housing and economic development, she stated. The Baffin Region Chamber of Commerce ran a booth at the Expo Labrador trade show representing the Northern Lights Trade Show, an event run in partnership with the Labrador North Chamber of Commerce and held in Ottawa. Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak spoke at a luncheon on June 25 at the Happy Valley-Goose Bay Royal Canadian Legion.
Chamber News Briefs 1 Ernie McLean, chairperson of Expo Labrador, said the event had a record turnout this year, likely due to the Lower Churchill hydroelectric dam project's advancement. Once complete, the project will provide power to Labrador and Nova Scotia. He said Aariak's description of the value of partnerships between Nunavummiut and industry to Nunavut is similar to Labrador's own situation "Our businesses are not in a position to make huge investments but they are in a position to be partners with these developers and benefit from the industrial development," said McLean, referring to hydro- electric, off-shore drilling and similar large-scale ventures. Aariak's speech touched on Nunavut's growing fishing and marine-related industries and their similarity to industries already established in Labrador, as well as Newfoundland. "The MV Nuliajuk is operated by a full-time crew from Newfoundland and Labrador, along with deck hands from Nunavut," said Aariak. "Together, the crew on board the Nuliajuk supports research that is helping to develop our industry sustainably while promoting conservation for future generations. The crew highlights the natural alliance between Nunavut and Nunatsiavut, Labrador and Newfoundland beyond." Labrador expertise may be solicited as ports, docks, and wharfs are built, she said. "In Nunavut, you will find no ports, no dock, no wharfs," said Aariak. "A single small craft harbour is under construction in the community of Panniqtuuq. Labrador alone has 17 such harbours." McLean said partnerships with Nunavut are something Labrador would certainly be open to. "The one theme that I heard from (Aariak's) speech is (Nunavut is) willing to look at this area to do business with them, as we are looking outside to do business with us," he said. "The more you work together, the more opportunities there are, and the better opportunities there are for our young people to benefit from major developments that are taking place."
NWT NEWS
Métis caribou ruling sets legal precedent in Canada Northern Journal - July 1, 2013 Meagan Wohlberg For the first time since the Paulette caveat 40 years ago, a Northwest Territories court has ruled on Aboriginal rights with its decision confirming the North Slave Métis Alliance’s (NSMA) right to harvest Bathurst caribou – a decision that could impact the group’s ongoing legal battle with the federal government. The precedent-setting court decision came through after over a year of deliberation on the eve of Aboriginal Day, affirming the Crown’s duty – and failure – to meaningfully consult with the NSMA when, in response to the Bathurst herd’s decline, the GNWT along with the Tlicho government agreed to limit the annual harvest to 300 caribou. While tags were split between the Tlicho and Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the NSMA was left out of the allowable harvest. NWT Supreme Court Justice Shannon Smallwood applied the “Powley test” – a legal test to determine whether or not Métis have prima facie rights – for the first time in NWT history, concluding NSMA members do, in fact, have claim to Aboriginal rights under Section 35 of the Constitution in the area north of Great Slave Lake.
Chamber News Briefs 2 In her ruling, she found that ancestors of NSMA members, including Francois Beaulieu, travelled, hunted, fished, guided and trapped in the area where NSMA members continue to exercise their rights. “It’s a very significant victory,” NSMA president Bill Enge said. “We are the only Métis people in the Northwest Territories that now have judicially affirmed Section 35 Aboriginal rights, and there’s now no question that the area north of Great Slave Lake is the traditional lands of the North Slave Métis people.” Smallwood ordered the GNWT to immediately consult with the NSMA and provide reasonable accommodation, through negotiation, with respect to management of the Bathurst herd. The victory for the Métis marks the first time in Canadian jurisprudence where a Métis organization has successfully prosecuted a consultation and accommodation lawsuit, thereby setting the foundation for other Métis groups in Canada – along with First Nations and Inuit – to use as a means to remedy wrongful decisions made by the Crown. The ruling now has the potential to impact an ongoing legal suit taken by the alliance against the federal government, following a decision by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (AANDC) Minister Bernard Valcourt stating that North Slave Métis are not a distinct rights-bearing Aboriginal group in the region. Enge, on behalf of the NSMA, recently took the matter to a federal court to have a judge decide whether or not the group has enough evidence to prove it has prima facie rights in the area. That decision could impact the alliance’s claim to resource revenues from devolution along with the ability to negotiate its own land and resources agreement. “I can’t predict how the government of Canada is going to react to this decision, but what I can say is that government along with citizens have to respect the law, and right now the law says that the North Slave Métis people possess Section 35 Aboriginal rights,” he said. Enge said the AANDC minister told the NSMA in a November 2011 letter that the approach he would take regarding including the Métis in devolution negotiations would hinge upon whether or not NSMA members were deemed to be rights-bearing. “Now we have secured a decision from the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories to the effect that we are indeed Section 35 Aboriginal rights holders. He didn’t tell us what kind of approach he would take with us, but it certainly is different than the one he has taken, which is to exclude us and ignore us,” Enge said. “We have an expectation that the right thing to do now is respect the decision and undertake a negotiation with us with a view to include us under the auspices of the devolution agreement. That’s what we think he should do and that’s what we would expect his approach to be.” Legal counsel for the NSMA, Chris Devlin of Devlin/Gailus Barristers and Solicitors in Victoria, BC, said he hopes the federal government will take heed of the ruling and amend its decision rather than proceed through a series of expensive lawsuits. “At some point, both the GNWT and federal government are going to have to change their policy decisions. It’s only a matter of policy that prevents them from negotiating with the NSMA…One would like to think that responsible governments will listen to the opinions of the court and change policy accordingly. That’s the institutional dialogue that’s supposed to happen between the courts and the legislature and the executive,” Devlin said. “So I hope that it doesn’t take a series of lawsuits before reasonable people in both levels of government say, ‘Perhaps our current policy isn’t the best one.’”
Chamber News Briefs 3 Staying firm on Edehzhie Dehcho First Nations against any development in the area NWT News/North – July 1, 2013 Roxanna Thompson Dehcho First Nations is standing firm on its goal to see Edehzhie fully protected. "We will be relentless," said Dehcho First Nations Grand Chief Herb Norwegian. "We'll ensure Edehzhie is well protected." The culturally- and ecologically-valued area was one of the topics that leaders and delegates from across the Deh Cho discussed during the Dehcho First Nations' annual assembly that took place in Fort Providence from June 25 to 27. The gathered representatives heard that while there has been progress on Edehzhie in the past few months, new challenges have also arisen. Dehcho First Nations (DFN) has been working since 1999 to get permanent protection for Edehzhie through the NWT Protected Areas Strategy. Edehzhie is an area on the Horn Plateau that contains the headwaters for the Rabbitskin, Willowlake and Horn rivers as well as Mills Lake, which are considered important fish and wildlife habitat. The original study area was approximately 25,000 square kilometres. In March, the federal government agreed in writing to complete the final stages of the strategy to establish 14,250 square kilometres of Edehzhie as a national wildlife area. The agreement, however, came with a caveat. Although, as a national wildlife area, Edehzhie would be given surface and sub-surface protection from mineral development, the federal government wants to keep the sub-surface of Edehzhie open to oil and gas development with the understanding that the resulting infrastructure would be placed outside the national wildlife area's boundaries, said Larry Innes, who provides legal council to DFN, during a presentation at the assembly. DFN has already made it clear in a letter sent to the federal minister of the Environment that they won't support that condition. It's not right for Canada to be coming forward with a new condition at this late stage, said Innes. DFN wants to ensure it will be part of the management of the national wildlife area through an agreement like the one that created the consensus team for the Nahanni National Park Reserve, Innes said. DFN also wants all land that was part of the original study area - land that won't be part of the wildlife area - protected until the Dehcho Land Use Plan is completed, so that it can be protected under the plan. Canada is currently consulting internally on the terms for establishing Edehzhie as a national wildlife area. The federal government's desire to allow companies to drill under Edehzhie didn't come as a surprise to Norwegian. "They would have done anything there to make sure they got to those resources," he said, speaking after the assembly. Norwegian said DFN will continue to press the federal government and will be involved in the process of protecting Edehzhie until the end. A number of elders spoke to the assembly about the importance of protecting Edehzhie. "When we look at our land, we love our land," said elder Ted Landry of Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation during the assembly in Fort Providence. Landry spoke about how his father created a trail to Edehzhie for trapping and the abundance of animals in the area.
Chamber News Briefs 4 "We need to hang onto this for our young generation," he said. In addition to Edehzhie, major topics at the three-day assembly included the Dehcho Process and the Dehcho Land Use Plan.
Devolution is a done deal GNWT, feds and aboriginal leaders gather in Inuvik to sign final agreement NWT News/North – July 1, 2013 Shawn Giilck With a flourish of a pen, the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement was signed. Premier Bob McLeod and federal Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Minister Bernard Valcourt were among the lead signatories of the agreement during an evening ceremony at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex on June 25. They were joined by representatives of aboriginal groups across the NWT, including Nellie Cournoyea, chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC); Robert Alexie, president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council; Garry Bailey, president of the Northwest Territory Metis Nation; Charles McNeely, Vice-President of the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated; and Chief Clifford Daniels of the Tlicho Government. The document was signed on a polar bear hide that had been used during the signing of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement in 1984, Cournoyea said. It was an auspicious way to mark a historic occasion that attracted approximately 200 people to the recreation complex. Alexie was among the first to speak, saying the NWT "has nothing to fear from devolution." He said this devolution agreement is part of an ongoing process that has seen other powers delegated from the federal government to the territories, notably education and health. "It's been done before," he said. The Inuvialuit were among the first aboriginal groups in the NWT to endorse the process, Cournoyea added. "The Inuvialuit have been involved in devolution negotiations for many years," she said. "We were one of the first institutions to support the devolution process. Today is a significant milestone, but we know there is still much work to be done." Garry Bailey, president of the NWT Metis Nation, said devolution means more jobs and more resource revenue dollars to go around. He said it's healthy for aboriginal groups to work together, like they did in the past with the Dene/Metis Agreement negotiating a full land claim. Now the different aboriginals groups are dealing with their individual land claims. "I think we haven't been at the table together dealing with wildlife lands or waters, anything like that, and this is a commitment where we're all gong to get together again and start doing it again ... This time it will be working along with the GNWT as well. I think it's a positive step forward," said Bailey. During McLeod's remarks at the ceremony, he spoke of how the 21st Century would "belong to the North," with the devolution agreement marking an important step. After the ceremony, which included performances of Gwich'in jigging and Inuvialuit drum dancing, both Valcourt and McLeod spoke of how pleased they were to have the agreement signed. "It's been a long time coming but I think that by the end of the day that everyone realized that was good for the NWT and the people of the NWT," McLeod said.
Chamber News Briefs 5 Through devolution, there is $4 million in a one-time transition payment and up to $3 million to support aboriginal governments to participate in an intergovernmental council designed to co-ordinate land and resource management issues. In addition to the present resource revenue sharing agreements with aboriginal groups, devolution will mean up to 25 per cent of the revenue paid to the GNWT will be shared by participating aboriginal governments. The Dehcho and Akaitcho have not yet signed the agreement. Inuvik was chosen as the site for the formal signing for its symbolic importance, he added, and an acknowledgment of the support of the Inuvialuit. It was also a tip of the hat to former premier and Inuvik Mayor Floyd Roland, who was a major player in the process during his time in the legislature. "All of our partners agreed to come here and it made a lot of sense to us," McLeod said. Valcourt was visiting Inuvik for the first time and said he was pleased to be part of the historic occasion. "Coming here on such an historic day and on my first visit is a privilege indeed," he said. "This is important because it's about giving the people of the territories control over their resources, control over the way they want to do things for their land." "What is remarkable is the way this happened. You have all of the aboriginal and First Nations communities really pulling together with the government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. This is an example of the people really working together, and the residents of the Northwest Territories, I believe, are starting a grand journey to the future for all of us." The agreement was finalized with the signing. It is due to be implemented in April 2014.
Sixty-years in the making, devolution deal signed Northern Journal - July 1, 2013 Samantha Stokell Inuvik helped dignitaries from across the NWT and Canada celebrate the final step to devolution last week as government leaders descended on the community to sign the agreement. Heads of government from the GNWT, Canada, the Métis, Inuvialuit, Tlicho and Gwich’in signed the Northwest Territories Land and Resources Devolution Agreement on June 25 at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex in Inuvik, surrounded by over 200 people. The historic day marked years of work since the 1950s to gain decision-making powers similar to provinces for NWT residents. While over the years, the GNWT gained that power over health, highways and education, it was not until last week that it became responsible for land, water and resources. Inuvik elder Shirley Elias said she had been waiting for this day for years. “It’s good to see the people sign it in public,” she said. “It’s good to see them in person so we can deal with the issues and deal with it face to face. There’s no liaison people to bring our messages down for us. They can come to us and deal with it.” The GNWT will officially implement the final devolution agreement starting Apr. 1, 2014. Leading up to that time, the territorial government must create job descriptions and offer positions to the federal employees who currently take care of the land and resources. “There’s still a lot of work we need to do internally as a government,” NWT Premier Bob McLeod told The Journal. “(We need to) deal with legislation, work with the federal government to make sure we’re coordinated and set up as an organization, figure out where everyone will be located, make job offers in time so that we have a seamless transition by April 1. We need a lot of coordination on records, IT, computers, infrastructure, those type of things to make sure clientele isn’t affected.”
Chamber News Briefs 6 Leaders of the Aboriginal governments had questions not only about what comes next, but what devolution will look like once it’s in place. Nellie Cournoyea, CEO/chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corp., spoke of the difficulty in moving forward from the signing. “Anyone can go out and shoot the head off a muskrat, but who’s going to gut it, who’s going to clean it, who’s going to skin it and who’s going to stretch it?” Cournoyea said. “I think that’s the phase we’re in. How do we go from here; the implementation? That’s the most difficult part. It’s going to take a lot of determination.” But before that difficult work, the town, signatories and their witnesses celebrated with a community feast and jigging led by the Tetlit Gwich’in Dancers from Fort McPherson along with the Inuvik Drummers and Dancers. As the government leaders entered, the crowd held a standing ovation for the occasion, recognizing the significance of the moment. “This agreement marks an important and historic milestone for the people of the territory,” said Bernard Valcourt, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, who signed the agreement on behalf of the federal government. “We believe that whenever possible, the people of the Northwest Territories should be making decisions about regional issues. The final agreement signed today will provide jurisdiction over land and resources, giving residents control over their destinies, responsibilities for their own decisions and creating the conditions for economic growth.” As noted, work still needs to be done. The attached agreement defining resource royalty sharing with Aboriginal governments is in its final stages and includes a provision to review after the first year of implementation. The agreement with the Inuvialuit on Beaufort Sea oil was signed on June 25. While the Sahtu Secretariat was also party to the devolution agreement, it missed the event due to travel difficulties. Only the Akaitcho and Dehcho have yet to sign the agreement. The Akaitcho are currently in active discussions, while the Dehcho are waiting to discuss outstanding land issues. McLeod said the GNWT can help. “Not only will we make advances on devolution, we can make advances to try and get their land claim settled,” McLeod said. In the meantime, many residents of the NWT feel a tentative thrill knowing that more decisions about their land will happen at home. “We’ll find out what’s going to happen, but we’re excited to hear what the topic is going to be,” Elias said. “They’re here to work with people and that’s a good stride.”
Giant cleanup team will lean on Yellowknife City will help with communications during emergency situation Northern Journal - July 1, 2013 Jack Danylchuk Demolition on the Giant Mine site, as seen from Baker Creek, began last week. Public warnings about any airborne toxins from the Giant Mine cleanup will come from Yellowknife Emergency Services, according to the federal-territorial remediation team, but Mayor Mark Heyck says ultimate responsibility remains with the senior governments. “The city is willing to assist in disseminating information, but the primary responsibility (for communications) I have to emphasize lies with the project team,” Heyck said after the remediation team briefed the media on a recent emergency exercise at the former mine site.
Chamber News Briefs 7 Workers started installing scaffolding last week as a prelude to cocooning the first four of 10 structures in the roaster complex that are to be stripped of asbestos and arsenic dust and dismantled over the next two years. “It’s full steam ahead now; everything has been planned out. All the checks and balances are there for them to proceed with the work,” Jane Amphlett, operations manager for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, told media during the briefing. Emergency responders, including Yellowknife’s fire department, practiced the rescue of a worker who had fallen and injured his back, “because it was among the most likely emergency scenarios,” said Phil Nixon, project manager for Parsons, the company managing the cleanup. Amphlett said there will be more drills this summer. Those will also focus on similar on-site scenarios rather than a toxic plume freighted with asbestos and arsenic dust, menacing the city, which is considered to be unlikely. “It’s worth considering probability of the worst case scenario,” Heyck said. “The contractor is very well trained and prepared to deal with emergencies to ensure that it does not grow into a problem that is unmanageable. “We have to remember where Giant Mine is located,” he added. “It’s a bit of a distance from town.” Lack of information about communication plans if a fire did send a toxic plume toward the city was one of the concerns raised at public meetings on remediation plans in Yellowknife and N’Dilo last month. In addition to extensive on-site sampling, air monitoring stations have been installed at the Giant Mine marine, N’Dilo and St. Patrick’s School, and the readings will be posted daily on the AANDC website. If airborne contaminants exceed sanctioned levels, “we might have to stop work,” Amphlett said. “If the public was threatened, we would need to bring the support of the city and their expertise. They would be the lead in getting the word out to the public. They are aware of that.” Heyck said that would be accomplished through “radio public service announcements, the internet, our website, social media and press releases, but the lead on communications is with the project team. That’s always been the city’s understanding. “We have an obligation to our residents to make sure information is being disseminated through every possible channel as quickly as possible,” but delivering the message door-to-door “would be up to the remediation team. That’s not how the city has gotten the message out.”
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ENERGY NEWS
Mining group head sees tough times now, but better prospects ahead Globe and Mail – July 1, 2013 JOSH KERR Trying to get a read on the mining industry may be like peeking in a crystal ball at this point, but Zoë Yujnovich believes the long-term outlook is still a good one. “Right now it’s a little bit like reading tea leaves to try to figure out exactly what’s happening,” says the new chair of the Mining Association of Canada. “Certainly in the longer term the industry is still poised to be very successful, and when we look at it in a Canadian context I think we’re going to continue to see the extractive industry being a major contributor to Canadian GDP,” she said. Ms. Yujnovich’s comments come as she takes the helm of the 78-year-old association, building on an impressive résumé.
Chamber News Briefs 8 The first woman to hold the post, she first made waves when put in charge of the Brazilian operations for British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Inc. at the age of 34. Ms. Yujnovich, the chief executive officer of Iron Ore Co. of Canada, which is majority owned by Rio Tinto, will chair the association for two years. Pierre Gratton the current president and CEO of the mining association said he is excited to have her heading up the board and isn’t surprised that Ms. Yujnovich, who he describes as a natural leader, has risen so far so fast in an industry long dominated by men. “She has a real presence,” said Mr. Gratton in an interview. “She is one of those people that wouldn’t dominate the conversation but when she weighs in her points are always right on the mark and helps carry the conversation forward.” Ms. Yujnovich was born in Hong Kong where her father worked as a pilot for the British Royal Air Force, but called Australia home as a child. In school she excelled at science and math, but becoming an engineer – a discipline that was, and still is, notoriously male-dominated – was seen as somewhat unconventional for a woman at the time. “Growing up in south East Asia and moving pretty regularly with a pilot in the air force probably has helped shape my open mindedness to things like entering into engineering,” she said in an interview. Along with an engineering degree from the University of Western Australia, Ms. Yujnovich holds an MBA from the University of Utah. She joined Rio Tinto in 1996, and her star quickly rose. “I’d love to say that it was completely well thought through and well-crafted, but I suspect it’s been a combination of a number of things and some great people have helped mentor me and helped direct me at the right opportunity,” she said. The various jobs she’s held in mining have taken her all over the world. Ms. Yujnovich, along with her husband and three young children, has lived in five different countries over the years, the most recent being Canada, where she works in Montreal. Most recently they moved to Montreal when she took the top job at the IOC in 2010. Her tenure as the chair of the Canadian Mining Association comes at a tumultuous time for the industry. With commodity prices lagging and skittish investors looking for more stable places to put their money, these have been grim times for the Canadian mining industry of late. However, Ms. Yujnovich remains optimistic about the industry’s prospects. “Right now it’s a little bit like reading tea leaves to try and figure out exactly what’s happening,” said Ms. Yujnovich. “Certainly in the longer term the industry is still poised be very successful, and when we look at it in a Canadian context I think we’re going to continue to see the extractive industry being a major contributor to Canadian GDP.” “The mining association I think does a great job of both improving performance of the industry and then ensuring that that performance then translates into attracting investment into Canada by making sure that it’s on the government’s agenda to make sure that the conditions of attracting capital are indeed in place,” Ms. Yujnovich said. In addition to fostering an attractive investment climate to investors, Ms. Yujnovich also sees the mining association playing a role in promoting workplace diversity across the industry. While mining has a reputation as being a bit of a boys club, Ms. Yujnovich said that has never been her experience.
Chamber News Briefs 9 And the industry is becoming more diverse, although maybe not as fast as some people would like, she added. From 1996 to 2012, the number of woman working in mining grew by 60 per cent according to the 2012 Labour Force Survey. But while that sounds impressive, only 16 per cent of mining jobs are held by woman, far lower than the overall labour force, which has a 48-per-cent rate of female participation. Fostering a more diverse workplace – including not only women but First Nations as well – is something that the entire industry recognizes as a necessity, Ms. Yujnovich said. “I’d say most organizations subscribe to the value of diversity, so I don’t think there is any longer a question,” she said. “It’s not just the right thing to do, I think people see that it actually drives performance.”
Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamonds debut in Israel Mining.com – July 1, 2013 Rio Tinto has announced that rough diamonds from its Diavik mine in Canada will, for the first time, be available for viewing in Israel. Whilst the majority of Rio Tinto's diamond production continues to be sold in Antwerp through Supply Agreements with designated Select Diamantaires, Rio Tinto Diamonds offers specific product segments for sale to a wider community of invited companies. A proprietary auction mechanism is used for these “Invitation Sales”. The decision to conduct viewings in Israel is an endorsement of the strength of the Israel diamond market. Timed to coincide with the Israel International Diamond Week in late August, the viewings will provide an opportunity to see at first hand the Diavik production and Rio Tinto’s new auction platform. According to Patrick Coppens, General Manager of Sales for Rio Tinto Diamonds, “This is an opportunity to engage with the Israeli diamond industry and in doing so increase the awareness and understanding of the Diavik production and Rio Tinto Diamonds’ sales processes in the Ramat-Gan market.” Subsequent to the Israel viewings, regular viewings will continue in Antwerp with the auction scheduled to take place the second week of September. According to Yair Sahar, President of the Israel Diamond Exchange, “The gem diamonds produced by Diavik are well suited to Israeli manufacturers and we are delighted to partner with Rio Tinto in this unique viewing opportunity.”
De Beers and GNWT sign Gahcho Kué deal Northern Journal - July 1, 2013 Renée Francoeur The government of the Northwest Territories and diamond mining corporation De Beers Canada have taken another step forward in their commitment to the proposed Gahcho Kué mine, located at Kennady Lake about 280 km northeast of Yellowknife. Both partners signed a socio-economic agreement last Friday, outlining the benefits the mine will have on the NWT as a whole. “We believe this mine is going to provide tremendous opportunity for years to come,” Tony Guthrie, De Beers CEO and president, said at the press conference. “There will be hundreds of jobs during the two year period for the construction – about $25 million worth of wages during that period. The mine itself will offer somewhere between 360-380 jobs. These are full time, permanent jobs and that results in more than $200 million worth of additional income for the NWT over the life of the mine.”
Chamber News Briefs 10 The agreement reflects De Beers’ stated commitments and predictions when it comes to Gahcho Kué, including employment and business opportunities, sustainable development, net effects on government, cultural well-being and First Nations relations. “De Beers has made commitments to improve relations between the mining industry and our Aboriginal communities,” Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment David Ramsay said. “We will be able to maximize Northern employment, making our people and economy much stronger. Developing our economy can only happen when our land, water and people are respected, and I believe that De Beers Canada and the GNWT have developed an agreement that will support a sustainable future.” Ramsay said the Gahcho Kué mine is an investment that will see jobs and business opportunities continuing for a solid 20 to 25 years. The agreement also provides a framework for ongoing transparent reporting and monitoring, a “cornerstone” of the partnership, said Glen Koropchuk, De Beers chief operating officer. “De Beers will also provide new finance support to Northwest Territories students for professional development training. This is one of the areas we want to focus on moving forward. We believe that through training new leaders – basically starting when kids are in high school – will enable a profound new opportunity,” Koropchuk said. Hiring all across the NWT is also a priority highlighted in the agreement, including expanded points of pick-up that include all five regional centres in addition to Tlicho and Akaitcho communities, allowing for more Northern residents to access employment opportunities at the mine site. “It’s important to us to show that through this agreement we are interested in hiring outside of Yellowknife,” Ramsay said. The company is in the final stages of the review process and will move on to the land permitting and water licensing processes within the near future.
Diavik diamond sale to Dominion falls through Northern Journal - July 1, 2013 Jack Danylchuk Rio Tinto has decided to keep its share in the Diavik diamond mine. Rio Tinto Ltd. has scrapped the proposed sale of its $1.3-billion diamond business, including the Diavik Mine, claiming there’s still time for diamonds in the North. Rio’s Diamonds and Minerals chief executive Alan Davies said there is a positive market outlook for diamonds. “The medium to long- term market fundamentals for diamonds remain robust, fuelled by growing demand for luxury goods in Asia and continuing strong demand in North America. “We have valuable, high-quality diamond businesses that are well positioned to capitalize on the positive market outlook. “After considering a number of alternative strategic ownership options, it is clear the best path to generate maximum value for our shareholders is to retain these businesses,” he said in a statement last week. Rio Tinto put the diamonds arm up for sale in March 2012, soon after rival BHP Billiton put its diamonds unit on the block. BHP won the race to find a buyer last November, selling its EKATI mine to Harry Winston, now called Dominion Diamond Corp. Rio Tinto, the world’s third largest mining company, is aiming to reduce $19 billion in debt, cut costs and boost returns to shareholders, but buyers have been scarce.
Chamber News Briefs 11 Dominion is co-owner of the Diavik mine with Rio Tinto and had expressed interest in buying Rio’s 60 per cent stake in the mine, but was not interested in the rest of its diamond business. The Rio Tinto diamond unit, with operations in Australia, Canada and Zimbabwe, reported a $43-million loss in 2012, down from a profit of $10 million a year earlier.
Nervous time for U.S. coal Associated Press – July 1, 2013 Matthew Brown COLSTRIP, Mon. — After several years of taking a beating from the poor economy, new pollution rules and a flood of cheap natural gas, the coal industry was on the rebound this year as mining projects moved forward in the Western U.S. and demand for the fuel began to rise, especially in Asia. But almost overnight, coal is back on the defensive, scrambling to stave off a dark future amid President Barack Obama’s renewed push to rein in climate change. The proposal, with its emphasis on cuts in carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing power plants, would put facilities like the 2,100 megawatt Colstrip electricity plant in eastern Montana in regulators’ cross hairs. That has profound spin-off implications for the massive strip mines that dot the surrounding arid landscape of the Powder River Basin and provide the bulk of U.S. coal. Montana’s sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives bluntly declared that the administration had decided to “pick winners and losers” in the energy sector with its plan. “He wants to move toward shutting down the coal industry,” Republican Rep. Steve Daines said of the president. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency rejected claims that the administration’s plan would exclude coal. They pointed to billions of dollars being spent by the government on technologies to decrease emissions by capturing and storing carbon dioxide from coal plants. Yet widespread application of those technologies is years away, and Obama made clear in announcing his proposal that he intends to halt the “limitless dumping of carbon pollution” from power plants. He directed the Environmental Protection Agency to craft rules to make that happen. The Colstrip plant, which dominates the skyline of a coal-centred town by the same name, burns about 10 million tons of coal a year from a nearby mine and provides power to customers as far away as Seattle. According to the EPA, the plant churned out more than 15 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2011, the latest year for which data was available. That’s roughly equivalent to the emissions from about three million cars running for a year. On Tuesday, as Colstrip’s towering smokestacks poured out a constant plume of steam and smoke into otherwise blue skies, pipefitter Joe Ashworth, 60, was nearby packing up his RV. He spent the past two months working on a maintenance project at the plant. The travelling union worker said people in the coal industry were nervous that efforts to curb emissions could cost jobs and drive up electricity prices. “Go green sure. But do you have an electrical vehicle that will pull my trailer so I can make a living?” he asked. Despite a frequently heard boast that the state has more coal than anywhere else in the U.S., antipathy toward the administration’s plan is not universal in Montana. One of Daines’ predecessors, former Rep. Pat Williams, said last week that warming temperatures pointed to a “doomsday” scenario if carbon emissions were not addressed.
Chamber News Briefs 12 Others maintain that the worries over lost jobs are overstated. The Natural Resources Defence Council plans to release a report today detailing new jobs that would be created because of all the work needed to retrofit plants such as Colstrip. The environmental group said its analysis of the administration’s plan shows 3,600 jobs in Montana alone. Among utilities elsewhere in the country, the trend away from coal has been well underway over the past several years. Rock-bottom natural gas prices — coupled with huge price-tags to clean up mercury and other pollutants from burning coal — drove many utilities to simply switch fuels. Those pressures finally started to ease this year: Demand from utilities started to rise as coal stockpiles dwindled. Proposals for major new mines by Cloud Peak Energy and Arch Coal, Inc. gained traction. And coal finally started to reclaim its competitive edge as gas prices rose. Colstrip is among those plants that have remained open, in part due to heavy capital investments. That includes $88 million spent on air pollution controls since 2000, according to PPL Montana, which co- owns the 360-employee plant and operates it on behalf of five other utilities. Carbon dioxide controls would cost far more: $430 million to install the equipment, plus annual operating and maintenance costs of $900 million, according to a PPL study from several years ago. That would equate to $53 for every ton of coal burned, the company said. That’s about five times the price of the fuel itself in the nearby Powder River Basin, according to pricing information from the Energy Information Administration. Still, PPL representatives and others in the industry see room for manoeuvring before carbon capture becomes mandated. Key details of the administration’s plan still must be worked out, including the scope of emissions cuts and their timetable. The goal is to achieve a 17 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2020. Assuming the goal doesn’t shift, the key question will be how those reductions are spread among different sectors of the economy, from transportation and power production, to manufacturing. Even without the president’s latest announcement, the Supreme Court ruled five years ago that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are pollutants that the government must regulate, said Quin Shea, vice-president of the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities in the U.S. and has worked with the administration on the climate issue. “A lot of our friends in other industries and states and on (Capitol) Hill miss the fact that this isn’t optional,” Shea said. “At the end of the day, we will be protecting as much coal as we can.”
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
North America isn’t ready for climate change, say experts Climate change is already happening, prevention, adaptation needed to control the effects of extreme weather: climate scientists. Hill Times – July 1, 2013 JESSICA BRUNO Climate change means extreme weather hazards like the flooding in Alberta will be more common than ever, and Canada isn’t prepared to protect itself and prevent future disasters, say leading scientists. “We plan cities around one-in-a-hundred-year floods. We should now be planning for one-in-a- thousand-year floods,” said David Schindler, noted ecologist at the University of Edmonton. Heavy rains in mid-June caused water levels in the Bow, Elbow and South Saskatchewan Rivers to rise to record-breaking levels. More than 100,000 people were evacuated in Calgary, and 10,000 people were
Chamber News Briefs 13 evacuated in Medicine Hat. The flooding began on June 20, and waters began to subside across the province on June 24. Until the June floods, the largest number of people evacuated in Canada was due to a 1950 flood of the Red River in Winnipeg, Man., which saw 107,000 people relocated. While the most expensive and fatal weather event in Canadian history remains the North American Ice Storm of 1998 in eastern Ontario, southern Quebec, Nova Scotia, northern New York and central Maine, which injured 945, killed 28 in Canada and caused an estimated $4,635,720,433 in damages, most of Canada’s costliest natural disasters have been prairie flooding, according to the Canadian Disaster Database, which is maintained by Public Safety. Flooding in Alberta in 2005 caused an estimated $142-million in damage and two deaths. Parts of the province were also flooded last year. “In 2005 there was a one-in-one-hundred year flood, now here we are eight years later, and we have a second flood that’s even bigger,” noted Prof. Schindler. While prominent environmentalists, like David Suzuki, have attributed the recent flooding to climate change, Prof. Schindler said it’s hard to blame any one specific event to climate change. University of Western Ontario climatologist Gordon McBean, who was one of the recipients of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change, explained that climate change allows the atmosphere to hold more water vapour, meaning more rain. “We are seeing already that there is more heavy precipitation occurring in those parts of Canada than there used to be, and that difference is largely attributable to the extra carbon dioxide and greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere,” he explained. Prof. McBean is also policy chair of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. “As we project ahead, say 20, 30, 40 years from now, to mid-century, we expect the number of heavy precipitation events to roughly double,” he said. Alberta Premier Alison Redford has committed the province to spending $1-billion on the recovery, and she said last week it could take as long as 10 years for the province to completely get back on its feet. She also said the province would not stick to plans to balance the budget in light of the flooding. The Bank of Montreal estimates it may cost as much as $5-billion for Alberta to clean up after the floods Since 1970, the government has paid out more than $2-billion for disaster relief, according to Public Safety. Under the Federal Disaster Assistance Program, the federal government will reimburse Alberta for recovery expenses that are beyond the reasonable amount it can be expected to cover itself, according to Public Safety. A range of expenses are eligible, including the cost of evacuation, restoring public works, and repairing the basic personal property of people, small businesses and farms, explained department spokesperson Jean Paul Duval in an email. The federal government could ultimately pay for as much as 90 per cent of recovery costs that aren’t covered by insurance. The money goes to the province, and not to individuals. If past recovery efforts are any indication, it could take years before Alberta sees any federal money. The province just received a cheque for damage from the 2005 flooding in April of this year. Ms. Redford said the province is aware of the lag and is prepared to deal with it. The Insurance Bureau of Canada finds that often infrastructure failure is to blame for much of the damage caused by severe weather events, and that Canada’s municipal infrastructure needs at least $31-billion in upgrades.
Chamber News Briefs 14 Most insurance policies in Canada don’t cover overland flooding, which is water that comes in through doors and windows. Albertans hoping to make claims for their flooded homes will only be successful if their homes were damaged by sewage backup, according to the Insurance Board of Canada, the reasoning being that premiums for overland flooding insurance would be exorbitant. Last year, severe weather in Canada caused about $1.2-billion in insured damage and the related costs of settling claims alone. This figure was $1.7-billion in 2011, and $915-million in 2010, according to the IBC. “Water is our biggest problem, and adaptation is our solution,” said IBC President and CEO Don Forgeron in a statement on the bureau’s website. “The word that they should think about before adaptation is prevention. We’re going to go through adaptation in Calgary right now. A lot of the houses and other infrastructure that was damaged simply will not be rebuilt—or shouldn’t be rebuilt—where it is. But it was an expensive lesson to learn. I know a half-dozen really good hydrologists who live in southern Alberta. This could have been planned for,” said Prof. Schindler. “We need national strategies that factor in that we are going to have these more heavy-rain events, heavy-wind events, flooding, etc., so that we put in an infrastructure policy that first of all renews our existing infrastructure, which is decaying rapidly,” said Prof. McBean. “Canadian investments in our infrastructure, both public and private, are, as a percentage of the GDP, way down from what they were only a decade or so ago. They are only half of what they used to be,” he added. It could be as simple as improving the building code, but also involves major rethinking of how Canadian cities plan, said the scientists. “They had a study done of the Bow after the 2005 flood event that told them, don’t build on the flood plain any more. Like most reports, they didn’t take any action on it,” said Prof. Schindler. The poor planning is deeply engrained in many municipalities. “The costs of the flooding, the exposed infrastructure, are decisions that go back decades,” said Prof. McBean. He said the consensus among experts is North America isn’t ready for climate change. “This event was entirely forecast. It was not a case of if, but when,” he said of the Alberta flooding. He said a change would require politicians to think about long-term solutions, and he worries the federal infrastructure money spent as part of the economic action plan went mostly to hockey arenas and other high-visibility projects instead of fundamental infrastructure needs. “We have not set or openly discussed nationally-agreed-to priorities. Unfortunately, the attitude is that disaster reduction requires thinking beyond the next election,” he said. NDP environment critic Megan Leslie (Halifax, N.S.) also said the government should have seen this sort of flood coming. “The Harper government has known for a long time that climate change impacts like severe weather events, they require advance planning,” she said. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.), who is the regional minister responsible for Calgary, said the flooding was a “once-in-a-century” event. “The stuff that I’ve read and commentary from scientists says that there is not a connection between weather events of this nature and broader climate issues,” he stated June 23 in an interview. Ms. Leslie took issue with this characterization.
Chamber News Briefs 15 “I saw a quote from Minister Kenney saying this is a ‘once-in-a-century’ type event. Well, not any more, my friend. Severe weather is happening all the time, and it is the result of climate change. We can’t just act like it was this freaky accident, we need to actually prepare ourselves for it,” she said. Efforts to adapt Canadian society and its infrastructure, “absolutely” must happen at the federal level, working with other levels of government, said Ms. Leslie. The government committed $148.8-million between 2011 and 2016 to support adaptation programs. The funding went to Environment Canada, Parks Canada, Health Canada, Public Health, Aboriginal Affairs, Industry Canada, Natural Resources and Transport Canada. Between 2007 and 2011 it also contributed $85.9-million towards climate adaptation programs in provinces, municipalities and professional organizations to encourage adaptation and assess the challenge. It also has a Federal Adaptation Policy Framework. “We need not only an emission reduction strategy, we need an integration of climate change, adaptation and disaster risk reduction management strategies,” said Prof. McBean, who noted carbon dioxide molecules stay in the atmosphere for 100 years. He added the federal government’s sector-by-sector regulations for emissions are complex and vulnerable to political judgment. “The greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies that we have tend to be very complex, very specific, which quite frankly leads to political judgments as to, ‘Well we’ll do that one for reasons that are not the best, as opposed to something else,’” he said. The federal government has taken a sector-by-sector approach to regulating emissions, drafting guidelines for transportation, coal-fired plants and other emissions-heavy sectors. Canada has regulated emissions from light trucks and passenger vehicles until 2017. It has proposed regulations that go beyond that date that would reduce emissions by 50 per cent compared to a 2008 vehicle in 2025. In February of this year, the government released final regulations for trucks built in 2014 or later. It estimates this will cut emissions from future vehicles by as much as 23 per cent. In 2012, the government released coal-fired electricity plant performance regulations. Like the other regulations, they apply to newly built plants. Canada is one of the original members of the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gas, and is looking at ways to mitigate GHGs coming from farming. It has invested $27-million into that initiative, according to Environment Canada. “The feeble start that we had on climate change, which you couldn’t call anything but feeble, has pretty well been taken totally apart by the Conservative government,” said Prof. Schindler. Ms. Leslie said Canada’s commitments to reduction of greenhouse gases under the Copenhagen Accord are too low, and she is skeptical the country will meet them anyways. Canada emitted 702 megatonnes of carbon dioxide in 2011. That’s 19 per cent above 1990s levels, which were at 591 megatonnes. Under the Copenhagen Accord, Canada is committed to bringing its emissions levels to 17 per cent below 2005 levels according to Environment Canada. In 2005, Canada emitted 737 megatonnes of GHGs, 17 per cent below that level is 611.1 megatonnes. According to a federal report, Canadians produced an average of 20.4 tonnes of greenhouse gases per person annually between 1990 and 2011. “Our reputation is really at the bottom of the barrel right now. We hear all of these excuses like, ‘We won’t move until the U.S. moves,’ or ‘We won’t move until China moves.’ That’s totally new,” said Prof. Schindler.
Chamber News Briefs 16 In the Mulroney years, Prof. Schindler was part of Canada’s efforts to ban detergent phosphates, and to regulate ozone-depleting chemicals and acid rain. “We don’t produce any more stratospheric ozone consuming products relative to rest of the globe than we do greenhouse gases, yet we saw that this was necessary, and we played a leadership role in getting the world to react,” he said. He said Canada has abdicated its role as an environmental leader. “It seems like we no longer want to be a leader, except in having the highest per capita income, or something like that. And the reasons seem pretty silly to me,” he said. Despite the Alberta floods taking such a toll on communities in the Conservative heartland, both scientists said they aren’t hopeful the events have sparked a re-evaulation of the government’s climate policies. “I’m frankly not that hopeful about Calgary. We have a lot of people down there who still think that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, too. Despite lots of evidence to the contrary. It’s one thing to be misinformed people who can evaluate new evidence, but I think we have a lot of people down there who are straight ideologues,” said Prof. Schindler.
Feds must focus on fighting climate change Hill Times – July 1, 2013 The massive, destructive floods in Calgary and southern Alberta have raised more questions about climate change and what federal, provincial and even municipal governments are doing to fight it now and in the future. It’s estimated 120,000 people were evacuated from their homes, Alberta Premier Alison Redford promised $1-billion in recovery funding efforts last Monday, and it’s considered the worst flood in Canada since the 1950 Winnipeg flood, according to the Canadian Disaster Database, when 107,000 people in Winnipeg were evacuated from their homes because of the Red River flooding. The federal government may have to pay up to 90 per cent of southern Alberta’s rebuilding and Ms. Redford said the flood recovery could take 10 years and yet the federal government is focused on fossil fuels. David McLaughlin, former chair of the now-defunct National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, told The Canadian Press last week that he hopes the unprecedented Calgary flood will finally force Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government to get its “head out of the sand bag” on climate change. “It’s a helluva warning, really, about unpredictable, extreme weather events and the need to prepare for it,” Mr. McLaughlin said, adding that the causes of climate change can be debated endlessly, but the planet is getting hotter and more frequent weather events are happening, including floods, tornadoes, drought, freezing rain, longer heat waves and extreme cold snaps. These changes usually “happen so slowly that we typically don’t pay much attention to them until we have this incredible event taking place before our eyes so quickly,” Mr. McLaughlin told CP. “And that’s why the Calgary flood and southern Alberta floods may really mark a change in how people view climate, the issues of climate.” Canadian nationalist Mel Hurtig also piped up last week and said that Alberta’s massive flood is more than a natural disaster. He called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to change course and take a leadership role in fighting climate change. “As a fellow Albertan, I know it’s hard to accept that the major source of the province’s economic success is also the source of so much suffering and economic devastation. But it is a fact that we must come to terms with before the costs of climate change escalate even further,” Mr. Hurtig said.
Chamber News Briefs 17 Describing it a “huge wake-up call” that environmental disasters are not just predictions, but very real and happening with increasing frequency and ferocity, Mr. Hurtig said it’s time to take immediate steps to change course. “The tarsands development in northern Alberta is an environmental wound that is visible from space,” Mr. Hurtig stated. “The tarsands are the reason why Canada has intentionally scuttled every international climate change conference and failed so miserably to meet its greenhouse gas emission targets.” And environmentalist David Suzuki wrote in the Huffington Post Canada last week that the insurance industry has been warning of the exploding costs of climate-related claims and that they should be met with greenhouse gas emissions reductions. “In light of that, it’s shocking, after so many years of denial that human-induced climate change is real, to hear some pundits now calling for adaptation rather than demanding a massive program to slow climate change,” Mr. Suzuki wrote. Mr. McLaughlin is right. In the end, denying that climate change has anything to do with the floods in Alberta is like putting your head in the sand. It’s time for governments to do something.
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