Mr. Speaker, those are a number of issues but I will try to address them all.
First is the streamlined regulatory regime. Please note that by streamlined, I do not mean fewer regulations or undermining environmental regulation. At one time there were approximately 10 pieces of legislation to which a small mining outfit would have to adhere. Unless there are adequate resources from both the Government of Yukon and the federal government to implement this, it causes the small operator a tremendous problem. I am quite empathetic for streamlining.
There is some streamlining in the bill. Through the Yukon waters act there has been an attempt to ensure that when operators go through that process, they will also be dealing with approvals in other pieces of legislation.
I certainly am empathetic to the small mining operations when they talk about how difficult this can be. Sometimes it is just a lack of personnel and staff resources to deal expeditiously with a mining outfit because they have to go into the field which is sometimes geographically difficult to reach.
I would like to reinforce the point I made in my remarks that the federal government must be committed to facilitate and process the enforcement of any such amendment that is passed, such as Bill C-6.
Sustainability is a huge issue. I know the member for Davenport has a very extensive knowledge and interest in this. In the 17 years that I have lived in the Yukon there have been constant discussions about how to balance the resource activities and the preservation of the wilderness.
Some people think that wilderness is just a bunch of trees sitting around waiting for something to happen. However, others actually believe that it has a tangible value. For example, fur trapping, which is always a very contentious issue, is something which is environmentally sustainable. It is one of the environmentally sustainable, non-intrusive forms of economic development in wilderness areas.
We need a mix and a balance. The process that took place with the Yukon Mining Advisory Committee, because it did include environmental groups, was an attempt at that kind of balance. It is never easy and that is why no winners came out of this, but there was an expression of goodwill by all of the stakeholders.
While I have mentioned some of the changes that the environmental community, including the Yukon Conservation Society and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, would like to see, they are definitely not saying they do not want to see mining or improvement, they just want to see a greater degree of improvement in this legislation.
As to the Whitehorse initiative on mining, the general view seems to be that it is proceeding. I do not think that it has lapsed into a complete vacuum, as sometimes happens with these things. In general, there is support for what is happening, certainly in the industry. Again, it is trying to come to grips with the various values that are represented. In the Yukon it is the First Nations who have an interest in economic development and in some cases now have shares in mining companies and see this as part of their economic development.
Finally, on the responsibility of mining companies in reclamation and abandonment of sites, there have been extremely negative examples of that, particularly in hard rock mining but also in placer mining. As I mentioned in my remarks, the taxpayers had to pick up the bill. These are questions that I have challenged when I have
met with the mining industry. We have to look at this as a cost of doing business.
As the member knows, there have been changes in the legislation that mining companies have to put up front environmental deposits for reclamation. Here we are talking about exploration and saying we should be doing the same thing.