Natural Resources committee  I think, at the government level, the Prime Minister has made the commitment on reconciliation. Indigenous engagement is a priority of the minister with not only the duty to consult, but participation, and that is an area of attention and focus.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, we've done a compilation of good practices in community engagement, and the committee may be interested in some of those success stories and good practices that highlight some of the same examples the member was referring to in terms of success with aboriginal particip

Natural Resources committee  I'm aware that the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada have done a study, and they consistently identify access to land for exploration as one of their top challenges.

Natural Resources committee  I don't have the full details on all that, but I am aware that there is not one single factor. There are a range of issues and considerations and complications. However, if the committee is interested, I could certainly send a link so you can find out easily from some of the work

Natural Resources committee  At Natural Resources Canada, we have a green mining initiative, and there is an industry advisory body. A lot of our science and technology and research and development is aimed at informing regulations, informing EA, but another part of our work is to help the mining industry de

Natural Resources committee  I don't believe mining companies are on the same scale as the oil and gas sector. From some of the metrics I've seen, oil and gas is about four times that of mining.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I am aware that a number of companies and industry associations identify transportation, rail in particular, as a high cost that impedes their competitiveness.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I'm sorry, but I don't have any data that would indicate whether it's going to be a growing cost. I'm only aware, as industry has told us, that it is a significant cost in their operations, but I don't have information on the trend line.

Natural Resources committee  The government would have a few different levers to loosen up some of the capital. One is the investments in geoscience, the GEM program that was discussed earlier. When GEM releases information on geoscience, it reduces the risk and that often inspires investment in the mining s

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, waste management in mining is one of the significant issues. We have done a number of projects out of CanmetMining at Natural Resources Canada. We are also the secretariat to MEND, the mine environment neutral drainage program, which is federal and provincial, with ind

Natural Resources committee  A number of companies and industry reports have indicated that, because of all the risks and the high cost, individual companies can't afford to do the technological development, the de-risking, the demonstration, and the verification all on their own. It really needs to have eco

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I think what is happening now is that a company, on its own, will look at a challenge it has and then try to invest and tackle that challenge, but that challenge is likely replicated in other mine sites across the country, and rather than piecemeal, ad hoc solutions, c

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, in our talent management and recruitment efforts, we always have a view to emerging challenges and how, as a science-based department, we can best support government efforts, whether it's through informing regulations, encouraging industry to adopt, for example, green

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I believe the question refers to the minerals and metals policy that was released in Whitehorse. In terms of indigenous participation, NRCan has undertaken a number of activities. We have an aboriginal mining guide that I'd be happy to share with the committee, if you

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, one of the interesting things about Natural Resources Canada is that we are the responsible regulator for explosives, and as a regulator for explosives that are used in natural resource extraction and development, we're part of the whole-of-government consultation with