Manitoba Rules Out Proposed Development At Meditation Lake

Manitoba News Release

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October 22, 2009

PROVINCE RULES OUT PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT AT MEDITATION LAKE
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Government Renews Commitment to Work with Tim Horton Children's Foundation To Build Camp for Underprivileged Youth: Struthers

Based on water testing results at Meditation Lake and feedback
from public consultations, the province and Tim Horton Children's
Foundation will now seek another location in Whiteshell
Provincial Park for a youth leadership camp. The decision was
announced today by Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and Tim
Horton Children's Foundation vice-president Dave Newnham.

"We will look at an alternate location in the Whiteshell to meet
the program and wilderness experience needs required by the youth leadership camp proposal while keeping in mind the needs of current and future park visitors," said Struthers. "The public review held in the spring on the Meditation Lake proposal provided many valuable suggestions that will be considered in the review of an alternative site."

Water testing at Meditation Lake over the past summer indicated
the natural variability in water quality does not meet the
criteria for the development of a major camp. The area at
Meditation Lake will continue to provide a walk-in camping
experience and access to the backcountry for the public and there
are no plans for development. Work identifying another site is
underway and will include public consultations through an
open-house format.

The goal of the Tim Horton camp is to help provide
underprivileged youth the opportunity to learn lifelong
leadership skills through activities and experience in wilderness
settings. The proposed facility would host youth aged 13 to 17 in
an innovative youth leadership summer program and could be
available year-round to Manitoba school children and
organizations that provide strong environmental programs.

"We appreciate the support of the provincial government in
working to find and evaluate alternative sites in the
Whiteshell," said Newnham. "We are confident another site will
be found that will respect the environmental sustainability needs
of the park, and provide a unique experience for children and
youth from economically disadvantaged homes."

The Tim Horton Children's Foundation is a non-profit, charitable
organization providing opportunities for children to develop into
positive, contributing members of their communities. It operates
six camps in Canada and the U.S., and has provided unique outdoor experiences to more than 120,000 economically disadvantaged children in the past 35 years at no cost to their families.

Open houses in Winnipeg and Whiteshell Provincial Park will be
announced later this fall to review a new proposal.

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Livestock's Contribution to Climate Change Hugely Underestimated - Worldwatch

by Robert Goodland & Jeff Anhang - WWI

Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change are...cows, pigs, and chickens?

Is Bucko Lake Doomed? Let's Make Sure it Doesn't Happen!

Call for Position Statements - Bucko Lake and Metal Mining Effluent Regulations


Local and national consultations sessions are being planned for amendments to the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER) in the near future. These would require alterations of our Fisheries Act, too, allowing for harmful substances (toxic mining waste) to be dumped into dammed freshwater lakes, thus turning them into Tailings Impoundment Areas - a euphemism for ruined, former life bearing lakes.

Here in Manitoba, Crowflight Minerals Inc. (see photo, below) has applied for a permit to dump their nickel mine waste into Bucko Lake, close to Wabowden, south of Thompson, a portion of the headwaters for the Grass River system, and in woodland caribou territory. Yikes. The application is in the Public Registry and Conservation is accepting comments even though the time period has passed. We asked for that.

The faces of the people who would turn Bucko Lake into a toxic dump.

It is a subsidy for the mining companies. It is cheaper to dam a lake and dump waste into it than to create a pit and pour water on it to keep the ore from oxidizing in the sun. The CEN has been asked to send delegates to a session planned on the topic of the latest proposal, for Terrane Metals Corp. to use King Richard and Alpine Creek in northern B.C. as a waste pit for their copper-gold project. I'm sure you can appreciate the chemical content in the residuals from that operation. Cyanide, for instance.

MiningWatch did a good job of intervening with the Voisey Bay project in Labrador/Newfoundland but they could use our voices to lend support to their efforts to take a lead on this issue and oppose the changes by the feds and to conduct a comprehensive study administered by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. 


We would benefit from having position statements forwarded to us by your group. There's a chance I'll be going to the next session, held in Gatineau, to learn more about this and offer up some opinions to Environment Canada and mining companies. We don't have groups working specifically on mining issues in Manitoba, but we do have several groups interested in issues of water quality, pollution prevention, and caribou habitat. I would sincerely appreciate some solidarity in the challenging of this scheme to ruin more of our dwindling fresh water supplies and pristine habitats.


For further or background information, call EC project manager Kelly Ellis at 819 934-6056 or HYPERLINK "mailto:kelly.ellis@ec.gc.ca" kelly.ellis@ec.gc.ca. Or check out CEA's website.

Thanks, Lindy Clubb - 
assistant executive director, Mixedwood Forest Society
 204 475-9608

Turkeys on an Unidentified Ontario Farm Have Tested Positive for the Swine Flu

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS - 20/10/2009

Minister says food safe.....

MANITOBA RATED SECOND IN CANADA FOR COMPETITIVENESS IN MINING TAXES

Oc 16, 2009 - Manitoba's Mining Tax Regime Excels In Report: Rondeau.

Ruttan Lk. Mine.
MB Gov't. photo

Manitoba has been rated among the most competitive provinces for mining activity in Canada, ranking number two in the country for the competitiveness of its mining tax regime, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) 2009 Canadian mining tax report, Science, Technology Energy and Mines Minister Jim Rondeau said today.

"The ranking by PricewaterhouseCoopers is welcome news as it confirms our commitment to support and strengthen the minerals industry in Manitoba," said Rondeau. "The incentives government provides, combined with our rich resources, continue to be a solid economic driver for the province's mining industry." Rondeau noted the province is committed to investing in mineral exploration and mining, and working with industry to boost the economic opportunities the sector offers. He said companies are attracted to Manitoba because of its policies for mineral investment that make it one of the best places in the world to explore. "The mining industry is appreciative that Manitoba has worked with the industry to improve Manitoba's competitive taxation climate for new mines," said Ed Huebert, executive vice-president of the Mining Association of Manitoba. "The PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which analyzes the tax impact for a hypothetical new mine, shows that Manitoba has improved to second best in Canada from a taxation perspective. We look forward to a continued dialogue that will allow the industry to invest in Manitoba and increase their economic contribution to the province." The minister noted tax initiatives announced in Budget 2009 helped achieve the biggest increase of any province in the competitiveness of its mining tax system. He said, according to the PWC report, the overall Manitoba tax rate for a sample Manitoba mining operation dropped to 19 per cent from 28 per cent. Recent initiatives to support the mining industry in Manitoba include: - reducing the mining tax; - extending the mineral exploration tax credit by three years to 2012; - reducing the general corporate income tax rate to 12 per cent; - phasing out the general corporation capital tax; - extending the Mineral Exploration Assistance Program and the Prospectors' Assistance Program, which offer approximately $2.5 million in annual funding to support exploration; - entering into a $3 million partnership with the federal government to remap Manitoba's far north; and - initiating a new, $1-million Training and Workforce Retention Initiative. The mineral industry is Manitoba's second-largest primary resource industry. The 2008 value of mineral production for metals, industrial minerals and petroleum totalled $2.5 billion and the industry employed an average 5,200 workers directly with another 18,000 in spinoff jobs. Company spending for mineral exploration reached an all-time high of $141.5 million in 2008. The PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on mining taxation in Canada is a biannual assessment of the relative tax competitiveness of Canadian jurisdictions. The full report can be accessed here.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is called "governing from the centre." Giving away our precious resources for next to nothing in these heady days of de-regulators and free marketeers is actually seen as a badge of honour. Making corportations pay their fair share so we can enjoy decent human services is now old-fashioned, perhaps even communistic. Human health! Environment! Beware! The centrists are on the loose! l.p.

Sask. Student's Vaccine Tightens Net Against E. Coli

Anne-Marie Hickey, University of Saskatchewan - 10/16/2009

Food and water around the world could soon become safer for human...

Canada's Rivers at Risk

Oc 14-'09 - World Wildlife Fund - Environmental Flows and Canada's Freshwater Future
Canada ranks among the world's top nations in terms of renewable water supply but...

The Waterhen, rated by

Environment CA in
'07 as Manitoba's only
"pristine" river! l.p. photo