Economic measures to encourage environmentally friendly practices

Measures like tax shifting provide incentives for practices like product substitution and disincentives for poor environmental performance. Subsidies make mining profitable, but do not consider environmental costs.

Canada offers mining rights for small sums of money and often provides additional subsidies. Eliminating these handouts and charging more for mining rights would be beneficial to the environment and add public income that could be directed toward developing more sustainable materials paths.

Several articles and papers on these topics are listed below:

  • An article on tax measures to encourage a shift from mining virgin material to recycling is available at this Mining Watch Canada page.
  • An article on subsidies in the mining industry is available at this Mining Watch Canada page.
  • The paper Understanding Mining Taxation in Canada by Joan Kuyek is available at this Mining Watch Canada page. Here is an excerpt from this paper:
    There is an obvious need to rethink the system of taxation that has evolved for mining in Canada. The subsidies, incentives and tax planning rules result in most companies paying little or no tax and do not serve the Canadian public well. Special subsidies for mining exploration should be ended and the public resources transferred to community re-investment strategies, abandoned mine reclamation, and metal conservation and recycling research and development.
  • Looking Beneath the Surface: An Assessment of the Value of Public Support for the Metal Mining Industry in Canada is available from this Mining Watch Canada page. This joint study with the Pembina Institute shows the cost to federal taxpayers for the care and feeding of the metal mining industry has increased to $383 million a year, while the industry is delivering in return fewer jobs and reduced economic activity. The study quantifies both the public costs to support the metal mining industry and the benefits generated by the industry in fiscal years 1994-95 and 2000-01.