BC Mining Law Reform

BC Halts Plans to Make Polluters Pay for Cleanup Costs | The Tyee The province billed its Public Interest Bonding Strategy as a key step to protect the public from massive cleanup bills. Now it’s on hold.

Good journalism matters on issues like this — it holds governments and industries accountable, and ensures communities know who’s responsible when disasters strike.

👉 Read more from @zoeyunker.bsky.social in @thetyee.ca: bit.ly/4ryP3Wb

#Mining #PolluterPays #BCPolitics #bcpoli #TailingsDams
(5/5)

⚖️ Why it matters:

Without these reforms, taxpayers stay on the hook when mining disasters happen, while communities and ecosystems bear the harm. Making polluters pay is essential for public trust, environmental protection, and a just transition in mining. (4/5)

👀 What we’re watching:

Proposed reforms are now at risk — including an industry-funded disaster pool for mine failures like tailings dam breaches, and measures to stop companies from underestimating cleanup costs or leaving mines in “care and maintenance” for decades. (3/5)

🔎 What’s happening:

The pause stalls efforts to close major gaps in mining accountability. While some liability rules have improved, B.C. still lacks a disaster cleanup fund and strong tools to ensure mining companies fully cover long-term and catastrophic cleanup costs. (2/5)

📰 In the news: B.C. halts plans to make polluters pay for cleanup costs

The province has indefinitely paused its Public Interest Bonding Strategy — a key plan to protect the public from massive cleanup bills. 🧵(1/5)

Western provinces and territories sign pact to develop critical minerals strategy | CBC News The Yukon government signed onto the new agreement Sunday alongside British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

👉 Read more about the critical minerals pact:
CBC: bit.ly/3Z8GKVe
Radio-Canada: bit.ly/3ZEN4np

🔭 Learn more: Check out our new resource on debunking common myths and claims about “critical minerals.”: bit.ly/3NPuDK7

#CriticalMinerals #bcpoli #energytransition (6/6)

⚖️ Why it matters:

Not all “critical minerals” are essential for climate action.

A just energy transition can’t rely on greenwashed narratives or fast-tracked extraction. Urgency shouldn’t override consent, accountability, or protections. (5/6)

✊ Amid the hype, governments must:

Reduce demand
Expand recycling & re-mining
Respect Indigenous consent
Be transparent about where minerals go — including non-climate uses
(4/6)

👀 What we’re watching:

Mining isn’t just about speed or supply chains. It carries real environmental, social & cultural impacts, often borne by Indigenous and rural communities. Concerningly, the agreement was created without involvement of Indigenous Nations. (3/6)

🔎 What’s happening:

Western provinces — including B.C. — are coordinating on “critical minerals,” aiming to make the Canadian West a “global hub for critical minerals innovation and sustainable development” with expanded production, processing, and export infrastructure. (2/6)

📰 In the news: Western provinces and territories have signed a pact to develop a “critical minerals” strategy with a final plan expected before mining ministers meet again in June. Let’s dig into it… (🧵1/6)

📥 Read the guide: bit.ly/49VWU95
Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter: bit.ly/4gCg8DU

#CriticalMinerals #BCMining #IndigenousRights #EnergyTransition #bcpoli
🧵 (5/5)

The guide:
✅ Debunks misleading claims about "critical minerals"
✅ Supports communities and First Nations under mining pressure
✅ Highlights environmental, social, and rights impacts
✅ Provides tools for advocacy & evidence-based decision-making
🧵 (4/5)

To help communities navigate these pressures, BC Mining Law Reform has released a new evidence-based guide: Debunking Myths: “Critical Minerals” and the Energy Transition. 🧵 (3/5)

In B.C., federal & provincial policies are fast-tracking mining projects. While these minerals are key for a low-carbon future, mining carries significant social, environmental, and cultural risks, especially for Indigenous Nations & rural communities. 🧵 (2/5)

🚨 January Newsletter Recap: Who really benefits from “critical minerals” in B.C.?

Governments worldwide are racing to secure lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earth elements — not just for clean energy, but also for military, industrial, and economic purposes.
🧵 (1/5)

Permission shouldn’t be radical. It's time to rethink mining in BC Canada's obligations under United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples create legal, financial and reputational uncertainty within BC’s mining sector — and has undeniably harmed the...

Permission shouldn’t be radical. It's time to rethink mining in BC. @jagrupbrar.bsky.social @spencerch.bsky.social #bcpoli www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/16/o...

➡️ What needs to happen next:


🩺 Long-term health monitoring and support

🛡️ Stronger protections and accountability for legacy mines

⚖️ Reform outdated mining laws to prevent future harms


#HealthJustice #MiningLegacy #ReformBCMining #BCPoli
(5/5)

📄 Cassiar Mine was also listed in our 2025 Dirty Dozen report, highlighting gaps in how mining impacts are tracked, regulated, and addressed in B.C.

🔗 bit.ly/49z1b3G
(4/5)

🫁 Decades later, many former workers and families live with illnesses they believe are linked to asbestos exposure.


❗Yet there’s been little systematic health monitoring or follow-up.
(3/5)

🏔️ For 40 years, the remote B.C. town of Cassiar was built around an asbestos mine.

⛏️ When it closed in 1992, the town was dismantled and residents were scattered — making long-term health impacts hard to track.
(2/5)

A Mining Town Scattered Residents, and Asbestos, to the Wind | The Tyee Cassiar exposed residents to asbestos for 40 years. But little has been done to follow their health outcomes.

📢 New reporting from @amandafollett.bsky.social in @thetyee.ca examines the long shadow of asbestos mining in B.C. — and what happens when a company town disappears.

📰 A Mining Town Scattered, and Asbestos to the Wind
🔗 bit.ly/49QBA56

#Cassiar #Asbestos #BCMining
🧵(1/5)

BC First Nation ramps up monitoring with approval of Mount Milligan mine expansion A First Nation in British Columbia says it will step up its own environmental oversight after the province approved a major expansion of the Mount Milligan mine — a project that has long shaped both t...

BC First Nation ramps up monitoring with approval of Mount Milligan mine expansion #mining #bcpoli @reformbcmining.bsky.social www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/12/n...

Permission shouldn’t be radical. It's time to rethink mining in BC Canada's obligations under United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples create legal, financial and reputational uncertainty within BC’s mining sector — and has undeniably harmed the...

📰 Mining law in BC still ignores Indigenous consent. Our new op-ed with Amnesty International Canada in @nationalobserver.com explains how UNDRIP alignment can protect rights, the environment, and certainty for the mining sector: bit.ly/3Lly6iU

⚠️ BC approved the Mount Milligan mine expansion, raising water and environmental concerns.

The Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation is stepping up Indigenous-led monitoring to protect watersheds.

🔗 Read the full story from Sonal Gupta in @nationalobserver.com: bit.ly/4sGgzCx

What Happened to the ‘Rule of Law’? | The Tyee It was a common refrain during the Wet’suwet’en pipeline conflict. But when courts side with First Nations, politicians are more equivocal.

"What Happened to the 'Rule of Law'?" @amandafollett.bsky.social examines how the phrase was used during the Wet’suwet’en pipeline conflict — and how politicians now invoke it differently when courts side with First Nations. Thoughtful analysis in @thetyee.ca: bit.ly/4pz7QPN

A Hopeful Path Forward for the Critical Conservation Corridor - BC Mining Law Reform Northwest B.C.’s Critical Conservation Corridor offers a hopeful opportunity for Indigenous-led conservation and long-term protection.

Hope is not abstract—it’s built through action. As we look to the new year, this corridor offers a chance—to protect what inspires us and ensure northwest B.C. remains wild and thriving for generations.

Read our latest blog on this vital Corridor: bit.ly/49djA4n
(8/8)

What’s needed: Indigenous leadership at the center, legally protected conservation areas, clear land-use planning, and decisions rooted in evidence and respect. (7/8)

The good news? The corridor isn’t fixed in law yet. This moment still allows us to ensure this initiative moves forward in a way that balances responsible development with real, meaningful conservation. (6/8)

But there’s tension: federal corridor discussions still emphasize critical minerals and infrastructure, often without clearly defined conservation protections. (5/8)