LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – “The Canadian government and Canadian companies doing business in the country strongly support the implementation of stringent rules and regulations governing the mining industry,” Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines John Holmes said here recently.
Holmes said elevating the rules and regulations governing the country’s mining industry being undertaken by the concerned government offices is a welcome development on the part of the Canadian government and Canadian mining companies operating in the different parts of the country.
“There is nothing wrong in elevating the playing field to greater heights for the sake of sustainable development and guaranteed preservation and protection of the environment which is also the direction of the Canadian government,” Ambassador stressed.
He pointed out even Canadian mining companies operating in the country are expected to abide by the new mining policies being currently implemented by the new administration to ensure their continuous operation because the improvement in the mining rules and regulations is geared towards making the country’s mining industry compliant to international mining standards.
He admitted mining is an environmentally critical endeavour that is why there is a need for governments in the world to adopt applicable policies that will ensure the sustainable operations of mines, the guaranteed preservation and protection of the environment and for the benefits of host and neighboring communities to be granted.
Ambassador Holmes said mining is one of the economic drivers of Canada so Canadian mining companies operating in the country are fully aware of the periodic amendments and changes introduced to mining policies to suit prevailing situations aimed at lifting the status of the mining industry to benefit the overall economic growth of the country, thus, the changes by the Duterte administration in mining policies are not new to their companies operating in the country.
The Canadian envoy was in town for a climate change adaptation seminar-workshop at the Benguet State University which was convened in coordination with the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities.
He asserted the need to update existing mining policies to correct defects in current programs to allow the growth of the minerals industry and for the people in the grassroots level to benefit from mining in their respective communities.
He admitted mining companies in Canada are known to be responsible mining practitioners that is why when they operate in other countries like the Philippines, they bring with them the distinct identity of being responsible miners wherein host and neighboring communities stand to benefit from their operations coupled with the projected socio-economic and infrastructure development of the nation.
By HENT
