Canadian governments and businesses are gearing up for a mining boom which they hope will be spurred by fast-track legislation and lucrative commodities futures. Demand for copper, nickel, lithium and other ‘critical’ minerals has skyrocketed, driven by the clean energy transition, the rise of artificial intelligence and weapons demand. 

For more than 40 years, impact assessment has been used to help prevent irreversible harm to people and the environment for new and expanding mines. The assessment is a planning tool that weighs a project’s potential impacts (usually health, social and environmental) against its expected benefits (usually economic). If done well, impact assessments allow for input from experts, affected communities and public interest groups. This input can help inform strategies to mitigate potentially harmful effects from these proposed developments. 

Right now, Bill C-39 — an omnibus bill including provisions to scale back impact assessments and related regulations — is rapidly marching through the House of Commons. Many have critiqued this bill and other recent federal and provincial fast-tracking legislation for its rapid implementation, skirting of democratic accountability, infringement of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and potential for irreversible environmental harms (like causing species such as orca whales to become extinct). 

Groundwater is a key environmental component threatened by new and expanded mining developments. Most Canadians don’t think much about groundwater… except for the 80 per cent........

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