The United Steelworkers union (USW) issued a press release last month urging Premier Christy Clark to abandon all plans for Chinese-owned coal mines in northeast B.C.
It followed a December 6 USW release calling for a full inquiry into the safety standards of Chinese-owned mining companies before they are permitted to operate in the province.
Both releases came in response to Clark’s November 9 announcement of $1.36 billion worth of Chinese investment in two B.C. mining projects, including the Gething coal mine project approximately 25 kilometres outside of Hudson’s Hope in northern B.C.
“The Chinese coal mining industry is perhaps the most dangerous industry in the world,” alleged Kim Pollock, a Canadian research representative for the USW.
“It has a terrible track record when it comes to protecting the safety of the people who work in it.”
Pollock said there were four separate fatal coal mine accidents in China killing at least 22 workers in the two weeks that followed the USW’s call for a safety inquiry.
A spokesman for B.C.’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said the ministry would ensure all mining companies that operate in the province would maintain excellent safety standards, and that inspector specialists would review the specifications of all mining equipment before it’s used.
“Mine inspectors visit the mines and conduct inspections and audits to confirm the operations are in compliance with the [Mines] Act and the [Health, Safety and Reclamation] Code,” the spokesman said via email. “If a mine is not in compliance, the inspector will issue orders to the mine manager to take action to rectify the non-compliance.”
But Pollock said that doesn’t address the need to review the track records of foreign mining companies prior to being permitted to operate in the province.
“Companies should be vetted and reviewed in terms of their health and safety capabilities before they are allowed to invest here,” he said.
“We are viewing them as guilty until proven innocent in terms of China’s track record in coal mine safety and coal mine accidents.”
The ministry said staff have toured four mining operations in China, including one owned by Canadian Dehua International Mines Group Inc., one of the companies that partnered to form Canadian Kailuan Dehua Mines Co. Ltd. (CKD), the company behind the Gething project.
According to the ministry’s email, “The four mines toured demonstrated that they are technologically sophisticated, maintain excellent health and safety programs and have excellent safety records.”
Another concern, said Pollock, is that CKD wants to bring people from China to work in the mines under Canada’s temporary foreign worker program rather than hire unemployed Canadian miners.
Darryl Johnson, acting mayor of Hudson’s Hope, said CKD has said it intends to follow Canadian and B.C. safety standards and that it complies with safety standards elsewhere in the world.
Johnson added that the project is good news for Hudson’s Hope in terms of the infrastructure development that will be required to support the workers moving into the area.
“Our schools are dropping, we’re also an aging community and we’re having trouble with retaining a doctor in town,” Johnson said. “I’m hoping that a little bit of development and bringing our population back up to a sustainable size would help us out immensely.”
Although Gething remains in the environmental assessment process and is years away from production, the mine is expected to employ approximately 400 workers for 40 years if built. •
