Gov’t-commissioned review condemns BC’s ‘professional reliance’ model

VANCOUVER — Big changes to the way B.C.’s mining sector is regulated may be on the way. At least that’s the signal given by a newly released, provincial government-commissioned report that criticizes the way the B.C. government manages the province’s natural resources. The report by lead author Mark Haddock — a University of Victoria environmental law professor and Forest Practices Board general counsel — comes 17 years after the “professional reliance” model was made modus operandi of B.C.’s natural resources sector by the newly elected government of then-premier Gordon Campbell, who was swept to power in 2001 on a pro-business platform after a decade of left-leaning New Democratic Party rule. One of Campbell’s first orders of business was a red-tape cutting drive that sought to reduce the number of regulations by one-third and reduce the size of the public service. The natural resources sector was given particular focus, given the Liberal government’s position that the sector was among the most over-regulated. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.