Time To Get Serious or Become “Uninvestable”

Sander Grieve, KC writes in the April 2025 issue of Canadian Mining Journal on why Canadian governments must get serious about attracting investment to our mining sector—or risk Canada becoming uninvestable. He proposes:

• A regime to designate critical mineral projects in the national interest
• One wicket, one process, one timeline for projects
• Respecting communities—by having the federal government appoint (in consultation with the impacted province) a community consultation arbitrator with full powers to make findings and orders in the national interest

Sander says the cost of doing nothing should be seen in the caution that BHP Mining gave in Queensland, Australia, that state policy had rendered the jurisdiction “uninvestable.” Sander cautions that most investors will not bother making this kind of fuss, they will just quietly move on to more fertile ground.