This is BC, the only reason they meet in the middle is because they're too out of shape to chuck those spears any distance ... remember Chester Millar, Afton, Nimsick et al? -
' MR. GIBSON: Just a couple of case examples for you, Mr. Minister, through you, Mr. Chairman, just in case the overall picture hasn't sunk in. Look at the Afton copper property just outside of Kamloops. Where's the Hon. Member for Kamloops (Mr. G.H. Anderson)? I hope he takes part in this debate.
[ Page 1518 ]
AN HON. MEMBER: He's hiding.
MR. GIBSON: You know, the operators of that property, or the would-be operators, desperately want to develop it. You just have to read their statements. They don't dare to develop it because of this government. That would produce 800 jobs in construction right now in the town of Kamloops. That would produce 300 continual operating jobs, but there's no guarantee that a company investing in British Columbia can get their money out. Members of that government understand it. The Hon. Minister of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (Hon. R.A. Williams), when he builds a condominium, he understands that he can get his money out before he has to pay any taxes on it. No sirree, there's not that privilege for anyone bold enough, or stupid enough, to create jobs in the mining industry in British Columbia.
How about Bralorne? It's a mine that should be reopened ...
AN HON. MEMBER: How old is it?
MR. GIBSON: _ . . a mine into which a couple of million dollars has been put to bring it back to a stage where it can be reopened, and now they can't reopen it because of the Mineral Land Tax Act and what it would do to the costs of that mine. You know it, Mr. Minister. Don't shake your head.
Look at Valley Copper. A 50,000-ton-a-day operation, it should be. A couple of thousand men are needed to build it, 800 to operate it - needed jobs in the Highland Valley, jobs that aren't going to come about. I have a quotation here from the president of that company from a day or two ago. The president of that company, Mr. Rothman, April 17 clipping. He said: "No serious planning can be done for the deposit until the taxation and royalty situation changes." That's what he said, Mr. Minister.
HON. MR. MACDONALD: And then you say the same thing and the whole thing is turned off.
MR. GIBSON: Look at Granduc ....
HON. MR. MACDONALD: You're part of the problem.
MR. GIBSON: You're the problem, Mr. Attorney-General, you and your government.
Look at Granduc and the town of Stewart. I have sympathy for that Hon. Member for Atlin (Mr. Calder) whose throat has been cut by you and your policies, Mr. Minister. There's political blood on the floor up in the town of Stewart, I'll tell you.
AN HON. MEMBER: Who said that?
MR. GIBSON: The mayor of Stewart, who was, I'm told, a former good New Democrat.
HON. MR. LEA: The Liberals don't understand.
MR. GIBSON:
" 'The people,' says McLeod, 'are losing confidence not in themselves, but in the provincial government. If it wasn't for the mineral royalties legislation we could have a boom.' Government reaction to the efforts of McLeod by telephone and letter to convince Premier Barrett and his Minister of Mines of Stewart's desperate need have been unpromising. 'Stubborn and entirely negative' are the terms McLeod uses. 'The Barrett government has taken the phone off the hook as far as Stewart is concerned,' says Gary Hubbard, the town's first and only pharmacist."
What's the situation with Granduc Mines? Well, the first part of the situation is that they're running at a loss - a considerable loss - so they had to lay off about 400 men. Then they lost about half their reserves below the 2,600 foot haulage level because the cost structure has risen to the point that they aren't economic anymore. It's a nice example of the Mineral Land Tax Act turning ore into waste rock.
Now this company has $145 million in that property, more or less. They have provided jobs in a remote part of B.C. for several years. Mr. Minister, under your legislation they will never get that money out - never. There is no theoretical chance they'll get that money out because their break-even point is above the point where your super royalty cuts in.
HON. MR. NIMSICK: There's no super-royalty on that now.
MR. GIBSON: Mr. Chairman, the Minister says there's no super-royalty. You mean to tell me, Mr. Minister, that when you get over - what is it, about 76 or 77 cents now - you mean you don't have to give 50 per cent of the net to the government? Of course you do.
HON. MR. NIMSICK: It's not even 76 cents; I think it's higher than that now.
MR. GIBSON: No sir, it's not, Mr. Minister. It's 64-point-something, cents times 1.2 where your super-royalty cuts in, unless it's a new mine, in which case it's 135 per cent. You ought to know your own legislation and regulations for goodness' sake.
HON. MR. NIMSICK: Less smelter returns -you've got to subtract.
[ Page 1519 ]
MR. GIBSON: Oh sure, that's after the computation is done.
HON. MR. NIMSICK: No, it's a higher price than 76 cents.
MR. GIBSON: I'm talking about net smelter returns, for goodness' sake, Mr. Minister.
HON. MR. NIMSICK: Why didn't you say so then?
MR. GIBSON: I did say so.
HON. MR. NIMSICK: No, you didn't say that.
MR. GIBSON: I just said it now. So for every dollar they earn over that price level, they pay 99.5 cents in taxes. You know that, Mr. Minister. You know that once the super-royalty cuts in, that's what happens - for every dollar, 99.5 cents in taxes. So there's no theoretical possibility. That's the fair deal you're giving to people who would create jobs in the Province of British Columbia....'
legis.gov.bc.ca
... maybe things could change, sure ... maybe the sun will rise in the west tomorrow ... am i gonna bet on it, noooo ... i knew Bingo Dave from years before that time, he was a good man, unfairly tarnished later with the bingogate deal, that was just old-time politics, no big deal imho and he never took anything for himself, trouble was he was an hardened socialist, those people were still fighting the Wobble of 1913 ... met Bob Williams the forests minister a few times, also a good man and some of his policies made sense however overall there were made more and more walls against junior enterprises in crown timber ... the guy whose house i met Williams at the first time used to say, What a country, somebody runs over Mrs Jones' cat on a back road and what do they do, they put up a stop light .... but he also used to say, and still does - The only real question is, What Shall We Do Next ... so with that in mind -
su.to - i'm thinking of pulling silly little stink bids on various juniors, they're not getting any shares today anyway, and using all available buy power for a swing trade in Suncor ... what could go wrong, are the persians going to discover Pat Robertson and get born again overnight, nah ... almost kissing the 200-day here - stockcharts.com |
