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Vaughn Palmer: B.C. NDP misses own target for processing mineral claims

Opinion: Province can only take a world role in critical minerals if claim-staking standards are met consistently, B.C. miners says

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VICTORIA — The B.C. government this week marked the first anniversary of a new framework for registering mineral claims, with growing evidence that the New Democrats have failed to live up to the targets they set for themselves.

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The Mines Ministry set a goal of processing applications in “90 to 120 days or faster,” a window that was supposed to include 30 days for consulting with First Nations.

The ministry fell well short of that, said a news release Wednesday from the Association for Mineral Exploration.

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“Recent data reveal that the median number of days for explorers to receive a decision on mineral claims has risen to 143,” said the news release. “Accounting for applications that are still pending, only 14.8% of applications were processed within 120 days.”

Nor did the government hit the mark on the promise to expedite consultations with First Nations within 30 days. Many applications were instead delayed for as long as three months.

The release quoted Darcy Vis, president of Tripoint Geological Services, regarding the growing backlog of applications under the new system.

“I have submitted 27 mineral applications since September 2025, none of which have been approved yet,” he said. “I’m worried that I won’t get the claims ahead of the summer, which may impact my ability to get to them to complete work, particularly the ones in higher elevations that have a short summer season.”

Also weighing in was Association for Mineral Exploration CEO Todd Stone.

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“There are claims still in the system that were staked a full year ago,” said Stone. “British Columbia can only assume its critical minerals leadership role on the world stage if claim staking service standards are met consistently, thus providing required project certainty.

“More expeditious consultation with First Nations must be prioritized with government taking a lead role to assist First Nations with the capacity needed to achieve service standards,” said Stone.

Pushing back was cabinet minister Jagrup Brar, whose Mines Ministry also includes responsibility for the development of B.C.’s critical minerals resource.

“We understand more work needs to be done on claim staking and exploration permitting,” Brar conceded.

“That is why budget 2026 places $3 million toward improvements. With this new funding, we’ve already started hiring the additional staff required to ensure that we have one of the best permitting jurisdictions in Canada.”

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Stone, for his part, praised the new funding, which is coming at a time when the government is under some fiscal restraint and a hiring freeze.

The Association for Mineral Exploration’s call for expedited consultations with First Nations harks back to a couple of important court cases involving the mineral-claims staking regime.

Three years ago, B.C. Supreme Court ruled that First Nations must be consulted at the time claims are staked, a departure from the previous practice of putting off the process until the permitting phase for actual mineral exploration work.

Then last December, the B.C. Court of Appeal found the mineral claims regime was inconsistent with provincial legislation implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The province is now redrafting the Declaration Act, as it is known, to discourage similar interventions by the courts.

The government’s proposals for the Declaration Act partly saw the light of day this week owing to a timely leak to Canadian Press. The New Democrats still refused to make public what they have already provided to some Indigenous leaders.

While the public is left guessing about the government’s intentions, the Association for Mineral Exploration has released its proposals for rewriting the Act to head off further court action.

The key change would reframe the obligation to align existing laws with the UN Declaration. It should be done “in consultation and co-operation with the Indigenous peoples, in concurrent engagement with the affected public, and in accordance with the priorities and process outlined in the action plan described in this Act.”

The association would delete a clause saying one of the purposes of the Act is to “affirm the application of the UN Declaration to the laws of B.C.” Also delete a passage that says “nothing in this Act is to be construed as delaying the application of the Declaration to the laws of B.C.”

A change in the related Interpretation Act would repeal the requirement that “every act and regulation must be construed as being consistent with the UN Declaration.”

The association submitted its proposals to the government two months ago. In a covering letter, Stone, who voted for the Declaration Act as a B.C. Liberal MLA, noted that the Association for Mineral Exploration had initially supported the Act, believing it would “provide a clear, transparent and timely project review process.”

“The lived experience of our members with the Act has been the opposite of this and entirely negative,” wrote Stone. “Decisions and legislative changes have been developed in secret and once unveiled provide little to no benefit to mineral exploration.”

Still, the association is not throwing the entire Declaration Act under the bus. As the government gropes around for the middle ground in the debate over the legislation, it could do worse than adopt the association’s amendments as a starting point.

vpalmer@postmedia.com

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