[Smevo]

Another step in the Undersea Mining bill, which will affect Donkin.

From Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Cape Breton Post.

New bill will regulate undersea mining

Public given chance to voice opinion in Glace Bay

Section: Business

By Wes Stewart,
The public had the chance Tuesday to voice its opinion on proposed legislation to regulate undersea coal mining as its relates to the Donkin mine.

The consultations at the Cape Breton Miners' Museum, and a final round in Halifax Thursday, will hear from Donkin residents, unions, Xstrata Coal, employee and employer groups and fishermen on proposed legislation that mirrors federal and existing laws in the areas of labour, occupational health and safety, mineral and petroleum development.

It's unlikely the legislation will be presented to Parliament much before the fall at the earliest, said Robert Lomas, director, special projects division, minerals and metals sector, Natural Resources Canada.

The legislation also must be enacted by the provincial government, which will act as regulator and collect the royalties from the mine's coal and coal-gas operations.

Donkin Coal Alliance, a consortium of Xstrata Coal of Australia and Erdene Gold, Dartmouth, is spending $15 million draining the flooded mine tunnels and testing the coal to assess the feasibility of opening the mine over the next year.

Representatives of Environment and Labour and Natural Resources Canada presided over the sessions.

Lomas said once they hear from the community they will discuss with the province whether they need to make any changes to the proposals the governments made to the regulatory regime.

"I think what we will end up with is likely provincial in terms of resource development, tailored a little bit slightly to reflect some of the things in the Canada Labour Code provincial regulations with some amendments," Lomas said.

Xstrata needs that clarity of one regulator in order to go ahead and develop a project plan, he suggested.

The Halifax session will discuss the jurisdictional overlap with the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board in terms of extracting coal bed methane.

"We will make sure that authority is actually removed from the board so there is one regulator in terms of the province and the coal mines," Lomas said.

"We want to make sure everything is covered off and who we go to if we have a problem," said presenter Hugh Kennedy, chair of the Xstrata Donkin community liaison committee.

The community of 1,200 people supports the development of the mine, because "obviously, economically we need it," Kennedy said.

At the same time, people are concerned about the impact the mine will have on the environment, road safety and the fishery, he said.

Riverview student wants minister to explain why renovations have been halted

Section: Cape Breton

By Tanya Collier MacDonald,
A student leader at Riverview Rural High School has a simple question for the province's education minister.

"What happened?"

John MacLellan, student council co-president at the Coxheath school, said students want answers from Education Minister Karen Casey.

"Where did the money go? Was the planning poor? I'd be interested in what she had to say," he continued.

MacLellan said students are frustrated that government funding for a scheduled renovation was put on hold for a second budget year.

"I'm guessing the money was needed somewhere else," said MacLellan

The school started work on a contemporary entranceway to replace its original doorway, which dates back to the 1950s. Along with giving the school a modern twist, the project was supposed to give students space for their music and drama programs and a stage the school currently lacks.

Peter McLaughlin, a department spokesperson, said Casey has two days tentatively set aside the first week in May to tour Cape Breton schools. It's unknown which schools she'll be visiting, he said.

"It's not like (the school) is asking for enough money to build a new school," MacLellan wrote in an open letter to the minister. "We just want enough to finish the part that has already been started. Minister Casey, you could take a lesson from the students at RHS and complete the goals that you and your department set out to achieve."

MacLellan said students have collected more than 3,000 signatures on a petition asking for funding to complete the job.

Scheduled renovations at Sydney Academy were also put on hold this fiscal year.

The provincial government has allocated $58.5 million for improved school infrastructure over the upcoming fiscal year. The money is being shared among 11 schools.

In a small caption underneath a photo, the paper mentioned a moving company taking furniture out of the old Keddy's in preparation for its demolition. Still no official word on when it will happen, but that's definitely a good sign.