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Guiding Principles

  1. The remediation of orphaned/abandoned mine sites must be based on concern for public health and safety, respect for ecological integrity, and sustainable development;
  2. All work currently ongoing with respect to inventory building and remediation must continue to be based on sound science and good communication among all parties;
  3. Work toward eliminating future abandonments must continue, including the tightening of regulatory approaches;
  4. Implement the "polluter pays" principle;
  5. Targeted end-use and reclamation standards must be acceptable to local communities;
  6. Although the objective must be comprehensive reclamation of all sites, the approach must be cost-effective and based on an acceptable method of prioritizing sites;
  7. Transparency and disclosure must be present in all decision-making processes;
  8. Encompass the notion of "fairness" in all endeavours.
Objectives:

A national multi-stakeholder advisory committee be formed and funded to address the following issues/initiatives:
  1. Develop capacity for a national inventory of active, closed and orphaned/abandoned mine sites based on compatible inventories in each province and territory, and including an acceptable system for categorization and priority ranking
  2. Develop a plan to foster community involvement in decision-making about closure and reclamation standards, and to ensure that targeted end-use and reclamation standards are acceptable to local communities
  3. Evaluate the efficacy of various approaches, including "Good Samaritan" (indemnification) legislation, permit blocking, non-compliance registries, and allocative liability versus joint and several liability
  4. Evaluate models and mechanisms to pay for the remediation of orphaned/abandoned sites, including insurance options and contingency funds
  5. Develop a plan for shared responsibility and stewardship when ownership cannot be established
  6. Develop a plan to foster transparency and disclosure in all process
  7. Engage other relevant federal, provincial and territorial departments and ministries
  8. Secure appropriate funding for the above, at a level to be determined by IGWG and other stakeholders, to ensure delivery of the Initiative.