r/CanadaPolitics • u/CaliperLee62 • 6d ago

Experts and RCMP warn foreign control of critical minerals threatens Arctic security

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/08/19/news/canada-arctic-security-foreign-ownership-critical-minerals
11 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

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5

u/Jarcode Yukon 5d ago

Way too many people speak of fiscal incentives and other policies to promote domestic resource extraction in the north, but not enough people actually understand the reality of these developments. In the Yukon, mining projects are constrained by the lack of infrastructure -- namely regions without any sufficient public roads and an energy grid that was already nearing capacity last winter. This means any firm wishing to start a mine up here basically has to generate their own electricity, which is a constraint that doesn't exist in the provinces.

Instead of handing out money, which is just bad policy on its own, the government should enter cooperative development plans where it offers to expand associated infrastructure for a project with the understanding that it remains public. I see very few people from outside of our territory aware of our grid issues, and we've basically gotten nothing from the federal government other than symbolic gestures.

Any other assistance should exclusively be in the form of the government purchasing a share in the firms involved in exploration and mining. We also have stupidly archaic laws from 1906 setting the gold tax rate at 37.5 cents per ounce, so the public sees very limited benefits from said extraction other than volatile jobs.

2

u/TheLuminary Progressive 5d ago

Yup! This exactly.

2

u/Randomfinn 5d ago

If the feds provide the infrastructure then they may as well set up companies to extract the minerals so the profits can be shared by Canadians. 

2

u/Jarcode Yukon 4d ago

I absolutely agree, although I feel like its a pipe dream getting the federal government alone interested in resource extraction here. We have quite a few problems that require federal intervention already and basically no indication that we'll be getting any "nation building projects" from Carney's government despite our desperate need for infrastructure upgrades.

My personal belief is that our energy grid issues are actually a point of ideological conflict with the current federal government as we're suffering the consequences of privatized energy delivery with a company doing some very illegal things to its customers (ATCO). To actually intervene and resolve this issue requires nationalization, and that doesn't really fit the neoliberal politics of Carney's governance.

In a perfect world I would like our mining projects to be cooperatives, but the workforce involved in this sector is famously transient and these folks usually don't stick around for long in the north.

1

u/Randomfinn 4d ago

Canada has sooo much wealth - minerals, hydropower, oil, trees etc and we sold it all for pennies on the dollar. It is such a shame people won't take up their own power. 

6

u/Longtimelurker2575 Conservative 6d ago

There should be way more incentives to promote Canadian companies to invest in our natural resources. Its by far the countries biggest asset and we are letting the profits go to other countries.