Ontario falling behind without research levy.Ontario may soon be the last major mining jurisdiction without a mining research levy. Our major competitor, Australia, has a wildly successful scheme. Chile, the second biggest threat to Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is the part of the province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River and Lake Nipissing. Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it , has just introduced a plan to invest from a new mining tax in developing technology. Peru, a country that depends on mining just slightly more than Canada, is considering following suit. A research levy collects money from mining companies to spend on research the industry needs. The poster child of research levies is the Australian Coal Association The Australian Coal Association (often abbreviated to ACA) is the major coal industry lobby group in Australia. It represents the interests of the black coal producers of New South Wales and Queensland and consists of a number of relatively small coal mining companies or Research Program (ACARP ACARP Australian Coal Association Research Program ). Australian Australian pertaining to or originating in Australia. Australian bat lyssavirus disease see Australian bat lyssavirus disease. Australian cattle dog a medium-sized, compact working dog used for control of cattle. black coal producers pay five cents per tonne tonne measure of weight or mass; 1 tonne=1000 kg. See also ton. and spend the money on research. In theory, the Australian coal levy is voluntary, but according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Michael Hood, the dean of the mining engineering program in Queensland Queensland, state (1991 pop. 2,477,152), 667,000 sq mi (1,727,200 sq km), NE Australia. Brisbane is the capital; other important cities are Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Townsville, Rockhampton, Cairns, and Ipswich. , the Australian government really says "volunteer or else." If the companies don't keep paying the voluntary levy the government will go back to collecting the tax it imposed before 1992. Government may have forced the levy on the coal industry, but senior management in the coal industry unanimously recognizes the value of the program. Why are the coal producers happy to be taxed? Before the tax was introduced they were in a classic "public goods dilemma." They knew they needed research, but each wanted the others to pay for it. If one company had invested large amounts in research, the others that were not spending could sell coal cheaper. If the research was successful, the others could copy it. They needed the government to make them all contribute. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] They also like the coal levy because they get to choose the research. The levy is paid to Australian Coal Research Ltd, a company established by the industry to manage the program. Each year the company funds 60 projects chosen by coal company experts. The industry gets more than it pays for. The research projects attract additional funds from government and other mining companies. In 2003 the $12 million contributed by coal companies leveraged over $31 million in research spending. ACARP is a useful model for funding industry research. It is efficient, industry likes it, and it generates technologies that Australia can sell abroad. It also ensures that the Australian coal industry stays competitive, helping assure long-term employment. If you find yourself wishing that the Ontario government were as clever as the Australian government, you are not alone. The people of Chile want their government to introduce a similar fund. In April the Chilean government announced it would introduce a three-per-cent sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. on mining companies. This is three times the size of the research tax I proposed in last month's column. Peru is considering a similar levy. The Chilean tax differs from the Australian Levy in two ways. First, it mixes a research levy with a mineral royalty scheme. Second, Chile is promising to use the money to promote technology, but it is not promising to do the projects that the industry wants. The Australian levy is completely controlled by the industry, but research funded by the Chilean levy is likely to be directed by government. For Northern Ontario, at least some of the research should be aimed at expanding industries related to mining. The mining companies may not be interested in the mining supply and service industries in Northern Ontario, but the people of the North are. Mining companies have little interest in doing more processing in the North, but northern communities need the jobs. Australia and Chile each plan to become the world's leading centre for mining research. They want to promote their mining supply and service industries. Both have a strategy to expand and co-ordinate mining research. Ontario is falling behind. We are waiting for Rick Bartolucci Rick Bartolucci (born October 10, 1943 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the Sudbury riding. He has been a member of the assembly since 1995, and is currently a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty. to make his move. We should be watching Bartolucci very carefully. We need him to act as Minister of Northern Development and not just Minister of Mines. The mining industry would be happy to make Australia or Chile its R & D headquarters. We want Northern Ontario to be the centre of the mining world. When David Peterson David Robert Peterson, PC (born December 28, 1943 in Toronto, Ontario) was the twentieth Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years. was Minister of Northern Development, he understood that it matters where research is done. Rick Bartolucci has to make sure mining research is done in the North or the North will continue to decline. Dr. David Robinson David Robinson or Dave Robinson is a name shared by the following individuals:
(drobinson@laurentian.ca) |
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