Doug Donaldson, NDP MLA for Stikine was appointed as critic for a stand-alone portfolio of mining.
“It's a great honour to serve the people of Stikine, the Official Opposition caucus, and our leader Adrian Dix in a full critic role devoted to mining,”Donaldson said.
Establishing a mining portfolio and assigning a full critic position to the portfolio, Donaldson said, was evidence of the recognition by Dix of the importance of mining to northern B.C. and B.C. as a whole.
Donaldson said his new role holds much promise for rural communities and regions.
“This is an important opportunity to connect with investors, the exploration industry, and mining companies on equal footing with communities and First Nations in order to reap the benefits of our commonly-owned mineral wealth in this province,” Donaldson said.
“What we’ve witnessed in the last decade are record high commodity prices but many lost opportunities because of a BC Liberal government approach that lacks focus when it comes to expectations around First Nations consultation, as well as the lack of public trust they’ve created regarding environmental standards.”
Donaldson also retains his existing roles as deputy energy critic and chair of the sustainable economic policy committee within the BC NDP caucus.
“I'm especially pleased from a local perspective with the mining critic role and the deputy energy critic position as they are very well-suited to the issues and opportunities we face in the Stikine constituency,” said Donaldson.
“Chairing our caucus sustainable economic policy committee also gives me a seat on our platform committee which is really exciting work from a rural community perspective leading up to the May 14, 2013 provincial election.”