Whitehorse Mining Initiative

To address the needs of Canada's struggling mining industry, Canada's mining ministers and the Mining Association of Canada supported a consensus-making process that brought stakeholders together over a two-year period. Leaders from industry, government, First Nations peoples, plus labour and environmental representatives, met to identify and address the key issues facing the mining sector. The result was the formation of the Whitehorse Mining Initiative (WMI).

Industry and government officials met in October 1992, to initiate detailed planning for the WMI. Out of this meeting a Planning Committee was appointed. In November, of the same year, the Planning Committee proposed that a broader group of interested parties be convened. At a multi-stakeholder consultation, held 10-12 February 1993, the WMI's objectives were confirmed and clarified, issues were identified and suggestions were made about the process and mechanism. Funding was to be provided by the Provincial and Federal governments, and the Mining Association of Canada.

The WMI was spearheaded by a Leadership Council, composed of government ministers, senior executives and officials from each of the sectors. The Leadership Council is coordinated and supported by a Working Group, also composed of representatives from each of the participating sectors, although at the senior working level. Four multi-stakeholder issue groups, Land Access, Environment, Workplace, and Finance/taxation were formed to address the four main issue areas identified as being important to the mineral industry. Finally, a secretariat was created to play an overall coordinating and support role for all of these bodies, as ell as being responsible for supporting and coordinating the issue groups and assisting them in the preparation of their final reports.

In addition, a Communications and Implementation Committee was established, meeting for the first time on 13 December 1993. Its membership cut across all three levels, although mainly composed from the Leadership Council. It was charged with managing the process to ensure the Leadership Council reached the Mines Ministers Conference with a document agreed upon by all parties of the Whitehorse Mining Initiative. This turned out to be the Whitehorse Mining Accord, which was presented to the MMC on 13 September 1994, in Victoria, British Columbia.