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National security issues about countries like China and Russia have helped “inform” Canada’s new minerals strategy, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says.
His comments come after the federal government unveiled a strategy on Friday that focuses on boosting research and building sustainable infrastructure.
As part of a new approach to critical minerals, Canada hopes to reduce its reliance on international partners who do not share common values, Wilkinson said — especially after the world watched as Russia cut off natural gas supplies from European countries amid the war in Ukraine, which caused huge shortages in the region.
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Canada unveils new critical minerals strategy that looks at ‘generational opportunity’
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Canada unveils new critical minerals strategy that looks at ‘generational opportunity’
During the interview for Western Blocaired Sunday, host Mercedes Stephenson asked the natural resources minister how much of the critical minerals strategy has been affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine — and Canada’s increasingly chilly relationship with Beijing.
“I think the world learned a lot after the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Germany found itself very dependent on Russia for oil and gas,” Wilkinson replied.
“I don’t think anyone wants to be in that position based on critical minerals.”
Between 80 and 90 percent of rare earth elements are processed in China, Wilkinson added.
“It is, just from a national security perspective, not somewhere we want to go, our American friends want to go, our European friends want to go,” he said.
“And so it helped inform some strategies for sure.”
The new strategy is backed by nearly $4 billion in the federal budget for 2022. Among the measures included is a new 30 percent tax credit for “exploration support” for critical minerals such as nickel, lithium, cobalt, graphite, copper, rare earth elements, vanadium and uranium.
The plan also includes a focus on speeding up the approval of projects, as well as on environmental protection.
“We have significant reserves of a number of these (minerals), but there is huge untapped potential,” Wilkinson said.
The new strategy comes amid a global rush to secure critical minerals, many of which are vital to electronics such as semiconductors, batteries and electric vehicle engines. The strategy also coincides with rising tensions between Canada and China, which has previously bought or invested in Canadian mines and other natural resources.
China is a dominant player in the refining and processing of critical minerals, as well as in the supply chain of battery cell components.
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Ottawa is seeking to push China out of Canada’s critical mineral industry
But China doesn’t produce many minerals and instead invests heavily in overseas mines in places like Canada to get the raw materials it needs.
Canada and its allies are desperately trying to reverse China’s dominance on the ground and create a supply chain that relies on what it calls more stable and reliable partners.
“Canada has an opportunity here,” Wilkinson said, pointing to jobs, money and production opportunities in the critical minerals sector.
“Canada has tremendous comparative advantages in this area and we can take advantage of that if we are smart, thoughtful and strategic.”
— With files from Saba Aziz of Global News
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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