The Fraser Institute says turning over mineral rights to First Nations would improve investment and provide clarity to negotiations between bands and mining companies.
The right wing think tank came to the conclusion after comparing mineral law policies in Canada and the United States.
In the US, private ownership of mineral rights is allowed and land claim disputes are less of a deterrent to mining investment.
The study’s author, Kenneth Green, says that is not the case in Canada where provinces hold the mineral rights.
He says ownership is often the subject of endless negotiations, court challenges and protests:
“So you wind up in court or you wind up with protests. They represent failures of the democratic process because those are essentially acts of violence. You are going to invoke the power of the state to settle a dispute or you are actually having a physical dispute by going out and protesting.”
Green says the institute has not yet figured out how the system could be changed. He says that will be the subject of a further study.
He says finding a solution will be complicated but possible:
“We don’t shy away from big questions. The advantage here is that most of the parties already understand what they do in life based on defined rights. So it is not a novel experience. The exception to the rule is how mineral rights are handled.”
The Fraser Institute says mining is inherently international, and if Canadian policy makers want to maintain or improve Canada’s competitiveness the mineral leasing system should be changed to allow private ownership, particularly for First Nations.