Irresponsable and contradictory to what the apparent priorities of the Government

1. This company and their current projects have faced enormous scrutiny from the canadian and international public. Canada is criticized for proclaiming committment to addressing climate change, while also approving resource development initiatives for the dirtiest of resources. Trudeau has also pledged to reduce Canada's emissions by 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 AND said this decision applies to the proposed expansion of the Vista Coal Mine near Hinton. He also said it is a fuel of the past century. Approving this project is contradictory, deceptive, misleading, destructive and unacceptable. Phasing out coal by 2031 is too late. 

In addition, the company is financially unstable. There is a LONG history of resource intensive industries profiteering off exploitative processes and then burdening communities (up and down stream) with health implications, destroyed natural habitat, lost value in the long run for their communities and the responsaibility of paying for remediation and clean up. Vista mine is no exception and has been explicietly flagged by the province's own Auditor General. They already have a mining footprint of more than 1500 hectares. 

"New thermal coal mining projects or expansions are not in line with the ambition Canadians want to see on climate, or with Canada’s domestic and international climate commitments. Eliminating coal-fired power and replacing it with cleaner sources is an essential part of the transition to a low carbon economy, and as a result, building new thermal coal mines for energy production is not sustainable.” – The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Laslty, environmental protection and climate change have consistently been the priority of Canadian youth for the past 5 years.