麻豆视频

Saskatchewan Mining Week is next week.

It鈥檚 a great time to turn to mining companies, and thank them for all that they provide to the province.

Coal is, of course, the mineral most familiar to residents of southeast Saskatchewan. Hundreds of people are employed by the Westmoreland Coal Company; many more indirectly owe their employment to the mining industry.

If coal mining were removed from the local picture, it wouldn鈥檛 be just the people employed through mining who would suffer.

The coal mines are more than just a source of jobs for local residents.

Westmoreland Coal, like the coal companies that came before it in the Estevan area, has taken an active role in the community. Their employees support organizations such as the United Way Estevan through payroll deductions.

The mines support local sports teams and other entities in the city as well.

The story is similar in other areas of the province. The people in Esterhazy, Coronach and other towns can vouch for the positive impacts that mining has.

We are blessed to boast such diverse mining options in the province. Everyone knows that Saskatchewan is a world leader in potash and uranium exports. Coal and other minerals are prevalent, too.

Some have argued that our wealth of minerals should be left in the ground, but that would merely be a waste of a perfectly good resource.

There needs to be regulations to govern the companies, and legislation needs to create a balance between the needs of the environment and business. You can鈥檛 create a set of rules so restrictive that it chokes out the industry.聽

But you also can鈥檛 have laws in place that are so lackadaisical towards the environment that they become toothless.

Westmoreland and other mining companies deserve a lot of credit for their commitment to such concepts as reclamation, which requires the land to be returned to its pre-mining condition.

And while reclamation is a slow and lengthy process, many reclaimed lands now serve a useful purpose.

Safety is also an important part of the mine operations. Westmoreland Coal proudly touts their safety record, and the mines often go through a prolonged period without a lost time accident. But no matter how long they go between accidents, they won鈥檛 be happy until they have a perfect track record.

There are a lot of negative stereotypes about the mines. Many are based on agendas and propaganda. There are some rogue companies out there who treat their employees poorly, look for ways around environmental regulations, and don鈥檛 want to support their communities.

But most of them are assets. We鈥檙e fortunate to have Westmoreland Coal in our region. And we鈥檙e fortunate that Saskatchewan is a global leader in mining.

We hope mining will continue to play a big part in our region and our province for years to come.