WINNIPEG - The Wilderness Committee is calling on the Manitoba government to extend the public comment period on Hudbay’s new Reed Mine in Grass River Provincial Park, until after the government's Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) comments have been publicized.

In the environmental licencing process for recent projects, comments from the Technical Advisory Committee (government experts tasked with analyzing the potential impacts of a given project) have not been publicized until after a licence was issued. Without this expert advice, the majority of information available to the public during the comment period was information provided by the company in its application. In the past, TAC comments were made available to the public before the end of a project’s public comment period, so that citizens could gain a better understanding of the project and offer their informed opinions.

“I want to see expert opinions from people who are paid to look after the province, not from someone who is paid to make this mine look good,” said Eric Reder, Campaign Director for the Wilderness Committee.

“And I want to ensure Manitobans have this advice at their disposal while they still have time to share their informed views on the project.”

Hudbay’s environmental licence application does not mention that the new mine site is located in Naosap caribou range, a threatened herd of woodland caribou whose habitat includes Grass River Provincial Park.

“This is the first new park mine in 20 years, and it is in critical woodland caribou habitat. Manitobans need to have the facts so they can provide valuable input about the proposal,” said Reder.

“Having the TAC comments for the public to review would strengthen the Environmental Licencing process. We need to get this right, for future generations,” he said.

The deadline for public comment on the Reed Mine project is February 19, 2013. The Wilderness Committee is expecting an answer to this request from Manitoba Conservation ahead of that date.