When Chief Clarence Louie of the Swiws Indian Band called the proposed merger between Vancouver-based Teck Resources Ltd. and British mining giant Anglo American plc “unconscionable,” in September, his words struck a chord that goes beyond indigenous politics.“These deals cannot be completed without the title holders on whose lands these mines and smelters are situated being included,” Louie said, warning that Teck’s smelter near Trail, BC, has operated on his people's land “for over a century” and his people have “experienced significant impacts without any benefit,” in that time.The proposed $70 billion deal — one of the largest in global mining history — would combine the two companies into a copper mining operations firm called Anglo Teck, headquartered in Vancouver.BNN Bloomberg reported that Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has said she will only approve the merger if it demonstrates a “net benefit to Canada.”“We need to think about the longer term and how we can make sure that ultimately we create jobs, but we have a strong headquarters, not only now but also for the next decade,” Joly said, noting that conversations had been made with the two companies and the discussed benefits to the country were currently not enough, with further talks needed.Teck Resources spokesperson Dale Steeves told the Western Standard that the company is committed to engaging meaningfully with indigenous leaders.“We have been in touch with the Osoyoos Indian Band about the proposed merger of equals and look forward to discussing it further,” he said..BC chief says it's 'unconscionable' Anglo, Teck consider mining merger without indigenous approval.Steeves also outlined investment commitments totalling $4.5 billion over five years in Canada, including “the Highland Valley Copper Mine Life Extension, improving critical minerals processing capacity at Trail, advancing potential major new copper mines in Northwestern British Columbia, supporting critical minerals exploration, innovation, skills training, research and jobs growth in Canada.”However, some experts are raising questions about whether Canada is quietly surrendering strategic control of its mineral wealth.The Western Standard spoke with Maximilian Hess, author and founder of London-based political risk firm Enmetena Advisory, who specializes in international finance and resource politics, to unpack the implications this may have for Canada’s mining industry and resource sector going forward.For Hess, the corporate commitments do little to address the underlying issue — who truly governs the future of Canada’s resources?.“I think Canada is genuinely a leader in these matters. The question here is whether it becomes weaker in its ability to exercise that influence going forward,” Hess said.“Canada has a better track record than a lot of other regulatory environments do. But if this listing goes ahead and other Canadian resources continue to be sold out of Canadian majority ownership, then the ability for the Canadian authorities to decide how they want to shape the global mining sector going forward will be undermined, and it will always be a global sector.“It will always be that the products are mined in one place, sold in another, or often yet another, but Canada has had an important role in that, in many ways a force for good compared to some of the other environments. This deal would risk undermining that.”Hess believes the merger marks more than just another corporate realignment — it could signal a shift in how Canada’s mineral base fits into global power structures.“We live in an era of resource nationalism, where there's particularly intense competition between both companies and states over the future of a lot of these resources. In this proposed merger, that's one of the key factors that has Anglo-American so interested in Teck, in particular for its copper assets,” Hess said.“We've seen this billed as a supposed merger of equals; it's actually Anglo-American that will emerge with nearly two-thirds of the shares, and Canada would be losing one of its largest remaining mining companies on the Canadian listing... This would weaken Canada's leverage not only over control of its own assets, but in terms of its geo-economic position in dealing with the future of these resources and resource competition between Canada and the United States, Europe, China, and so on.”Hess noted that Anglo American’s track record — including its ownership of De Beers and the controversial Victor diamond mine in northern Ontario — raises legitimate concerns for both Indigenous communities and Canadian regulators.“I don't know if I would go quite so far as to say it should disqualify [Anglo American] from future Canadian expansion, but it does show that there needs to be additional attention paid to the company's past track record in Canada, as well as elsewhere,” Hess said, noting that De Beers is currently in the process of being sold and Anglo American is looking to remove it from the future Anglo Teck company as diamond prices are currently seeing a major downturn.“If you ask De Beers, their success story has always been helping the development of the country of Botswana. But we now see a real crisis in that country due to those low diamond prices, De Beers is trying to get out at this time, and real questions exist over how that country is going to continue to develop, grow, and invest these resources,” Hess stated.“So, it has a track record of getting out when the going gets tough and then leaving local authorities, whether they be in Ontario or whether they be in Botswana, to deal with the mess after.”.Saskatchewan tops Canada for mining investment, again.In response to criticism over the Victor mine, Anglo-American’s External Communications Manager Rebecca Meeson-Frizelle reiterated the company’s commitment to indigenous engagement and responsible operations.“Anglo American is committed to operating responsibly and embedding learnings from the very outset to deliver socially and environmentally responsible mining operations both now and into the future,” she stated.“Both Anglo American and Teck have earned recognition as leaders in sustainability within the global mining industry, including leading social and environmental stewardship, indigenous and community relations, and responsible resource development.”Meeson-Frizelle noted that Anglo American’s Social Way framework includes a specific section on indigenous peoples that provides guidance on identifying and engaging with indigenous peoples “throughout the life of [the] asset.”She also stressed that a substantial proportion of Anglo Teck’s board of directors will be Canadian and that they will "honour all agreements with communities, indigenous governments, and labour unions in the country," as well as promote "a recognition of the importance of respecting indigenous and community rights, as well as maintain employment levels in Canada with no net reduction in the number of employees in the business in the country."For Hess, as the merger process continues to unfold, questions about national control, indigenous consent, and strategic oversight will be central to how Canadians — and the world — continue to view the future of the country’s critical minerals sector.“Canada wants to ensure that it has key regulatory oversight over its own domestic mining base in the future, and any move to bring the listing outside of Canada would have a real negative impact on that,” Hess said.“I think that Canadian mines will still continue to be profitable, and Canada will still have a very large and thorough mining sector. But ultimately, who controls it, whether at the corporate level or at the national level, is really at stake here.”
