Federal Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne is all for Yukon mining development.

After spending a day touring several Yukon mine sites with Premier Ranj Pillai, Champagne returned to Whitehorse overflowing with enthusiasm for the territory’s mineral exploration sector.

To realize the full potential for mining in the Yukon, he spoke of the need for more renewable energy and more affordable housing in the territory.

Champagne was in Whitehorse last week with 18 other MPs and federal cabinet ministers for the rural and northern Liberal party caucus meetings.

The Star was able to sit down with him to discuss mining exploration and other Yukon priorities.

“This is the land of opportunity,” Champagne said, with his typical positivity and lively mannerisms.

He was particularly excited about the proposed Casino mine project along the Yukon River between Carmacks and Dawson.

“That could be the largest copper mine in North America, and one of the largest in the world,” he said.

According to the mine’s permit application with the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Review Board (YESAB), it would be an open-pit mine digging into one of the largest copper-gold deposits in the world.

Not everyone is as hopeful or as happy about this new mining project.

The Yukon Conservation Society’s Lewis Rifkind noted the mine is at least a decade away from pulling ore out of the ground and may not pass muster in environmental reviews due to issues with its large tailings pond and access road through sensitive caribou habitat.

Champagne was bullish about Yukon mining because he said it is unique and well-suited with road and river access to much of the territory’s deposits of copper and critical mineral for electronics and battery production.

“Yukon has pretty much all the critical minerals to power the economy of the 21st century for batteries and semi-conductors,” Champagne said.

This, combined with the ability to use the Port of Skagway to ship the ore out to Asian markets, gives the territory a major advantage over some other mining areas in places like those in South America, he said.

“The Yukon is a world-class mining jurisdiction, with strong environmental, social and governance standards and we collaborate closely with our partners in Yukon First Nations governments,” Pillai said in a statement released about his mine tour with Champagne.

Champagne said this mine could be one of the most eco-friendly large mining projects anywhere, but clean electricity is needed.

Mines such as this – this one could employ as many as 700 people – need large amounts of electricity.

“What is needed for a number of these projects to be the most sustainable mines that you’d find in the world; we need more electric power,” Champagne said.

Casino’s owners have proposed the mine initially run on natural gas, but Champagne and Pillai would like to see the Yukon hook into B.C.’s electric grid at some point in the future to give the territory and the mine access to hydro power.

This would allow large amounts of electricity without large amounts of fossil fuel emissions.

If the plant ran on natural gas, the huge amount of energy needed to operate equipment like rock crushers could double the territory’s per-year greenhouse gas emissions, Rifkind said.

Conversations are in the works between the provinces and territories and with the federal government on how to make the grid connection a reality, Champagne said.

“We are going to work with (Pillai) to see how we can support that,” Champagne said.

The last estimate on the cost for this was between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, but Pillai said last month it will likely cost more.

Rifkind cast doubt on whether the grid connection is feasible, saying if it was even possible, it would cost billions and effectively be a subsidy to mining companies.

He also discussed the trade-off between greenhouse gas reduction and other environmental impacts from hydro power.

Champagne said that in Canada these projects are done in an eco-friendly manner, and with the necessary First Nations engagement.

“I think in Canada we have been able to do these trade-offs in a sustainable and responsible way,” he said.

Rifkind, on the other hand, noted that while it is probably better to use hydro than diesel for power, the building of dams like the recent B.C. Site C dam project near Fort St. John also come with huge negative environmental impacts.

But now that the dam is there, he acknowledged it probably makes sense to use that power rather than fossil fuels.

“Since the dam has already been built,” he said, “given the climate emergency, we should be doing everything we can to limit our greenhouse gas emissions.”

The environmental concerns around the tailings pond linger as well, and according to information on the Casino mining website, the massive tailings pond dam would need to be 286 metres high.

Historic failures of similar tailings pond dams, including the Mount Polley disaster in B.C. in 2014, have invited more scrutiny to projects like this. The YESAB application labels the potential tailings pond for the site as controversial.

Rifkind also mentioned the impacts on the Klaza caribou herd from road development. He said once an all-season road is built into the area, it will inevitably get spur roads off of it, severely impacting caribou habitat.

All of this work requires billions of dollars in investment, and Rifkind questioned whether it will be profitable after all is said and done.

Champagne sees the evidence in the willingness of large foreign corporations to invest in the project.

The latest news on the Casino project is an investment from Mitsubishi, which has put up $21.3 million for a five per cent stake in the project. This comes about two years after Rio Tinto put in a $25.6 million investment.

Champagne applauded the investments from these two companies, saying they are trusted foreign investors.

“Two partners we have known for a long time,” he said. “I think we have the right partners to bring that mine to the next level.”

Asked about foreign investment in Yukon mining by companies from other countries – specifically China – Champagne was less enthusiastic.

“I would have a word of caution when it comes to that,” he said. “We need to choose our partners strategically.”

Champagne is well-known as a salesperson for Canada, negotiating deals with the Dutch company Stellantis and German carmaker Volkswagen to bring multibillion-dollar electric vehicle battery and car plants to Ontario.

New mines or other types of industry also require a place for those workers to live, which can be a challenge in the Yukon.

In Champagne’s view, solving this issue would bring rewards to the territory.

“Housing is going to be the catalyst for big development in the Yukon,” Champagne said.

He said this is an issue that needs to be dealt with by municipalities and territorial government, as well as by federal government.

What is needed, he said, is to incentivize housing development while reducing zoning issues.

“There’s no single bullet when it comes to housing,” he said.

While in town, Champagne said he heard from many people that the housing issue was at the top of their concerns.

“I met a number of folks when I went for dinner, a few of them Quebecers actually, that moved up to the Yukon,” he said.

“The first issue they talked about was housing – ‘well, yes, minister, it’s a great place, it’s a great opportunity but trying to find a house or afford to build a house is a real issue.’”

In his approach to these issues and in his interactions in Whitehorse, Champagne exhibited the style which has earned him the nickname “Energizer Bunny”.

While shying away from fully embracing that title, he did say it reflects how he wants to approach his job, with “a sense of action, of getting things done.”