With more than 60 minerals and metals currently being pulled from Canadian soil, the mining industry is a major contributor to the national economy... However, the rapid expansion of mining operations have introduced a number of problems... [including] greenhouse gas emissions... [and] the social cost to mining, with many of the country’s most valuable mineral deposits owned by indigenous groups, who are typically left out of power structures responsible for dividing up the country into mining zones and awarding mining licences... Justin Trudeau invested considerably in the mining industry following his election in November 2015.

... Despite making an election pledge in 2015 to appoint an independent human rights ombudsperson to oversee the country’s international mining operations, Sheri Meyerhoffer was only appointed as the first Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise in April 2019. In this time, a lack of this public advocate has exacerbated Canada’s problems with mining safety and worker’s rights, allowing poor mining practices and welfare concerns to go unregulated... The Liberal vote share fell by 6.5% between the 2015 and 2019 elections, giving Trudeau’s party just 157 seats, short of the 170 needed to form a majority... “I do think that the two opposition parties on the left, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois will be pushing the government either on environmental matters or on spending that could have potentially challenging implications for industry in general and maybe for mining in particular"...[said] Mining Association of Canada CEO Pierre Gratton.