After a long struggle with past and present governments, the mining industry in Quebec Province may be smiling soon as new parliament elections are likely to bring in officials that are more comfortable with the crypto mining industry in the area.
With its uniquely cold weather and low electricity cost, the province provides the perfect condition for setting up mining industries with high performance computers that use a lot of electricity to mine cryptocurrencies.
However, the current liberal provincial government has made it extremely difficult for the industry to thrive in the area by hiking electricity bills of miners by 100%.
A local miner had this to say about the situation:
“I am a Quebecer and I want to develop and participate in my local economy, but it is getting harder and harder and it seems to me the only rational choice is to look elsewhere.”
The government had discouraged the development of the mining industry by “ordering” electricity producers not to provide electricity to any company involved in mining. This made many intending companies in China and many other countries to consider alternatives after being turned down by the reigning government which said:
“If you want to come settle here, plug in your servers and do bitcoin mining, we’re not really interested.”
However concerning the outcome of today’s elections, Francois Remy, a former Montreal business newspaper columnist said:
“The (Liberal) government is about to lose the elections, and the other political parties, like Parti Québécois and CAQ seem more opened to blockchain. They want to attract these companies, to support them and use cheap electricity and cold climate as a competitive advantage for the Québec economy.”
In the meantime, commissioners in the county of Missoula had turned down a request for temporary suspension of mining activities in the area due to noise and other problems according to the locals because there was no apparent impact of the activities that could be used as evidence.
It would therefore seem like decision makers who are interested in the blockchain and crypto mining industry are coming on board and the industry may be favored in terms of legislation and possibly allocation of resources over time.
Reseacrh has also shown that some of the concerns about the mining industry which make it difficult for certain parts of the world to allow their operations can be solved using blockchain technology.
It appears the industry will eventually get an overwhelming acceptance should decision makers continue to give it the needed support as they continue to appreciate its role in making society better.
