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VICTORIA — B.C.’s mines minister says the Mount Polley tailings pond collapse is behind changes to increase safety and regulation enforcement in provincial mining operations.

Michelle Mungall said Monday the government will spend $20 million over the next three years to hire 65 safety and enforcement officials and improve the mine permit approval process in an effort encourage investment.

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She said the changes were based on the results in the Mining Jobs Task Force report which made 25 recommendations to improve mine safety for workers and the environment, while spurring investment.

“The Mining Jobs Task Force came in and said that is very important and this is how we need to be doing it,” she said. “That’s exactly what this announcement is about. We’re making sure situations like Mount Polley are more preventable going into the future because we’re going to have more boots on the ground.”