The Australians have come for Canada’s minerals lunch, and they are eating it, declared a recent story in The Globe and Mail.

Canada has lots of resources, but a shrinking number of domestic companies that are extracting those resources, the story goes. While the need for critical minerals has become part of the daily discussion, the capital markets in Canada are not responding with investment. Meanwhile, Australian companies with big war chests are coming to this country, staking their claims and developing projects. “They’re just kicking our ass,” one industry veteran told The Globe and Mail.

The article directs blame at factors including insufficient protectionism, unpatriotic pension funds, financial market dynamics in this country and a dearth of risk capital following the bursting of the cannabis bubble.

In addition, the risk that comes with letting Australian companies pour into Canada, a University of Alberta economics professor asserted, is that, however much we believe we may share with our Commonwealth friends, their interests are not ours—and there could be a future reckoning if we surrender too much, and the friendship goes sour.

There was a time not long ago when economic interdependence was considered a virtue, and its benefits were seemingly self-evident.

That growing Aussie footprint in Canada also inspired this issue’s feature story, “The Australian wave,” by regular contributor Alexandra Lopez-Pacheco. It takes, however, a less confrontational approach to the influx of Australian companies. As the writer notes, Canadian investment in Australia has also shot up in recent years.

The story looks not only at the expanded role of Australian companies in Canada, but also how they are working with Canadian partners to develop critical mineral projects that would benefit everyone involved.

I saw it for myself in September, when I had the opportunity to go to Saskatoon for the Maintenance, Engineering and Reliability/Mine Operators (MEMO) Conference. The trip also gave me the chance to attend Women in Mining/Women in Nuclear Saskatchewan’s one-day conference; the event filled an enormous ballroom and hosted even more people online. Long-time attendees of WIM/WIN events confirmed that the recent growth of such events has been impressive.

A good amount of credit for this is due to the Australian mining giant BHP, which seven years ago committed to having a gender-balanced workforce by 2025, defined as minimum 40 per cent female and 40 per cent male. Earlier this year, the company announced that its potash division in Canada dedicated to the Jansen project in Saskatchewan had reached that threshold, achieving 43.8 per cent female representation. It is an impressive achievement for the company and has spurred its local competitors to action as well. It is also a testament to the education and talent that the region has.

At a time when the impulse is to brace for conflict and jealously protect one’s lunch, this milestone is a win for all.