A major mining company near Williams Lake, B.C., is laying off dozens of workers and blaming the move on provincial red tape. 

Taseko Mines Limited — a Vancouver-based firm that owns the Gibraltar Mine located about 61 kilometres north of the Cariboo city — announced this week that at least 40 Gibraltar employees, including truck drivers and drill operators, will be laid off effective next Tuesday. 

Brian Battison, Taseko’s vice-president of corporate affairs, says Gibraltar has no option but to lay off staff because it