The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
First Nations should be included in Ring of Fire talks, Nickel Belt NDP MP Claude Gravelle said.
Gravelle, the NDP’s natural resources critic, is involved in a study about mining and natural resources in Northern Canada. The committee is interviewing interested parties in the Ring of Fire for the report, which will focus on northern communities, the First Nations and mining companies in the North.
“The mining companies are certainly interested in developing the Ring of Fire and the First Nations are very interested in also being part of (it),” Gravelle said of the mineral rich area in Northern Ontario.
The Natural Resources Committee, which Gravelle vice chairs, spoke with mining companies and First Nations communities on Tuesday.
The discussion included the need for business partnerships and the environment side of developing the Ring of Fire project.
“(First Nation communities) aren’t against the Ring of Fire … They want to be at the negotiating table,” he said.
“We’re on First Nations land. It’s their territory.”
According to Gravelle, representatives of the Mattaw First Nations and Nishnawbwe Aski Nation said they were pro development, but reminded the committee that the Ring of Fire region has been “their homeland long before it became known as the Ring of Fire,” according to a release.
The committee, which will start working on their report in the next month or so, heard from Sudbury city councillor Dave Kilgour about resource development and mining in the North.
Some of the report will concentrate on the Cliffs Natural Resources and NORONT projects that have come out of the Ring of Fire. Cliffs is looking at the possibility of locating a ferrochrome processing plant in Sudbury.
In his release, Gravelle focused on the importance of including First Nations in the conversation about any Ring of Fire plans.
“The missing ingredient for Ring of Fire is obviously having real negotiations between the mining companies and First Nations to explore as concretely as possible business, jobs and training opportunities while respecting the environment and treaty,” Gravelle said.
“It was the most obvious message coming from testimony today.”