Twitter

Year: 2012

ONTC: Up for sale – by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles (North Bay Nugget- March 24, 2012)

http://www.nugget.ca/

The future is unclear for more than 950 employees at Ontario Northland Transportation Commission after the province announced Friday it will sell the Crown corporation.

Most of the ONTC divisions — rail freight, rail refurbishment and Ontera telecommunications — will be sold. The Ontario Northlander train service that runs between Toronto and Cochrane will be cancelled and replaced with bus service.

The Polar Bear Express from Cochrane to Moosonee is one service that will remain operational.

The news was delivered by ONTC chairman Ted Hargreaves and Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci Friday morning in Sudbury. “Divestment isn’t foreclosure. It’s business as usual,” said Hargreaves.

Read more

Getting ready for the [Northwestern Ontario mining] boom – by Katherine Bruce (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – March 26, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Note: This is the third of a multi-part series looking at the mining sector of Northwestern Ontario and the Ring of Fire.
Katherine Bruce likes to blow things up.

A professor of engineering technology at Cambrian College, she described her passion for her previous work in the mining sector, especially in the underground pits, to a large group of rapt attendees at the Mining Your Future conference on Feb. 25.

Bruce is one of the post-secondary institution partners working to develop strategies and solutions for the skill and labour shortage facing the mining industry. Confederation College president Jim Madder is also working to prepare students with diverse backgrounds and interests, for both the direct and indirect jobs available in the mining sector.

“Northwestern Ontario has to change its mindset and realize that there are jobs available,” Madder said.

Confederation is committed to preparing students for those jobs and currently offers flexible upgrading programs and outreach, as well as directly applied programs such as the diamond drillers course and an eight-month mining techniques program.

Read more

Alpha Natural Resources ranked as most controversial mining company – by Dorothy Kosich (Mineweb.com – March 26, 2012)

www.mineweb.com

RepRisk, a firm specializing in assessing the possible environmental, social, governance and reputational risks has issued a new report naming the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011.

RENO (MINEWEB) –  Swiss-based RepRisk-which advises investment banks, assets managers, and multinational companies of the possible environmental, social, governance and reputational risks of the companies in which they have invested or have business relationships with-has issued a new report naming the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011.
 
RepRisk uses the RepRisk Index (RRI), a quantitative risk measure that captures criticism and qualifies a company’s exposure to controversial issues.
 
In order of ranking, RepRisk named as the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies: 1. Alpha Natural Resources, 2. Newmont Mining, 3. Glencore International, 4. BHP Billiton, 5. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, 6. Rio Tinto, 7. Compania de Minas Buenaventura, 7. Barrick Gold (equal ranking), 9. Anglo American and 9. Vedanta Resources (equal ranking).

Read more

City plots ONTC strategy – by Gord Young (North Bay Nugget – March 25, 2012)

http://www.nugget.ca/

An uphill battle to save Ontario Northland Transportation Commission jobs gets underway Monday.

Mayor Al McDonald has called a special meeting of council for 6 p.m. in response to Friday’s announcement that the Ontario government plans to sell the Crown agency, which employs more than 950 people across the Northeast.

The meeting is expected to involve presentations from union officials, John Strang, president of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, ONTC chairman Ted Hargreaves and president Paul Goulet.

“I think its important that the community understands where we stand on this issue,” said McDonald, suggesting divestment of the ONTC will be devastating for Northeastern Ontario.

The province has said it can no longer afford to pour money into the operation and is seeking new providers for ONTC services.

Read more

When Thomas Mulcair runs into Western public opinion there will be blood – by John Ivison (National Post – March 25, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

What has the NDP wrought with the election of Thomas Mulcair as the party’s new leader? There was likely great wailing and gnashing of teeth among Bloquistes on his elevation, so we can assume that this is good news for the re-election of federalists in Quebec.
 
But what of the rest of the country? An article Mr. Mulcair wrote for Policy Option magazine, entitled Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of the Country, suggests that the new NDP leader is an irresistible force about to crash into the immovable object of Western public opinion. And there will be blood.
 
In his inaugural press conference as leader on Sunday, Mr. Mulcair softened his language — referring to the “oil sands,” rather than the pejorative “tar sands” that has been his normal shorthand. But did not back away from his commitment to “internalize” environmental costs to help cure the “Dutch disease” that has, in his view, driven up the value of the Canadian dollar and destabilized the balanced economy of East and West.

Read more

Prosperity scorecard measures how cities foster business hubs [industrial clusters]- by Richard Blackwell (Globe and Mail – March 26, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

But is it possible to force-feed clusters, or to shift a city’s existing
cluster mix? James Milway, executive director of the Martin Prosperity
Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business, said
the most effective move is “to take what you’ve got and make the best of
it.” Local educational institutions need to turn out skilled graduates
that the existing clusters need, he said, and “if the government can
prod that along, that’s great.”

For a thorough analysis of Sudbury’s four mining clusters, go to: Sudbury is the luckiest city in North America

Mike Tims is clearly in the sweet spot. The company he chairs, Peters and Co., is an investment bank that operates at the intersection of two of the most vibrant sectors of the Calgary economy – resource extraction and financial services.

Those two industry “clusters” are crucial to Calgary’s success, as they bring together a complex group of players whose interaction, competition and collaboration accelerate productivity and innovation.

Canadian cities are increasingly recognizing the need to nurture and refine these business hubs, getting leaders, educational institutions, and government agencies together to spur them along as they compete for economic activity with other municipalities in North America and around the world.

Read more

It’s eco-ethical to run your car on this fossil fuel – by Neil Reynolds (Globe and Mail – March 26, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls the Honda Civic GX the world’s cleanest internal combustion vehicle. How clean? By EPA analysis, it reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by 35 per cent, hydrocarbon emissions by 50 per cent and particulate matter emissions by 95 per cent. For all practical purposes, it’s a zero-emissions car.

Yet, the Honda GX is neither manufactured nor sold in Canada. It’s made and sold only in the United States – where it exceeds the stringent pure-air standards of the famously tough California Air Resources Board and qualifies for carpool lanes that are open only to the cleanest of vehicles.

The Honda GX runs on compressed natural gas, the only alternative fuel so cheap that it doesn’t need government subsidies. Now sold in 197 dealerships in 36 states, it’s an assembly-line family car, the first mass-produced CNG vehicle. It lists at $26,000 (U.S.) and gets good mileage: 30 miles per (U.S.) gallon in city driving, 42 miles per gallon in highway driving.

Read more

Province cuts ONTC, set to sell MNDM building; Ontario Northland to operate for time being – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 24, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The axe has started to fall on Ontario services in advance of Tuesday’s spring budget. The Liberal government announced Friday it is divesting itself of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency offering rail and bus ser vice, and telecommunications in Northern Ontario.

The agency employs almost 1,000 employees, most unionized. The move will save the government $103 million in operating costs annually. Sales of buildings and equipment could net the province “hundreds of millions” more in assets, said Ted Hargreaves, chair of the ONTC board.

The announcement was made Friday in Sudbury by Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci on the seventh floor of his ministry’s building at 159 Cedar St. While reporters were being briefed about Ontario Northland, Infrastructure Ontario issued a news release that the building in which the news conference was being held was going on the auction block.

Read more

RING OF FIRE: Federal Natural Resources minister wants approvals streamlined – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – March 24, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Changes to speed up the approvals process for major natural resource projects will be introduced in the coming months, the minister of Natural Resources says.

 “I can’t speak to the specific date, but the whole point (is) we want the regulatory process to move more quickly, and so we really have to get on with it ourselves. So we’re talking months, not years,” Joe Oliver said Friday.

 However, he was vague about what exactly those changes will be.  “I can’t talk about the detail as specifics, but we’re going to make sure that there’s an adequate and respectful constitutionally driven consultation process. In other words, we want to have an open dialogue with aboriginal communities.

 “We’re not going to be doing anything that is going to undermine the ability of the regulator to do a thorough environmental review. We don’t want projects to go ahead that aren’t safe for Canadians and safe for the environment.”

Read more

Liberals, Bartolucci have betrayed the North – by John R. Hunt (Sudbury Star – March 24, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

John R. Hunt is a columnist for the North Bay Nugget whose appears on occasion in The Sudbury Star.

Promises are made to be broken and northeastern Ontario has been betrayed.

Ontario’s debt-ridden and too often incompetent government intends to throw the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission into the political dumpster and sell its assets.

No one knows future of more than 950 jobs. The implications for North Bay and every town and village as far north as Moosonee are serious. But the real meaning may be tragic for all Ontario.

It is a victory for southern suburban thinking. There is no vision, no hope and no ambition to create a truly great Ontario.

Read more

Viterra another example of Canadian short-sightedness – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – March 24, 2012)

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

ROME— Canada’s Viterra Inc. (VT-T15.91—-%) attracted lavish takeover attention, to no one’s surprise. The company is one of North America’s premier grain handlers and marketers. It is a huge supplier of fertilizer, seed and other agri-products to Canadian farmers. It owns great chunks of the South Australian grain-handling network. Between Canada and Australia, Viterra is a key player in two of the world’s most important bread baskets.

In short, it was a global champion in the making. Not any more. Early this week, Viterra was blown away like a tumbleweed by Glencore International of Switzerland, the world’s biggest and most aggressive commodities trader. Glencore, which is paying $6.1-billion for its prize, is keeping most of Viterra’s grain elevators, ports and other bits of infrastructure, plus virtually all of the Australian goodies. The rest of the company, such as the fertilizer business, is to be divvied up between Agrium and Richardson International.
 
What a shame. Canada needs global corporate champions. It has, perhaps, three: Bombardier, the world’s third-largest aerospace company, Barrick, the top gold player, and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. Potash Corp., the global fertilizer leader, would have disappeared too had the federal government not blocked its sale to Australian mining colossus BHP Billiton in 2010.

Read more

[NDP Sarah Campbell] MPP calls for talks on changing Far North Act – by Bryan Meadows (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – March 24, 2012)

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell is calling for more consultation on changes to the Far North Act, with a goal of replacing it with new legislation that is more acceptable to Northern Ontario residents.

“The Liberal government didn’t listen to northerners and First Nations in Northern Ontario when they introduced the Far North Act,” Campbell said, in introducing a motion, calling for consultations, to the provincial legislature this week.

“Getting this right will help create economic opportunities and job creation in Northern Ontario and make sure the benefits are shared with the people who live here,” she said.

Campbell’s motion also proposes additional funding for First Nations’ land use planning, a joint co-ordinating body between First Nations and government, a resource revenue-sharing model, and the end to the provision that allows the government to overrule land use plans completed by First Nations.

Read more

Ontario Northland Transportation Corporation to be divested – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – March 23, 2012)

Established in 1980, Northern Ontario Business provides Canadians and international investors with relevant, current and insightful editorial content and business news information about Ontario’s vibrant and resource-rich North.

Ontario Northland Railway.

The provincial government has announced the divestment of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).
 
At a press conference in Sudbury March 23, Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci announced the “extremely difficult decision” and said while the business is good, the business model is not.
 
“Stagnant ridership, along with the ONTC’s unsustainable financial path, are key factors in today’s announcement,” he said. “The government is committed to completing this process in a fair manner, and it will be business as usual while this divestment takes place.” ONTC Board Chairman Ted Hargreaves said the current business model is not sustainable “and not able to go forward in the future.”

Read more

Stockhouse Movers & Shakers: Why [Stan Bharti] mine financier’s strategy includes Larry King – Peter Kennedy (Stockhouse.com – March 22, 2012)

http://www.stockhouse.com/index.aspx

As the global expansion of his Toronto resource group unfolds, Stan Bharti finds that it helps to be hanging out with someone as instantly recognizable as talk show host Larry King.

In an era when coveted resource assets are increasingly being found in far flung regions of the globe, it doesn’t hurt to have high profile help to open doors and make the right connections.
 
It is why Canadian mining financier Stan Bharti has been hanging out with Larry King (yes that Larry King), taking the celebrity interviewer on business trips to Russia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kazakhstan.

In an interview with Stockhouse, Bharti said government support is vital to anyone who is looking to gain access to mineral rights in so-called emerging nations in Africa and Asia. So it helps to be accompanied by someone as instantly recognizable as King, a man who spent 25 years at CNN and has interviewed everyone from Paul McCartney to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Read more

Firms clash on rights to build railway in Quebec [for iron ore miners] – by Nicolas Van Praet (National Post – March 23, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

MONTREAL – A clash over infrastructure assets is shaping up in northern Quebec, pitting the interests of two corporate titans against a group of junior miners.

At stake is the transport of as much as 200 million tonnes of iron ore by rail, an annual moving bill that could top $1-billion, and the long-term ownership and usage rights of a key transportation link.

Canadian National Railway Co. and pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec confirmed this week they are working on an estimated $5billion project to build a new 800-kilometre railway stretching from Sept-Îles north past Shefferville into the Labrador Mining Trough. The partners need firm transport commitments from mining companies before they can proceed.

But miners active in the region have been sketching out their own plan for a railway for more than two years, with the objective of controlling their own transport costs. They are worried that paying CN to move their iron ore powder or pellets will prove too expensive.

Read more