Ontario Government reluctant to rush Ring of Fire – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – January 26, 2018)

http://www.timminspress.com/

TIMMINS – One of the key people involved in planning for the Ring of Fire mining development said the Ontario Government is working to make sure that project doesn’t make the same mistakes that occurred when the De Beers Victor mine was developed.

The comments came Thursday from Ariane Heisey, one of the keynote speakers at the Mushkegowuk Council Climate Summit that was on in Timmins this week at the Ramada Inn. Heisey is a senior policy advisor for environmental assessments and land use planning with the Ring of Fire Secretariat.

“There is a vision for the Ring of Fire,” Heisey said as she began her presentation. “It is based on the lessons that were learned from the Victor Mine experience, where the mine came on stream before the First Nations in the area were ready.”

Heisey said “community readiness” will be a priority for planning the Ring of Fire development. She said this would include having training programs in place, and so far more than 3,000 participants have completed training in various programs. She said this was just one of the reasons why the project has been delayed.

She said the plan, in consultation with First Nations, is to have the workforce trained and in place in advance of the actual mine development.

Heisey, speaking later to audience members after her speech, noted that the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, was made aware from community members in Attawapiskat that they were not ready when De Beers Canada opened its new Victor diamond mine.

“They didn’t have the training and missed out on all the construction jobs. And we didn’t want to repeat that,” Heisey explained.

For the rest of this article: http://www.timminspress.com/2018/01/25/govt-reluctant-to-rush-ring-of-fire