Northern Ontario remains idled in the electric vehicle revolution – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 25, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

PM and premier talk up critical minerals at Honda plant expansion, but funding support for Northern mining and processing projects slow to roll out

The mining of critical minerals is essential to Canada’s growth in the electric vehicle sector, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford on the occasion of a “historic” and “generational” $15-billion investment by Honda Motor Co. in southern Ontario.

In formulating a strategy to establish secure a “start-to-finish” battery chain ecosystem, Trudeau said on April 25 that Canada has the abundant critical mineral supply that the rest of the world wants, the available skilled talent, and advanced manufacturing capacity to build the innovative economy of the future.

And compared to socially and environmentally dubious mining players like China, “our approach is much more responsible.” Boosting Canadian critical mineral production means tapping into greenfield areas like the Ring of Fire in the James Bay region.

In the stalled decades-long government process to do that, Premier Doug Ford expressed confidence that a forthcoming deal with Aroland First Nation will help make a crucial next step in the construction of a north-south access road to the Far North mineral belt.

For the rest of this article: https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry-news/mining/northern-ontario-remains-idled-in-the-electric-vehicle-revolution-8654076