For the entire Ontario Speech From the Throne: https://surl.lu/gehpki
Ring of Fire Excerpts:
This includes Ontario’s vast supply of critical minerals.
The frontline in Canada’s battle against President Trump’s economic threats rests in the Ring of Fire. Covering approximately 5,000 square kilometers, the Ring of Fire contains the most promising mineral development opportunities in the world, representing billions in economic potential. The region includes reserves of chromite, copper, cobalt, nickel, platinum and every other mineral necessary for the growth of advanced economies.
As Ontario and Canada confront the challenge of President Trump’s economic disruption, there’s no better point of leverage on the world stage. Simply put, Ontario has the minerals the world needs.
To effectively seize this opportunity, however, we need to get our critical minerals out of the ground, processed and shipped to the factory floors, building for the future.
For decades, Ontario’s critical minerals have remained trapped, locked and held back by red tape and duplicative federal approval processes that together can take up to 15 years to complete.
At a time when Ontario is fighting for the future of its economy, uncertainty in timelines and approvals is no longer acceptable. What we used to do in decades we must now do in months.
As its second order of business, your government will introduce bold new legislation to unlock the Ring of Fire.
Once passed, this new legislation will provide the government the authority to designate regions where multiple critical mineral deposits are present or likely to be present, including the Ring of Fire, as regions of strategic importance to the province’s economy and security interests.
Within the boundaries of these regions, proponents that meet high operating, safety and environmental standards will benefit from significantly streamlined permitting and approvals, alongside an uninterrupted commitment to meeting duty to consult requirements.
Roads, highways and the infrastructure necessary to unlock Ontario’s critical minerals will also benefit from these streamlined approvals.
Your government will ensure that northern communities reap the benefits of critical mineral development, including for First Nations communities through equity partnerships that offer generational economic opportunities.
Alongside bold action to unleash the economic potential of Ontario’s abundant supply of critical minerals, your government will restore sense and sanity to a labyrinth of rules and regulations that bring development in the province to a standstill.
Over the course of its mandate, your government will further streamline the province’s environmental assessment process and bring common-sense conservation principles to the role of Conservation Authorities and species-at-risk requirements.
As Ontario eliminates red tape, the federal government must do the same. Faced with an existential threat to Canada’s economy, the federal government can no longer adhere to failed policies that do nothing more than delay and destroy new resource projects.
As your government helps get Ontario’s critical minerals out of the ground, it is also preparing historic investments to support critical mineral processing capacity here at home. Instead of being ripped and shipped overseas, minerals mined in Ontario will be refined in Ontario, creating new opportunities for workers in northern hubs like Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Timmins.
This is an ambitious plan. It will require an extraordinary amount of energy to succeed: over the next 25 years, demand for electricity in Ontario is projected to grow by at least 75 per cent, the equivalent of adding four and a half cities the size of Toronto.
Ontario’s energy policy will determine the success of our province’s economy, today and for a generation to come.
It’s why for the last seven years your government has been hard at work restoring the promise of Ontario’s energy advantage. Now, today, the province boasts one of the cleanest grids in North America, with a steady and reliable supply of affordable electricity powering Ontario’s growing economy….