Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 247

Northern Chambers of Commerce challenge province’s Far North Act – by The Timmins Daily Press (September 10, 2011)

September 26, 2011September 10, 2011

The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

For the web’s largest database of articles on the Ring of Fire mining camp, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

“The Far North Act affects us collectively and
individually, and we want to ensure that it is
carried out in a responsible and inclusive manner
that respects all northern groups – be they
businesses, municipalities or First Nations.”
(Julie Denomme, vice-chair of the Greater Sudbury
Chamber of Commerce)

The province should reconsider how development is handled in Ontario’s Far North if it is to properly serve the region’s communities, First Nations, and business, according to the Chambers of Commerce of Timmins, Sudbury, North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie.

In a joint statement issued Friday, the four chambers agreed that the Far North Act, as passed by the Ontario government in October 2010, fails to consider the needs of those who are most affected by it.

The province’s stated goal of protecting “at least” 50% of the 225,000 square kilometres that make up the Far North was reached without consultation with the region’s First Nations who, through this legislation, are being forced to set aside portions of their land for protection.

Ontario’s Provincial Election and the North: What Is the Issue? – by Livio Di Matteo (September 9, 2011)

September 10, 2011

Livio Di Matteo is Professor of Economics at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Visit his new Economics Blog “Northern Economist” at http://ldimatte.shawwebspace.ca/

“Indeed, the most innovative set of Northern policies ever
proposed in my living memory was the Peterson government of
the 1980s which set forth three planks: the Northern Ontario
Heritage Fund, Northern Health Travel Grants and a program
of decentralization of provincial government offices to the
north. Since then, there has really not been articulated
any similar set of innovative strategic and concrete
nitiatives for the North.” (Livio Di Matteo, Sept/9/2011)

As the provincial election campaign begins, undoubtedly the need to articulate northern issues will be an important one. The conventional wisdom would probably argue that the most important issues are jobs and the economy, followed by health care. A glance at the “northern platforms” of the three parties certainly would suggest that the economy is an important focus and there are indeed some similarities across the three main parties when it comes to the economy.

The New Democratic Party argues the North has been ignored by the provincial government and is pledging “respect for the North. ” Its northern policy wants to hire more doctors for under-serviced communities, remove the HST from home heating and electric bills, cap gas prices, create a Northern Ontario legislative committee to address Northern issues and change laws so mining companies must process their raw materials in the province (incidentally, something similar was done a long time ago in Ontario for logs harvested on Crown lands under the rubric of the Manufacturing Condition).

Failing [Aboriginal] kids in our [Ontario] north – (Toronto Star Editorial – September 10, 2011)

September 10, 2011

The Toronto Star, has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

A coroner’s inquest into a suicide routinely results in recommendations for more accessible, comprehensive and better funded mental health services. Ontario’s examination of the suicides of 16 children on a northern First Nations reserve is no different on that score. It’s Ontario deputy chief coroner Dr. Bert Lauwers’ call for other things — things so basic that they shouldn’t need mentioning — that really make his report stand out.

Access to clean water. Indoor plumbing. A decent school. How can communities without such basic necessities still exist in Ontario? The level of poverty and deprivation in the fly-in community of Pikangikum First Nation, 100 kilometres east of the Manitoba border, is appalling. It helped to create such deep despair that children, like the 12-year-old boy who hanged himself from a poplar tree outside his grandmother’s home and a 16-year-old girl who hanged herself with a shoelace in the laundry room, could see no way forward.

The coroner’s 100 recommendations are not just a blueprint to stem the dramatically high suicide rate of First Nations children and youth in northern Ontario. They are an indictment of the conditions that Ottawa has allowed to persist for far too long.

Northeastern Ontario Chambers Joint Policy Statement About Far North Act-Bill 191

September 10, 2011

A joint statement by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce, Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce and North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce on the Far North Act – Bill 191.

The provincial government introduced the Bill 191 for First Reading on June 2, 2009. The Act passed Third Reading on Sept. 23, 2010 and received Royal Assent on Oct. 25, 2010. Its purpose is to permanently protect at least half of Ontario’s Far North for the “sustainable development of natural resources” as well the preservation of biological diversity and ecological processes.

The legislation puts forward a process for community-based land-use planning that will ultimately set aside at least 21% of the province’s total landmass, or half of the Far North’s 450,000 square kilometers, in an interconnected network of protected areas. The region reaches from the Manitoba border in the west to James Bay and Quebec in the east and north along a line several hundred kilometers north of Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, Hearst and Cochrane.

This area contains 24,000 people spread across 34 communities (31 of which are First Nations). It is also host to the socalled “Ring of Fire,” an area of potential significant mineral wealth that includes a world-class deposit of chromite,deposits of nickel and other base and precious metals. It is expected that $1.5 billion will be spent over the next 10 years to develop this area in advance of mineral extraction.

NEWS RELEASE: Probe Mines Announces Memorandum of Understanding With Brunswick House, Chapleau Cree and Chapleau Ojibwe First Nations for Its Borden Lake Gold Project, Chapleau, Ontario

September 9, 2011

Sep 07, 2011

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Sept. 7, 2011) – Probe Mines Limited (TSX VENTURE:PRB) (“Probe” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with the Brunswick House, Chapleau Cree and Chapleau Ojibwe First Nations communities near Chapleau, Ontario. The MOU establishes a commitment by Probe to develop an ongoing relationship with the three communities in the area of the Company’s Borden Lake Gold Project and provides the communities with an opportunity to participate in the benefits of the project through training, ongoing communication and business development.

An Elders Committee (the “Committee”) will be created to provide advice to the Company on traditional values and local cultural and environmental matters during the exploration phase. Probe has also agreed to negotiate an Impact Benefit Agreement with the communities should the project proceed to production.

David Palmer, President of Probe, states “The signing of the MOU is an important first step in building a relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation with the First Nations communities. We are looking forward to working with the communities and receiving their input as we explore the Borden Lake area. Their contribution of local knowledge will be invaluable in helping us create a socially responsible exploration program to the benefit of all involved.”

Rails to the Ring of Fire Mining Camp – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September, 2011)

September 26, 2011September 7, 2011

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. Ian Ross is the editor of Northern Ontario Business ianross@nob.on.ca.

For the web’s largest database of articles on the Ring of Fire mining camp, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Cliffs endorses Ring of Fire railroad plan

Building a Ring of Fire railroad to move millions of bulk tonnes of chromite is a certainty, said a senior official with Cliffs Natural Resources.

Bill Boor, Cliffs’ senior vice-president of global ferroalloys, who is overseeing the Ohio miner’s project development in the James Bay lowlands, said rail is an inevitability as more mines come on stream in the remote district.

In last winter’s base case for its high grade Black Thor chromite deposit, Cliffs proposed a permanent year-round haul road between the mine site and railway connections near Nakina in northwestern Ontario.

But Boor clarified that one mine alone doesn’t support the mega-investment of a railroad. However, establishing a transportation corridor will improve the economics of other nearby deposits. Once that “scale” is built up, Boor said, “the right answer is to put a railroad in place.

Miner Detour Gold is a major player in the foodservice and hotel business

September 6, 2011

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

One of the largest hotel and food service operations in Ontario right now is not a resort, or hotel, or casino, it is the Detour Lake mine site located 185 kilometres north and east of Cochrane. Detour Gold is investing $1.3 billion to bring this open-pit gold project into production by early 2013. Once in operation, it will be Canada’s largest gold mine.

Access to the mine site from Cochrane is by a provincial two-lane highway and a private company road. The road trip from Cochrane takes about two and one half hours and crosses several major rivers flowing into the Arctic watershed. The mine is near the Quebec border and about 100 kilometres south of James Bay.

On any given day at the moment, there could be 1,000 people, or more, on site from Detour Gold and at least 15 contracting companies. It is a beehive of activity requiring military precision and logistics to feed and house the workers let alone bring in materials to build the mine infrastructure including the processing plant facilities and tailings areas.

Rich in Land, [Australian] Aborigines Split on How to Use It – by Norimitsu Onishi (New York Times – February 12, 2011)

September 5, 2011

The New York Times has the third highest weekday circulation in the United States (after USA Today and the Wall Street Journal) and is one of the country’s most influential newspapers.

BROOME, Australia — Australia is experiencing a natural resources boom, driven by China’s headlong modernization, that is often described as a once-in-a-century phenomenon. It has minted billionaires out of businessmen who deal in iron ore and coal, and it has enriched many Australians by increasing the value of their homes and creating well-paying jobs.

But it has conspicuously left out Aboriginal Australians, whose home ownership and education levels fall below the national averages. High unemployment and widespread alcoholism have continued to debilitate isolated Aboriginal communities here in northwestern Australia, on the other side of the continent from the major cities along the eastern coast.

As resource companies push ever deeper into Australia’s remotest areas, however, Aboriginal leaders are leveraging their rights as traditional landowners to negotiate deals with companies and governments that are seeking to develop their holdings. They say the potential windfall — hundreds of millions of dollars — will rescue their communities from their long dependence on welfare and state subsidies.

Josephine Cone: Metis Mining Pioneer (1913-2011) – by Joanne Wetelainen (Wawatay News – July 1983)

September 6, 2011September 4, 2011

Wawatay News, published by Wawatay Native Communications Society since 1974, is an Aboriginal newspaper serving Northern Ontario.

“This is a story built upon happy memories, a story of hardship and struggle. It is a true account of a Metis woman’s life. The material for this article was collected through my many years of knowing her and listening to her wisdom. This is the story of my grandmother Josephine Cone.” (Joanne Wetalainen)

Mail-order ballet lessons, travelling the Northwestern Ontario waters by right with two young children and guiding groups of prospectors through the wilderness in sub-zero temperatures are all treasured memories of seventy-year old Josephine Cone.

Born in May 1913 in Dinorwic, Ontario, to an Italian father and an Objiway mother, Josephine has a wealth of life’s experience to share with those willing to listen. She doesn’t call herself an “Ojibway” nor does she call herself a “Metis” but readily admits it was her mother who was the driving force in her upbringing.

After only a few years of marriage, her father became tri-lingual; speaking not only native Italian and English but learning to speak fluently in Objiway. “He could speak better Indian than some of the Indians in Dinorwic could,” Josephine recalls affectionately.

Far North Act – David Pearson (Northern Ontario Business – September, 2011)

September 26, 2011August 31, 2011

David Pearson is a professor of earth sciences and science communication at Laurentian University. He can be reached at dpearson@laurentian.ca

For the web’s largest database of articles on the Ring of Fire mining camp, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Hold it Mr. Hudak, hold it, let’s talk about this: “A Tim Hudak government will repeal Bill 191, the Far North Act, which effectively turns the North into a museum by banning development and killing potential jobs.” And while we’re on the subject we should add a comment that appeared in the last edition of this paper: the “First Nations hate Bill 191.”

Central to the Far North Act (Bill 191) are 31 isolated First Nation communities scattered across almost exactly half of Ontario’s land area reaching up to the coast of Hudson Bay. With a total population of just 24,000, of whom half are 16 or under, many families rely on fish, geese, and caribou they catch and hunt for themselves in their communities’
traditional territory. Without those communities there would not be a Far North Act.

The Act sets up a framework for communities to work with the Ontario government in developing land-use plans for their traditional territories based on the values, culture, and aspirations of the members of each community. The Act was also designed to enable communities to benefit from resource development through arrangements and on terms that are acceptable to the community and not simply driven by first-come, first-served external pressures.

NEWS RELEASE: Northern Ontario First Nations Sign East-West Corridor Collaborative Agreement in Ring of Fire.

September 26, 2011August 31, 2011

For the web’s largest database of articles on the Ring of Fire mining camp, please go to: Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Wednesday August 31, 2011

Thunder Bay, Ontario: – Four First Nations in Northern Ontario today signed a landmark collaboration agreement to pursue the ownership, development and operation of a preferred East-West corridor in the Ring of Fire.

The East-West Corridor Collaborative Agreement was signed between the communities of Webequie, Neskantaga, Eabametoong and Nibinamik. Since March 2010, the First Nations have been working towards a community-driven strategy to develop a preferred corridor through their traditional territories. The goal is to establish a First Nation joint venture that will operate an infrastructure, transportation and service corridor for northern First Nations and other activities in the Ring of Fire.

The First Nation Chiefs were supported by their Councils during today‟s signing ceremony in Thunder Bay. “I see this collaborative agreement as “history in the making‟ among the four First Nations who are now taking control of our traditional homelands and are becoming a force to be reckoned with,” says Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie First Nation.

[Ontario] Northerners need jobs too – Stan Sudol (National Post – September 9, 2004)

August 30, 2011August 30, 2011

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

This column was originally published in 2004. How things change and how they stay the same or get worse! Ontario’s debt that year was $142-billion but will reach $283-billion in 2012 and $303-billon in 2013. In addition, the Far North Act – Bill 19 – which was passed last year, bans economic development in 225,000 square kilometers of the far north, roughly 21 per cent of Ontario’s landmass.

For some geographic perspective, that is approximately the same size as the United Kingdom minus Northern Ireland with a population of 60 million people. The enormously rich “Ring of Fire” mining camp was largely unknown. – (Stan Sudol-August30, 2011)

How many more Sudbury Basins exist in that vast northern
territory above the French and Mattawa Rivers that encompass
85% of the province’s geography? There are billions of
dollars worth of untapped mineral deposits waiting to be
developed. (Stan Sudol-September 9, 2004)

Stan Sudol is a Toronto-based communications consultant and mining columnist. stan.sudol@republicofmining.com

National Post – September 9, 2004

In July, Alberta Premier Ralph Kline proudly announced that his province’s massive debt has been slain However he could not have accomplished that historic feat without the development of northern Alberta’s booming oil sands economy and ensuing resource royalties. Unfortunately, Ontario, struggling with a $142-billion debt and a $100-billion infrastructure deficit, is largely ignoring the mineral rich potential of its north.

NEWS RELEASE: Webequie First Nation introduces its Ring of Fire Senior Director

August 29, 2011

August 29 2011, Thunder Bay, ON. – Today, Webequie First Nation introduced Michael Fox, President of Fox High Impact Consulting, as Webequie’s Ring of Fire Senior Director. Fox will be working to ensure a community-driven approach and community-based opportunities related to the development of the Ring of Fire are recognized and realized by companies and governments.

Michael Fox has a wealth of experience in community initiatives, enterprise development, and government relations. He is well known locally, regionally, and nationally as a board member of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) and of the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business (CCAB). He obtained a post-secondary education in business administration and an honours degree in political science, primarily focused on natural resource development in Ontario and Aboriginal law.

“The Webequie First Nation Council welcomes Michael in his new and important role,” says Chief Cornelius Wabasse. “His strategic thinking, business acumen, and community focus will definitely be an asset for Webequie as it continues to develop its role in the Ring of Fire.