Toronto, Ontario
March 2, 2009
Check Against Delivery
Introducation
Thank you for that introduction.
I am pleased to be here, and extend a warm welcome to everyone – especially those of you visiting Canada for the first time.
The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is one of the premier mining associations in this country. It hosts the largest conference on mining exploration and development in the world.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to comment not only on the challenges your industry currently faces but also on the action that our Government is taking with industry and with mining communities to weather the current economic recession.
This collaborative approach will see us emerge from the current downturn to take advantage of the rebound.
Major Assets
As you know, mining is a mainstay of the Canadian economy and is vital to some 150 rural northern and Aboriginal communities across the country.
The industry directly employed over 363,000 people in 2007, and contributed $42 billion to Canada’s GDP from mining to downstream processing.