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Northern Ontario Politics

Taxpayers run over by Liberals’ Ontario Northland boondoggle – by Christina Blizzard (Toronto Sun – December 11, 2013)

http://www.torontosun.com/home

TORONTO – So, you say you’re seeing a light at the end of the long, dark gas plant tunnel? I have bad news. It’s an Ontario Northland ghost train coming at you. And it’s burning your dollars just as fast as the gas plants did. Shutting down the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) is turning into the next $1-billion boondoggle.

In its 2012 budget, then-finance minister Dwight Duncan announced the government would sell off ONTC — shutting down a northern Ontario transportation lifeline. At the time, the government said they’d save nearly $266 million over the next three years. Provincial auditor general Bonnie Lysyk released her annual report Tuesday.

Turns out that we were being — how shall I put it — oh, railroaded. Like a scene from an old movie, taxpayers were tied to the tracks and run over by a slow-moving train. It’s not going to save any money. In fact, we’re going to be on the hook for some rich buyout packages.

“The known costs may be as high as $820 million, and recouping this amount by the government no longer paying the ONTC the normal annual operating and capital subsidies it has been providing could well take a decade or longer,” the report says.

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Northern Forum nice, but major issues unresolved – by Peter Politis (Timmins Daiy Press – December 10, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Peter Politis is the Mayor of Cochrane

TIMMINS – Last week’s Northern Leaders’ summit which brought together First Nations, ministers and Northern leaders from across the entire region to exchange on issues, was another good step forward for the North. My congratulations to the Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors’ Association, FONOM President Mayor Spacek, along with the province for bringing the group together. Hopefully there is more to come.

It was good to get past the proverbial “hand in the face” approach we’ve been getting from the province up to now, to actually engaging in the intelligent dialogue and issues themselves. It was evident that while there remains diversity in opinion and needs, Northern Leaders are coming together in unity to represent our region together which can only be a good thing.

What continues to concern me is that the major issues remain unresolved. For example: The ONTC passenger rail has been completely divested and the government made it clear they will not bring back passenger rail as they believe standing room only buses are good enough for Northern families, medical patients and students; parks remain closed and will going forward; the provincial caribou policy that sees recovering caribou where they don’t exist at the expense of Northern families and entire town’s remains as it was two years ago despite scientists, environmentalists and mayors coming together to offer a better option;

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ONTC selloff costs pegged at $820 million – auditor – by Gord Young (North Bay Nugget – December 11, 2013)

http://www.nugget.ca/

The costs associated with selling off the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission could be more than $820 million, something the provincial government was unaware of when it announced plans to divest itself of the Crown agency.

In a report released Tuesday, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk confirmed that the costs and liabilities associated with divestment far outweigh the projected savings of $265.9 million over three years. And she said the province did not clearly or fairly communicate the full impact of selling off the ONTC.

“The government made the divestment announcement before doing a comprehensive business-case analysis,” Lysyk said, in a release after tabling the report. “As a result, the government did not initially have an accurate picture of the possible costs and impacts of the ONTC divestment.”

Lysyk said the estimated known costs and liabilities could be as high as $820 million and that the price could soar even higher when coupled with as-yet-unknown costs of environmental clean-up of ONTC properties and the duty to consult with aboriginal peoples.

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Premier promises more Northern meetings – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – December 7, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s visit to Timmins for the first Northern Ontario Leaders’ Forum included a commitment to quarterly meetings between her Northern ministry and municipal and regional leaders.

Michael Gravelle, the province’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines, explained he’d be at meetings approximately every three months with groups such as the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA), the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), the Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors (NOLUM), and leaders of the First Nations and Métis Nation.

Wynne admitted there was a disconnect between Queen’s Park and the communities and people it services in the North that needs to be fixed.

“Where there are bottlenecks and where there are procedural issues that need to be addressed, having an opportunity to talk about those on a regular basis makes a lot of sense,” said Wynne. “We’re very supportive of Minister Gravelle’s suggestion that those (meetings) happen on a regular basis.”

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Ring of Fire high on agenda for Northern leaders – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – December 7, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Some of Ontario’s top politicians — including Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk — met with their Northern Ontario colleagues in Timmins on Friday. Not surprisingly, the stalled Ring of Fire development was very much on everyone’s minds.

“We’ve had a great session here this morning with northern leaders – municipal and First Nations and Metis,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said in a teleconference with reporters. “This is really about a relationship that’s extremely important to our government.

“Whether we’re talking about infrastructure in the North or whether we’re talking about availability of health services or whether we’re talking about relationships between government and First Nations governments, all of those issues are of real importance (to) us.”

Joining Wynne in Timmins were ministers Eric Hoskins (Economic Development and Trade), David Orazietti (Natural Resources), Linda Jeffrey (Municipal Affairs and Housing), David Zimmer (Aboriginal Affairs), Michael Gravelle (Northern Development and Mines), Glen Murray (Infrastructure and Transportation), Michael Coteau (Citizenship and Immigration), Deb Matthews (Health and Long-Term Care) and Steven Del Duca (parliamentary assistant to Finance Minister Charles Sousa).

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[Northern Ontario’s] Ring of hype? – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – December 6, 2013)

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

People in the region can learn from Public Enemy when it comes to development in the Ring of Fire a mining watchdog says — “don’t believe the hype.”

Long lauded as the next oil sands and an economic saviour to Northwestern Ontario, MiningWatch Canada’s Ramsey Hart said people need to rein in their expectations when it comes to the area. A remote location with no infrastructure is a tough sell right now for companies looking for investors.

“Don’t believe the hype in a sense that there may be viable projects there, but it’s really far from a market though for that product,” he said Friday morning during the second day of the Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration conference at Lakehead University.

“That makes these projects on the periphery of attractiveness for investment.” If the day comes when development does happen, it probably won’t meet the expectations of politicians, industry and others who have promoted it for so long.

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Gravelle seeks Ring of Fire support from feds – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – December 6, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The province wants Ottawa to share the cost of installing transportation infrastructure within the Ring of Fire.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle, who was in Timmins on Thursday along with Natural Resources Minister David Orazietti, outlined why the province feels the federal government should contribute to the project.

“We are talking about a major resource development, $60 billion in mineral potential, in a part of the province that has never seen development before,” said Gravelle.

“In terms of economic development, and opportunity for job creation, the Ring of Fire project is certainly on a scale that more than warrants the federal government’s matching funds. I’d like to think that is the direction we will be going in.” Both Gravelle and Orazietti were speaking at a Timmins Chamber of Commerce luncheon held at the Porcupine Dante Club.

In the meantime, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was in Ottawa on Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss the federal government’s involvement in the Ring of Fire.

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Northern members frustrated with lack of action on Ring – Star Staff (Sudbury Star – December 6, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Two opposition party members — one federal, one provincial — were slamming governments Thursday for not acting decisively to move forward development on the Ring of Fire chromite deposits.

Nickel Belt New Democrat MP Claude Gravelle apparently had his motion rejected at the Conservative-dominated natural resources committee to invite provincial officials to come and tell the federal government what they need to move the Ring of Fire forward.

Gravelle, the NDP’s mining critic, slammed the federal Tories for moving his motion in camera to study the way the federal government could help with the project. In a news release, Gravelle said: “The committee has no future plans to proceed with a study of this nature.”

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne travelled to Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to talk about a number of issues, with the Ring of Fire high on the list.

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More action needed to woo North voters – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – December 5, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

The concession northerners managed to extract from the province about the future of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission this week is remarkable. But why did it happen?

The Liberal government has been doing a long, slow dance on the Dalton McGuinty’s government’s decision to sell off the agency since Premier Kathleen Wynne took power, finally getting Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, to put in writing that the ONTC’s mandate is no longer to be sold off in pieces, but that it is to undergo a “transformation.”

It’s a fuzzy term for restructuring, and still possible divestment, but the main goal is no longer to kill off the 101-year-old agency that would put the 1,000 or so jobs in the North in jeopardy. About 600 of those jobs are located in North Bay.

The ONTC runs bus service communities located mostly along the Hwy. 11 and Hwy. 17 corridors from Toronto to Hearst.

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Ring of Fire mining project remains stalled – by Claude Gravelle (Netnewsledger.com – December 4, 2013)

 http://www.netnewsledger.com/

Claude Gravelle is the federal MP for Nickel Belt

Breaking the Politics on the Ring of Fire Mining Project

QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario Politics – The mega Ring of Fire mining project remains stalled as the governments for Ontario and Canada play the blame game rather than put our northern communities and the country’s economy first.

To help break the stalemate, I have filed a motion with the federal all-party Natural Resources Committee to call the Government of Ontario as a witness. With Prime Minister Harper mulling over a meeting request from Premier Kathleen Wynne, here is an opportunity for Ontario to identify publicly what they need from the federal government, who is responsible for what, really how to move the project forward together.

I figured my motion might give Ontario a useful audience that includes representatives from the three main federal parties. As I said on the CBC Radio Ontario Today program last week, if this doesn’t work it may mean marriage counselling for the prime minister and premier. This stall is infuriating to northerners.

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Stephen Harper to meet Kathleen Wynne to talk Ring of Fire – by Susana Mas (CBC News – December 4, 2013)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has agreed to meet Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne on Parliament Hill Thursday afternoon to discuss Ontario’s Ring of Fire, a mining development project worth an estimated $60 billion.

Wynne is hoping to break the current impasse and convince the prime minister to match the costs of developing the mineral rich region, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, in northern Ontario.

The Ontario government told CBC News last week it was surprised to hear the prime minister dismiss the development in the Ring of Fire as a provincial issue, given that repeated calls for the federal government to play a role in the project had gone unanswered in recent weeks. Harper recently said “this is a project that is primarily under provincial jurisdiction because ultimately resources belong to the provinces and resource development is a provincial responsibility.”

Rich in chromite, nickel and gold, the Ring of Fire is considered to be mining jackpot for the province, but Wynne is making the case that the federal government has a responsibility in the development and funding of the infrastructure required.

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Focus on transformation, not sell-off, of ONTC – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – December 3, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Selling off the remaining assets of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission is no longer the primary option for restructuring the Crown corporation.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said Monday the mandate for the ONTC is now transformation rather than divestment. The announcement came following Monday’s meeting of the Minister’s ONTC Advisory Committee, which includes stakeholders from business, industry, labour and Northern municipalities.

“Together, we took the opportunity to further explore options as we move forward with the ONTC transformation,” Gravelle said in a press release. “There was very valuable discussion around the table related to the sustainability of the ONTC.

“Our goal throughout this process remains unchanged; ensuring northern communities and industries benefit from viable, efficient and sustainable transportation and communications systems. At today’s minister’s advisory meeting, I was pleased to reaffirm my commitment to look at all options.

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Labour finally invited into ONTC talks – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 2, 2013)

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.

The unions at the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) say they’ve won a small victory in being asked to participate in the provincial process to determine the future of the Crown-owned agency.

“It’s great news,” said Brian Kelly, spokesman for the General Chairperson’s Association. “This is what we’ve been looking for. This is actually a very good day as far as we’re concerned.”

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle issued a Dec. 2 release that the provincial government’s previous 2012 marching orders to sell off the assets of the ONTC have been officially “revised” to look at other options.

In signalling a stark change in policy direction, Gravelle said the memorandum of understanding has changed from a “mandate for divestment to a mandate for transformation of the ONTC.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Commitment Remains; Ring of Fire is about more than one company: minister – by Michael Gravelle (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – November 30, 2013)

 Michael Gravelle is Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines and MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North.

There has been much discussion about the Ring of Fire development project in Ontario’s Far North. Our Liberal government remains committed to seeing smart, sustainable and collaborative development move forward in the Ring of Fire. Indeed, it’s an exciting opportunity; an incredible mineral deposit that includes one of the largest chromite deposits in the world, as well as generous deposits of nickel, copper and platinum. Certainly, the value of the mineral deposit in the Ring of Fire and the attractiveness of a strong business climate in Ontario is a winning combination.

This has not changed. There continues to be tremendous opportunity in the Ring of Fire. Development in the region has the potential to create thousands of jobs and significantly strengthen the economy of this province, and, in fact, the entire country, for years to come.

The province continues to work diligently to ensure we are ready to support this development and remain firmly committed to working with any and all interested parties to develop the region. Development in the region has always been about more than one company. Currently there are 27 companies and individuals holding approximately 12,850 active mining claims in the region and we remain committed to working with all our key partners.

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Ring of Fire: Feds, province need to work together on Ring: Gravelle – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – December 2, 2013)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle wants the federal and provincial governments to stop playing the blame game and get on with the serious work of developing the Ring of Fire chromite deposits.

The New Democrat mining critic will introduce a motion at today’s meeting of the all-party Natural Resources Committee to invite representatives of the Ontario government to attend the committee and speak about its concerns regarding the Ring of Fire.

He wants provincial officials to outline exactly what it is they want from the federal government to help move the $60-billion chromite project forward. Cliffs Natural Resources, one of the biggest players in the Ring of Fire, announced Nov. 20 that it was indefinitely suspending work on its chromite project.

It has invested $500 million planning and developing a chromite mine at McFaulds Lake, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, as well as its plans for a ferrochrome processing plant near Capreol, in Gravelle’s riding.

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