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Northern Ontario Politics

NEWS RELEASE: Summit of First Nations and Northwestern Municipalities shows alignment on sharing Ring of Fire benefits

Summit Resolution says Exton is favoured site for Ring of Fire ferrochrome refinery and north/south access

(Greenstone, ON, April 17, 2012) A Summit between leaders of Lake Nipigon and Ring of Fire North/South Alliance First Nations met on Saturday April 14, 2012 with Mayors of Greenstone, Nipigon, Hearst and Thunder Bay to demonstrate solidarity in their position that the opportunities and benefits of resource development related to the Ring of Fire remain in the area.

A Ring of Fire Resolution supporting (a) Exton (between Aroland First nation and Nakina) as the preferred refinery site and (b) a north-south access route to Marten Falls was signed by six First Nations (Marten Falls FN, Aroland FN, Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinabeek FN, Constance Lake FN, Animiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinabeek FN, and Red Rock Indian Band) and four regional Mayors (Greenstone, Hearst, Nipigon and Thunder Bay). Peter Collins, Regional Grand Chief, Union of Ontario Indians, Anishinabek Nation Council & Chief of Fort William First Nation participated by teleconference. Chief Collins and other community leaders unable to attend are also expected to sign the Resolution over the next few days. 

Chief Elijah Moonias of Marten Falls First Nation, on whose traditional lands the Ring of Fire chromite deposits are located, addressed the gathering held in Greenstone. Chief Moonias stated, “The companies want to come in and exploit the resources and leave nothing behind for local long standing benefits such as electric grid connection and roads access – both a boost to the local economy.

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NDP tries to leverage deal with Liberals to halt sale of ONTC – by Mark Prior (Timmins Daily Press – April 16, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Support motion or face election, McGuinty government told

MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) says his party has presented the Ontario Liberals with an ultimatum in order to avoid another provincial election.

The Dalton McGuinty government can vote to support the NDP’s budget motion by the April 24 deadline — or face the likelihood of seeing Ontarians go back to the polls. Bisson said the motions put forward by the NDP includes a plan to save the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission from divestment.

A key concern is how dismantling the ONTC will hinder the potential for Northeastern communities to tap into the mining and economic opportunities being created in the Ring of Fire, within the James Bay lowlands.

“We were extremely disappointed when Mr. McGuinty and Mr. (Rick) Bartolucci announced they were going ahead with the divestiture, which means only the lucrative parts of the ONTC are going to be taken over by the private sector, and the subsidized parts will be gone,” said Bisson.

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Selling ONTC will hurt Northern Ontario – by Madeleine Tremblay (Sudbury Star – April 11, 2012)

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

Madeleine Tremblay is the Mayor, Township of Fauquier-Strickland (Cochrane District)

The province’s announcement March 23, to divest of all business lines of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission came as a complete surprise and left us dumbfounded as to why our provincial government would deliver such devastating news on the heels of so many promises.

As minister responsible for the development of Northern Ontario, Rick Bartolucci should have argued with his caucus that consultation take place with northern municipalities and communities. This simple consideration could have provided opportunities for different solutions. Instead, his government ignored our multiple pleas for inclusion with decision making, which affects our livelihood and future.

Who will now look at Northern Ontario as a good place to invest, when the most economical way of transportation is being pulled out? The Northern Ontario Growth Plan included statements on improving all transportation models. Now the plan has to be re-written or, was the exercise just a smoke screen to hide the real agenda and plan of the government towards Northern Ontario?

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Ontario Mining Act Modernization: The Repercussions – by David S. Hunt, P. Geo. (April 3, 2012 – Thunder Bay, Canada)

David Hunt is the President of the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association. This speech was given at the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association at the Northwestern Ontario Mines and Minerals Symposium

The coming, modernized mining act, is set to dump a whole new pile of rules and regulations upon us, starting this coming summer.

The Act, originally designed to address a few very valid complaints from First Nations Communities and private land owners, has mushroomed into a mass of plans, permits, regulations, bureaucrats, trainers, go-betweens and compliance officers who will give you a ticket if you break the rules. 

Instead of tweaking a few regs that would have made things work better, the government has created a sledgehammer to swat a few mosquitoes.  And I fear, when they start to swing that hammer, that it will end up doing a whole lot of unintended damage.

It will take you much longer to gain approval to explore. 

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Northerners must seize their own destiny — now – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – April 4, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper and Wayne Snider is the city editor.

Don’t expect NDP MPPs to save Ontario Northland

Is it possible that one of the reasons the provincial government wants to scrap the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission is that it’s too helpful to Northeastern Ontario? The ONTC has a long history of being progressive in terms of economic development for the region.

In recent history, it was the ONTC that stepped up to the plate to help establish a phosphate mine near Kapuskasing by creating a new spur directly to the site.

And it was the ONTC that recently joined Timmins officials during discussions for a chromite processing facility from the Ring of Fire Project — the biggest mineral discovery in Ontario in the last 100 years. Ontario Northland isn’t just a key component to development in the North, it is part of the North.

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ONTC fight is on – by Kyle Gennings (Timmins Daily Press – April 3, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Unionized workers organize campaign to save Ontario Northland

“Ontario Northland is the glue that holds the North together!”  This is the message and platform on which critics of the privatization of the ONTC are launching their campaign upon to save what has been called the 100-year-old staple of Ontario’s North.

The McGuinty government announced their intent to dismantle and privatize most of the crown corporation’s holdings last week during the provincial budget. The news was met with an immediate outcry of anger and confusion.

Brian Kelly and his fellow members of the Ontario Northland General Chairperson’s Association (ONGCA) mustered their strength and are ready to fight the Liberal government for every railroad tie and every metre of track.

“The government likes to comment a lot on how much money they spend, but they don’t like talking about how much money gets put back into the economy,” Kelly said.

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Budget provides leverage opportunity to save ONTC – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – April 1, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

If selling off the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission will hinder economic opportunities for this region as badly as we’re being told by local politicians, then our provincial representatives in the North need to do what they can to stop it.

That includes bringing down the Liberal government. Interestingly, that opportunity appeared just one day after Ontario Northern Development Minister Rick Bartolucci announced the province would be divesting itself of the ONTC.

It was that following day, Dalton McGuintry’s Liberal minority government presented its spring budget. Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives have already indicated they are going to vote against it. If Andrea Horwath’s New Democrats follow suit, the Liberal government falls and the ONTC gains a reprieve.

Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson told The Daily Press Friday his party’s preference would be to avoid forcing a provincial election just six months after the last one was held.

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[Ontario First Nations] Bands stymie Ring of Fire plans – Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal Editorial – April 1, 2012

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

IN their budgets this week Ontario and Ottawa placed much stock in the Ring of Fire mineral deposit here in Northern Ontario. The province is anxious for a big boost to an economy wasted by recession. The feds want business to drive the economy. Both singled out the Ring of Fire.

But all is not well in the northern mining patch. First nations are demanding consultation. A legal “duty to consult” has failed in most cases to facilitate successful conclusions to aboriginal claims. Government can’t seem to break the logjam and while some companies have successfully negotiated agreements with neighbouring first nations, others are stymied — and annoyed.

At the mining industry’s recent national conference in Toronto, a splinter group of some 60 junior companies called Miners United met. They are concerned about native demands for concessions and cash. Bands are charging for exploratory drilling and the price often tops $100,000. Junior firms say they cannot afford it.

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Railway provided vital link for the North – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – March 30, 2012)

 The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a local author.

HISTORY: More than one major mining discovery made while railroads were being build through Northern Ontario

In the past few years, we have been witness to some amazing changes in the field of mass transportation. The high-speed rail systems found in France can move people along the Paris-Lyon line at cruising speeds of 320 km/h hour. In Japan and Germany, the high-speed rail systems reach speeds of 300 km/h on regular routes.

The Airbus A380 (seating capacity 840) has forced airports around the world to renovate so that they can land the monstrosities (the aircraft amazingly measures seven stories high).

Cruise ships, on the other hand might as well be huge floating semi-independent countries. They are run just like small cities and have the same problems those cities face (3,400 people all sharing the same space).

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[Ontario] North takes share of hits from budget – by Brian MacLeod (Sudbury Star – March 29, 2012)

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper and Brian MacLeod is the managing editor.  brian.macleod@sunmedia.ca

A few hours before Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan boasted in a release that his government’s budget had made a commitment to health care, six ambulances and 12 paramedics were kept waiting at Health Science North’s ER department in Greater Sudbury because there was no one to take control of their patients.

“We choose strong health care, with the lowest wait times in Canada . . . and better access to doctors and nurses,” Duncan said in his release.

Tell that to the doctors and nurses in Sudbury’s ER, where the head of the department recently warned that long wait times, often due to lack of available acute-care beds, are causing doctors to leave the city and nurses to transfer elsewhere and may be compromising patients’ health.

Tuesday’s budget didn’t make that situation any worse, but neither did it do much to help.

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McGuinty needs a Leafs sweater [Northern Ontario alienation] – by Len Gillis (Timmins Times – March 29, 2012)

http://www.timminstimes.com/

Provincial Liberals need some intellectual Viagra

It is almost beyond comprehension how the Queen’s Park Liberals can consistently make decisions that are so clearly against the interests of Northern Ontario.

Over the years, Northerners have become accustomed to being ignored by southern politicians. As bad as that was, at least when the North was ignored, it meant we were being left alone.

It’s much worse now. Queen’s Park is imposing policies and changes on the North that defy reason. Things such as the changes to The Mining Act, The Far North Act and the Endangered Species Act fly in the face of reality. Some of it borders on junk science.

The decision announced last Friday that Queen’s Park is selling off Ontario Northland assets is another example of how that government is out of touch.

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Ontario Northland enough to oppose budget: Critics – by Laura Stricker (Sudbury Star – March 29, 2012)

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

“The proposed sale … of Ontario Northland is a ruthless blow to the North.
I think it’s something that needs far more discussion than has occurred …
It’s flagrant negligence on the part of the government to even talk about
eliminating Ontario Northland.” (David Leadbeater – Laurentian University
economics professor

The government’s decision to sell Ontario Northland is making waves across the province.

“This kind of measure of (selling Ontario Northland) as a short-term austerity event is the most short-sighted, backward and retrograde action I’ve seen about Northern Ontario in a long time,” said David Leadbeater, a Laurentian University economics professor.

“The proposed sale … of Ontario Northland is a ruthless blow to the North. I think it’s something that needs far more discussion than has occurred … It’s flagrant negligence on the part of the government to even talk about eliminating Ontario Northland.”

Last week, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced the province is divesting itself of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency that offers rail and bus service in Northern Ontario. Additionally, the government is looking to privatize Ontera, a telecommunication company that is a subsidiary of the commission.

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Nothing for the North [Ontario] – by Mark Prior (Timmins Daily Press – March 27, 2012)

Northern leaders have little good to say about the provincial budget

Still stinging from the announcement that Ontario Northland will be axed, political leaders were hoping to hear some good news for the North in Tuesday’s provincial government. They didn’t get it. Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren wasn’t impressed with the latest budget.

“Personally, I’m very disappointed,” Laughren said. “There doesn’t appear to be anything in there to have an affect on the municipalities, but I look at it from a Northern Ontario perspective. “There is so much opportunity for growth and mining, yet the provincial government can’t get their act together to make that happen.”

Laughren expressed frustration. He doesn’t believe the government is taking advantage of opportunities available with resource-based industries. Plus, the North is still in shock with the recent decision to divest the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

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Ring of Fire missing [Ontario budget] – by Jamie Smith (tbnewswatch.com – March 27, 2012)

www.tbnewswatch.com

Some local officials were surprised the Ring of Fire was largely absent from Tuesday’s provincial budget.

In his speech, which went beyond the 28 minute mark, Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan didn’t mention the potential multi-billion dollar money maker once. Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Harold Wilson said he thought this was going to be the budget where the province outlined its plan, with dollar figures, on how to get the minerals shipped and power running in the Far North.

“That I thought would have been front and centre,” Wilson said. “We didn’t see any of that and that would have been great.” Mayor Keith Hobbs was disappointed about the province’s Ring of Fire plan, a document he has yet to see.

“In infrastructure we’re waiting for a little more than what I see so far in the budget. The government says they have a plan in place for the Ring of Fire. We didn’t see any plan … I would really like to see specifics of that plan.

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Ontario PCs slam Bisson for not defeating the Far North Act – By Ontario Progressive Conservative new release (Timmins Times – March 27, 2012)

 http://www.timminstimes.com/

PC Norm Miller said Bisson’s vote could have made the difference

While Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson is angry at the decision to sell off Ontario Northland, the PC Party is just as angry with Bisson for not voting to shut down the controversial Far North Act.

The move to repeal the Far North Act was put forward last week by Progressive Conservative MPP Norm Miller (Parry Sound-Muskoka), who argued the act is damaging to the North and goes against what most Northerners want.

“This is just another example of bad public policy rammed through by Mr. McGuinty without consultation or accountability to First Nations, municipalities and businesses whose lives and livelihoods have been changed – for the worse.”

Miller’s bill went to the legislature on March 22nd but the Liberals were joined by New Democrats in defeating the second reading of the bill with a vote of 50 to 36.

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