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Northern Ontario Politics

MP Charlie Angus Ring of Fire Infrastructure Letter to Natural Resources Minister James Gordon Carr (March 2, 2016)

Charlie Angus is the NDP Federal Member of Parliament for Timmins-James Bay.

James Gordon Carr is the Liberal Federal Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre and the Minister of Natural Resources.

The Ring of Fire provides a tremendous opportunity to unlock the economic potential of Northern Ontario, Ontario, and the entire Canadian economy. Federal leadership is sorely needed to move this project forward. I am writing to ask that this government ensure that the Ring of Fire is part of the promised commitment to infrastructure project across the country. As well, the Federal government has an important role to play in engaging in meaningful consultation with First Nation communities to ensure that all the benefits of this huge project leads to meaningful improvements in the lives of the people of the north.

The previous government’s lack of leadership on this issue was very unfortunate. There was no attempt to bring together the major players, there was no infrastructure plan, and there was no consultation with First Nations. In fact, then minister Tony Clement received a failing grade from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

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The province is getting in the way of new mines: Study – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – January 27, 2016)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Familiar regulatory barriers hampering nine mining projects in northwest

Exorbitant hydro rates, a myopic First Nations consultation process and an onerous environmental review system — a familiar trio of regulatory barriers — are hampering the development of new mines in northwestern Ontario, a new report says.

Regulatory barriers have halted the development of nine mines in northwestern Ontario since 2010, say the authors of a new report from the Northern Policy Institute.

Those nine proposed mining projects, which include Noront Resources’ Eagle’s Nest and Black Thor projects in the Ring of Fire, and Treasury Metals’ Goliath Gold project, had the potential to create 23,000 jobs and generate an estimated $135.4 billion in wealth, says the mining industry report.

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Ring of Fire, stalled or not? Two MPP’s square off. – by Staff (BayToday.ca – January 27, 2016)

https://www.baytoday.ca/

The Ring of Fire mineral discovery has the potential to be a tremendous boost to Ontario’s rich and long mining economy that goes back to the 1800.

PC MPP Toby Barrett says the Ring of Fire, the world’s largest chromite deposit sits stalled. Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines disagrees. Because the project could mean huge benefits for North Bay, we present both sides of the argument.

First, here’s MPP Toby Barrett

As a rural southern MPP travelling the North – last week’s pre-budget hearings were my fourth tour over the past year – I am always struck by the commonality we share with our resource-based economies, whether it be farming or forestry, mining or steel.

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QUICK QUOTE: Ring of Fire is really a Ring of Smoke – Catherine Fife (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – January 21, 2016)

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/ Catherine Fife is the NDP MPP for Kitchener-Waterloo and finance critic. Fife said. “The third thing is the need for commitment and this government actually following through in what they promise especially around the Ring of Fire. That east-west corridor road that needs to come into play. There is a reason why people refer …

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Hobbs is right: build a new road – Editorial (Thunder Bay Chronicle – Journal – January 18, 2016)

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/

Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs’ call last week for the creation of another paved highway straight through Northwestern Ontario resulted in some tittering among some of his regional counterparts, but we think Hobbs is on to something.

As anyone who has missed a medical appointment, or a flight, due to a prolonged Trans-Canada road closure knows too well, our neck of the woods is hardly teeming with highways.

While the province scrambled last week to deal with the closure of the Nipigon River bridge (now open to one lane), it noted that the structure is the “link” between this country’s west and east. The only one, in fact, when travelling by paved road.

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Fiery Exchanges in Question Period over Ring of Fire (NetNewsLedger.com – November 5, 2015)

http://www.netnewsledger.com/

QUEEN’S PARK – POLITICS – There was a fiery exchange in Question Period in Queen’s Park between Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown and Thunder Bay Superior North MPP and Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle today. The PC Leader is demanding action on the Ring of Fire mining project that Brown states is stalled after eight long years.

There have been reports, in the Financial Post that Noront Resources is frustrated over progress on the mining project.

Minister Gravelle stated “As a government, we remain absolutely committed to the project. We have got our commitment of $1 billion locked in, thanks to the Minister of Finance for the transportation infrastructure corridor. We are looking forward to having an opportunity to have a discussion with the new federal government to engage in the process that was not very successful in the past with the previous government.

“We are engaged in a regional framework discussion with Matawa First Nations, and we have set up a development corporation to move that forward. So we are indeed making very positive progress.”

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Ring of Fire for people, not ‘American war machine’ – by David Starbuck (Sudbury Northern Life – October 14, 2015)

http://www.northernlife.ca/

David Starbuck is the Marxist-Leninist Party candidate in Nickel Belt.

One of the issues being discussed in the current election is the potential development of the Ring of Fire chromite-nickel deposits recently discovered in Northern Ontario. Each of the cartel parties is supporting this development and blaming one another and other levels of government for the perceived delay.

Even after Cliffs Natural Resources cancelled its plans to build a mine, beneficiation plant and refinery, the cartel parties are competing amongst themselves as to who can give away the most public resources to the foreign mining monopolies that have seized control of this project.

The Ring of Fire is said to possess more than $100 billion in mineral resources. The cartel parties see this as a huge bonanza, an opportunity for Ontario to get out of crisis. The relevance of the Ring of Fire to the Sudbury by-election is that the chromite refinery was to be built north of Capreol, in the City of Greater Sudbury, and that Sudbury-based mining supply companies seek to use the development of the Ring of Fire as part of their expansion in the global mining industry.

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20 Questions with Sudbury Green Candidate David Robinson [Mining/Northern Ontario Initiatives] (Sudbury Star – October 9, 2015)

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

The Sudbury Star has sent a 20 Questions form to the four major candidates in the Sudbury and Nickel Belt ridings. Today, we feature David Robinson, who is running for the Green Party in Sudbury.

1. Why did you decide to run for MP? I was and I am outraged at the failure of the mainline parties to present a clear and strong plan for dealing with climate change. We are headed for climate disaster and the prime minister wants to “stay the course.”

2. What drew you to the party? The Green Party had by far the most commitment about climate change and the best policy combination.

3. What is your background?

I have spent 35 years studying and teaching economic policy. I have spent 25 years focusing on Northern Ontario economic development and 15 years contributing to Sudbury’s economy and culture. For example, I Identified the mining supply sector as our key opportunity, initiated our mining supply organization and the mining supply journal, started the new school of architecture, brought some arts organizations to the city and have helped shape the city’s economic plans.

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Politics: Ring fires up Nickel Belt debate – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – October 6, 2015)

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

The long-stalled chromite project in Northwestern Ontario proved to be a fierce topic of debate on Monday.

Claude Gravelle, the incumbent NDP MP for Nickel Belt, squared off against Aino Laamanen, Stuart McCall and Marc Serre over a number of business-oriented topics at a debate organized by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.

“The Ring of Fire has been stalled for the last little while. … It is very important to have a strong MP with a business background and the expertise to work with communities, stakeholders and First Nations,” Serre, the Liberal candidate, began. “The Ring of Fire will create more jobs.”

Gravelle, who has served as the Nickel Belt MP since 2008, relied on his experience in Ottawa, noting he has visited the Ring of Fire twice and laid the groundwork for movement on the project.

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Media Release: Federal and Provincial Greens Plan Cooperation on Nuclear Waste, Ring of Fire, Electricity Costs

Cooperation between Canada and Ontario that emphasizes northern issues is the pledge that Green MP Bruce Hyer and GPO leader Mike Schreiner made today.

(10/05/2015) Thunder Bay, ON – Hyer and Schreiner are working together on a cross jurisdictional plan to responsibly develop the Ring of Fire, protect Lake Superior from radioactive nuclear waste, and lower electricity prices in northwestern Ontario.

“Thunder Bay needs an independent voice that will speak for northerners,” says Schreiner. “Bruce Hyer has demonstrated repeatedly that he can work with other parties and the province to get things done for Thunder Bay Superior North.”

Hyer will work with all levels of government, including First Nations, to develop a comprehensive land use plan for north of 50; support value-added local processing with affordable renewable electricity from Manitoba for all northern communities; ensure that all aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities benefit from mining developments; and support federal funding for road corridors and rail access to the Ring of Fire.

“Lower electricity prices, federal infrastructure support, environmental protections, and shared benefits to all communities are essential to making the Ring of Fire work for northerners,” says Hyer. “I’m committed to using the Green Party’s leverage in a minority Parliament to influence federal policies.”

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Sudbury POV: The flaw in Northern Ontario plans (Sudbury Star – October 3, 2015)

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

The NDP’s plan for Northern Ontario is the best plan for the region anyone has come up with in this federal election. But that’s only because it’s the only plan any of the three major parties has released.

There is nothing wrong with its provisions – $1 billion to help develop the Ring of Fire; money to improve the lives of people on first nations; upgrading FedNor to a full standalone regional economic agency and increasing funding by $12.6 million; help the for agriculture sector; and fixing the Nutrition North food subsidy program by immediately including the 25 fly-in communities in Northern Ontario that have been excluded.

All these are good ideas and ones the new federal government should implement. The plan, however, is timid and would do little to improve Northern Ontario’s economy. Its most interesting aspect — $1 billion for the mineral-rich Ring of Fire — has already been matched by the Liberals (the province has also committed $1 billion). But unlike the Liberals, the NDP proposes to spend it over 20 years, or $50 million a year.

There may be little need for the money today, given low commodity prices and the provincial government’s decision to study it to death.

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NDP lays out Northern Ontario platform – by Keith Dempsey (Sudbury Star – September 29, 2015)

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

An NDP government led by Tom Mulcair would spend $1 billion over 20 years to help develop the so-called Ring of Fire, the party’s northeastern Ontario candidates said Monday.

An NDP government would also make FedNor a full standalone regional economic agency and increase its funding by $12.6 million; and it would take a number of steps to improve the lives of natives living in first nations across Northern Ontario, the candidates said.

They outlined the party’s Northern Ontario platform during a press conference at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine in Sudbury.

“We’re the only party that has (a platform),” said Claude Gravelle, who is running to hold on his Nickel Belt seat. “We’re unique people in Northern Ontario. The highlights in this platform for me is the $1 billion in the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire has to be developed. The Ring of Fire will be developed, and when it’s developed, that will create jobs throughout Northern Ontario.”

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Candidates discuss bridging gap btw industry, FNs – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – September 15, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – First Nations within Canada have become a major factor in the county’s efforts to exploit its natural resources.

Many Aboriginal communities have parlayed their treaty rights and the government’s constitutional obligation to consult them and reasonably accommodate their concerns into a great deal of power over the resource industry as a whole.

First Nations now often hold the keys when it comes to deciding if a major mining or forestry project will go ahead or not. Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline to carry Alberta bitumen to Northern B.C. has withered on the vine in the face of Aboriginal opposition, and progress on the Ring of Fire chromite development here in Northeastern Ontario has ground to a halt due in large part to local First Nations’ concerns.

Because gaining First Nation support for projects has become so important to the future of Timmins area’s economy, The Daily Press asked the candidates of Timmins-James Bay how they would build the relationship with First Nations required to allow the resource industry to continue to grow.

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Liberal ‘plan’ for the North (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – August 21, 2015)

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/

JUSTIN Trudeau brought his election campaign to Northern Ontario this week, but he didn’t have much to say. As outlined today by columnist Carol Goar, the Liberal leader, campaigning to replace Stephen Harper as prime minister, has been remarkably light on major policy details no matter where he goes. What is he waiting for?

“Justin Trudeau Presents Plan for Sustainable Growth in Northern Ontario,” was the title of a news release this week jointly datelined Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury.

Here is what we know. The plan would “create sustainable economic growth for the middle class (a repetition of his main campaign theme), generate economic opportunities in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie (no other Northern communities are mentioned), and create the clean jobs of tomorrow (repeating another major but general campaign promise).

The statement repeats Trudeau’s familiar criticism of Harper for “middle class families . . . struggling to make ends meet. Only Liberals have a real plan . . . .” which he doesn’t explain.

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Ontario and Quebec communities banding together to counter Greenpeace’s messaging – by Alan S. Hale (Timmins Daily Press – August 12, 2015)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Mayors from the member communities of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) met with representatives of communities in Northern Quebec, as well as the forestry industry and First Nations in Timmins on Tuesday afternoon.

The diverse group came together to discuss ways to counter the messaging of environmentalist groups about forest industry practices. Much of the discussion revolved around one group in particular: Greenpeace, which the Ontario mayors have already gone so far as to accuse of “eco-terrorism.”

“We decided as communities, industry stakeholders, and First Nations to talk about what the current issues are that affect us in Northern Ontario where we are under attack by environmental groups,” said FONOM president Al Spacek. “We feel strongly that it is a campaign of misinformation about how we conduct forestry in Northern Ontario. We know we adhere to the highest Canadian and provincial standards.

“We want to develop a strategy to get that message out, so we can defend our culture and the lifestyle we’ve been practising up here for generations very sustainably.”

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