Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 222

Bob Rae, John Nash and innovation in the Ring of Fire – by David Robinson (Northern Ontario Business – April 2014)

April 1, 2014

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. Dave Robinson is an economist with the Institute for Northern Ontario Research and Development at Laurentian University.drobinson@laurentian.ca

My students should have paid me for giving them the chance to see Bob Rae in action. Not just because Rae is a professional negotiator and the class deals with Nash Bargaining theory. Rae himself is an historic figure and he is dealing with historic treaty issues in the face of an historic mineral development. I brought history into the classroom. Of course, hardly any students knew what they were getting.

Rae’s visit offered students a glimpse of something like the Canada-Sweden Olympic rematch in hockey. Back in the 1840s, a report by Douglass Houghton, Michigan’s first state geologist, set off a copper boom in upper Michigan and Isle Royale in Lake Superior.

The Family Compact of Upper Canada began selling mining properties to promoters on the north shore of Superior and Huron. When chiefs like Shingwaukonse of Garden River objected to southerners selling lands they occupied, the leader
of the Family Compact sent his brother, William Benjamin Robinson, to get the 3,000 Northerners to give up their rights.

Mining review goes public – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – April 1, 2014)

April 1, 2014

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

Large trade unions and big mining companies are expected to prepare extensive submissions for the province’s Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review.

But it is individuals whom the Ministry of Labour is looking to hear from, their stories and suggestions about how to make mining safer and healthier, when it holds three public consultation sessions in Sudbury this week.

The review’s advisory group, led by Ontario chief prevent officer George Gritziotis, will meet Wednesday at 2:30 and 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn and Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the main branch of Greater Sudbury Public Library on Mackenzie Street.

It’s too late to register to make an oral presentation, but people are invited to attend them to listen to what others have to say. Comment sheets will be distributed after each session and people will be invited to submit suggestions for the advisory group’s consideration.

“We’re here to hear from you, so let us know what you want us to know,” said Wayne De L’Orme, director of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review.

Alphonse and Gaston meet the Ring of Fire – by (Troy Media – March 30, 2014)

March 31, 2014

http://www.troymedia.com/

Frank Dabbs is a veteran business and political journalist, author of three biographies and a contributor, researcher or editor of half a dozen books. Frank worked in print, radio and television in Alberta for 40 years. Since 2006, he has been a print and television freelancer in Ontario.

None of the players involved in the development of Ontario’s economic salvation is willing to be the first to commit

ANNAN, ON, Mar 30, 2014/ Troy Media/ – Alphonse and Gaston were two newspaper cartoon characters created in the 1920s by Frederick Opper, and the “glacial” progress of Ontario’s Ring of Fire harks back to them.

Alphonse and Gaston were two waiters who never got anything done because they were too polite. “After you Alphonse,” Gaston said. “No, you first, my dear Gaston,” replied Alphonse.

It’s very reminiscent of what is happening with Ontario’s Ring of Fire, a massive planned chromite mining and smeltering development project in the mineral-rich James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario. No one seems willing to be the first to launch the $60 billion mineral discovery in the area.

Ont. ‘on roadway’ to dialogue on resource extraction – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 31, 2014)

March 31, 2014

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

A lawyer, who has represented both companies and First Nations in negotiating impact benefit agreements, says he’s encouraged by the regional framework agreement signed last week by the province and the Matawa chiefs for the Ring of Fire.

Bill Gallagher of Waterloo, an experienced strategist in the area of native, government and corporate relations, who has written a book on the subject, says it wouldn’t have been easy to achieve that outcome.

It would have been a challenge for former Ontario New Democrat premier Bob Rae, who represented the nine Matawa councils, and retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci, representing the government of Ontario, to reach the deal.

For Rae to get the chiefs working in a cohesive manner would, to some extent, “be like herding cats,” said Gallagher in an interview last week from Winnipeg where he was speaking at a conference along with Rae.

Rae is a lawyer whose clients are giving him instruction, he’s giving them advice and it seems to be working, said Gallagher.

Mine safety worth celebrating – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – March 28, 2014)

March 31, 2014

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Mining has a history of being a profession with risks for workers. Much has changed during a century of mining in Timmins. Progress continues to be made to this day, with technology being applied in new and different ways to ensure the safety of the industry’s most valuable resource: Its workers.

But there is more to safety than high-tech solutions. Sometimes it is just passing down a culture of common sense. Stephane Whissel attributes his impressive mine safety record to his upbringing and lessons his father Maurice taught him.

“It’s something that comes with the culture (in which) I was raised,” Whissel explained prior to the Porcupine Northeastern Ontario Mine Safety Group’s annual awards dinner at the Porcupine Dante Club Thursday night. “See, my father was also in mining and I started with him at a young age and I would go out with him.

“He was working out on diamond drills and I would go out in the bush with him. He would show me the proper way of working and going home safe.”

Hotelier looks to drum up interest in mining history – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 5, 2014)

March 28, 2014

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.

A Haileybury hotelier and tourism promoter wants to revive the area’s rich mining history and introduce it to a wider audience.

Nicole Guertin, co-owner of Presidential Suites, is hosting a media familiarization tour in early May designed to spark interest in the famed Cobalt mining camp and its impact in today’s Canadian mining industry.

While the Yukon has its lore of the Klondike, Guertin said the story of Cobalt and its place in Canadian history needs to be told. “Being in the middle of this Abitibi-Timmins-Sudbury triangle, we haven’t really sold the area that much for mining.”

Since permanently settling in the Temiskaming area three years ago, Guertin and her partner, Jocelyn Blais, have purchased, renovated and rent out five historical homes in Haileybury.

Their most recent acquisition is a home they’ve dubbed Prospectors’ House, refurbished to highlight the history of the 1903 Silver Rush in Cobalt. Interior decorator Renelle Laliberte of Toronto decorated the four-storey home with a rustic theme in keeping with local mining history, and it features several original works by local artists.

Mine promises hope for Thompson – by Jonathon Naylor (Brandon Sun – March 27, 2014)

March 28, 2014

http://www.brandonsun.com/

THOMPSON — As one door closes, will another open? That’s the fundamental question facing this hearty northern mining city.

Nickel giant Vale’s announcement that it will shut down its smelter and refinery at the end of 2014 (later revised to the end of 2015) raised grim speculation about Thompson’s future. But overlooked is the fact that while those surface operations are nearly tapped out, Vale is concentrating on its subterranean prospects.

“Our recent exploration activities have focused on increasing the confidence of near-infrastructure reserves and resources with the goal of maintaining current production levels from our existing mines,” says Ryan Land, the personable manager of corporate affairs for Vale’s Thompson operations. “This strategy will continue in the near term, and will be re-evaluated on an ongoing basis in response to nickel market conditions.”

Not only does Vale still run three Thompson-area mines — T-1, T-3 and Birchtree — there remains the irresistible promise of a fourth, known as 1-D, a $1- billion-plus mega-development.

Ottawa must step up to the ‘Ring’ – Gravelle – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 28, 2014)

March 28, 2014

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

The Government of Ontario won’t put a number on the “significant investment” it is committed to making to develop infrastructure in the Ring of Fire. But whatever that figure is, it wants the federal government to match it.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle told reporters in Sudbury on Thursday it’s important to have discussions about developing the vast chromite deposits “without setting the bar, without putting a figure in place.”

That’s because the costs of developing transportation, power and other infrastructure will vary according to whether access to remote first nations communities is factored in or not.

But Gravelle insisted the Liberal government of Premier Kathleen Wynne is committed to investing heavily and is looking for that same level of commitment from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. When the time is appropriate, his government will reveal what kind of money it is prepared to invest in developing the remote area 540 kilomteres northeast of Thunder Bay.

Gravelle: Province ready to make ‘significant’ Ring of Fire investment – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – March 27, 2014)

March 28, 2014

http://www.northernlife.ca/

For a video presentation of Michael Gravelle’s speech, click here: http://www.northernlife.ca/news/localNews/2014/03/27-gravelle-Sudbury.aspx

Talks ongoing for feds to match provincial investment

The province is prepared to make a “very significant” infrastructure investment in the Ring of Fire, said Michael Gravelle, Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines,told reporters Sudbury today.

“Our commitment to a major investment is locked in. It’s real,” Gravelle said after speaking at a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday. “We have not spoken about that figure specifically and I’m not in a position to do that right now.”

Gravelle made the comments a day after the province signed what he called an “historic landmark” framework agreement with the nine communities of the Matawa First Nations on how to move forward with mineral and community development in the Ring of Fire, a massive mineral deposit in a remote section of northwestern Ontario.

The framework agreement, Gravelle said, will set out the principles and guidelines for more formal discussions on issues such as resource revenue sharing, enhanced environmental assessments and socio-economic support for First Nations.

Province, Matawa chiefs sign Ring of Fire agreement – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 27, 2014)

March 27, 2014

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

Calling it a landmark agreement, Bob Rae said Matawa First Nations chiefs have inked a deal with the province that ensures their communities benefit from development of the Ring of Fire.

In a telephone interview, Rae, the negotiator for the nine Matawa leaders, said the agreement is a game-changer for aboriginal people.

Almost a year after he first met with the chiefs in Thunder Bay, Rae announced the Matawa and the Government of Ontario on Wednesday signed a regional framework agreement that gives natives in the area a stake in how the Ring of Fire will be developed.

The Ring of Fire, located in northwestern Ontario, contains billions in mineral deposits. Advocates believe the Ring could create thousands of jobs in Ontario. Sudbury, as a mining supply and centre, would also benefit from developing the area, they say.

One company, Cliffs Natural Resources, had planned to ship chromite from the Ring to a new smelter in Capreol. The company has put those plans on hold because of a lack of agreement on a number of issues, including with first nations and on infrastructure.

First Nations, Ontario reach Ring of Fire framework deal – Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 26, 2014)

March 27, 2014

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.

The Ontario government and the nine communities of the Matawa First Nations have negotiated a “milestone” framework agreement on how to move forward with mineral and community development in the Ring of Fire.

Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse is pleased that an agreement with a process has now been formalized that puts First Nations on an even footing with the Ontario government.

“The framework is all about developing that process on how things are going to roll out and how we want to play a role, how much role we’re going to have, but we want to sit parallel with the government in moving forward.” His remote fly-in community of 600 is situated is 540 kilometres north of Thunder Bay and just to the west of the Ring of Fire chromite and nickel deposits.

Wabasse has been part of the high-profile negotiations that began last July involving former Ontario premier Bob Rae, the chief negotiator for Matawa, and ex-Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci, Ontario’s lead negotiator.

Elliot Lake wildcat strike led to key law – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 26, 2014)

March 26, 2014

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

United Steelworkers will mark a milestone in occupational health and safety next month with a forum to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a wildcat strike in Elliot Lake that led to safer workplaces throughout Ontario.

The forum will mark the start of the three-week strike by about 1,000 Steelworkers in 1974 at Elliot Lake’s Denison uranium mine that resulted in the Government of Ontario appointing a royal commission headed by James Ham.

The Ham Commission on Mine Safety resulted in the creation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 1979, the provincial law governing health and safety in the workplace, and the internal responsibility system.

The IRS is based on the principle that everyone in the workplace, workers and employers, are responsible for safety and for the safety of those around them John Perquin, a USW staff representative who works in the union’s head office in Pittsburgh, arrived in Elliot Lake about seven years after the strike that was a watershed moment in workers’ safety.

Headline: Development corp. benefits unclear to Matawa – by Bryan Phelan (Onotassiniik – Spring 2014)

March 25, 2014

http://onotassiniik.com/

Suspension of Cliffs’ chromite project a relief to First Nations, Ferris says

More than two months after the Ontario government announced it, Matawa First Nations had yet to endorse a proposed development corporation for building infrastructure to the Ring of Fire mineral development. Ontario declared in early November it would lead the creation of such a business structure.

“Recent developments, and divergent private sector interests, have impacted our ability to move forward on vital infrastructure required to develop the region,” said Michael Gravelle, minister of northern development and mines.

“Currently there are a variety of proposals for infrastructure development. They propose different corridors and different modes of transportation but in the end, they all lead to the same place. In recent weeks, it has become increasingly clear to me that we need to determine exactly what those infrastructure needs are, and we need to do it now.”

As a result, Gravelle said, “The creation of a development corporation will bring First Nations, mining companies, and provincial and federal partners together to settle divergent interests and get back to making this development happen.

Time for regional environmental assessment for Ring of Fire – by Anna Baggio (Onotassiniik – Spring 2014)

March 25, 2014

http://onotassiniik.com/

Anna Baggio is the Director Conservation Planning, CPAWS Wildlands League.

Oh the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair that has occurred in various media outlets and around the province since news broke that Cliffs would suspend indefinitely its chromite project in northern Ontario. It wasn’t a surprise to those of us who follow global market prices, corporate boardrooms and here at home the environmental assessment processes. The project had been sputtering for quite some time.

With news of the indefinite suspension by Cliffs, there has been a lot of finger pointing and apportioning of blame. But I think this is a distraction from bigger, more important issues such as how Ontario should develop its non-renewable resources in the Ring of Fire. “The Ring” is more than Cliffs, after all.

How should we address neighbouring First Nations’ decades-long infrastructure needs? How do we make sure the Ekwan, Attawapiskat and Albany rivers will be clean and healthy forever? How do we all make best use of limited public resources? How do we ensure there is transparency and integrity around decision-making and that First Nations are respected?

‘Emotional’ testimony expected at Sudbury hearing – by Carol Mulligan (Sudbury Star – March 25, 2014)

March 25, 2014March 25, 2014

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

Anyone with an opinion or idea about how to make mining safer and healthier is invited to attend public consultations in Sudbury next week that are part of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review.

People who want to present must register by Wednesday for the April 2 and 3 sessions, but written submissions will be accepted after that. The review, which is being conducted by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, is being overseen by an advisory group headed by the province’s chief prevention officer, George Gritziotis.

So far that group has met twice in Sudbury, mostly to figure out the logistics of how its members will oversee a comprehensive review of mining practices in Ontario in less than a year. It will meet four more times in Sudbury.

John Perquin, who works for United Steelworkers’ international office in Pittsburgh, is vice-chair of labour for the advisory group. Businessman Fergus Kerr is vice-chair for employers.

Perquin said the advisory group isn’t sure what to expect at the public consultations because the first one won’t be held until March 31 in Timmins. But it is at those sessions committee members expect to get some of the best ideas to improve mine safety.