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Northern Ontario Separation and Alienation

Confining processing to Ontario hurts mining – by Michael Gravelle (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 20, 2013)

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

Michael Gravelle is the Liberal Minister of Northern Development and Mines

I appreciate the concerns raised by Carlos Santander-Maturana in his letter of April 17 (Priorities Lie Elsewhere). However, our government members voted against the private member’s bill, the Mining Amendment Act, precisely because we want to protect and encourage job growth in the mining sector.

Creating a protectionist environment by requiring all ore mined in Ontario to be refined in the province would neither protect the important mining jobs we have, nor encourage further investment in this key sector.

Ontario is one of the leading mining jurisdictions in North America and benefits greatly from the ability to move minerals across borders. Many other jurisdictions currently take advantage of the expertise and resources available in Ontario, shipping their minerals here for refinement.

Four of Ontario’s five largest mineral processing facilities receive two-thirds or more of their feed from outside the province and their economic viability, as well as the jobs they create, depend very much on the movement of minerals from outside of Ontario. This could be threatened under the protectionist environment this act would have led to.

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On April 11 MPPs debated Bill 43 – Mining Act – by Sarah Campbell MPP Kenora-Rainy River (April 14, 2013)

Sarah Campbell is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2011 election. She represents the electoral district of Kenora—Rainy River as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party caucus.

KENORA – On April 11 MPPs debated Bill 43, an amendment to the Mining Act intended to promote Ontario jobs.

While it did not propose sweeping changes, the Bill would have created transparency in the system that could be used to promote economic development and job growth in the mining sector.

The bill changed only one word in the Act – a provision that ensured ‘all minerals mined in Ontario must be treated and refined in Canada’ would instead read that ‘all minerals mined in Ontario must be treated and refined in Ontario.’

The Act currently- and would still- allow for exceptions to be granted by the Minister of Northern Development and Mines. The only difference being that the Minister would have to explain and defend his or her decision to allow processing outside of Ontario.

This would force the government to publicly acknowledge policy and infrastructure shortcomings that renders the province at a competitive disadvantage. It would, at the same time, provide Ontarians with an important opportunity to address these challenges and provide for better long-term planning that can lead to successful job growth strategies.

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Keep riches here [in Ontario]: MPP – by Bryan Meadows (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 12, 2013)

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

Thunder Bay-Superior North and Kenora-Rainy River MPPs were on opposite sides of the fence Thursday when debating two private members’ bills at Queen’s Park.

Following debate late Thursday afternoon, MPPs defeated Bill 43: Mining Amendment Act (Resources Processed in Ontario), and approved second reading of Bill 42: Ombudsman Amendment Act (Children’s Aid Societies).

Bill 43, introduced by NDP Northern Development and Mines critic Michael Mantha (NDP-Algoma–Manitoulin), would have required ore and minerals mined in Ontario to remain in the province for refinement. Currently, companies can apply for an exemption from exporting restrictions, allowing them to send raw material anywhere in the world to be processed.

Following the vote, Mantha said the defeat of his bill shows that Liberal and Conservative MPPs are not serious about job creation. “My bill would have given Ontario’s mining industry a bright future,” he said.

“By keeping our resources in the province, there is the potential of job creation in many sectors. We would ensure that the unprecedented wealth of resources in the Ring of Fire is used to create good value-added jobs for Ontarians.”

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Cuts not so severe: Clement – by Jonathan Migneaul (Sudbury Star – April 9, 2013)

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

Cuts to the Federal Economic Initiative for Northern Ontario in the latest federal budget are closer to $200,000 rather than the tens of millions claimed by the NDP, Tony Clement, the government minister responsible for FedNor, said Monday.

Industry Canada’s Report on Plans and Priorities for 2013-14 showed the Conservative government slashed the budget for community economic development by 26% from $81 million in forecast spending for 2012-13 to $60.3 million in planned spending for 2014-15.

NDP leader Thomas Muclair, during a Northern Ontario tour last week, said the cuts would affect FedNor, the federal department responsible to boost economic development in Northern Ontario.

“Unfortunately,” Muclair said, “the Conservatives’ cuts, the planned cuts of tens of millions of dollars from the budget of FedNor, will have a devastating effect in the whole region, particularly in centres of excellence. (The cuts will be) 20% this year, 25% next year.

“Those are the actual cuts to FedNor. If Tony Clement says anything otherwise, he’s not telling the truth. This is not a matter of ‘he said, she said,’ these are facts, they are printed on a piece of paper.”

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Ontario shortchanged by equalization payment rules – by Martin Regg Cohn (Toronto Star – April 7, 2013)

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Ontario is deeply in debt, but outdated equalization payment rules see the province sending big money to our fellow Canadians, Martin Regg Cohn writes.

Ontario is deeply in debt — roughly $265 billion — and has a massive annual deficit, now about $12 billion. It is slashing government services and freezing public-sector wages. Oh, and we are still giving away big money — $11 billion at last count — to our fellow Canadians.

That’s the tally released this month by the Mowat Centre, a local think tank bankrolled largely by the Ontario government to get the province’s message out — in hopes of keeping our cash from leaking out.

You can do the math: If we didn’t send so much money to other provinces, we wouldn’t be so deeply in debt. Meanwhile, other provinces are balancing their books on our backs, or use our funds to provide services at a higher level than we can afford to offer here — from low-fee child care to high-end health care.

It’s an argument made persuasively, and perennially, by the Mowat Centre (which, unsurprisingly, is headed by a former senior Ontario civil servant).

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One sees the forest, other the trees [FedNor] – by Sebastien Perth (Sudbury Star – April 8, 2013)

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

During a recent tour of Northern Ontario, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said Tony Clement, the minister for FedNor, was playing word games when he said the latest federal budget won’t make any funding cuts to FedNor.

“Unfortunately the Conservatives’ cuts, the planned cuts of tens of millions of dollars from the budget of FedNor, will have a devastating effect in the whole region, particularly in centres of excellence. (The cuts will be) 20% this year, 25% next year. Those are the actual cuts to FedNor.

“If Tony Clement says anything otherwise, he’s not telling the truth. This is not a matter of ‘he said, she said,’ these are facts, they are printed on a piece of paper.

“Tony Clement should start telling the truth to people in Northern Ontario. If he’s got the guts to cut, let him have the guts to admit what he’s doing and stop playing word games,” Mulcair said during a stop at NORCAT while he was in Sudbury last Thursday.

He added the cuts to FedNor would have a devastating impact on the economy in the north of the province.

“FedNor has been one of those great solutions to provide a more balanced economy in an area that has a great richness in primary natural resources and their developments. That’s a great thing for the region and Canada.

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FedNor cuts will be ‘devastating’: Mulcair – by Sebastien Perth (Sudbury Star – April 5, 2013)

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

NDP leader accuses Tony Clement of ‘word games’ and calls Cliffs’ approach to Ring of Fire ‘really stupid’

The Conservatives are lying when they call cuts to FedNor “efficiencies,” federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said Thursday during a visit to Sudbury.

Mulcair talked about Conservative spending cuts, Liberal party polling numbers and the Ring of Fire development during a media scrum at NORCAT offices on Maley Drive.

Mulcair accused Tony Clement, the minister for FedNor, of playing word games, in a dispute over the FedNor budget. The NDP says the department’s budget will be slashed from $81 million in 2012-13 to $60.3 million in 2014-15. In a release, Clement said the cuts won’t affect FedNor’s ability to deliver programs– a claim Mulcair challenged.

“Unfortunately, the Conservatives’ cuts, the planned cuts of tens of millions of dollars from the budget of FedNor, will have a devastating effect in the whole region, particularly in centres of excellence,” he said. “(The cuts will be) 20% this year and 25% next year — those are the actual cuts to FedNor.”

“If Tony Clement says anything otherwise, he’s not telling the truth. This is not a matter of ‘he said, she said’ — these are facts, they are printed on a piece of paper.”

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Tories, NDP fighting over FedNor – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – April 3, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – A war of words being waged over the federal government’s plan to support economic development in Northern Ontario.

Due to a lack of information regarding the 2013 budget, that’s about all we know. On Tuesday, the NDP sent out a press release denouncing the ruling Conservatives for “slashing economic development investment in Northern Ontario.”

It stated that FedNor (Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario) was facing cuts in the 2013 budget – from $73 million in 2012 to $60.3 million by 2014.

With the government seeking ways to balance the federal budget, MP Charlie Angus (NDP – Timmins-James Bay) said, “There is no real rationalization for trying to get us out of a slow economy by cutting an economic investment.

“FedNor is a major stimulus for getting new business starts, for getting companies re-tooled, so it pays itself off because it’s a driver of the economy. For the Conservatives to be taking a serious whack at economic development investment in the North, it just doesn’t make any sense.”

Angus said funding from FedNor is essential to allowing businesses in Northern Ontario to compete with others based in more opportune locations and regions.

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Stakeholder talks open on ONTC – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – March 26, 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.

Minister of Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle delivers the government’s message on the ONTC to the media, March 25 in North Bay, while members of his special advisory committee look on.
A year and two days later after the provincial government’s controversial decision to sell off the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC), regional stakeholders were finally given a chance to provide input.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle met with a new ONTC advisory committee of political, industry and First Nations representatives in North Bay, March 25.

“All the members have provided ideas to help the government’s decision on the ONTC divestment and are helping us move to a more sustainable telecommunications and transportation system for the North,” he said. “This is clearly a very important issue here for us, and I deeply value the opinions, viewpoints and the experience of all the committee members.”

On March 23, 2012, Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci, who was then minister of Northern Development and Mines, announced the surprise divestment of the North Bay-headquartered Crown agency from his home riding in Sudbury. It caused an uproar from unionized workers and community leaders across northeastern Ontario.

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ONTC talks include Northern leaders – by Wayne Snider(Timmins Daily Press – March 22, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Northern leaders will have the chance to provide input into the privatization of the ONTC.

Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle announced Thursday the formation of an advisory committee to provide the provincial government with input into the divestment process of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

“I made a commitment to set up this Ministerial Advisory Committee to ensure the voices of Northerners and all those impacted by the divestment of ONTC were heard,” Gravelle said in a press release.

“The advisory committee has also been established to meet the standard our government has set out: To see that divestment recognizes the economic development value of the ONTC, and that the decisions made reflect the need to put in place a Northern transportation strategy that recognizes growth and prosperity.”

The divestment of the provincially owned ONTC was announced on March 23, 2012. The move sparked protests across Northeastern Ontario. The Northlander passenger rail service was shut down in September. Freight rail and Ontera, the telecommunications arm of the ONTC, are still in line for privatization.

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Northern cities fight for forestry – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – March 14, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – With changes to Ontario’s forest regulations looming on the horizon, municipalities across the North are intensifying efforts to get the government to hear them out.

Earlier this week, the City of Timmins supported a resolution by the City of Kenora for what an associated report called “real sustainable forest management.”

The Kenora resolution, based on a backgrounder report written by the Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) and the Northwestern Ontario Municipalities Association (NOMA), denounces some of the measures of the provincial government’s Endangered Species Act (ESA).

It states that less than half of 1% of Ontario’s forests are harvested each year, and that strict renewal plans must be in place before harvest.

It goes on to read, “Ontario’s forest sector already provides for the needs of species at risk through the Crown Forest Sustainability Act (CFSA), and that the forest sector is required to continuously update their management practices to be consistent with provincial recovery strategies developed under the Endangered Species Act.”

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Lobbyist hijacking of Queen’s Park must end – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – March 6, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Premier Kathleen Wynne is promising to give the North a new voice in the Ontario legislature, having formed a special Liberal committee to discuss regional issues. She even held a provincial cabinet meeting in Sault Ste. Marie last week to assure Northerners that the government’s new focus on the region is legit.

There are promises to bring Northern leaders and industry to the table, following a history of Queen’s Park ignoring the socio-economic well being of the North.

These promises are all fine and dandy. But if Wynne really wants to make a difference in the North, if she is really sincere about listening to our concerns, she must end one practice that has been going on for decades — even before the Liberals took over the reins of power. Stop letting special interest groups hijack the provincial government.

There are two obvious examples of where environmental lobbyists were allowed to mould legislation that negatively impacted the North: The cancellation of the spring bear hunt and the tabling of the Endangered Species Act. Both hurt the Northern economy, yet allow the government to showcase its warm and fuzzy side to voters in Southern Ontario who have no idea of the true impact these pieces of sh— … er, legislation, have on our region.

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Changes to [Endangered Species Act] ESA, a step in right direction: OFIA – (Timmins Daily Press – February 25, 2013)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Like many Northerners, John Kapel doesn’t like the idea of urban southern Ontarians having such a strong influence on Northern resources.

“We should be the ones dictating what we want to do with our North up here, not people in southern Ontario who sit in a cubicle and don’t even have a clue what a freakin’ poplar or birch tree is,” said Kapel, owner of Little John Enterprises sawmill in Timmins.

The province’s much-maligned Caribou Conservation Plan has been cited by both local industry and municipal leaders as just another product of the southern Ontario’s influence on Queen’s Park.

“We’re going to lose 25% of our forest” for industrial use within the Abitibi River region because of this plan, Kapel said. “It’s just sad that we as Northern Ontarian people have to put up with this B.S. from southern Ontario. It’s pathetic.”

The Ontario Forest Industries Association has had to tiptoe in explaining why it was encouraging Northerners to support recent changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) despite its encompassing of the controversial caribou plan.

The Ministry of Natural Resources had outlined new measures under the ESA in an Environmental Registry posting. The period for inviting public input ended Monday.

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Gravelle wants dialogue – by Gord Young (North Bay Nugget – February 13, 2013)

http://www.nugget.ca/

NORTH BAY – Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle ruled out any dramatic change of course Wednesday in the divestment of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

“I think it’s fair to say that the ONTC divestment process will be continuing . . . in a way that makes sense. And I think we feel there needs to be significant community input into that process,” said Gravelle, the longtime MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, who was given a cabinet seat earlier this week in Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government.

Gravelle, formally Minister of Natural Resources was re-appointed by Wynne Monday to the Northern Development and Mines portfolio – a position he held for four years after he was appointed to cabinet for the first time in 2007.

Only about 48 hours into the job, Gravelle said in a telephone interview Wednesday he wants dialogue and is trying not to draw any lines in the sand when it comes to the issue of divestment. But Gravelle also indicated he doesn’t want to pretend there’s going to be a dramatic shift in direction.

“I think there is a real legitimacy to the decision for the divestment process to take place. It’s a question of how it’s done, in a fashion that still takes advantage of the economic opportunities of the ONTC,” he said, noting the ONTC is among a number of issues he plans on discussing with municipalities.

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Gravelle keeps a seat in cabinet – by Carl Clutchey (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – February 12, 2013)

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

Northwestern Ontario community leaders were applauding Monday as newly minted Premier Kathleen Wynne kept the North in the loop with the appointment of two, home-grown cabinet ministers, including a seasoned veteran.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a pretty good day for Northwestern Ontario,” said Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs. “These people know the North, and the Northwest in particular.”

As many like Hobbs had hoped, Michael Gravelle (Thunder Bay-Superior North) was returned to head Northern Development and Mines, the important but tricky portfolio he oversaw for four years until 2011.

Gravelle, who remained on the job as Natural Resources minister after he was diagnosed with cancer last fall, said he was “thrilled” to be kept in cabinet. “We are at a pivotal and exciting time in the North’s history, and our ministry and government will be playing a tremendous role in ensuring opportunities are seized,” Gravelle, 64, said in a statement following his reappointment to cabinet.

“Clearly, mining continues to be a real pillar for Northern Ontario’s economy and certainly development in the far north and the Ring of Fire are top priorities for our government.”

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