Wyloo announced its vice-president of Indigenous enterprises, Glenn Nolan, will retire this year
Glenn Nolan, a respected leader with more than five decades of experience in Northern Ontario’s mining sector, is set to retire this year.
Australian Ring of Fire developer Wyloo made the announcement in a social media post on March 31, paying tribute to Nolan with a lengthy profile on its website outlining his many achievements and contributions to the sector.
The man tapped to lead an overhaul of Ontario’s potentially lucrative mining sector says critical minerals buried across the north represent vital “soft power leverage” against the United States. During a recent cabinet reshuffle, Ontario Premier Doug Ford added responsibility for mines to the portfolio of his existing energy minister.
Stephen Lecce, who was trusted by the premier to lead on the complicated education file for years before moving to energy, has now been told to overhaul Ontario’s mining system at speed. His mandate sits at the heart of Ford’s economic plan.
https://www.nationalobserver.com/
Seen from above, the road could be mistaken for a river or stream. Curving through boreal forest, its palette exists on a spectrum: some parts are white with snow; others dim with muted yellow or glistening blue. When the sun hits, it ceases to hold colour at all and is instead reflective, sending light from above right back to where it came.
The road is an overlapping Venn diagram of synthetic and natural: built from water, manipulated by machine, and at the mercy of weather patterns and temperatures — made increasingly erratic by climate change — even though some humans are utterly dependent upon it.
“The Americans are waking up to the reality that they are dependent on China for critical minerals, and they need an alternative,” Lecce said. “Ontario is the answer.”
A day before President Trump is poised to announce tariffs that experts say will harm the economy in both countries, Ontario’s Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce went to D.C. trying to position the province as Washington’s most reliable partner.
“The Americans are waking up to the reality that they are dependent on China for critical minerals, and they need an alternative,” Lecce said. “Ontario is the answer.” Minister Lecce attended the SAFE Summit in Washington, a meeting with the global leaders in energy, transportation and supply chain.
Sensing a potential change in tone from the next federal government as U.S. President Donald Trump slaps tariffs on Canada, the Ford government is ramping up its efforts to build a road to the Ring of Fire. Creating a way to mine the mineral-rich area in northern Ontario has been on Premier Doug Ford’s to-do list since he was elected for the first time in 2018, but little progress has been made.
Now, with a federal election in full swing, Ontario sees a potential opportunity to move its long-held ambitions forward. Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said he wants to create a process for the federal government to support nation-building projects if he’s elected, with the Ring of Fire being one option.
Canada’s federal government will permit major infrastructure and mining projects with provincial and territorial approvals alone, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday evening after meeting with the country’s 13 premiers.
“We will eliminate federal duplicative requirements by recognizing provincial assessments for major projects, the so-called mutual recognition,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa. “So, one project, one review, and we will work with the provinces and other stakeholders, Indigenous groups, to identify projects of national significance and accelerate the time frame to build them.”
The Grits have mired the development of vast wealth in a bureaucratic nightmare. The Tories pledge to change that
A video posted by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday highlights one of Canada’s enduring problems: our chronic inability to get anything done and, by extension, our propensity to handicap our own economic prosperity.
In the video, and at a pre-campaign stop in Sudbury, Ont., Poilievre highlighted a story that should have sparked a modern-day gold rush. In 2007, prospectors found vast deposits of critical minerals — including chromite, which is used to produce stainless steel, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum — in a remote part of northern Ontario, about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, that came to be known as the “Ring of Fire.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/
Conservative leader’s ‘proposed shortcuts ignore our rights and our connection to the land’: Alvin Fiddler
Pierre Poilievre’s pledge on Wednesday that a Conservative government would fast-track development of the Ring of Fire has been criticized by Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s (NAN) grand chief, who accused the federal party leader of ignoring First Nations’ rights.
Alvin Fiddler was among those responding to Poilievre’s comments on the mineral-rich area of northwestern Ontario during his visit to Sudbury. NAN is a political organization representing 51 First Nation communities across Treaty 9 and Treaty 5 areas of northern Ontario.
The grand chief of a group of northern Ontario First Nations is blasting Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over his promise to fast-track approvals and pump money into the Ring of Fire mineral region.
OTTAWA — The grand chief of a group of northern Ontario First Nations is blasting Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over his promise to fast-track approvals and pump money into the Ring of Fire mineral region.
Thunder Bay, Ontario – Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation welcome Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s commitment to invest $1 billion in road infrastructure to the Ring of Fire and to improve the federal permitting process.
This investment responds directly to requests made by both First Nations for funding and aligns with their longstanding efforts to lead the development of sustainable infrastructure that will connect our communities, unlock critical resources, and create long-term economic opportunities. The promise to share tax revenues at the federal level is also a welcomed new commitment and pathway to economic reconciliation.
The Northern Road Link, a project led by Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations, is a crucial component of the broader effort to connect remote First Nations to the provincial highway network. By securing reliable infrastructure, the all-season roads will enable safe transportation, increase access to essential services, and support responsible resource development in the Ring of Fire region.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/northern-ontario/
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Wednesday that within six months of taking power, he would green-light all federal permits for the Ring of Fire and commit $1 billion to build new roads.
Poilievre, who is holding a rally in Greater Sudbury on Wednesday evening, said progress on the Ring of Fire is key to “unlocking billions of dollars in resources and taking back control of our economy from the Americans.” The long-delayed mineral project 500 kilometres east of Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario includes large deposits of high-grade chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/
Pierre Poilievre vowed to approve all federal permits in Ring of Fire within 6 months
The federal Conservative leader is in Sudbury today making promises, if elected, to unlock access to critical minerals in the Ring of Fire and build a new road into the remote mining camp in northwestern Ontario.
“[The Ring of Fire] could make Canada very rich. It would be life changing for northern Ontario towns, galvanizing thousands of paycheques and modern infrastructure,” Pierre Poilievre said at a news conference Wednesday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/
How a remote peat bog became a key figure in a global political conflict
The Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario has become a key figure in the battle to control critical minerals, which experts say is the heart of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada.
While a remote Ontario peat bog may not be the stage that first comes to mind when picturing the geopolitical conflict, the critical minerals beneath it are essential to renewable energy and digital technology.
Canada faces a direct economic sovereignty challenge from U.S. President Donald Trump. The spectre of general tariffs and the weaponization of U.S. federal investments loom over Canada’s integrated manufacturing sector.
Canada should take this moment not just to defend itself but to set some of its own terms. We need a bold strategy focused on critical mineral extraction and processing capacity. Canada holds some of the world’s most valuable untapped resources that could rebalance our economic leverage in North America.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/
First Nation advocates say it can’t happen at the expense of their rights
Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his promise Monday to speed up mineral extraction in the Ring of Fire, but advocates for First Nations say it can’t happen at the expense of Indigenous treaty rights.
Ford told an audience at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs take aim at the Ontario economy, and Ontario needs to prepare for “anything and everything.” “Together we need to build a stronger, more resilient and self-sufficient economy,” Ford said.
