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Plea for ONTC likely to fall on deaf ears – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – November 27, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – It is one thing for the provincial government to ignore the constant pleas from municipal leaders and opposition MPPs on an issue, but it is a whole new ball game when it disregards the needs of industry.

At Timmins council Monday night, Tom Semadeni asked the city to “help us in terms of lobby efforts” to make sure freight rail service is continued in Northeastern Ontario in the wake of Queen’s Park’s ongoing sell-off of the Ontario Northland Transportation Corporation. Semadeni is the general manager of Kidd Operations in Timmins for Xstrata Copper.

Semadeni told council the divestiture of the ONTC could create possible challenges for the mining company in the future. He said trucking material would be more costly than freight rail and cause more damage to the roads.

The concerns raised by Xstrata echo comments raised by Northern leaders – from mayors and councils across the region to MPPs like Gilles Bisson (NDP – Timmins-James Bay) – since the sell-off was announced in the spring.

Clearly, the mining industry is waving a red flag to warn the provincial government about the effect the sell-off will have on industry in the region.

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Xstrata plea for ONTC – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – November 27, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Xstrata Copper is seeking the city’s support in ensuring freight rail service to the mine is maintained in light of the province’s plan to sell the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.

In a presentation to Timmins council Monday, Tom Semadeni, general manager of Kidd Operations, identified the divestiture of the ONTC and its potential impact on freight rail service as a possible challenge in the future. Semadeni said city council could “help us in term of lobby efforts … to make sure they maintain service.”

He said trucking the material would be more costly to the company and more damaging to the roads. Coun. Gary Scripnick said hearing these concerns directly from mine management should be helpful in any future discussions Mayor Tom Laughren has with provincial ministers.

He said it is important for the mayor to be able to report what mining officials are telling him. Other areas of concern expressed by Semadeni included high energy costs and the limited availability of housing in Timmins.

He said Xstrata Copper has hired close to 550 in the last five years and as a result has experienced the challenges associated with the housing shortage first-hand.

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Future uncertain for [Timmins Goldcorp] mine pit park – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – November 16, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Now that Goldcorp is only awaiting the Ministry of Environment’s approval to start mining the Hollinger open pit near downtown Timmins, the long-term future of the site is still up in the air.

The general understanding had been that a publicly accessible park and lake would be left behind in 10 years when Goldcorp is scheduled to end its mining operations at the Hollinger.

But now that the project is starting to get into gear, some Timmins residents want concrete answers rather than vague promises.

It’s important to note that Goldcorp representatives have been insistent on the fact that the Site Plan Control Agreement between the company and the city is separate from the Subsequent Land Use Plan, which is still up for public input as the project moves forward.

The section on the company website relating to the Hollinger project explains that, “Detailed studies have determined that the removal of mine hazards through filling or mining of historic mine workings would allow for partial to full future use of the Hollinger property.”

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Neighbours feel pit decision less than golden – (Timmins Daily Press – November 13, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The location of the Hollinger pit continues to polarize opinions regarding Goldcorp’s mining project on the site.

With no assurance in place to protect potential property devaluation or damage over the next decade of mining on the site, nearby residents and business owners are still fuming over city council’s decision to green-light the project on Monday.

“I think there were methods that could have been put in place to allow everyone to benefit,” said Lorne Feldman, owner of Feldman Timber and the industrial development it’s located in, off Algonquin Blvd. E. Businesses in the development include Shoppers Drug Mart, A&W and the Timmins Family Health Team clinics.

“That could have provided the protections necessary to adjacent land owners, and also allow this very worthwhile project to move forward.”

Rick Dubeau of the Hollinger Project Community Advisory Committee (HPCAC) and Bill Hughes, owner of Senator Place apartments, have been raising concerns for the past few weeks in city council, most recently in presentations prior to Monday’s decision.

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[Timmins] Council approves [Goldcorp] pit plan – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – November 12, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – City council unanimously approved the site plan agreement for the Hollinger Project on Monday, giving Goldcorp formal permission to proceed with the open pit mining operation that was first proposed back in 2007.

The decision did come after Bill Hughes, owner of the Senator Place apartments, and Rick Dubeau of the Hollinger Project Community Advisory Committee (HPCAC) expressed concerns they said are still being raised by the public.

Hughes, representing reportedly close to 250 people living at the Senator apartments and other locations within 300 metres of the pit, said that there are still many questions left unanswered about the project, despite the many reports and committees that have raised concerns.

“The plan of action should be to step back, consider what (HPCAC) has said, what I have said, what engineers have said, what environment lawyers have said,” expressed Hughes, when asked what he thought the proper course should be.

He asked, “Are we there or are we not there?”, expressing confusion as to whether any action was being taken despite the city’s comments that the public was being fully engaged in the process.

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Thousands sign parks petition – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – October 26, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – The surprise decision by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to shut down camping at a number of provincial parks in northeastern Ontario has not gone unnoticed.

In fact, it’s government officials who are now being surprised by the massive swell of support offered by groups such as Friends of Ivanhoe, urging the province to re-consider the ban.

On Friday, members of Friends of Ivanhoe met with the media at MPP Gilles Bisson’s (NDP – Timmins-James Bay) office on Wilson St. with more than 6,300 signatures in hand. The petitions were circulated and posted in various locations, from Timmins to Hearst, since the government’s decision was announced in September by Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle.

“I spoke to Mr. Gravelle on Monday,” said Bisson. “One of the things he talked about was that he couldn’t believe how many people have been really worked up over this, so I think he’s been taken a bit aback. I think it puts us in the position to hopefully change his mind.”

Bisson said that, while he was surprised by the sheer number of signatures, the swift reaction of Northerners didn’t come as a shock.

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Ontera sell-off worries Northern [Ontario] leaders – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – October 23, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

IROQUOIS FALLS – Even though Northlander passenger service has already been derailed, leaders from across Northeastern Ontario are still fighting for the ONTC.

Since the provincial government announced plans to divest itself of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, members of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) have been lobbying to save the services provided by the ONTC.

With passenger rail service now gone for the Hwy. 11 corridor, NEOMA is turning the bulk of its attention to preserving freight rail and infrastructure to the information highway.

Members of NEOMA, at its quarterly meeting in Iroquois Falls on Friday, discussed the future of ONTC. Northern leaders expressed frustration of the fact that the provincial government has not been sharing a lot of information about the divestiture.

“We’ve met with the government several times about the freight rail,” said Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren, chairman of NEOMA. “We haven’t been getting a lot of traction.

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Xstrata seeks New Brunswick miners – by Liz Cowan (Northern Ontario Business – October 2012)

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.

Xstrata Copper and the Timmins Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) joined forces recently to recruit some potential employees. The Brunswick Mine in Bathurst, N.B., a division of Xstrata Zinc, is winding down operations since its mine life ends in 2013.

The Timmins operation, which includes the Kidd Mine and the metallurgical site, made a pitch to try and recruit some employees to Timmins.

“We gave a presentation on our operations and then the (TEDC) gave a presentation on the city itself,” said Brian Fleury, Xstrata senior human resources advisor in Timmins. “We had about 40 positions to fill at the time and we are always looking for those with mining experience. These would be very familiar with Xstrata’s way of doing things so they could fit in very well and hit the ground running.”

Cheryl St. Amour, director of business development and retention for the TEDC, offered the prospective employees an overview of what their life would be like in Timmins. “It wasn’t just the mine talking about their mine and their perspective of the community,” she said. “I talked about what the community offers.”

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NDP leader Horwath speaks out at [Timmins] convention – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – October 21, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Andrea Horwath had one very clear message in an energy-charged speech delivered at the party’s Northern Council meeting: “Respect the North.”

Horwath was in Timmins on the weekend to speak to party MP’s, MPP’s and members, nearly 100 of whom were at the Timmins Inn and Suites Saturday afternoon to listen to the address. In her speech, Horwath emphatically criticized the current government’s ability and desire to represent the province’s people equally.

She said the problem is especially clear in the North, where residents “are feeling extremely frustrated with the policies that are coming out of southern Ontario and Queen’s Park, because they don’t reflect reality here.”

She said the only way a government can properly reflect the reality of a place is to give the people there enough respect to listen to what they have to say and hear their voices.

“We know damn well that that is not happening at Queen’s Park right now, and has not been happening for an awful long time,” exclaimed Horwath, to huge rounds of partisan cheers and applause.

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Public urged to keep on pressuring government on camping issue – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – October 19, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

IROQUOIS FALLS – The Minister of Natural Resources is listening to what Northerners have to say about losing camping privileges at area provincial parks. But citizens need to keep pressuring the government to save these campsites.

This was the message conveyed at Friday’s meeting of the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association (NEOMA) in Iroquois Falls.

On Thursday, Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle met with Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren, chairman of NEOMA, and Kapuskasing Mayor Al Spacek, president of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities. This came on the heels of a meeting between Gravelle and MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) on Monday.

Local provincial parks impacted by the cost-cutting decision include Ivanhoe Lake in Foleyet, Greenwater in Cochrane, Rene Brunelle in Kapuskasing, Fushimi Lake in Hearst, The Shoals in Chapleau and Tidewater in Moosonee. Other parks on the list are Caliper Lake in Nestor Falls, Mississagi in Elliot Lake, Obatang between Wawa and White River, and Springwater in Midhurst.

“What we included in our presentation was a little bit of dialogue on the discrepancies in the numbers by the province as to the cost of these parks and the revenue, based on the 2011 parks report created by the government … so that they need to re-check these numbers,” Laughren said at the meeting.

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Northerners weigh in on McGuinty resignation – by Benjamin Aubé (Sudbury Star – October 18, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – Reaction is pouring in from political and water-cooler circles across Ontario in the days following Premier Dalton McGuinty’s resignation.

The decision did not fall on deaf ears in the North of the province, where some of the McGuinty government’s actions have come under much fire as of late.

McGuinty will remain at his post until a new party leader is selected, which could take months. As a result, McGuinty announced the prorogation of the legislature, essentially stalling regular proceedings at Queen’s Park until further notice.

For the Liberals, who fell just short of gaining a majority government last month after losing the Kitchener–Waterloo riding byelection to the NDP, the move is being celebrated for the prospect of rejuvenating the party’s vision.

Timmins-James Bay Provincial Liberal Association president Gaetan Groleau has been with the organization since 1999, and has watched McGuinty and his vision at work from the very beginning.

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B.C.’s low-wage migrant coal mining jobs send us back to the future – by Thomas Walkom (Toronto Star – October 13, 2012)

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.

Early on in the 20th century, the silver and gold mines of Northern Ontario imported thousands of foreign workers. The mine owners said they were filling a labour shortage. But their real reason was to keep wages down.

So when native-born, anglophone miners went on strike in Cobalt or the Porcupine region, the owners shipped in French-Canadians. And when they went on strike, Finns were brought in and, after them, Ukrainians and Poles and Italians and Englishmen from Cornwall.

In every case, the point of the exercise was to bring in workers who were less likely to make common cause with those already there and who, therefore, would be willing to work for less.

It was an ugly time in our history and it gave rise to very ugly labour disputes. So it is depressing in the extreme to see employers, aided and abetted by the federal government, engage in the same discredited tactics.

The latest and most bizarre example comes from British Columbia where, as the Vancouver Sun has reported, four brand new coal mines in the province’s northeast are bringing in just under 2,000 temporary Chinese migrants to do most of the work.

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Timmins citizens grill Goldcorp over plans for Hollinger open pit mine – by Len Gillis (Timmins Daily Press – October 12, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

Uncertainty and mistrust were two of the overriding issues that seemed to dominate a public meeting held Thursday night in Timmins to discuss the plan by Goldcorp to turn the old Hollinger Mine property into a massive open pit operation.

The meeting was almost confrontational with at least one citizen pledging to become an outspoken “pain in the ass” to protest Goldcorp’s mining plan.

The meeting was hosted by the Hollinger Project Community Advisory Committee (HPCAC) as an 11th hour attempt to gather more public input on the project that Goldcorp is hoping to have up and running before Christmas.

Although the meeting at the McIntyre Ballroom lasted nearly three hours, there were less than 100 residents at the meeting. Those that did attend managed to pepper the Goldcorp and City of Timmins employees with a barrage of questions. One Goldcorp employee agreed the meeting was intense, but suggested it was “only a vocal minority.”

The uncertainty at the meeting appeared to come from the fact that many residents asked pointed questions about how the project might affect them, but Goldcorp staffers were unable to provide specific or absolute answers because there are many issues and studies not yet completed.

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Fond farewell to an icon, friend [Hemlo co-founder John Larche] – by Benjamin Aubé (Timmins Daily Press – October 12, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – In the days after his death, he is being described by many as a hero and a legend, as a man of generosity and humility. But up until his final days, John Larche only ever saw himself as a simple prospector.

On Friday, Larche was laid to rest at the Timmins Memorial cemetery after a funeral mass at Église Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix. “My father’s biggest dream in life was not mining related,” said Larche’s son Paul. “His biggest dream was to raise his family with values that would carry them well through life so that they could realize happiness and the full potential of their aspirations, whatever they may be.

“Values you know my father for; honesty, integrity, humility, and a moral compass that pointed as true North as his prospectors compass.” Larche died peacefully on Thanksgiving Monday, Oct. 8 at the age of 84. Pre-deceased by his first wife, Violet, Larche is survived by his wife Dolores, his five children, Paul, David, Nicole, John and Lise, as well as his 16 grandchildren.

He was known largely for founding the famous Hemlo Gold Mine in the early 1980s near Marathon, Ont. with fellow prospector and business-partner Don McKinnon, who died just two months ago.

In 1983, Larche was named co-recipient of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s Prospector of the Year Award. From 1984-1988, he presided over the Prospectors Association of Canada and became the country’s top spokesperson in exploration.

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Northern lifestyle threatened by tiny budget cut – by Wayne Snider (Timmins Daily Press – October 12, 2012)

The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.

TIMMINS – There has been some suggestions Queen’s Park is purposely punishing Northeastern Ontario with its proposed overnight camping ban in six of the region’s provincial parks.

While there is much circumstantial evidence to draw such a conclusion, I believe this is giving southern politicians too much credit. After all, how much do they really know about Northern Ontario, particularly the lifestyles of Northerners?

Sure, our region’s provincial parks are all in ridings currently run by New Democrat MPPs, while the Liberals rule Ontario.

Yes, Rene Brunelle Provincial Park is in the backyard of Kapuskasing Mayor Alan Spacek, who ran under the Progressive Conservative banner in Timmins-James Bay during the last Ontario election.

Then there is the fact that Spacek, Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren (close to Ivanhoe Lake) and Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis (Greenwater) have all been very outspoken against Liberal legislation impacting their residents — the Endangered Species Act, the Far North Act and dumping the Northlander passenger train service, to name a few.

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