The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
Sudbury Star mining columnist Stan Sudol levelled even harsher criticism. “With no First
Nations or industry representatives on their board, this was obviously a rushed and cynical
announcement to try to meet an election promise,” said Sudol.”Let’s not forget this
development corporation was first announced 10 months ago, last November.”
Sudol pointed out the Cliffs Natural Resources, which has one of the largest claims in
the Ring of Fire, recently confirmed it was selling all non-core assets, including its
Ring of Fire properties. “This is an absolutely stunning indictment of the Ontario
Liberal government’s inability to move this project forward,” said Sudol.
It was on time, but it wasn’t the announcement those who were waiting for it were hoping to hear.
Six days before a self-imposed, 60-day election campaign promise to establish a development corporation to design, construct and maintain infrastructure for the Ring of Fire, the Government of Ontario announced it had officially done so.
In a brief news release, the province said the Ring of Fire Infrastructure Development Corporation was officially established as a not-for-profit corporation, headquartered in Thunder Bay, with an interim board of directors of four senior public servants.
The interim board will put the necessary structures in place to allow partners to determine their participation in the corporation, it announced.