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Revisting the Idea of Northern Ontario Separation – by Stan Sudol

This column was originally published in Northern Life on Jun. 21, 2007

The McGuinty Liberal’s policies of the past four years are severely hampering Northern Ontario’s two main industries – forestry and mining.

In the spring, Premier Dalton McGuinty ignored a delegation of five northern mayors, whom collectively represented two-thirds of the region’s population, and were presenting a policy document – Northern Lights: Strategic Investments in Ontario’s Greatest Asset – that detailed constructive solutions for the region’s many problems.

After 130 years of being a resource colony for the south, has the time finally come to create our own province?

Yes, I see the eyes rolling and the heads shaking, but northern separation does have merit.

And if it was possible to carve out Nunavut from the former Northwest Territories with a tiny population of about 30,000 – roughly twice that of Kenora – then a separate province in the north is economically feasible.

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Clement Spurns Sudbury’s Mining Expertise By Not Funding CEMI – Brian R. Gatien

Brian R. Gatien is the Chair, Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce

As Chair of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce, I feel it necessary to express the incredulous dismay of our members and that of the community upon hearing the announcement to provide funding to establish a mining innovation centre at the University of Toronto.

The country (and province) already has a world class facility here in the heart of the world’s leading mining community, whose sole purpose is to develop the very best mining technology and pursue innovative research projects.

As part of the Laurentian University campus, the Centre for Mining Excellence and Innovation (CEMI) is exclusively dedicated to developing new technologies and conducting cutting edge research in the field of mining. Full time researchers are working with undergraduate and graduate students from the university, the country and world to conduct important investigations that will eventually guarantee Canada’s position as the leader in mining.

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Federal Funding for U of T Mining Research a “Slap in the Face for Northern Ontario”

Northern Life, Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper, gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post these articles. www.northernlife.ca

A government funded $20-million mining innovation centre that will be built at the University of Toronto has key players in Sudbury’s mining industry fuming. “It was almost like a covert operation,” said Richard DeStefano, executive director of the Sudbury Area Mining Supply and Service Association (SAMSSA).

“There was no discussion, no revelations, no informal potential partnerships with Laurentian (University) during this entire process, which probably took close to six months to finalize. People are very upset.”

The federal and provincial governments have each given $5.5 million for infrastructure funding to the Toronto mining innovation centre, which will be built at the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus in the city’s downtown core. Private donations of $9 million will bring the total cost of the project to $20 million.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), located at Laurentian University in Sudbury, has not yet received any federal funding. CEMI wasn’t eligible for the the infrastructure funding because no projects were ready to be built immediately, said Peter Kaiser, CEMI president and CEO.

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No Plan, No Succession, No Future for Local Ownership in Sudbury- by Michael Atkins

Northern Life, Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper, gave Republic of Mining.com permission to post Michael Atkin’s column. www.northernlife.ca

Last month, I wrote about the hollowing out of Northern Ontario and the continuing deterioration of authority, influence and relevance in key sectors.

The topic of the day was the destruction of CBC Radio as a connecting force in the North and the ignorance of the people who made the decision to save such piddling amounts of money in the shadow of such benefit.

This month another storyline.

Vale Inco is restructuring. They are taking people in the finance, human resources and procurement departments and moving the strategic thinking and execution out of Sudbury and down to São Paulo and Toronto. In simple terms, it means that local procurement (say rock bolts) will remain in Sudbury but worldwide purchasing (say tires and information technology) will be done elsewhere. It means that the analysis of the business will move from Sudbury to São Paulo.

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Celebration Set for Historic Kirkland Lake Toburn Gold Mine – by Marilyn Scales

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

The first gold mine in Kirkland Lake, ON, is reopening this summer, not as a producer but as a monument to the early days of prospecting in Ontario’s North. The hunt for gold was filled with characters — “Swift” Burnside, the Tough brothers, Sir Harry Oakes and Bill Wright — all eager to make a profit on the next great gold mine. Part of their legacy is the headframe of the Toburn mine that began commercial production in 1913.

The Toburn mine struggled along with a 90-t/d stamp mill from 1913 to 1931. Then Toburn Gold Mines Ltd. was incorporated and installed a new, larger mill, which operated until 1953. A total of 1.1 million tonnes of ore grading almost 17.0 g/t Au (0.5 opt) was treated. 

The site was abandoned after mining ceased and reverted to the Crown. In 2006 the Northern Prospectors Association set about acquiring the last remaining original headframe on the “Mile of Gold”. Project funding was contributed by individuals, corporations and public institutions. Two years later, the Town of Kirkland Lake acquired the property and the Toburn Operating Authority was created to oversee its rebirth as a tourist and learning destination.

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Big Brains and Why Mining in British Columbia Needs Them – by Pierre Gratton

Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of The Mining Association of British ColumbiaThis speech was given by Pierre Gratton – President and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia – on May 4, 2009 at the Vancouver Board of Trade in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This is a must read speech!

Globe and Mail columnist Patrick Brethour wrote about this speech in the May 15, 2009 edition of the paper: After the election, a quiet revolution.

Introduction

Good afternoon.

Before I begin, I would first like to thank the Vancouver Board of Trade for the opportunity to speak to you today. This is an annual address on the state of the mining industry by the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) and we appreciate the opportunity the board provides
us to do this.

I would like to thank my colleagues on the executive committee and board of directors and the staff at the MABC who work tirelessly on behalf of the mining industry, along with friends and colleagues at AME BC and the Mining Suppliers Association of BC. I especially would like to
thank all the members of the Mining Week Committee who have worked hard to plan and organize this week’s events. In particular, I’d like to thank one of my staff, Claire Thomson, who has worked unstintingly but cheerfully pulling so much of this together.

Mining week, a venerable tradition for the past 102 years, celebrates the role this industry plays in making British Columbia a great place to live, work and play.

This week events take place in Vancouver, Kamloops, Elk Valley and in many other communities across the province.

Here in Vancouver, Mining Week celebrations started with a well-attended gala awards reception last evening at the Terminal City Club. The Mining & Sustainability Award 2008 – a tie this year – was presented to Absorbent Products and the Upper Similkameen Indian Band in
recognition of their respective contributions to sustainability in the mining industry.

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Where Ontario’s New Mining Act Fails the Industry – by Marilyn Scales

Marilyn Scales is a field editor for the Canadian Mining Journal, Canada’s first mining publication. She is one of Canada’s most senior mining commentators.

I had a lengthy and most interesting phone call from Michael Leahy last week concerning the proposed changes to the Ontario Mining Act. First, he said, the Mining Act passed in 1873 was never a static document. It has been amended many times, including a complete rewrite in 1990. Leahy knows whereof he speaks because he was involved in the revisions two decades ago, and until 2006 he sat on (and chaired) the Minister’s Mining Act Committee.

Still actively prospecting from his home in Kirkland Lake, Leahy says enforcement of the Mining Act will come through the passage of various regulations as set out in the Act. Until these regulations are written, much of the practical application of the Act is uncertain. 

The Ontario government has also significantly broadened its powers of regulation with this Mining Act. Leahy is correct to point out that regulations are passed without the public readings and procedures necessary to get bills through the provincial parliament. That leaves me wondering if regulatory changes will be made arbitrarily, with no notice and less consultation.

Leahy pointed out that the concept of ‘native traditional lands’ is unclear.

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Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council (OMICC) Opposes McGuinty Plan to Stop Sustainable Resource Development in Half of Northern Boreal Region

The Government of Ontario established  the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council (OMICC) in 2003. The OMICC mandate is to lever Ontario’s current mineral industry assets to create a larger and more globally competitive cluster and to foster a sustainable and rising standard of living. The OMICC is co-chaired by Jim Gowans, President and CEO of De Beers Canada Inc. and Warren Holmes, Chairman, Nuinsco Resources Limited.

The following OMICC policy response has been sent to key Liberal Cabinet Ministers in the McGuinty Government:

Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council’s Position on Protecting a Northern Boreal Region
 
On July 14, 2008, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced the protection of 225,000 square kilometres of the far north boreal region under its Far North Planning Initiative. On behalf of the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council (OMICC), we are pleased to submit OMICC’s position on the announcement and its potential impact on the Ontario economy, the communities, the industry and Ontario’s reputation as a preferred destination for mining exploration and development.

The OMICC, a provincial organization is mandated to foster a sustainable and rising standard of living from Ontario’s rich mineral endowment and lever the current mineral industry assets to create a larger and more globally competitive cluster of mineral and related industries. Members represent a range of mineral related industries, businesses, associations and organizations.

We find it encouraging to note that the Government of Ontario, as part of its Far North Planning initiative, has demonstrated its commitment to work with Northern communities and the mining companies to create opportunities for economic development and to ensure that the mining industry remains strong. You are well aware of OMICC’s strongly held position that responsible development of Ontario’s mineral wealth must ensure full and fair opportunities for the province’s First Nations to participate in all phases of the mining cycle and benefit from resource revenue sharing.

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Aboriginal Communities and the Mining Sector are Essential Partners for Poverty Alleviation and Industry Success

The Mining Industry Resources Council (MiHR) contributes to the strength, competitiveness and sustainability of the Canadian metals and minerals industry by collaborating with industry, organized labour, educational institutions, the Aboriginal community, and other groups to develop and implement solutions to the industry’s national human resource challenges. Visit www.mihr.ca for more information.

The following news release was recently distributed by the MiHR:

Aboriginal communities to play critical role as Canada’s minerals and metals industry faces daunting shortfall in trained workers

Tens of thousands of skilled positions must be filled in next decade to keep mining industry robust

OTTAWA (April 27, 2009) – One of Canada’s most productive industrial sectors faces a serious skills shortage in the next decade according the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR), which today launched an awareness campaign to educate Canada’s Aboriginal communities and the mining industry how to work together to find a mutually beneficial solution.

A key player in the global mining industry, Canada is one of the world’s largest exporters of minerals, metals and diamonds. Aboriginal Peoples represent a significant, largely untapped resource for addressing the expected labour shortfall next decade, when tens of thousands of workers from the baby boom cohort are set to retire.  The Aboriginal population in Canada is growing six times faster than Canada’s non Aboriginal population. To address this, MiHR, an independent, industry-driven organization, has developed several tools including a website (www.aboriginalmining.ca) and two extensive informational guides for Aboriginal communities and industry employers.

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The Positive Economic Impact of the Vale Inco’s Voisey’s Bay Nickel Project on Aboriginal Communities and Newfoundland – Raymond Goldie

Raymond Goldie is a senior mining analyst with Salman Partners Incorporated and is the author of “Inco Comes to Labrador” (Flanker Press, 2005). This article was written in December, 2008.

Since the late twentieth century, there have been remarkable changes in the world’s mining industry’s attitudes with respect to community relations.  The mining industry has come to recognize that it is of critical importance to engage the local community in mining development, and it has acted accordingly.  The development of the Voisey’s Bay mine in northern Labrador by Inco Ltd. and its successor, Vale Inco, has epitomized these changes in attitudes and actions.

In 2002, Voisey’s Bay Nickel Company (“VBNC”, now Vale Inco Newfoundland and Labrador ), then a subsidiary of Inco (and now of Vale Inco), made deals with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador and with First Nations groups in the vicinity of the Voisey’s Bay mineral deposit.  These deals allowed Vale Inco to develop a mine and concentrator at Voisey’s Bay.  This operation produces concentrates (which are feedstock for smelters and refineries) of nickel and copper.  The deals also obliged Vale Inco to provide training, employment and business opportunities for members of local communities (including the engagement of local Labradoreans in caring for and monitoring Voisey’s Bay’s natural environment) , and to improve the provision of health care and other social services to those communities.

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CBC Radio Cuts Continue Colonial Treatment of Northern Ontario – by Michael Atkins

Michael Atkins is president of Northern Life – www.northernlife.ca – Greater Sudbury’s community newspaper.

I have written for years about the colonial aspects of living in rural Canada, most of that experience gained from my life in northern Ontario and my family history in Nova Scotia. It does become a little pedantic, but the essence of the message is that you can’t expect to be a grown up, mature, sustainable community or economy, if you have no control or accountability for your environment. If you are not entrusted with responsibility, how would you know how to exercise it?

In the broad spectrum of life in northern Ontario, our people are without influence. We have no meaningful input or accountability for education policy, resource policy, energy policy, social policy, tax policy, immigration policy, economic strategy, or business strategies.
The mining companies do their thinking in São Paulo Brazil, or Zug, Switzerland, the paper companies, to the extent they still have a pulse now, do it in Maryland or Montreal, and all other decisions are made in Toronto or Ottawa. By and large, northerners don’t care that much. They are more focused on the economic hardship they are experiencing, rather than the power relations that exacerbate it.

Northerners are more focused on the economic hardship they are experiencing, rather than the power relations that exacerbate it.

We can add a new silo to this pathetic legacy.

The recent decision to gut the CBC Radio infrastructure in northern Ontario is a case in point. This is a decision made in Ottawa, or maybe Toronto, without one second of consideration for its impact on the north.

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Northern Ontario Separation Episode on TV Ontario – Stan Sudol

Last week, I had the pleasure of being invited onto TVO’s flagship current affairs program, The Agenda, hosted by Steve Paikin. www.tvo.org The topic for the first half-hour segment was about northern Ontario forming a separate province.

As the station’s website states, “TVO is Ontario’s public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires, and stimulates curiosity and thought. TVO’s vision is to empower people to be engaged citizens of Ontario through educational media.” The Agenda has been described as a program that “presents in-depth analysis and intelligent debate on issues of concern in the rapidly changing world around us.”

The participants on the five-member panel were:

From Thunder Bay:

  • Rebecca Johnson, City Councilor
  • Livio Di Matteo, Lakehead University Economics Professor

From Sudbury:

  • Rejean Grenier, Editor of Le Voyageur

Toronto TVO Studio:

  • John Beaucage, Union of Ontario Indians Grand Chief
  • Stan Sudol, Communications Consultant, Northern Life Columnist

To view the entire program click below:

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Canadian Mining Journal READER COMMENT: Yea and nay to consolidating Ontario’s mining education at Laurentian and turning it into the Harvard of the mining sector

CMJ field editor Marilyn Scales writes: We opened a can of worms a week ago when we published Stan Sudol’s suggestion that Ontario consolidate the education of mining professionals in one school, namely Laurentian University in Sudbury. Readers were quick to weigh in on both sides. Forty-five people voted on the Hot Topic, and they were 60% against such a move.
 
Better yet, many took the time to write and tell us what they think.

On one hand, an anonymous reader thought Laurentian is the ideal place. “New ideas could develop in a new environment. It will be important to attract the best brains and teachers,” our reader wrote.

Bill Quesnel, president of Parts HeadQuarters in Burlington, ON, thought through the suggestion based on his life-long knowledge of the industry. He made these observations:
 
“Any move to make Sudbury the centre of mining education will have some major hurdles to overcome:

   

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Francophones Have Left an Enormous Imprint on Sudbury – Claire Pilon

Claire Pilon is a Sudbury-based journalist, researcher and translator.  She has given Republic of Mining.com permission to post her column on Sudbury’s francophone history. She can be reached at: cpilon@cyberbeach.net or visit her website: www.clairepilon.com This column was originally published in the Sudbury Star.

In order to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the City of Sudbury, this column will demonstrate how francophones have left and still play an important role in the creation and development of our city.

It will demonstrate how francophones helped shape the city, whether it be in the religious, educational, health, economical or social sectors.

In the following columns readers will be made aware of the many contributions of francophones to making this city what it is today, 125 years after its beginnings.

It was 125 years ago when the first settlers, a great number of them French-speaking arrived in our fait city.

Sudbury was a lumbering town before it became a mining one. It has developed over the years and has seen many changes, some for the best.

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Teck – The Last Diversified Canadian Mining Giant

BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus stated last summer that Canada’s commanding role in global mining had been reduced to “branch office” status. This criticism reflects the fact that Canada`s major mining companies like Falconbridge, Inco and Alcan have fallen under foreign control.

Vancouver-based Teck, however, withstood this wave of industry consolidation and stands today as the last, diversified Canadian mining giant.

So I am both wary of and troubled by the intense negative media speculation over the immediate future of Teck. Due to the emotional “herd” mentality of current stock market investors, if you repeat something often enough it seems to become a fact even though it’s not.

Much of this negative coverage focuses on the company’s ability to handle the US$9.8 billion debt it incurred to fund its acquisition of the assets of Fording Canadian Coal Trust. There is concern over the $5.8 billion in bridge financing that is due at the end of October, 2009. The remaining US$4 billion is term debt and repayable over three years.

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