http://www.timminstimes.com/

PC Norm Miller said Bisson’s vote could have made the difference

While Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson is angry at the decision to sell off Ontario Northland, the PC Party is just as angry with Bisson for not voting to shut down the controversial Far North Act.

The move to repeal the Far North Act was put forward last week by Progressive Conservative MPP Norm Miller (Parry Sound-Muskoka), who argued the act is damaging to the North and goes against what most Northerners want.

“This is just another example of bad public policy rammed through by Mr. McGuinty without consultation or accountability to First Nations, municipalities and businesses whose lives and livelihoods have been changed – for the worse.”

Miller’s bill went to the legislature on March 22nd but the Liberals were joined by New Democrats in defeating the second reading of the bill with a vote of 50 to 36. Read the rest of this entry »

 http://www.timminstimes.com/

City council lashes out in response to decision to sell Ontario Northland

Mayor Tom Laughren and several Timmins city councilors expressed dismay and disappointment Monday night with Premier Dalton McGuinty and senior ministers at Queen’s Park in light of the announcement last Friday that the Ontario Government plans to sell off the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).

Their anger comes in view of the fact that the mayor and several councilors were in Toronto just a few weeks ago to meet with the premier and several cabinet ministers at the annual meeting of the Ontario Good Roads Association.

That is one of the few times in the year when municipal councilors get face time with the Premier and the cabinet to discuss vital issues for the North.

“There was no hint at anytime in our meeting with Minister Bartolucci, or formerly Minister Gravelle, that anything like this was being considered,” Laughren told council Monday night. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.nugget.ca/

“This has to be in Toronto tomorrow,” my wife said. “Will you take it to the station for me?”

Only old timers will understand much of this column, but I want some younger folk to understand how much the ONR once meant to folk who lived in Northeastern Ontario.

I am still livid. On Friday when I heard that the ONTC was to be killed, it felt as if I had been kicked in the gut. What made it worse was that The Nugget had just published a short piece recalling how Tembec was built out of ruin.

Tembec became a great Canadian success story because management, the workers and the community joined together for a common purpose. Why not the ONTC or Air Canada and too many others?

I took the letter to Cobalt ONR station, which in its time was the biggest and most handsome of its kind. When the southbound train pulled in, I gave the letter to the man running the mail car. Read the rest of this entry »

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Canadian Court Ruling Encourages Firms to Seek Cooperation Before Digging Begins, Creating Frustration Over Cost
 
TORONTO—Annita McPhee, the leader of the 5,000-member Tahltan First Nation in British Columbia, recalls mining-company executives seeking the nation’s chieftains’ permission to dig for coal next to their land.
 
“They walked in and handed us all blankets, and we were like, ‘What do we need blankets for?’ ” she says. “We showed them the door.”

Lesson one in mining in the mineral-rich, indigenous-inhabited Canadian territories: avoid stereotypes, Ms. McPhee advised executives gathered early this month at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada International Convention, the world’s second-largest mining conference.
 
After bypassing indigenous peoples in Canada, who inhabit some of the richest lands in the world, mining companies increasingly are realizing that they can’t just hand out blankets and begin drilling. Read the rest of this entry »

www.mineweb.com

Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland says the escalating shortage of skilled workers is a major concern for executives globally as the industry presses ahead with projects in increasingly tough and remote places.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A worsening shortage of skilled workers is the top worry for mining executives globally as the industry presses ahead with projects in increasingly tough and remote places, the chief executive of world No. 4 gold producer Gold Fields said.
 
“A lot of people ask me what is my biggest concern. What keeps me awake? Having skilled people available to do the job and go to locations that ordinarily they might not be too keen to go to,” Nick Holland told the Reuters Global Mining and Metals Summit on Monday.
 
“That is one of the biggest challenges. We are looking to build a whole lot of mines in the future. And getting the right skills to build those mines is a challenge, not only for us, but for the various engineering companies,” he said. The Gold Fields project pipeline ranges from Ghana in West Africa to the Philippines. Read the rest of this entry »

RepRisk is the leading provider of dynamic business intelligence on Environmental, Social and Governance risks (ESG).

MOST CONTROVERSIAL MINING COMPANIES OF 2011

The extraction industry is traditionally one of the most criticized by various stakeholders for its negative impacts on communities and the environment. This RepRisk special report focuses on mining companies and their projects in 2011. In order of ranking, the 10 Most Controversial Mining Companies of 2011 were:

1. Alpha Natural Resources
2. Newmont Mining Corp
3. Glencore International
4. BHP Billiton
5. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
6. Rio Tinto
7. Compania de Minas Buenaventura
7. Barrick Gold (equal ranking)
9. Anglo American
9 Vedanta Resources (equal ranking)

These mining giants and their global operations have come under fire for allegedly polluting potable water supplies, scarring landscapes and damaging sensitive ecosystems. There were also numerous allegations detected by RepRisk related to impacts on local communities and effects on the traditional way of life of indigenous peoples. Furthermore, these companies were accused of having poor occupational health and safety standards, which resulted in toxic emissions and accidents that have caused injuries,
fatalities or serious illness. Read the rest of this entry »

The provincial government is standing by its decision to sell Ontario Northland. And Northern Ontarians are taking it personally.

“Funny, it’s only when we invest in the North that we’re taking money away from education and health care. When we invest in the south, it’s fine,” Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas said.

Gelinas’s comments come days after Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci announced the province is divesting itself of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency that offers rail and bus service in Northern Ontario. The government also announced that eight buildings across Ontario, including one in Sudbury, will be sold.

Ontario Northland was at the heart of a question raised by John Vanthof, MPP for Te m i s k a m i n g-Cochrane, in provincial legislature on Monday. “I accused (Bartolucci) of killing the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission. (He said) they’re not killing it. They’re divesting themselves of it. Basically, they’re privatizing it,” he said, adding that he was shocked when the decision was made. Read the rest of this entry »