http://www.wawataynews.ca/

Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias has raised further issues over the Cliffs Natural Resources chromite mine project in the Ring of Fire.
 
Moonias sent a letter to Michael Gravelle, minister of Natural Resources, on May 17 stating he has learned that Cliffs and/or its wholly owned subsidiary Cliffs Chromite Ontario Inc. has applied for land use and other permits on provincial crown land to begin mobilizing for infrastructure development and commencement of construction, including the north-south access corridor to the Ring of Fire.
 
Moonias stated in the letter that Ontario cannot lawfully consider these applications without fulfilling its constitutional duty of consultation. The chief said that the granting of an easement, issuance of any kind of land use or other permits to Cliffs in support of its proposed developments would be a further breach of Ontario’s duty to consult.
 
Moonias had earlier stated in a May 11 letter to Rick Bartolucci, minister of Northern Development and Mines, that Ontario is in breach of its constitutional duty to consult with Neskantaga and other Aboriginal peoples regarding the Cliffs mine and infrastructure development in and to the Ring of Fire. Read the rest of this entry »

 The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

George Smitherman former deputy premier and Energy minister of Ontario

By the sounds of the name it’s been given, the Ring of Fire is the last place on Earth where you’d think you have to worry about how to supply power. However, when you are proposing mining activity 300 km north of any paved road, things get complicated quickly.

Maybe that’s why Ontario is actually allowing a giant American mining company, and at least one smaller Canadian one, to propose that diesel generation be used to provide electricity. Problem is, their needs are projected to start at 30 mw and grow to 70 mw. That would take about 10 million litres of diesel fuel each month. Diesel fuel that would presumably be trucked 300 km along a road that will be carved out of environmentally sensitive lands.

This Ring of Fire mining activity will be taking place in the James Bay Lowlands on the traditional territories of several First Nation communities. It’s ironic that a pressing need of these same communities is a more reliable, healthy and cost effective means of generating electricity than the small diesel generators they currently use.

First Nations communities have experienced the limitations of electricity from diesel for far too long. Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/

The Ministry of Natural Resources won’t approve any land us applications from Cliffs Natural Resources applications until an environmental assessment has been completed.

Neskantaga First Nation Chief Peter Moonias wrote a letter to Minister of Natural Resources Michael Gravelle last week after he learned that Cliffs had requested land use and other permits to allow the company to start developing the area for construction. These construction projects included roads leading into the Ring of Fire site.

This application request followed the announcement that the company planned to build a chromite smelter near Sudbury causing outcry from First Nation communities that Ontario did not pursue proper consultation before making the decision.

Moonias, who earlier this week declared he was willing to die to stop the Ring of Fire development, said the MNR couldn’t go ahead with this application. Read the rest of this entry »

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

One grey Thursday at the end of April, a plane touched down in Fort McMurray, Alta., carrying four Achuar Indians from the Peruvian Amazon. They had flown 8,000 kilometres from the rain forest to beseech Talisman Energy Inc., the Calgary-based oil and gas conglomerate, to stop drilling in their territory. Talisman’s annual general meeting was coming up, and the Achuar were invited to state their case to chief executive officer John Manzoni in front of the company’s shareholders.

But first, they wanted to see a Canadian oil patch for themselves, and meet the aboriginal people who lived there.
 
Their host in Fort McMurray was Gitzikomin Deranger, Gitz to his friends – a 6-foot-4 Dene-Blackfoot activist who lives in a comfortably cluttered duplex with his parents and a revolving assortment of relatives. Many of them crowded in to meet the Achuar, who relaxed on Mr. Deranger’s leather couch with surprising ease for people who live in palm huts. He had welcomed them to Alberta with a smudge – having set a small pile of sage to smoulder in a miniature cast-iron pan, he fanned smoke over his guests with an eagle feather.
 
“Did you kill the bird to get it?” asked Peas Peas Ayui (PAY-us PAY-us AY-wee), the group’s leader, a taciturn man in his mid-40s with gold-capped upper teeth. Read the rest of this entry »

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Chief Sonny Gagnon of Aroland First Nation visited Sudbury on Thursday to begin what he says will be a process of educating other First Nations about developments related to the Ring of Fire and his community’s involvement in them.

Gagnon met with leaders from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek or Whitefish Lake First Nation, but would not say what was discussed at the two-hour session.

“There are a lot of dark areas where we have to enlighten ourselves,” the chief said Friday in a telephone interview from northwestern Ontario. “I think they know what happened in the past with Sudbury,” he said of the First Nation located 20 kilometres west of the city.

Gagnon says his community is not anti-development, but he doesn’t like the way the decision was made on the location of the ferrochrome smelter that Cliffs Natural Resources plans to build near Capreol.

The chief is “ticked off ” about the fact Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci, who is Sudbury’s Liberal MPP, did not consult with his community before the decision about the smelter was announced last Wednesday. Read the rest of this entry »

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

Michael Gravelle, MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, is Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources.

There is very good reason for everyone in Northwestern Ontario to be excited about the growth of the mining sector in our part of the province. Mineral exploration investments are at an all-time high and we can expect the opening of several new mines in the region to employ hundreds, if not thousands of people, which will drive the economy forward to levels we have not seen before. These opportunities are being embraced by First Nations and municipal governments all across the region as they seek to seize the long-term benefits this renaissance in mining will provide.

There is no question that the project that has captured the most attention is the Ring of Fire, where an unprecedented level of investment is poised to bring economic benefits and jobs to thousands of people for many years to come.

While there are a number of companies making significant investments in this resource-rich part of the Northwest, most of the public attention over the past year or so has been focused on Cliffs Natural Resources, a U.S.-based firm that is eager to take the next major step forward in the development of a huge project; one that, if managed properly, will bring extraordinary long-term economic benefits to many First Nations communities and municipalities across our region. Read the rest of this entry »

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

THE CHIEF of a First Nation near the Ring of Fire mineral deposit has said he’ll die before he allows a mining company to cross a river near his community to access its property. Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias said Cliffs Natural Resources’ chromite development at the headwaters of the Attawapiskat River could destroy his community.

Moonias wrote to Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci to express disappointment with Ontario’s decision to support Cliffs’ multi-billion dollar plan including a north-south all-season road linking the mine with a rail line near Aroland First Nation and the nearby town of Nakina.

“These decisions will have significant adverse effects on our lands, environment and way of life,” Moonias wrote. “Your government has made these decisions without adequate consultation with Neskantaga, in breach of your legal duties . . . .”

Moonias threatened to “use every lawful means at our disposal” to oppose the Cliffs project — the largest single component of the biggest economic development opportunity to hit Northern Ontario in a lifetime. Read the rest of this entry »

http://netnewsledger.com/

QUEEN’S PARK – The battle over who is listening is being fought in Queen’s Park. During Question Period today, the NDP leader Andrea Horwath was up questioning the Premier on the differences between the Ontario government and the First Nations over the Ring of Fire.

Howath asked Premier Dalton McGuinty, “Last week, the government assured this Legislature and the public that First Nations partners were being properly consulted about development in the Ring of Fire. Today, we’re hearing a very different story from the Neskantaga First Nation, whose legal counsel asserts that the government breached its legal duty to consult. Why has this government shown no serious willingness—and those are the First Nations’ words—to address the concerns of Neskantaga and other Mattawa First Nations?”

The Premier responded, “I just want to say that we take our responsibilities very seriously when it comes to consulting with our First Nations partners. We understand there is legal obligation there, but we also feel a sense of responsibility, on behalf of all Ontarians, to make sure that we are working with our First Nations partners, especially when it comes to exciting new opportunities to be found in the Ring of Fire. I know that specific efforts were made to reach out to those communities in the past. We will continue to find ways to move forward. Read the rest of this entry »

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper and Brian MacLeod is the managing editor. brian.macleod@sunmedia.ca

Northern Ontario has never been homogeneous. Its vast geography and the rivalries among municipalities make it a hard political animal to tame.

And that makes life difficult for Premier Dalton McGuinty. Developments over the last couple of years show that. The closure of Xstrata’s Kidd Creek Metallurgical plant in Timmins in 2010 saw 600 jobs lost as the work moved to Quebec, in large part because of the high cost of power in Ontario.

In March, the government announced it will privatize the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission — which provides some rail, bus and communications services in the North — putting 1,000 jobs in question. And last week, Cliffs Natural Resources, the U.S. firm that’s first in developing the massive Ring of Fire chromite deposit in northwestern Ontario, announced it would build its ferrochrome smelter in Sudbury, bringing about 450 jobs. Read the rest of this entry »

The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

Chief Peter Moonias, of Neskantaga First Nation, has the backing of his members to do whatever it takes– legal action, blockading and even acts of “mischief” — to get Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci to negotiate with his community.

Moonias has hired a British Columbia lawyer, experienced in native land claims, to represent his 400-member community 35 ki lometres from where Cliffs Natural Resources intends to operate an open-pit chromite mine in the Ring of Fire.

Neskantaga members are furious because they say they weren’t consulted by the province before it gave Cliffs approval in principle to mine the deposit and locate a ferrochrome processing plant near Capreol.

Bartolucci said last week his government will enter into framework agreements with First Nations as it finalizes details of its agreement with Cleveland-based Cliffs. The chief says that’s like someone coming onto a Sudbury homeowner’s property, digging up the lawn and saying, “I’ll have a framework agreement after I finish digging.” Read the rest of this entry »

http://netnewsledger.com/
 
THUNDER BAY – Editorial – Will the Ring of Fire lead to a new Northwestern Ontario territory? In the Ontario Legislature on Tuesday the issue of mining and the Ring of Fire was discussed. Sarah Campbell went so far as to state in the legislature, “This government must start representing our needs and interests today; otherwise, its not just Cliffs that will receive an eviction notice from the northwest, it will be the government of Ontario”.

This is the first time in recent memory that the subject of Northwestern Ontario as a separate political entity from the rest of Ontario has been raised.

It demonstrates the degree of frustration and the depth of growing anger over how the McGuinty government is treating the region.

Campbell stated in a members statement read in Queen’s Park, “While Cliffs made a business decision to process northwestern Ontario resources in northeastern Ontario, which is its right, this government has no excuse for failing in its duty to involve northerners in the process. While the government is silent on many details, it is clear that this government has made commitments without involving municipal leaders or First Nations. Read the rest of this entry »

http://netnewsledger.com/

THUNDER BAY – The legal team for the Neskantaga First Nation have communicated to the McGuinty Government through Minister of Northern Development and Mines, Rick Bartolucci over what the First Nation is saying is a lack of consultation.

“The Neskantaga, along with the other Matawa First Nations, is in litigation in respect to the Cliffs’ project, and the need for a full Joint Panel Review. Neskantaga has indicated to your Ministry and your officials a desire to negotiate a proper regional environmental assessment process that would harmonize Federal, provincial and First Nation reviews”.

“Further, your Ministry and the project proponent, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. have been well aware that the proposed project and its related infrastructure will have significant adverse impacts on the Neskantaga lands, culture and aboriginal interests. Despite this knowledge, Ontario has proceeded with discussions with the proponent and other First Nations to the exclusion of Neskantaga. We are now advised that your Ministry has announced that Ontario intends to proceed with this project, and to provide funding to the proponent for infrastructure without having fulfilled the duty of consultation and many other First Nations directly affected” Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.cbc.ca/thunderbay/

An American company planning to invest $3.3 billion on a Northern Ontario mine and processing plant has waded into the latest front in a countrywide battle over environmental issues and aboriginal rights, a mining consultant says.
 
Lawyer and mining industry strategist Bill Gallagher said Ontario should have foreseen the confrontation brewing over land use in the province’s mineral-rich Ring of Fire region in the James Bay Lowlands.

The province announced last week that it reached an agreement in principle with Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources to build a chromite mine in the area about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, a road there and a processing facility near Sudbury.
 
But lawyers for the Neskantaga First Nation say the province may have broken the law by signing deals with Cliffs before consulting First Nations. In a letter written last week, solicitor Gregory McDade exhorts the province to “take no further steps to support this project until full discussion has been held with northern First Nations.”
 
Neskantaga Chief Peter Moonias added that without thorough consultation on environmental and other issues, Cliffs would have to “kill me first” before accessing its mine site. Read the rest of this entry »

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Association Member Cliffs Natural Resources has announced intentions to invest $3.3 billion to develop a chromite mine in the Ring of Fire area, a transportation corridor and a processing plant in Northern Ontario.  This could lead to more than 1,200 direct jobs over the anticipated 30 year life of the mine.

“Cliffs is pleased to be moving forward the proposed development of a mine in the Ring of Fire and a processing facility near Sudbury,” said Bill Boor, Senior Vice President Global Ferroalloys for Cliffs Natural Resources, based in Cleveland.  “These milestones bring us closer to opening the mine and starting production to meet the global demand for stainless steel.”

“Ontario is blessed with an abundance of natural resources at a time in history when the world is developing faster than ever and demanding these resources,” said Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development and Mines and MPP for Sudbury.  “We are taking advantage of this incredible opportunity in the Ring of Fire to further open up Northern Ontario by bringing thousands of jobs, new infrastructure and economic opportunities to cities, towns and First Nations communities.”

The Ring of Fire is a mineral rich and somewhat isolated area of Northern Ontario located about 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.  Read the rest of this entry »

 The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.

All of Northern Ontario must benefit from plans to build a chromite mine and smelter says a group representing the North’s municipal leaders.

“We are pleased that a decision has been made concerning one of the jewels of the North,” Alan Spacek, president of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities, said in a release Tuesday.

“In a deal as big as this, the ‘devil is in the details.’ We want all communities to benefit from this mammoth find — First Nations, adjacent communities and communities right across the North.”

Last week, Cliffs Natural Resources said pending further studies, it would spend $3 billion to build a chromite mine in the Ring of Fire region of northwestern Ontario and ship the ore to be processed at a smelter in Capreol. Chromite is used to harden stainless steel, a key building component. Read the rest of this entry »