Steve May is the CEO of the Sudbury Federal Green Party Association (Opinions expressed in this blog are my own, and should not be interpreted as being consistent with the views of the Green Party of Canada – Steve May)
I read with interest today a number of news reports related to the announcement that Cliffs Natural Resources will be investing approximately $3.3 billion in Ontario, to build a chromite mine in the Ring of Fire, and a ferrochrome processing facility in my city, the City of Greater Sudbury. That Cliffs has been pushing ahead with developing the Black Thor deposit in the Ring of Fire has been no secret. What was up in the air, however, was the selection of a community to host the prized ferrochrome processing facility (smelter), which is expected to generate approximately 400 operational jobs, and an additional 400 construction jobs.
Today’s announcement identifying the Moose Mountain site outside of the Capreol community in the City of Greater Sudbury as the new home for the smelter was one of the worst-kept secrets in Northern Ontario. While the communities of Greenstone, Thunder Bay and Timmins were also in the running, Cliffs has been proceeding since the fall of 2011 with an Environmental Assessment process based on a “base case scenario” which identified Moose Mountain as the site of the smelter, and media has since reported that Cliffs has actually purchased the Moose Mountain site. Read the rest of this entry »
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TORONTO – Ontario announced a $3.3-billion investment by an American mining company Wednesday to develop the Ring of Fire, a huge mineral deposit near James Bay, but faces opposition from some First Nations, local communities and environmentalists.
Cliffs Natural Resources plans to build a chromite mine, a road to the area about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay and a processing facility near Sudbury, said Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci.
The Ring of Fire includes the largest chromite deposit ever discovered in North America. The $1.8-billion proposed smelter in Capreol would create about 900 jobs, including 450 when it’s in operation by 2015, and would process the chromite into a key component of stainless steel, Bartolucci said in Sudbury.
“There was stiff competition with other jurisdictions for the location of this smelter and those jurisdictions were outside the province of Ontario,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
(Greenstone, May 9, 2012) Mayor Renald Beaulieu of Greenstone, the closest municipality to the Ring of Fire mineral find, was underwhelmed by today’s announcement from Cliffs Natural Resources to locate the chromite refinery near Sudbury.
“It is truly unfortunate that Cliffs and the Provincial Government chose not to meaningfully consult with the directly affected First Nations and Greenstone prior to making and announcing their decision,” stated Mayor Beaulieu.
Important questions remain unanswered by Cliffs and the Province said Beaulieu. In particular, it’s hard to see how you can lead with a decision on a refinery location without an agreement on how you are going to obtain the ore body in the first place.
- Why are First Nation interests being ignored? Today’s update confirms the suspicion of First Nations that a secret deal has been worked out between the Government of Ontario and Cliffs. That deal doesn’t place any value on the support First Nations have offered for the project nor does it take their position on the mining activity seriously. Read the rest of this entry »
The region’s First Nations and municipal leaders are frustrated and disappointed by a lack of planning from the province and Cliff’s Natural Resources on the Ring of Fire.
In the wake of an announcement Wednesday morning that Cliff’s will set up their ferrochrome processor in Capreol, near Sudbury, leaders from across Northwestern Ontario sounded off on the province’s lack of commitment and consultation with the region.
“It was a great day for Northeastern Ontario. It was a very sad day for Northwestern Ontario I can’t say it any plainer than that,” Thunder Bay mayor Keith Hobbs said.
Natural Resources minister Michael Gravelle and Aboriginal Affairs minister Kathleen Wynne faced a cold reception from regional leaders when they announced Cliff’s $3.3 billion investment to build its chromite mine, North-South all-season road from the Ring of Fire and processing facility. 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.
Seeking to get in on a resource boom that to this point has passed it by, Ontario has taken a major step toward developing the mineral-rich “Ring of Fire” in the province’s far north.
Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci announced Wednesday that the government has reached a framework agreement with the U.S.-based Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. for a $3.3-billion investment, including a $1.8-billion smelting plant in the Sudbury area.
But despite the buoyant tone from both sides of the deal, sources in and around government acknowledge Mr. Bartolucci’s target date of 2015 is highly optimistic. That’s because there remain a great number of hurdles to be overcome before much-needed jobs can be created from extraction or processing of chromite, a key ingredient used to make stainless steel. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
An American firm is expected to sink $3.3 billion into developing the resource-rich Ring of Fire, the Ontario government announced Monday.
Cliffs Natural Resources, an international mining company based in Cleveland, will use the money to haul and process chromite — the key ingredient used to make stainless steel — out of the Hudson Bay Lowlands.
The Ring of Fire, located 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, is said to contain one of the world’s largest chromite deposits. International mining companies have staked nearly 9,000 claims in the ring and both the federal and provincial government wants to hasten development of the area to bring much needed jobs to the struggling north.
The ring is a 5,000-square-kilometre area of pristine wilderness that is also one of the world’s last untouched ecosystems. Ontario has been locked in a battle with Quebec to keep Cliffs’ smelter plant located here in the province. High hydro rates in Ontario have been a major stumbling block. Read the rest of this entry »
This article came from Northern Life, Sudbury’s biweekly newspaper.
All rumours about where Cliffs Natural Resources will build its chromite processing plant have been laid to rest.
Cliffs has made public its intentions to build its $1.8-billion chromite processing facility north of Capreol. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company has selected the former Moose Mountain Mine site, located 21 kilometres north of Capreol, as it moves from a prefeasibility stage to feasibility, which takes the company to a more detailed analysis of the project.
An agreement in principle between the province and Cliffs has been reached, Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, said. This agreement sets the framework for the project. A formal agreement is expected to be finalized within months.
The project will employ 450 people during construction, and as many as 450 people when the facility is operational in 2015. Mine and mill development, as well as the construction and operation of transportation infrastructure, could create an additional 750 jobs, plus hundreds of indirect employment opportunities for northern Ontarians and First Nations communities. The smelter would be used to process ore from Cliffs Natural Resources chromite mine located in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire. Read the rest of this entry »
QUEEN’S PARK – In response to Minister Rick Bartolucci’s announcement that Cliff’s Natural Resources will be building a chromite processing facility near Sudbury, Northern Development and Mines Critic Norm Miller warned against celebrating too soon.
“I am pleased to see Cliff’s selecting a location in Ontario for their new smelter,” Miller explained. “However, I’m more interested in what the Minister didn’t say. I am suspicious of good news presented in vague terms.”
“There was no First Nations participation in the announcement, and no testimony from First Nations leaders anywhere in the Ministry’s materials. Aroland First Nation has already come out in opposition to the announcement. This suggests to me that very little progress has been made on this front, and much difficult negotiation still lies ahead.”
Bartolucci announced plans to begin discussions on a new all-season road to the mining sites, but offered no details as to who would build, finance, or own the road. He expressed a hope that the federal government would make contributions, but no federal representative attended the announcement. Read the rest of this entry »
Cliffs Natural Resources has announced a $3.3-billion investment to build a chromite mine, transportation corridor and processing facility in Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire that would lead to a new generation of prosperity in the north, with thousands of jobs and new infrastructure.
The Ring of Fire represents one of the most significant mineral regions in the province, and includes the largest deposit of chromite ever discovered in North America. The chromite found in this area, 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, is a key ingredient used to create stainless steel.
Cliffs Natural Resources has announced it intends to build a $1.8-billion chromite processing facility in Capreol, near Sudbury. This would employ 450 people during construction, and as many as 450 people when the facility is in operation. Mine and mill development, as well as the construction and operation of transportation infrastructure, could create an additional 750 jobs, plus hundreds of indirect employment opportunities for Northern Ontarians and First Nations’ communities. Read the rest of this entry »
Charlie Angus’ commentary was given inside Canada’s Parliament on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 1:05 pm.
Mr. Speaker, it is always a great honour to rise in this House and speak on behalf of the people of Timmins—James Bay, a region that exists because of the railway.
It is also important to talk about this bill on safer railways at a time when we have so many issues facing railways in Canada. It is clear that if we look at the simple test for whether government has vision, whether government understands the issue of infrastructure, whether government has a forward-looking vision, we look no further than rail. Rail has been the kicking dog of Liberal and Conservative governments looking to squeeze it, to undermine it, to so-called privatize it, and we have seen a continuing loss of service while the rest of the world moves forward with smart high-speed rail.
Just this past February, when the VIA Rail train derailed at Burlington, we had three people killed and 42 passengers injured. We see the $200 million in cuts that are coming to VIA Rail now under the Conservatives. We see the undermining of rail links in important jurisdictions across rural Canada like Churchill, Manitoba. We see the government’s complete lack of interest in the importance of a high-speed rail corridor that would connect Windsor to Quebec City through our densest populations and allow people who are pretty much trapped because of the density of traffic in the suburban regions of this country to be able to move at a reasonable rate. Read the rest of this entry »
Charlie Angus might be a natural front runner for the first premier of Northern Ontario — if the often knee-jerk fascination with separating the province materializes some day.
Comments by the NDP MP for Timmins-James Bay in the House of Commons Tuesday demonstrated an impressive grip on history, politics and the potential mishandling of a major economic opportunity.
Angus was speaking during a debate over federal rail safety legislation, which opened a window for him to touch on the ominous threat facing the Ontario Northland Railway.
Some people are already tired of the the topic. They don’t want to hear another word about the Ontario government’s intention of selling off Ontario Northland Transportation Commission assets. Protesting what they consider inevitable is a waste of their time.
Even those who make a living commenting publicly about news events have to fight off the urge to yawn when community leaders huddle over strategic communication campaigns. Read the rest of this entry »
THUNDER BAY – EDITORIAL – Ontario’s economy is struggling, and the real impacts of those struggles are not yet being felt. Our Ontario has seen years of government living beyond its means, along with years of outright denial that this is a problem. It is, and it is one that is going to take a generation to get over at the least. Ontario is likely to lag behind more prosperous provinces, and likely will continue to do so for some time.
Ontario’s deficit is the real elephant in the room. Should interest rates climb from their current levels, our government will have to spend massive amounts of money just to pay for what we already, as a province, have spent. Standard and Poor’s has fired a salvo across our province’s economic bow saying how potentially vulnerable Ontario really is.
Solving the problems is going to take some real effort and some really hard work. It won’t be easy. Right now, sadly, at the provincial level, there really isn’t anyone stepping up with real plans to make a real difference.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has a ham-fisted death grip on maintaining the status quo. Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak is opposing rather than leading. Read the rest of this entry »
Provincial cabinet ministers field hard ball questions pitched by NOMA delegates
Delegates grilled three Ontario cabinet ministers and a parliamentary assistant on progress with the Ring of Fire, the closure of regional Tourist Information Centres, education and training initiaitvies and infrastructure funding at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) annual meeting in Kenora, Friday, April 27.
NOMA president Ron Nelson served as moderator for the minister’s forum comprised of Natural Resources Minister Michael Gravelle, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines Bill Mauro.
The ministers responded to ‘Bear Pit’ questions posed by municipal delegates regarding the apparent lack of progress on the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario with assurances that discussions are ongoing on a multi-ministerial level in consultation with mining companies and area First Nations. However, details of these discussions remain confidential, according to the ministers. Read the rest of this entry »
IT SEEMS there is so much going on in Thunder Bay that it’s hard to keep track of. In one way, that’s a good thing. Thunder Bay needs development to complement what’s left of forestry, build on the next big mining boom and capitalize on the emergence of medical research clusters.
But citizens need to keep aware and be apprised of all these initiatives. It’s our community, our region, and the power brokers must always bear in mind who’s in charge. Grand plans cost money and it mostly comes from taxpayers.
There are two distinct camps among supporters of a proposed event centre. Those who favour a downtown waterfront site agree it will build on and feed off the city’s designated entertainment district surrounding it. Those set on Innova Business Park like the wide-open space to allow for on-site parking and access from adjacent expressways.
A letter writer today wonders if Thunder Bay and area’s notoriously fickle sports fans will troop to a new arena when so few fail to attend events like the Dudley Hewitt Cup. Read the rest of this entry »
The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.
Municipal, business and union leaders demand meeting with premier to discuss Ontario Northland
Northern leaders are refusing to give up the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission without a fight. Northern Ontario municipal, business and labour leaders met via teleconference this week to discuss strategy for saving Ontario Northland.
On Tuesday, the provincial Liberal budget was passed, even though opposition could have vetoed it in the current minority government situation. The plan to privatize the ONTC was left in the budget.
The group is making its second request for a meeting with Premier Dalton McGuinty to discuss the issue. In addition, they are requesting meetings with leaders of the opposition.
“Although the opposition parties are suggesting we are going into Round 2 in the fight, not being made aware of the process or even the rules of engagement, we are feeling that we have been knocked to the canvas and once again abandoned in the North,” said Iroquois Falls Mayor Gilles Forget. Read the rest of this entry »
