Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

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.

THUNDER BAY, ONT. – This is familiar turf for Michael Gravelle. He is in his second stint as Ontario’s point man on northern mining, an increasingly high-stakes gig rooted in his own backyard.

His hometown of Thunder Bay is the gateway for the Ring of Fire, which he bills as the biggest Ontario mining project in a century. Governments at all levels are eyeing the potential of Northwestern Ontario’s vast untapped resource deposits, while mining services companies set up in the city hoping to catch a multibillion-dollar boom.

But slumping commodity prices, environmental questions and delays threaten the Ring of Fire, which lies about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, and hopes of a windfall in the region. One company has halted its environmental review, while First Nations and Thunder Bay’s mayor say the province has been slow to act.

Cue Mr. Gravelle, the local MPP who, five months ago, was shuffled back to the job of Minister of Northern Development and Mines. He is optimistic despite setbacks and tensions.

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Better governemnt policy would eliminate need for negotiators, First Nation policy analyst says

Ontario taxpayers are footing a bill in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for negotiations on the future development of the Ring of Fire region, and one First Nations policy analyst sees it as money poorly spent.

Former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci and former Liberal MP Bob Rae are being paid by the province to work out a mining deal between the province and nine First Nations, closest to the mineral reserves. But First Nations policy analyst Russell Diabo said that expense could be spared if governments imposed mining rules that respect treaty rights.

“So there are ways to streamline it if the political will is there. But often the economic interests are so great that they want to subjugate First Nations interests and make it complicated where they can,” Diabo said

The government hopes to see billions of dollars in investment in the mineral-rich area, investment it hopes will also benefit First Nations in the area.

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Ontario can’t ignore other First Nation concerns, NAN deputy chief says

One day into his new role and fresh challenges are cropping up for the province’s negotiator in the Ring of Fire. Ontario appointed former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci on Tuesday as it’s negotiator in talks with the nine Matawa chiefs whose communities are closest to the proposed mining development.

Former Ontario Premier Bob Rae is representing those chiefs in the planned talks. But the Nishnawbe Aski Nation says it needs a seat at the table too. “This is not just a specific regional project, in fact it is a treaty-wide impact and I think that’s what the province needs to recognize,” NAN deputy chief Les Louttit. “We would like to see a broader negotiation framework.”

Lessons from Attawapiskat

Nishnawbe Aski Nation represents 49 First Nations in Northern Ontario. Louttit said communities on the James Bay coast, downstream of the proposed mining development, are especially concerned about environmental impacts.

That’s also the area that has learned hard lessons about the mining industry from its experience with the diamond mine near Attawapiskat, he said. “We cannot simply keep going the way we have in the past,” Louttit said.

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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.

Former Supreme Court of Canada justice Frank Iacobucci is Ontario’s lead negotiator dealing with First Nations in Ring of Fire development.

Queen’s Park has turned to veteran jurist Frank Iacobucci to be the province’s lead negotiator in Ring of Fire resource development talks with Matawa Tribal Council chiefs.

Referred to as one of most promising mineral developments in Ontario in almost a century, the resource rich Ring of Fire, 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, includes the largest North American deposit of chromite, a key ingredient used in stainless steel.

“I hope we can get an agreement . . . to have the involvement and participation of the First Nations in a fair and honourable and equitable manner,” the former Supreme Court of Canada justice told the Star after his appointment was made public Tuesday.

“This is not a quick fix and it has got to be the right fix,” he said. “This is a huge opportunity for economic development for the province, for the (mining) companies and . . . for the First Nations people.”

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