Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development and Mine

The province doesn’t have the money to build a rail link connecting the Ontario Northland line to the Ring of Fire region, says to a spokeswoman for Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci.

Laura Blondeau said Friday neither she nor Bartolucci have seen anything from the General Chairperson’s Association about its proposal for a “new deal” to revitalize the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission which was announced last week.

“We have asked to see the proposal, and they have sent us the press release they issued and communications products, but we don’t really know the plan or how it will be implemented,” Blondeau said.

She said her office is looking to meet with them next week to discuss the proposal that would keep the ONTC alive, but stressed the province does not have the money to extend the track to the Ring of Fire, a remote area without rail lines, all-season roads, electricity or communications networks west of Moosonee.

The proposal was put forward by the GCA, which represents employees of the ONTC, which called for ownership of the Crown corporation to be transferred to a new ports authority which would be operated under the Canada Marine Act.

The new line, which would run from Nakina to Koper Lake, would be used to ship chromite, nickel and other minerals from the Ring of Fire, which is home to a major mineral exploration project.

Blondeau said, though, that it is up to the companies involved in the multi billion-dollar project to determine their transportation needs, and those plans would be subject to provincial approval.

A north-south transportation corridor from Nakina north to the Ring of Fire, she said, is what has been proposed by Cliffs Natural Resources, the major player in the project.

The province, Blondeau said, will evaluate that plan when it is presented.

The main attraction of the Ring of Fire is chromite, a mineral used in the manufacture of stainless steel. Cliffs’ Black Thor project, if developed, is expected to revolutionize the stainless steel industry in North America, which now relies on imports.

The entire Ring of Fire project would make Canada the world’s fourth-largest chromite producer.

Nipissing MP Jay Aspin was one of the proponents on hand last week to give his backing to the plan to revitalize the ONTC.

Thursday, Aspin told the House of Commons the plan will “create jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity.

“It will improve the transportation infrastructure of Northern Ontario and be funded by the wealth extraction of the vast mineral resources of the Ring of Fire,” Aspin said, calling it a long-term solution for Northern Ontarians for the benefit of Northern Ontarians.

He said he is talking with other Northern Ontario MPs, including members of the NDP, to gather support.

“We can’t afford to be divided on this,” Aspin said.

Brian Stevens, of the GCA, said at the unveiling of the plan the proposal is economically sustainable and will provide a new future for the company.

“Not only will we save transportation services and hundreds of existing jobs in the North, but our plan will also create thousands more jobs by providing access to the Ring of Fire,” he said following the announcement.

The GCA and other proponents met with Northern Ontario mayors to discuss the plan last week.

They have not yet heard back from Bartolucci’s office.

The formation of the James Bay and Lowlands Ports Trustee Corp. was the first step in the process. It will become a port authority if approved by the federal government.

The corporation has already held discussions with First Nations in the James Bay lowlands, with ONTC unions and Canada Chrome Corp., a Ring of Fire claim holder.

The plan also includes rebuilding a railway, formerly owned by Canadian National Railway, from Nakina to Hearst. From there, the existing Ontario Northland railway continues to North Bay.

The new railway would be funded through private investors and bonds.

“Mining companies want to develop up there. This would explode (the North) right open,” Stevens said.

The provincial government announced its plans to divest the ONTC March 23. The Northlander passenger train has already been killed, and communications company Ontera is expected to be sold later this year.