Getting the Ring of Fire Developed Without Politics - It's A Mug's Game

Even though the Ontario Chamber's report, by Liam McGuinty, was written with the blessing and oversight of Cliffs Natural Resources and their previous partner, the Ontario Liberals, let's all remember that it was Rickford's Conservative government that initially created the whole mess. (Ontario still needs to answer many questions regarding the handling of the ROF file.)

In 2012, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency's (CEAA), under the Conservatives, accepted a [less] Comprehensive Study Environmental Assessment (EA) process, instead of a full Joint Review Panel (EA) for both Cliffs Natural Resources Inc.’s Chromite Project and the proposed nickel project by Noront Resources, in the Ring of Fire of northern Ontario. (A full JPR would have recognized the NAN First Nations as true partners.)

The CEAA completely ignored Environment Canada Rob Dobos' recommendation that a regional environmental assessment process "that considers the inter-connectivity and the cumulative impact of currently proposed and anticipated future developments within and connecting to the Ring of Fire."

At the time, CEAA spokesperson Celine Legault said that the agency also determined there was no need for the Noront project to be subjected to a more intensive Joint Review Panel (JRP) assessment.

Exactly who or which agencies within the federal conservative government, directed the CEAA to accept the lesser Comprehensive Study Environmental Assessment (EA) process to help fast track Cliffs remains a mystery.

The details of the decision not to refer the "legacy" regional Ring of Fire projects to a Joint Panel Review, even though it met key conditions of "likely, significant adverse effects" and "major public concerns", remain squarely on the desk of Peter Kent, former Federal Environment minister, who, at the time, had the ministerial power to "Get It Right" but "Got it Wrong".

However, it was Mark Gentili, managing editor of Northern Life who recently said, "Instead, the [Ontario] chamber of Commerce is playing politics by defending the Ontario Liberals and trying to shame the feds into action, when they should be coming down on the side of development — that's why they're there. The chamber and the Ontario Liberals need to stop trying to make hay and start doing what they've said they've been doing since 2011: putting the priorities in place to move development forward. It's estimated the Ring of Fire has enough chromite in it to feed North America's needs for 200 years. And there's a lot more than chromite under the muskeg up there. Enough with the political games and partisan nonsense. It's taken us a long time to get this far nowhere, which is not surprising since there appears to be no one in the driver's seat. That's the real problem here. And the Ontario Liberals are the ones holding the keys."

From the beginning, the Liberal Ontario government supported Cliffs Natural Resources application for an easement to build a private corporate toll road over the KWG Resources Ltd. north south mining claims for a rail road, while attempting to close down the ONTC.

Ontario Mining minister Rick Bartolucci had said Cliffs Natural Resources will "take the lead on figuring how the road to the Ring of Fire was to be built and financed". Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, resigned and was replaced by Thunder Bay MPP Michael Gravelle, who defended Cliffs chromite marketing plan saying "if more than half the chromite mined in the Ring of Fire is processed in Ontario, that's a lot better than none!"

Ontario, broke and heavily in debt, should have taken the advise of it's own Northern Policy Institute plan for Ring of Fire's infrastructure to be developed under a federal port authority model and transfer the ONR as a going concern to a James Bay & Lowlands Ports Authority instead of announcing a provincial development corporation, which remains in bureaucratic limbo.

Simple low interest federal 3P loan guarantees would bring in corporate backers. The Ontario taxpayer wouldn't get left holding the whole 'risk' bag for the needed industry mineral ore north south corridors.

An agency under Mushkegowuk and Matawa First Nations with NAN leadership could have been created under the banner of the James Bay & Lowlands Ports Authority to take control of the ONTC and KWG Resources would have transferred it's claims to the Ports Authority.

Instead, the ROF is on hold while the Ontario Appeals Court decides an issue already properly decided by the Ontario Mining and Lands Tribunal regarding easement on the only economic north south chromite transport corridor. Nickel alone does not justify starting the ROF project.

Cliffs application for easement appeal heard by J. Swinton of the Divisional Court of Ontario, after the intervention by the Attorney General of Ontario, issued completely opposite decision by the tribunal of the Office of Mining and Lands Commission, Judge Linda Kamerman presiding.

Rickford and Gravelle hatched the $785,000 ROF transport study to delay the project until the Ontario appeals court decides whether to grant Cliffs a monopoly on the right of way. Cliffs declared bankruptcy in Canada to avoid paying it's obligations to clean up it's environmental spills, Canadian bank debt, etc and is on record saying it will not develop it's ROF chromite project.

Honourable Minister Greg Rickford, we understand that without politics, it's a mug's game.

Joseph Carrabba, Cliffs former CEO golden parachute recipient, is hired by Conservative Brian Tobin to advise Aecon on how to get the lucrative ROF road and rail construction contracts because Aecon paying for the First Nation training isn't enough grease.

“Sometimes people get the wrong impression,” said James Franklin, the former chief geologist for Canada who calculated the value. “It sounds like a big number, but after the costs are taken off, there may not be a lot left as profit. That said, much of this value ends up as money spent in Ontario, as salaries, indirect money spent on goods and services, and taxes, so the province would be a winner.”

Dr. James M. Franklin, (B.Sc.(64); M.Sc. (67); Ph.D (70)), calculated that northern Ontario and the Ring of Fire holds about $350 billion in untapped metal value (Ni-Cu-PGE: $50B, Cr: $50B, V-Au: $200B, Cu-Zn-Ag: $50B). He also implied a $350B value added to Ontario, equating to approximately $700 billion dollars over the next century and beyond.





Minister rejects Ring of Fire report

Northern Ontario Business
By: Jonathan Migneault
March 20, 2015

Canada's Minister of Natural Resources said he rejects an Ontario Chamber of Commerce report that gave the federal government a failing grade in its involvement in the Ring of Fire development.

“I don't accept it,” said Minister Greg Rickford during a visit to Sudbury. “The federal government has been working with communities.”

In its report card on progress, or lack thereof, near the remote Ring of Fire mineral deposits, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce said, “The federal government has yet to demonstrate that the Ring of Fire is an economic development priority.”

The report went on to say the federal government should commit to matching the $1 billion the provincial government set aside to build infrastructure to access the Ring of Fire chromite deposits in the remote James Bay lowlands.

“They didn't talk about the new runways we put in to land and do exploration activities,” Rickford said. “Nor did I see mention of the great relationship we have with the province on a couple of key initiatives, one of which we announced at PDAC (the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Conference), and that was to focus squarely on specific infrastructure projects that could open up regional development.”

Rickford said the federal government has also worked with Thunder Bay's Confederation College to train members of Matawa First Nations located near the Ring of Fire for future mining sector jobs in the region.

The Ontario Chamber report, which was primarily written by Liam McGuinty, son of former Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, gave poor grades almost across the board for the overall responses to the challenges the Ring of Fire development poses.

Only the challenge to draw as much as possible from the local labour force to maximize the benefits of the Ring of Fire development received a grade of “B-.”
The chamber lamented the current state of affairs in the region which has seen the departure of Cliffs Natural Resources this past year, leaving the Ring of Fire without a major mining company capable of spending private capital on infrastructure.

The chamber also said the absence of foundational agreements with First Nations and government permitting delays have contributed to the glacial pace of development.