Ontario Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle speaks to a crowd gathered that Timmins Museum for the announcement of a new $1 million legacy fund being set up by Kidd Operations and the Trillium Foundation. The fund is meant to support non-profit organizations in Timmins after the Kidd mine closes in 2021. Behind the Minister are, from left, Mayor Steve Black, Trillium CEO Andrea Cohen-Barrack, and Kidd Operations general manager Tom Semadeni.

Kidd Mine, Minister Gravelle announce legacy fund

The Daily Press
By: Alan S. Hale,
5/4/2015

TIMMINS - Kidd Operations is looking to maintain its practice of supporting local non-profit organizations beyond the year 2021, when their mining operations in Timmins are set to come to an end.

On Monday, the mining company announced that it and the Ontario Trillium Foundation will spend $500,000 each over the next six years to create a $1-million “legacy” endowment fund. After the mine is closed, the fund will be managed by the foundation and will be distributed as grants by a volunteer board.

According to Kidd Operations’ general manager, Tom Semadeni, the deal to create the new fund with the government-run foundation was two years in the making.

“We realized that Kidd has had a very significant involvement in the community, and we’re aware that when we leave there will be a potential void. So we want to provide a lasting legacy, where we could still provide support to the community,” said Semadeni. “We worked together with the Trillium Foundation on what would be a reasonable sized endowment that could be managed going forward. We think it’s a very significant amount of money, and we know it will help the community going forward.”

Just how long the $1 million fund will last will be up largely to the volunteer board that will control when and where the money is spent. Although some endowment funds are meant to be kept going in perpetuity by investing them and only have the interest given out as grants, Trillium Foundation CEO Andrea Cohen-Barrack said this will not be that kind of endowment fund.

At some point, she said, the fund will run dry, but that’s okay.

“The challenge that we have is that it will be up to the volunteers to choose the projects that they think will make a difference in Timmins, and if all those projects come in Year 1, it’s possible, but not likely, that the money could be used up sooner rather than later,” said Cohen-Barrack. “One thing that both Kidd and the foundation find important is that we are investing in the right things for the Timmins community, which is more important than making sure the fund lasts a certain number of years.”

Semadeni said Kidd Operations would like to see the money spent on projects that have the potential to build the capacity of Timmins’ non-profit sector to tackle important issues in the community.

“We’ve always been big on capacity-building. We don’t want just to provide donations or philanthropy. It’s about building capacity in organizations that are growing and meeting a community need.”

Both Timmins Mayor Steve Black and the Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle were at the announcement on Monday.

Black said that the creation of the fund will help alleviate some of the economic and social uncertainty surrounding the closure of the mine.

“This is great news for Timmins,” said Black. “Over the past five months, we’ve had lots of talk about preparing ourselves for 2021 and how we take those steps. It’s not just the City of Timmins who needs to prepare; it’s also our business community, our non-profit community, and everyone in between. This $1 million is really going to stabilize the non-profit community so they can continue to do the great things they do in our community.”

Minister Gravelle praised Kidd Operations for what he saw as an excellent demonstration of corporate citizenship.

“It's very positive that the company is thinking ahead on how they can continue to contribute to future of the community when indeed they are no longer here as part of the operation,” remarked Gravelle. “To see the Ontario Trillium Foundation begin this new concept with Kidd Operations is absolutely gratifying. It’s a truly significant contribution.”