McGuinty says

By Carol Mulligan

Posted 1 hour ago

The Ontario Liberals will wait to see how much money the private sector is willing to invest in infrastructure to develop the Ring of Fire chromite deposits before it puts government money into the area, says the premier.

The province will "definitely" have to help build infrastructure such as roads to bring the project online, but it wants to "maximize" its opportunities before it does so, says Dalton McGuinty.

Any public investment would have to be shown to benefit Ontarians — and especially Northern Ontarians — and that includes business and First Nations.

"We've got an opportunity to do this in a way that's never been done before so we're excited about that," McGuinty told reporters at Laurentian University's J.N. Desmarais Library on Saturday.

"But, yes, at some point in time, it will call for an investment in infrastructure," said the premier.

McGuinty visited Laurentian to address the annual Summer Fling policy conference of the Ontario Young Liberals, where he announced a new initiative to help new graduates who work in the not-for-profit sector.

The province will extend the grace period for repaying student loans and interest to a year for people who work for non-profits, up from the six-month grace period other graduates have, the premier announced.

Read more about the conference and the premier's visit later online in The Star.