Interesting comment from Greg Rickford below..

"identify the specific major infrastructure projects that could be required to move it ahead..we are in that position now."

Does this mean Deloitte's done their study?

Kenora MP and Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford commented on the provincial Ring of Fire announcement, “If this announcement did anything it said this is the scope of economic investment we are prepared to make… The scope and scale is the first piece. The second one is that they would take that all important step of identifying specific major infrastructure projects that could be funded based on the province’s priorities on things like the Ring of Fire and specifically the major infrastructures that would be required to move it ahead. We are in that position now. This looks like it’s all in delay now because of the election.”

http://www.siouxbulletin.com/area-leaders-share-thoughts-on-upcoming-provincial-election-ring-of-fire-announcement?id=785

Area leaders share thoughts on upcoming provincial election, Ring of Fire announcement

Tim Brody - Associate Editor

Sioux Lookouters will join their fellow Ontarians in heading to the polls on June 12.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell said she supports the decision of her NDP party leader Andrea Horwath not to support the proposed budget announced last week by the province’s Liberal Government.

“Going to an election isn’t the ideal situation. I would have honestly preferred if we could have made things work. What we have seen is the Liberal Government come forward with a budget that has made in excess of 70 promises and I can’t continue to support them. They haven’t even delivered on the three things we negotiated in the last budget which were very do-able and practical… the financial accountability office, lowering auto insurance rates by 15 per cent, and increasing access to homecare.”

She added, “There are a lot of issues still before the house I would like to see wrapped up… People are telling me they are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet and we’re not really seeing anything in the budget to alleviate that and, on top of that, there has been so much money that has been wasted… I do believe this was the right decision to have been made.”

Included in the Liberal minority government’s 2014-2015 budget announced last week was $1 billion for transportation infrastructure in the Ring of Fire; however that funding is dependent on securing matching funds from the federal government.

Campbell said she agrees investing in the Ring of Fire is very important. “This is something I have been quite critical of the government over for the last couple of years. I didn’t think enough was being done, but I think this Liberal Government has been positioning themselves for an election… virtually in the same week they promised a billion dollars for the Ring of Fire, they promised just about a billion dollars in Kitchener-Waterloo, the money that has been promised all over the province, they are increasing our deficit by over $3 billion and my question is do we really have the money in the province right now to deliver these things. As important as they are, and the Ring of Fire is absolutely important, is this achievable and will this group of Liberals deliver on that when they weren’t able to deliver on those three things we brought forward in the last budget.”

Liberal candidate Anthony Leek said he isn’t surprised to be going into an election. “Whether the budget was going to pass or not I don’t think either was going to be a surprise. If it was going to be a passed budget, cool. If it was going to be a failed budget because the NDP decided not to support it, we’ll just go ahead into an election. No real surprise in either direction. When you’re in a minority situation you always have to be prepared for one or the other. We’re into a campaign now which is going to be a bit longer than usual which is kind of nice, especially in this large region and I hope to get around to as many communities as possible.”

He said of the Ring of Fire announcement, “I think it’s good news. Being able to dedicate money to that is important with part of the Ring of Fire being in our riding. I think there are lots of things in that budget that are going to help northerners in Northwestern Ontario and our riding and it would be really nice to be a part of that. I’m going to send a positive message in what I’ve been able to accomplish over the last two and a half years, from re-building the riding association to my time on council (in Emo) and what we’ve been successful at. I’m hoping to share that story with everyone and hopefully help make a difference across this riding.”

PC candidate Randy Nickle commented on the upcoming election, “I’m very excited to get into election mode. I’ve been in the candidate position for a year and a half and I think we need some changes in this province.”

Jobs and the economy will be a top priority for him and his party.

He said he supports PC Leader Tim Hudak’s decision not to support the provincial budget.

“We’re not prepared to support the budget. The issue is we believe we need to get our books balanced in the province and that’s going to help us get jobs. We can’t continue to have deficits and wasteful spending. Now we’ll have a chance to go to the electorate. Most people are really upset as well. We all manage our finances in a way that’s prudent and smart and the province needs to change the way they’re doing things.”

Commenting on the Ring of Fire announcement he said, “I think they can announce everything they want, but it’s taken them this long to get to an announcement. There’s been a lot of interest in the Ring of Fire by various corporations and one that pulled out due to a lot of frustration. This announcement, I think, was foreshadowing the budget where they’re going to turn around and say we’re not any closer to balancing the budget and in fact we’re going to add more debt to the province. They didn’t have a plan. We have a plan and I’m ready to work hard for the north. I believe the PCs have a plan.”

Kenora MP and Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford commented on the provincial Ring of Fire announcement, “If this announcement did anything it said this is the scope of economic investment we are prepared to make… The scope and scale is the first piece. The second one is that they would take that all important step of identifying specific major infrastructure projects that could be funded based on the province’s priorities on things like the Ring of Fire and specifically the major infrastructures that would be required to move it ahead. We are in that position now. This looks like it’s all in delay now because of the election.”

In a municipal press release Mayor Dennis Leney stated, “We want to play a strategic role in the Province’s development of an East-West corridor to provide a highly efficient, all-season service road.”

Candidates in the Kenora riding are Sarah Campbell, incumbent MPP, NDP, Anthony Leek of the Liberal party, Randy Nickle of the PC party, and Tim McKillop of the Green party.