Wynne's stop in Timmins turns into discussion about Ring of Fire

Premier Kathleen Wynne continued her tour of Northern Ontario with an early morning announcement in Timmins on Thursday

Some of the discussion was simply a re-hashing of health care changes announced in the budget last month, but eventually the conversation turned to some hot button issues.

Children at the Timmins YMCA had the chance to meet Ontario’s premier Thursday morning, as Wynne re-announced changes to health care in the province.

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Wynne said shovels need to be in the ground soon on the Ring of Fire project.

"It’s not just going to cover a short list of medications, it's actually going to cover 4,400 drugs,” said Wynne.

While free prescriptions for Ontario youth may have been what the premier planned on speaking about, the conversation quickly turned to northern issues; like the Ring of Fire.

"We need to get shovels in the ground, we need to be investing in that infrastructure because the companies want some certainty that that infrastructure is going to happen and we're going to move ahead with that,” Wynne told reporters.

The premier said the province is looking to resolve the issues that have dogged the huge chromite deposit for years; sooner rather than later.

"We’re talking about weeks, not months."

With the ring of fire development on the cusp of moving forward, according to the premier, northern thoughts turn to the economic spin-off.

Timmins is vying to be a location for the smelter that will be needed.

"Whoever is interested in an industrial foot print in the north, on the ring of fire project, we'll be working closely with them,” said Wynne.

The premier hasn't offered any concrete timelines or commitments as of yet regarding building roads into the ring of fire.

She told CTV negotiations with area first nations are still ongoing and she has expressed the urgency to them of getting agreements in place.