During Hajdu’s tour of the campus, union executives brought up their desire to see the Ring of Fire finally move forward and, ideally, that the construction of the $1-billion project to build a highway up to the chromite deposit and neighbouring First Nations in Northern Ontario will provide jobs for their members and students.

“It is very important to our members regarding jobs and the Indigenous students that we train that they get to work close to their own communities,” said Mike Gallagher, the union’s business manager and international vice-president. “This is a major for us for 10 years or more. The minister told us that the federal government will be there, and we found that encouraging.”

Progress on getting the Ring of Fire development a reality has been largely stalled for years as the provincial and federal governments continue to argue the other is the one holding the process up. Hajdu didn’t deviate from that line on Wednesday.

“Ontario still has not come forward with a concrete plan, and once they do, we will be more than willing to support the initiative. But we need some specific details on how they intend to move forward,” said Hajdu.

When the Standard-Freeholder noted that is essentially the same answer the federal government has been giving for years, the minister replied:

“It really is the only answer the federal government can have, which is why you have been hearing it for years.”