National chamber president calls for pride in resource sector

THUNDER BAY – Perrin Beatty wants to see Canada embrace its potential as a resource-rich country.

The president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in Thunder Bay for their national annual meeting, spoke to members of the local business community at a Friday morning breakfast and said though the mining sector is a critical part of Ontario’s economy, there is much more that should be done to encourage more development.

“The resources we have here are wanted by the rest of the world. We are better than anywhere else in the world as miners. Our technology, our means of production are better than anywhere else. The standards we follow in terms of environmental standards are the highest in the world,” Beatty said.

“This is something we should be extremely proud of and where there should be a conscious government policy of encouraging mining and encouraging us to getting products to market.”

Beatty, a former 20-year member of Parliament who was a Cabinet minister during the tenure of then-prime minister Brian Mulroney, urged the federal government to develop a national resources policy that would begin with a statement of support for the sector.

Pointing to the Ring of Fire and other potential Northern Ontario mining developments, Beatty said there are opportunities to engage First Nations communities and share economic development.

“The key thing is to move from the situation where too often we do things to Indigenous communities to moving to where we do things with Indigenous communities as full partners,” Beatty said. “It’s important for business to understand that if we’re going to be successful in the future, we need to bring Indigenous Canadians fully into our plans as full partners.”

Beatty also touched on the ongoing uncertainty with the North American Free Trade Agreement, as negotiations between Canada and the United States have thus far failed to reach a settlement and there is a growing concern the countries could move forward without a deal.

He called on business and government work together on a Team Canada approach.

“We’re into uncharted waters where we haven’t seen anything like this before. In any other negotiations that we’ve had, the partners sitting across the table believed in having a win-win solution,” Beatty said.

“In (U.S.) President (Donald) Trump, we have somebody sitting across from us who believes that Americans can only win if Mexico and Canada lose.”

This year marks the first time Thunder Bay has been selected to host the national chamber’s annual general meeting, which has brought more than 350 people to the city.

“It’s a huge opportunity for us to showcase the Thunder Bay business community, the opportunities here and to bring awareness of some the issues we’re facing in Northern Ontario to folks from across the country,” Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson said.

Beatty said the delegates welcome the opportunity to travel and hear the concerns and issues of main street businesses from across the country.

“It’s important for our delegates to have a feeling for the country as a whole and to understand the regional economy and regional issues,” Beatty said. “They’re going to be learning about the culture here, the history, the traditions, making new friends and be able to take advantage of the incredible warmth of the hospitality of Northern Ontario.”

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