Comments from the federal government downplaying the importance of the Ring of Fire are disappointing, says Ontario’s mines minister.
Michael Gravelle said he is pursuing a meeting with the federal minister responsible for FedNor, and premier Kathleen Wynne is attempting to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Gravelle said recent remarks out of Ottawa suggesting the Ring of Fire is primarily a provincial issue flies in the face of past comments stating the economic opportunities the mining development could have for the country.
“We know that this is a project of true national significance, and I say that because that’s how the federal government has spoken about the project,” Gravelle said on Friday.
“I was disappointed when I saw that, and I must admit it motivated me to write another letter to Minister (Greg) Rickford to indicate it was important for us to get together to have discussions.”
At this point Gravelle and Rickford, the Kenora MP and minister of state for science and technology, are still working to arrange a meeting. Gravelle said the federal government would be an important party in the newly-created development corporation.
Earlier this week Gravelle met with a representative from Cliffs Natural Resources to discuss their involvement in the Ring of Fire going forward after the company’s previous announcement they were indefinitely suspending their operations in the project.
Gravelle takes issue with speculation that Cliffs is permanently walking away from the project.
“I don’t think that’s an accurate way to phrase it,” Gravelle said on Friday.
“They’ve made it clear they’ve stopped spending money on the project right now. They’ve suspended the project, they’re not withdrawing their appeal to the mining and lands commission and they’re continuing to work on the environmental assessment.”
Gravelle added that Cliffs senior vice-president Bill Boor indicated the company was interested in taking on a role in the development corporation that is meant to spur the project forward.
In the meantime, there are other companies that are interested in the project.
Gravelle also met with members of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association in Toronto. The message from NOMA is keep pursuing the project and not get deterred by the Cliffs suspension.
The minister said he is on the same page with the regional politicians.
“We agree that we need to move forward,” Gravelle said. “When Cliffs made their announcement we also said that the Ring of Fire is about more than one company. There are other companies with significant proposals.”
