Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said he’ll greenlight permit approvals to develop the Ring of Fire within six months, if elected prime minister.
Poilievre said he’ll meet pro-mining Ontario Premier Doug Ford in the middle by matching the province’s long-standing $1-billion commitment to build a proposed north-south road network to reach the Far North mineral-rich exploration camp.
With a federal election call expected soon, Poilievre was on a campaign-style swing through Sudbury on March 19 using the Pioneer Construction shop as a backdrop to promote the mining of critical minerals.
Hopefully, he said, suppliers like Pioneer will play a role in building the mine-related infrastructure to move the minerals that the world wants to market. Poilievre accused the Liberal government of blocking resource projects and driving investment out of the country.
Poilievre portrayed himself as the strong leader Canada needs to cut regulatory red tape, unleash the country’s mineral potential and build an economy that’s less reliant on the U.S.
Nickel and chromite were discovered in the James Bay region, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, in 2007 and 2008. Despite its enormous mineral potential, very little has been accomplished on the development front due to government ineffectiveness and apathy. The mineral belt has since become a rallying cry for the environmental movement and for greater First Nations sovereignty in the region.
Poilievre categorized progress in the Ring of Fire as being on the “brink of collapse” after a decade of regulatory oversight by the Trudeau government. He accused the government of stalling natural resources projects through legislation like Bill C-69, labelled by its critics in Western Canada as the ‘no-new-pipelines’ bill.
“The Liberals did everything they could to block this project.”
He was referring to the Regional Assessment process, an exercise that was first introduced in February 2020 under then-federal environment minister Jonathan Wilkison as part of Ottawa’s overhaul of federal environment regulations.
Wilkinson’s successor, Steven Guilbeault, revamped the process in 2023 to allow for more Indigenous participation. A report on the pros and cons of mining in the region isn’t due out for another two and half years.
Poilievre said he’ll nip this process in the bud by rapidly approving mining, pipelines, and data centre projects while vowing to avoid unnecessary regulatory duplication in the federal and provincial assessment processes of these projects.
Poilievre said he’s spoken to Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse and Marten Falls Chief Bruce Achneepineskum, leaders of two remote communities closest to the Ring of Fire, who urged him to proceed with development as quickly as possible.
On the matter of Sudbury being a processing hub for the Ring of Fire, Poilievre said he stands firmly behind this.
Last year, Wyloo Canada, the subsidiary of the Australian mining giant Wyloo, selected Sudbury as the host community for a nickel-processing plant for its Eagle’s Nest mine in the James Bay region. Poilievre said Sudbury has the expertise, workers and access to financing that can brings billions of investment into town.
Since critical minerals are considered a matter of national security, Poilievre claimed some of the investment on Ring of Fire infrastructure can be applied against the NATO’s two per cent defence spending target to rebuild Canada’s military.
