Premier to push PM for Ring of Fire cash

TORONTO Premier Kathleen Wynne will press Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a financial commitment to help develop the Ring of Fire mineral deposit in northern Ontario when she sits down with him in Ottawa on Thursday.

It is the second time the two leaders have met in an official capacity since Wynne became premier in February, but the first since she wrote him directly to ask for money to develop the project, estimated to be worth $60 billion.

Located in Ontario’s Far North, the Ring of Fire is often described as one of the most promising mineral development opportunities the province has seen in almost a century.

But that promise has dimmed slightly since U.S. mining company Cliffs Natural Resources announced last month that it was suspending its operations in the area.

The total capital investment for industrial infrastructure in the Ring of Fire could be in the range of $800 million to $1 billion, while the province estimates that it will cost an additional $1.25 billion to connect Ring of Fire communities to all-season access roads.

“Ontario is prepared to make a substantial contribution to the infrastructure needed to access the resource,” Wynne wrote in a Nov. 8 letter.

“We expect your government to come to the table with matching funds.”

She added the federal government has assisted provinces in the past with infrastructure investments that yield “national economic benefits,” including more than half a billion dollars in direct spending in the fossil fuels sector between 2007 and 2012 and $6.3 billion in a federal loan guarantee to support the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project in Labrador.

The letter also points out that Greg Rickford, the minister of state for economic development in northern Ontario, said in September that the federal Tories recognize “the important role the mining sector plays in creating jobs, attracting investment and strengthening not only the economy of northern Ontario, but also of the country, which is why we are committed to creating the conditions that will enable the industry to continue to flourish.”

But Harper himself has so far appeared hesitant to get involved in the Ring of Fire project, suggesting natural resources are a provincial responsibility.

“The prime minister and his ministers have sung the praises of the opportunities in the Ring of Fire,” Zita Astravas, the premier’s press secretary, told the Citizen.

“That’s why it is incumbent upon them to take part in the project and to be full partners at the table, as they have been full partners in other projects across the country.”

Wynne will also raise pension reform and the need for infrastructure dollars at the afternoon meeting on Parliament Hill, according to Astravas.

Fearing a massive pension crisis is around the corner, Wynne and Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa are pushing for an enhancement to the Canadian Pension Plan to ensure workers have sufficient savings when they retire.

Wynne has said the province will push ahead with a “made-in-Ontario” solution if the federal government can’t reach an agreement with the provinces.

It’s unclear whether the premier will raise the Canada Job Grant with the prime minister.

Proposed in the spring budget, the initiative has caused considerable friction between the provinces and territories, on one hand, and federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney, as the two sides try to hammer out a new labour market agreement.

Instead of the current model — which combines federal and provincial funds to provide a full suite of employment programs — the new plan proposed by the federal government would require both levels of government and employers to instead invest as much as $5,000 each per worker to help people access the training they need to secure a job or improve their skills.

The change would represent a 60-percent cut to federal funding for current programs and a loss of $116 million, in addition to the $116 million the province would need to match for the new program — something Wynne and other provincial and territorial leaders have said they simply cannot accept.