Ontario premier vows support for mining industry

The premier of Ontario took a positive approach in replying to the concerns expressed by the Save Our North campaign at the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada in Toronto.

“Mining has played a vital part in the growth of the province and it will be my government’s objective to see that it continues to do so,” Bob Rae said. “There are those who say that we should make high-tech development our goal, but that’s not the route for us”.

Save Our North is being promoted at a grassroots level by a broadly based group of prospectors, workers and concerned individuals in support of mining and mineral exploration. The campaign originated in Timmins where the clock is ticking on the great Kidd Creek orebody, the main taxpayer and employer of that region, but has since spread to virtually all resource-based communities in northern Ontario.

The campaign is aimed at prompting governments to “bring investor confidence back to Ontario,” particularly in relation to resource based industries. Ontario should take the road already blazed by Sweden and Finland, Rae said. There, high-tech has sprung from natural resource development. It has contributed to mining’s growth and has grown to the stage that both countries are now world-wide suppliers of some of the most advanced, high quality mining equipment that is available.

According to Rae, what his government wants is consultation, not confrontation. “What we want from industry is input, factual data, specifics, then we will be able to move,” he said.

Rae mentioned the work of the government/industry task force headed by the ex-chairman of Boise Cascade, and said what is now being done in forestry can be done in mining.