Ontario ADM John Gammon retiring

After serving under five Ontario premiers, three political parties and nine mines ministers, Assistant Deputy Mines Minister John Gammon is calling it quits and celebrating the occasion by throwing a party.

The venerable Gammon, the brains behind many of Ontario’s mining initiatives over the previous 17 years, will officially retire on Aug. 31, but will first bid adieu to friends and colleagues on Wednesday, Aug. 17, at Fiddler’s Green, located at 27 Wellesley St. in downtown Toronto.

The bash will run from 4 until 7 p.m. There will be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.

Gammon joined the David Peterson-led Liberal government in February 1988 as director of the mineral development and lands branch, part of Ontario’s Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. In 1990, he was appointed assistant deputy minister of the mines and minerals division, and served under Bob Rae until his New Democratic Party was toppled in 1995 by Mike Harris’s Conservatives. Harris was followed by Ernie Eves and current Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty.

The mines ministers whom Gammon worked with include, in order: Sean Conway, Hugh O’Neill, Gilles Pouliot, Shelley Martel, Chris Hodgson, Tim Hudak, Dan Newman, Jim Wilson and Rick Bartolucci.

Says Gammon, “I have reached sixty-five and the law in Ontario still requires that I spend more time with my family but also have some fun by remaining active in the industry and doing what I want to do rather than following a government’s agenda.”

Born and educated in the U.K., Gammon received a PhD in geology from the University of Durham. He emigrated to Canada in 1967 and worked for New Jersey Zinc, and later Falconbridge, where he served as exploration manager in Scandinavia, southeast Asia and western North America.

During his time with the Ontario government, Gammon helped develop significant amendments to the Ontario Mining Act, including the introduction of modern mine-site rehabilitation requirements and more streamlined regulations.

Gammon has advised South Africa, Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, Venezuela and the European Union on their respective mining policies. He co-founded and organizes annual meetings of the World Mines Ministries Forum.