LETTER TO THE EDITOR — Cuts to ministry offices will hurt Ontario’s prospectors

As a prospector, I wish to express my opinion in regard to recent actions of the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.

The Ministry has made it abundantly clear that it is unaware of the problems facing individual prospectors in the Cobalt and Kirkland Lake areas.

I am shocked by the unprecedented cuts to the ministry’s offices in Cobalt and Kirkland Lake, particularly in view of recent exploration activities in those areas.

Some years back, ministry reports, maps and files pertaining to Cobalt were transferred to Kirkland Lake on the advice of ill-informed parties who, while their intentions may have been good, possessed no understanding of the unique conditions of Cobalt, nor of the massive amount of information that had been compiled for the area. Access to that information is critical to project planning. The removal of it curtailed exploration activities in the region to the point that they were almost nonexistent.

The time and expense required to drive 219 km to Kirkland Lake are beyond my abilities, and I will be out of business. No phone call can replace a visit to the office. I, of course, can be easily replaced, but the loss of competent and dedicated staff with years of experience will have a devastating effect on this wealth-producing industry for years to come.

I do not presume to have an answer to the economic or employment problems in this area, but I respectfully request that this ill-timed action be reconsidered.

John Gore

Cobalt, Ont.