NDP’s Mantha pushes Liberals to act on Ring of Fire

http://www.ontla.on.ca/house-proceedings/transcripts/files_pdf/28-MAR-2017_L059.pdf

RING OF FIRE
Mr. Michael Mantha: My question is to the Premier.
This Liberal government has claimed for years to be
lobbying Ottawa to match its $1-billion promise to invest
in a transportation corridor to the Ring of Fire development. Yet Liberal Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré is quoted
this week as saying that the feds can’t do anything until
the province has a road plan: “As of today I haven’t seen
a road plan. It’s hard to invest on a blank piece of paper.
We need a plan.”
Well, who’s right, and where’s the plan?
Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Northern Development and Mines.
Hon. Bill Mauro: I appreciate the question from the
member. The member is right when he recognizes that on
this side of the House, our government has consistently
put a significant allocation on the table related to infrastructure build-out in the Ring of Fire. The number is $1
billion. It’s a significant commitment to moving forward
with development in the Ring of Fire area.
I would mention to the member that I remember very
well, in the election of 2014, that the Ring of Fire was not
even mentioned in the NDP platform that first came out
when they were rushing forward to take us to the polls.
Speaker, we continue to work on the file in a very significant way.
I understand the member may be trying to link this
back to the federal budget that came out last week,

which, in his mind, I suppose, did not directly reference
investment in the Ring of Fire.
Absolutely, we believe at some point there will be an
opportunity here for the federal government to play a role
in Ring of Fire development. We are counting on it. We
would expect at some point that they will come forward
with support for the Ring of Fire.
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?
Mr. Michael Mantha: When you invest money to develop natural resources in the north, the entire province
benefits from this investment. This Liberal government
has been talking about the Ring of Fire for years, but you
have nothing—nothing—to show for it.
When is this government going to stop announcing development  in the Ring of Fire and actually start
developing the Ring of Fire?
Hon. Bill Mauro: Speaker, one of the pieces that has
seen some progress, I would reference, is that there was a
corridor study completed not that long ago—and while
there was not a definitive link or route established
through that corridor study, it’s my understanding that
that work did yield significant information that will position us well as we move forward on this particular file,
in terms of finally defining a particular route. There is
some action considered and progress further required,
where they want to see a secondary study completed. It’s
my understanding that the first study was very informative in terms of what it yielded, and as well will help us
as we move forward with providing community access
roads to four or five of the First Nations communities
that will ultimately be able to tie into an east-west
corridor, if that is ultimately the route that is chosen on
the Ring of Fire.
Work is ongoing. Progress is being made. We look
forward to the work continuing.