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Laughren hoping minority Liberal government will bring in competitive hydro rates

Timmins mayor says favorable electricity rates are essential to attract and keep industry in the North

By Len Gillis lgillis@timminstimes.com

Posted 18 hours ago

In his fifth annual state of the city address, Timmins Mayor Tom Laughren this week spoke on the importance of getting a competitive energy rate for Northern Ontario.

Laughren said he is hopeful that even with a Liberal government in Queen's Park, the minority situation may be able to convince the Liberals to bring in an electrical energy rate that would allow resource-based businesses to thrive.

"To me, over the next five years, this is the most important initiative we have for our future," Laughren said Monday.

The mayor's State Of The City address to the Timmins Chamber of Commerce is one of the highlights of the annual Small Business Week celebrations in Timmins.

Laughren said the city and the Timmins Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) have been working together for the last 18 months to do whatever it takes to make Timmins look attractive for the construction of a ferrochrome smelter that could process chromite from the Ring of Fire properties located near Webequie, Ontario.

The Ring of Fire is the popular name given to a multi-billion dollar series of chromite orebodies located about 600 kilometres northwest of Timmins. Because the mining area is so remote and located on muskeg, the idea of having an onsite refinery plant has been virtually ruled out. Chromite concentrates would have to be shipped south to a new processing plant, which could be located in cities such as Thunder Bay, Sudbury or Timmins. Chromite is essential for the construction of stainless steel.

Laughren said Timmins has been lobbying hard to become to site of such a refinery.

"The ferrochrome processing facility would create approximately 500 construction jobs and 350 permanent jobs," said Laughren.

The mayor said the Ring of Fire is important not only for Northern Ontario, but for the whole province.

"If we do not get energy costs down to where we can compete with Quebec and Manitoba, this will be an opportunity gone for us," said Laughren. "The actual ferrochrome facility will not be in Ontario."

In speaking to reporters afterwards, Laughren said he is hopeful that a new approach can be made to the governing Liberals to bring in lower electricity rates for industry.

In two previous Liberal governments, nothing was done to have energy rates competitive with Quebec or Manitoba, with the result that many industries shut down operations in Ontario and moved away.

"Well I have to optimistic. When you think of the minority government, when you think of the importance of the Ring of Fire to the Ontario and Canadian economies, you have to be thinking about manufacturing. That's where the dollars are. There's no reason we cannot have a manufacturing plant, a ferrochrome plant somewhere in Northeastern Ontario. There's no reason we cannot be producing steel, stainless steel out of Northeastern Ontario," said Laughren.

He said he is hoping Northern Ontario will present a united front to Queen's Park.

"So I think big and I think that we as communities of Northeastern Ontario, never mind Timmins, Sudbury or Thunder Bay, we need to work together to put pressure on the government to ensure that there's a competitive energy rate from an industrial perspective that will make us compete with Quebec, Manitoba and other jurisdictions in the world," said the mayor.

"If we don't do that we fail," he added.

Laughren said the city plans to step up its lobbying effort now that a new minority government is in place. Both the New Democrats and the Conservatives talked during the recent election campaign about the need to have lower electricity rates.

"I am waiting diligently like everybody else to see who the new cabinet ministers are going to be and we are going to move very, very quickly to try to meet with any many of those as we can, opposition members, whoever, to hear our story," said Laughren.