Ring of Fire remains in cards: PM

The federal government is ready to be a partner in developing the Ring of Fire with Ontario.

“It continues to be something we’re working on with the province,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, while in Thunder Bay on Friday.

“It is normal and expected that the federal government should be a partner in developing large-scale projects like this,” he said.

While the prime minister made no commitment to match the $1 billion the province has pledged towards the mining project that was also left out of last month’s federal budget, Trudeau said they continue to engage with the province on the issue.

He said it was just a few weeks ago that federal Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr met with Ontario’s Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle to discuss the challenges around commodity prices and infrastructure.

“The federal government wants to be a strong and active partner with the provinces on resource development and that’s exactly why we sit down regularly with provincial partners to talk about opportunities to grow the economy, opportunities to create jobs and opportunities to make sure we’re being as aware of the challenges of the future in regards to environmental sustainability and responsibility as Canadians expect us to,” Trudeau said.