http://www.ontla.on.ca/house-proceedings/transcripts/files_pdf/02-MAY-2017_L075.pdf

Hon. Bill Mauro:

But most humorous, I would say, was the criticism by
the member that we are no longer making a commitment
to the Ring of Fire, the $1 billion, because it wasn’t in the
budget. In the past, his criticism would have been that it’s
another re-announcement. So if it had been in the budget,
he would have been criticizing us for putting it in there
again. This time he’s trying to criticize us for not having
it in there.
We’re very committed—

RING OF FIRE
Mr. Michael Mantha: My question is to the Acting
Premier. There is no hiding it. There was no mention of
the Ring of Fire in the Liberal government’s budget. Rien
pantoute, pas un mot.
Can this government tell us why the Liberals are putting roadblocks in front of the Ring of Fire Infrastructure
Development Corp.?
1150
Hon. Deborah Matthews: To the Minister of Northern Development and Mines.
Hon. Bill Mauro: I’m sorry that we had the friendly
just before the member got up to ask his question. I
would say the same thing to him as I just did in response
to the friendly.
In the past, that member, especially, has stood in his
place—I would say on probably more than one occasion—and has criticized the government, in his words,
for a lack of commitment to the Ring of Fire and a lack
of progress on the Ring of Fire. Because when it’s in a
budget, he sees it, frames it and characterizes it as a reannouncement: “When are you going to do something?”
This time, the money is not allocated—“allocated” is
the wrong word. It’s not mentioned in the budget, and so
the member this time is simply going to try and say that
that represents not an interest in—
Interjections.
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Carry on.
Hon. Bill Mauro:  Quite simply, if it had been in
there, the member would be on his feet today criticizing
it as a re-announcement.
The commitment is there. Everybody knows that. The
people on the ground know that. The stakeholders know
that. We’re working for it and trying to make progress as
best we’re able.
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?
Mr. Michael Mantha:  Sometimes, if you ask the
question over and over again, the truth finally comes out.
I’d like to remind this government that the honourable
Minister of Municipal Affairs told this House on March
28 of this year, just a month ago, that they had put $1
billion on the table to develop the Ring of Fire. But
apparently that meant nothing.
How did this Liberal government go from investing $1
billion to zero dollars? Because that’s exactly what the
Liberal budget had for development of this critical jobcreating and economy-building project: zero dollars, pas
une cenne.
Why are the Liberals abandoning the Ring of Fire and
abandoning all of the people and communities that are
counting on it?
Interjections.
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please.
Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Bill Mauro: Thank you again to the member for
the question. Of course, it is nonsense. The premise is
unfounded. We are clearly committed, and have been for
some time, to the Ring of Fire.
As the Minister of Finance has just leaned over and
reminded me, not only have we committed $1 billion to
the Ring of Fire when it comes to infrastructure funding
in the province of Ontario, but we’ve increased our overall commitment to infrastructure generally from $160
billion over 12 years to $190 billion. An additional $30
billion is in this year’s budget over the outgoing years to
support infrastructure in the province of Ontario. And
I’ve got lots of examples, if I had enough time, where I
could give that member a long laundry list of investments
and infrastructure right across northern Ontario, in all of
the northern Ontario municipalities, to the benefit of all
of the taxpayers in all of those communities.
Our commitment is clear; our commitment is consistent. The member continues to try and talk down the Ring

of Fire. We’re working very actively on it, and we’re
hopeful that in the near future we’ll have—
The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you.
New question