“The far Northern cities like Thunder Bay and Timmins are the best for growth and development. It is important to look at growth, development, and why we would send the minerals from the northern communities to the southern. When the expansion of our economy, such as building or storing batteries, can occur here,… Made in Northern Ontario?
Which came first, the egg or the chicken? The egg would not exist without chicken, and the egg would not exist without chicken. This same dilemma exists when it comes industry versus environment.
Environment is life — clean air, water and soil. Industry is needed to provide jobs and luxuries like electric vehicles, batteries for smartphones, laptops, solar panels, and other electronic devices. What comes first — industry or environment? What good is luxury goods or money if there’s no human suffering or life?
Electric vehicles are being promoted to combat climate change. How can this help combat climate change? Why would we do more damage than what the world is doing to protect?
Premier Ford is seeking to remove “red tape” in order to make it easier for industry. Environmental assessments will not need to be performed or enforced. An announcement was made that he wants to push for more industry but where are these “precious” metals located? They are found up North in our communities and where there is “virgin” land — not touched yet by industry.
The Progressive Conservative government wants to take raw material resources from northern Ontario and bring them to southern Ontario manufacturers. But at what cost to Northern Ontario residents. What are the protocols and protections that will be put in place in order to ensure that industry and the environment can work side by side when there is little evidence that this is presently happening?
Mining is an Ontario industry worth $3.5Billion per year. But where does this money go to? It is rare to see a lot of government funding go to the Northern communities above North Bay, Sudbury, and Sault Ste. Marie. We may see more recent funding coming our way since the election is in 10 weeks, however, the amount taken out of our environment versus the amount put back into our communities does not appear to justify the cost to the damage made to our environment. Our environment would be further destroyed in order to remove the minerals which would then be sent to Brampton, Ottawa and Port Hope (where they will still have all of their trees, fresh water, clean soil) for processing or refining by a “world-class manufacturing section in the south”.
Minister Rickford stated that he believes there is an incredible opportunity to link and vertically combine our northern and south economies to create a made in Ontario supply chain for innovative technologies, such as electric cars and battery storage.
The far Northern cities of Thunder Bay, Timmins, and Timmins are examples. need to look at growth and development. Why would we ship the minerals from our northern communities south when the expansion and storage of batteries, for example can be done here? Made in Northern Ontario What is the cost-benefit of Northern Ontario when it comes to our environment being affected? What are the returns?
Apparently “promised” regulatory changes “aim to reduce the burden and realize cost savings for the mineral development sector” and “reduce the time an application takes in government processing.” All this is great for industry, but what about the protections of the environment and the safety of the people who live in the North’s mining communities?
The question is: How will these plans help address the climate change crisis? Ring of Fire mining, a new form of mining, will emit more carbon into our atmosphere. Where will the electricity come from in order to power the cars — build more dams that would further impact environment, build more nuclear plants, more natural gas? These would not be in line with climate change initiatives.
As Minister Rickford stated, “Without mining there is no such thing as a green economy. Without these critical minerals, it is impossible to drive a clean, sustainable automobile of the future. The question is will any of us be around in order to drive a “clean, green automobile” if our air, water and soil is contaminated from toxic heavy metals under the pretense of fixing climate change?
What should come first – industry or environment (life)? Both can only work together if there are strict environmental protections in place to ensure that industry is fully responsible for any damage to the environment or human life.
We are not connected with the Great Lakes or Greenbelt, which already have protections. We are part of Arctic Watershed. How will these changes affect Hudson Bay/James Bay Where are the protections we need to protect our Arctic communities?
The only colour of “green” in this plan is the colour of money. It has nothing to do either with climate change and the impact it has on those further North.
In 2019, Brazil’s rollback back of environmental protections was raised at the G7 summit. To make way for agriculture and mining operations, the Amazon forest was being destroyed. These concerns should not be considered for the ecosystem.
Please send your comments and concerns to Premier Ford at [email protected] and Minister Greg Rickford at [email protected]. If you don’t say anything today it will be too late to say something tomorrow.
Carol Tanguay
Porcupine
