During a recent stop in North Bay, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to the Ring of Fire project. Bains says one of the priorities at the federal level is building capacity in the Indigenous communities around the area. He says that includes making sure those communities have access to broadband connectivity and high speed connectivity.
The project is expected to generate nearly $2-billion in tax revenues and up to 5,500 full-time jobs in the first 10 years of mining activity according to reports. Nipissing-Temiskaming MP Anthony Rota agreed with Bains that the government is committed to seeing the project through, but added it’s a process. Rota says everything involved in the process takes time, including building highways and railroads, but it has to move in the right direction.
Rota says it’s about coordinating the federal government, the provincial government, municipal governments around the area as well as reserve governments to move in the same direction. He says that’s not always easy, and it’s one of the biggest hurdles but it’s coming together. Rota doesn’t believe this is something that will happen overnight, it’s a project that will evolve over time. He finished by saying they have to take that first step now because every long journey starts with that first step.
