Ontario Chamber sees big benefits from Ring of Fire

Ontario’s far northern Ring of Fire mineral zone “is an unparalleled opportunity for the province to diversify its economy and solidify its place as a global leader in mining and mining technology.”

So says the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in a paper released Thursday.

Titled Beneath the Surface: Uncovering the Economic Potential of Ontario’s Ring of Fire, the paper takes a cautious approach to its analysis of the scope of potential developments in the multi-billion-dollar mineral asset.

Still, it finds “that within the first 32 years of its development, the Ring of Fire will generate more than $25 billion in economic activity across numerous sectors in Ontario, of which mining is just one.”

During its first 32 years, a developed Ring of Fire would also generate an estimated $6.7 billion in tax revenues, “providing a compelling incentive for governments to invest in this economic opportunity,” the paper says.

The Chamber’s study enumerates a host of social and economic benefits for the region’s First Nations communities, northern municipalities and the province as a whole. It cites potential gains for a wide range of sectors, including mining and its support services, finance, manufacturing, insurance, construction and retail.

At the same time, it laments the “glacial pace” of progress — without laying blame — and recognizes that “there is much more work to be done” in addressing the Ring’s many challenges. It also provides suggestions for actions to deal with those obstacles.

The number-crunchers among us should rejoice.

The Chamber deserves thanks for undertaking this necessary, but long neglected, task. By putting forward a concrete, credible case for the benefits of Ring of Fire development, the paper will help “fill the information vacuum” that has so frustrated Ring participants and observers over the past several years.

Let us hope the Chamber succeeds in provoking an “evidence-based discussion” across the province. Perhaps it will even engage the attention of a public that has so far shown faint interest in this massive and expensive undertaking.

Let the evidence-based debate begin.

 

 

Tagged: business climate, Canadian government, economic development, education and training, environment, Far North, First Nations, James Bay Lowlands, Labour force, mine development, mining suppliers, Ontario economy, Ontario government, Ontario mining, Ring of Fire, transportation

Posted in: Ontario economy, Ontario mining, Opportunities, Ring of Fire