Duane Hicks
The New Gold Rainy River Project is “very impressive,” according to Premier Kathleen Wynne.
The premier, along with Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle, toured the site yesterday as part of her weeklong tour of Northern Ontario.
“The New Gold project, it really seems to be being implemented in a different way with a lot of attention to the needs of the community, with attention to hiring local people, and doing the best environmental work along the way. That’s certainly what I saw on the visit.
“Our Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle has been working closely with them,” she added. “It’s very impressive. It should be a very good news story, and already is a good news story, for this region.”
Wynne noted that witnessing the mining operation spurred conversation with Gravelle about how New Gold’s operating model could be applied to the Ring of Fire, the massive planned chromite mining and smelting development project in the James Bay Lowlands.
“There are lessons that can be taken from what’s happened here, the relationship with the community, and we can apply that in other places. I know that Minister Gravelle is going to be having some of those conversations in the Ring of Fire area,” said Wynne.
Gravelle called the New Gold Rainy River project “one of the great mining stories in the province.”
“One of the things that we’re always trying to make clear is how important the mining sector is to the economy of the province,” he remarked.
“We have 41 operating mines, new mines opening up every year. This one is particularly exciting,” added Gravelle.
“We have 230 people that employed in the construction of this great operation. It was a tremendous opportunity to get an overview of it,” he noted, adding the New Gold project is the definition of “making sure we do it right.”
“From a pure economic point of view, it’s exciting, particularly when there’s a such a large amount of people from a local and regional basis being hired. That makes a huge difference,” said Gravelle.
“And to meet some of the employees who previously were doing work where they would never dream of being in the mining sector—they’re doing it. They’re operating large machines which are incredible,” he added.
“It’s an exciting time for us and it was great to be with the premier,” said Gravelle, noting he looks forward to the mine being operational next year.
“One of the things that really impressed me about the operation was 34 percent of the workforce is First Nations,” mentioned Wynne, adding relationships with Indigenous peoples is critical in terms of the workforce in the north.
Aside from the mine visit, Wynne visited the United Native Friendship Centre Circle of Life Building, had an appointment with Mayor Roy Avis, and then met with the Métis Nation of Ontario membership at the Sunset Country Métis Hall.
Wynne continues her tour of Northern Ontario today with stops in Dryden and Kenora. She wraps up the tour on Friday.
Wynne said she has been to Northern Ontario many times, but she wanted to conduct this tour to see more of communities she’s been to before, like Fort Frances or Kenora, as well as go to places she’s never been before such as Sioux Lookout, or return to places she’s not been in a while, like Moosonee.
She noted that her time in Rainy River District was eye-opening.
“I don’t think I fully understood what a special eco-system it is. The agricultural opportunity here, the way the land has been developed, is really pretty special to the north,” said Wynne.
“Because we were able to go out the New Gold site, I saw a swathe of land and have a much better appreciation of what [the area] is all about,” she added.
“One of the things about this job is that it is my responsibility to, and it’s my honour to, be the premier of one Ontario. But there are regional differences, so when I am sitting at Queen’s Park in a meeting, and someone makes a point about Fort Frances or Dryden or Moosonee, if I’ve been there, I have an image of how people are living, what the challenges are and what the opportunities are,” said Wynne.
“It’s invaluable to me to keep coming back so that I can sharpen those images and have the nuance of what it means to live in places around the province,” she added. “It’s a real privilege and I’ve learned a lot.”
