Ontario makes big promises with critical minerals plans but First Nations advocates remain concerned
Lawyers and advocates for First Nations in northern Ontario say they’re concerned the Ford government wants to press ahead with mining development in the Ring of Fire without properly involving First Nations or addressing their environmental concerns.
The government released its new critical minerals strategy Thursday at the Lac Des Iles mine, about 125 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., aimed at positioning Ontario as a provider of raw materials for items such as smart phones and electric vehicle batteries.
“Global businesses are searching for the materials, expertise and human power needed to build technologies of the future. And I’m here to say once again, look no further,” Premier Doug Ford told reporters at the election-style announcement.
One reason China was allowed a near monopoly in rare earths is that it is a messy business. But even if mined by virgin unicorns they’d still kill Ontario’s plans anyway.
Canada does not even make the top 10 nations for rare earth production and protectionist policy in the US must also be contended with; “Rare earths mining in the US now happens only at California’s Mountain Pass mine. In February 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at reviewing shortcomings in America’s domestic supply chains for rare earths, medical devices, computer chips and other critical resources. The next month, the US Department of Energy announced a US$30 million initiative to research and secure domestic supply chains for rare earths and battery metals such as cobalt and lithium.”
After a proposed project has undergone the mandatory 37 environmental assessments etc it’s a good bet Ontario will be regarded as an economic dead end.
And how can we compete with child labour in the Congo for those all important minerals?
