The leader of the federal Conservative party is in Sudbury today making promises, if elected, to ‘unlock’ access to critical minerals in the Ring of Fire and build a new road into the remote mining camp in northwestern Ontario.
In a news release, Poilievre said his party would “greenlight” all federal permits for the Ring of Fire within six months to speed the extraction of chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum, describing this as essential for the Canadian economy in the face of U.S. trade tariffs.
The Ring of Fire region is said to be rich in critical minerals and located about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, but development has been slow over the past 15 years.
In addition to speeding up federal permits, Poilievre said he would spend $1 billion over three years to build a road linking the mineral deposits and nearby First Nations to the Ontario highway network, while “allowing companies investing in the Ring of Fire to pay a share of their federal corporate taxes to local First Nations.”
He criticized the federal Liberal government for failing to act on developing the region.
“This gatekeeping and red tape was devastating for Canada before Donald Trump threatened tariffs on our economy. Now, it is an act of economic suicide,” said Poilievre.
“By partnering with First Nations to develop our world-class resources, we will bring home powerful paycheques for all Canadians.”
More to come….
