Ontario promises faster mine approvals to counter Donald Trump’s economic threats

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Ontario is introducing legislation aimed at speeding up resource development in the face of economic and political threats from the Donald Trump administration, but the changes aren’t likely to make a major dent in timelines for development in the stalled Ring of Fire critical-minerals project.

The provincial government in a release on Thursday said the legislation will fast track permitting and streamline the regulatory process around certain strategically important resource projects in “special economic zones,” including the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario.

Later, in a Toronto press conference alongside Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce said that mining companies routinely have to navigate through a maze of provincial ministries as they attempt to get approvals. Ontario plans to funnel all of the requisite paperwork through the mining ministry only, and guarantee a response within 24 months, something that the province says should speed up timelines by 50 per cent.

Mr. Ford said the current 15-year timeline to open a new mine in the province is ruinous for the provincial economy.

“Fifteen years of missed opportunity, 15 years of jumping through hoops, 15 years of paperwork, duplication and delays that drives away investment, that drives away job creators,” Mr. Ford said. “These delays were never acceptable, but today, more than ever, we need to act with President Trump taking direct aim at our economy.”

Mr. Trump has threatened to annex Canada. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau a few months ago said he believed that Mr. Trump is after Canada’s critical-minerals wealth. Mr. Ford has been one of the most vocal provincial premiers by publicly sparring with Mr. Trump, popularizing the slogan “Canada is not for sale.” Mr. Ford says he is taking action to protect the province.

“We need to do it. If not, we’re going to get annihilated,” he said.

But even with the province cutting some of its own red tape, development in the Ring of Fire, a project that Ontario has long championed as crucial to its critical-minerals ambitions, isn’t poised to be sped up significantly.

Located 550 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, the project has been stalled in a development morass for more than 15 years. Despite attempts by a number of large companies to move the initiative forward since a junior company made a promising nickel discovery in 2007, mining hasn’t yet occurred.

While red tape explains some of the delays, there are multiple roadblocks, such as the region being cut off from basic infrastructure, Indigenous opposition, environmental concerns and uncertain economics around the viability of developing the project.

The legislative changes announced by Ontario should speed up approvals for three provincial environmental assessments that are being led by Indigenous communities looking at the impact of building a road into the Ring of Fire, but there are three other similar studies under way at the federal level.

In addition, there is a federal regional assessment that is looking at how development would affect the entire region. The current timeline for development in the Ring of Fire has been conservatively estimated as sometime in the early 2030s.

Mr. Ford on Thursday falsely claimed that the Ring of Fire contains “upwards of a trillion dollars.” But there is no proof that the region contains anywhere near that amount of mineral wealth.

The only project being looked at for medium-term development in the Ring of Fire that is backed by a major mining company is The Eagle’s Nest nickel project, owned by Australian mining company Wyloo Pty Ltd.

“Doug Ford doesn’t consult with us on his statistics or his numbers,” said Kristan Straub, chief executive Canada of Wyloo. “I can’t comment on where they get their numbers or how they calculate them.”

Wyloo is conducting a feasibility study to look at the economics around Eagle’s Nest. The last time a study was conducted on Eagle’s Nest, it showed that the mine would only last for 11 years. By comparison, there are nickel operations in Sudbury that have been in operation for more than 100 years.

Ontario on Thursday said its new legislation would remove the requirement for a comprehensive environmental assessment to be done on Eagle’s Nest because the scope of the project changed after Wyloo acquired it from its former owner, Noront Resources Inc.

The project under Noront had included a transmission line for power, and 500 kilometres of roads, none of which will now be overseen by Wyloo. Mr. Straub said the overall environmental effects of what Wyloo is now proposing are minuscule in comparison, because the roads accounted for 98 per cent of the environmental impacts of the project, when the area of the mine is considered.

“A mine that we’re proposing is less than a square kilometre, and one of the greenest mines that’s out there, and a mine that we’ve committed to working in a transparent way with the First Nations.”

Still, some stakeholders are raising concerns that Indigenous rights may be compromised by Ontario’s moves to speed up mining development in the Ring of Fire.

“When we talk about development, when we talk about mining and specifically this legislation, it’s not about First Nations, the benefit of the First Nations,” said Sol Mamakwa, the NDP MPP who represents the riding of Kiiwetinoong. “It’s the benefit of the mining companies, period.”

Mr. Mamakwa says the Ontario government has only done the “bare minimum” in its duty to consult First Nations.

Mr. Ford also suggested that he could use the new legislation to designate a strategic zone along a 60-kilometre stretch of Highway 401 through the Toronto area, where he has pledged to build the world’s longest traffic and transit tunnel – a project some experts have warned could cost $60-billion to $120-billion or more and would do little to solve the city’s traffic problems.

With reports from Jeff Gray and Tamara Merritt