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Paul Lefebvre is Member of Parliament for Sudbury and parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources.
This past weekend at PDAC 2019 – the international mineral exploration and mining convention – our government joined with our provincial and territorial partners to launch the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan.
I’m very proud of this plan. It covers issues that are key to a successful and modern minerals and metals industry: competitiveness, the participation of Indigenous peoples, community benefits, respect for the environment, scientific and technological innovation, and global leadership.
All of these objectives are familiar to us here in Sudbury and Northern Ontario, where responsible mineral exploration, production and processing have become second nature. These are priorities shared by the key stakeholders in the sector across the country. We know this because we worked extensively with industry organizations, as well as environmental groups, labour organizations, and municipalities to create this plan.
This is critical because in this global market, in 2019, doing nothing or pursuing 14 different strategies is simply not an option. As other countries take action to support their own mining industries, Canada must do more than keep pace. In fact, we must lead.
We must continue to deliver best-in-class products, backed by our rich natural resources and Canadian expertise. To accomplish this, in a country like Canada, we need all orders of government to work together to meet the needs of Canadians.
For the rest of this column: https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/local-news/fords-rejection-of-mining-plan-disappointing