TIMMINS - MP Charlie Angus (NDP — Timmins-James Bay) foresees a clash between First Nations and mining companies within the Ring of Fire.
He believes the federal government has a role to play in helping to prevent it.
“We could end up with clashes on the ground and it seems to be a lot opportunity to have conflict over this,” Angus said Wednesday. “I’ve talked to First Nations and I’ve talked to mining companies in the North who are both very frustrated about the fact when it comes to these negotiations, the feds are not at the table.
“We need to be partners together for development. What we want to see is the feds sitting down at the table” along with the province, First Nation communities and mining companies.
The Daily Press asked Angus about building tensions within the James Bay lowlands during a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday in advance of the fall session of parliament which begins Monday.
Among the key concerns for Angus is the plan to increase size of the Timmins-James Bay federal riding which is already larger than some European countries.
If Ottawa’s boundary redistribution plan goes through, Timmins-James Bay would take in Kapuskasing, Hearst, Val Rita and Moonbeam, which are currently part of Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing riding.
Angus said it simply doesn’t make sense for this riding to take on an extra 300 kilometres of highway and at least five more communities.
“Under the proposed changes, the City of Sudbury, the City of North Bay and the City of Sault Ste. Marie will have a smaller population base and a smaller riding than the population in the new Timmins riding,” said Angus.
The southern point of the riding will be just north of Englehart.
“We will be larger than Great Britain,” said Angus.
If there is any consolation for Angus, it is in the fact the government is not moving ahead with its original plan to lower the number of ridings in Northern Ontario.
The last time that happened was 2004 when the government reduced the number of Northern ridings from 11 to 10.
“There was a real push at one point. We were afraid we were going to lose (another) seat out of Northern Ontario,” said Angus. “They’ve decided to keep that.”
Since there is no change planned in the number of ridings, Angus said many are now questioning why the government is changing the boundaries.
“If we make Timmins-James Bay even bigger than it is, municipalities are going to be fighting for an ever-shrinking piece of the infrastructure fund,” he said.
“We are hearing from mayors across the North who are opposing the boundary change, saying, ‘Listen, if there is no riding being disrupted here, just leave status quo as it is because we are already challenged enough here in the North.’”
Angus said Northerners will get the opportunity to voice their concerns. The federal government is hosting a series of public meetings to discuss the proposed boundary changes.
The nearest one to Timmins is being held in New Liskeard next month.
“I will be participating in public hearing being held in New Liskeard on Oct. 16 and I am hearing from a number of mayors across the riding who are planning to be there.”
Looking ahead to Monday, Angus said, “This is going to be a very interesting fall session because for the first time since Mr. (Stephen) Harper became prime minister, he will be facing a very strong and disciplined Opposition.
“It’s just last year, we lost (former NDP leader) Jack Layton and we had eight key members of our caucus out on a leadership tour, we had many new MPs. So we worked very hard in the last session to maintain our ground.
“But now under Tom Mulcair’s leadership, we are ready to go into the House of Commons this session, with a very clear and focused and disciplined agenda.
“In terms of our big focus, certainly the issue of pensions remains an outstanding issue for Canadians. Many, many Canadians who are not able to save for pensions. We don’t have an adequate pension system. It has to be addressed.”
Angus said many residents also have grave concerns about access to health care yet the feds are leaving it in the hands of the provincial governments to deal with.
“The federal government seems to be walking away from health care saying it’s a provincial jurisdiction. There is a role for the federal government to play in assuring quality health care and that’s what we’re hearing from Canadians.”