The Star reportshttps://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/10/05/ring_of_fire_mining_project_no_panacea_for_locals_bob_rae_warns.html News / Canada Sunday, October 6, 2013 10:12 PM EDT Ring of Fire mining project no panacea for locals, Bob Rae warns Bob Rae says natural resource projects such as northern Ontario’s huge Ring of Fire won’t magically eliminate poverty in remote aboriginal communities. Bob Rae: Mining projects no magic bullet for First Nations By: Will Campbell The Canadian Press, Published on Sat Oct 05 2013 Explore This Story 1 Photo 1 Video 11 Comments Save to Mystar Share on Facebook inShare.0 Reddit this! Former Liberal leader Bob Rae says natural resource projects such as Ontario’s massive Ring of Fire aren’t a “magic bullet” to eliminate poverty in remote aboriginal communities. Rae told a Toronto conference on Saturday that several approaches are needed — including jobs training, education and governance — to help the resource-rich but underdeveloped areas raise themselves up. “If you want to see conditions of real underdevelopment, and see what the impact is on people and families, on children and on adults, you do not have to go very far,” he told the crowd. RELATED:Last chance to revive Ring of Fire: Cohn The former MP recounted his experiences on a trip to northern Ontario that ended Friday. It included a visit to the Marten Falls First Nation, where, Rae said, roughly 300 people live with intermittent electricity, $8 cartons of milk and no Internet access. Photos View galleryBob Rae, chief negotiator for the Matawa First Nations, warned that megaprojects like northern Ontario's Ring of Fire are no guarantee for eliminating aboriginal poverty.zoom Marten Falls lies within the 5,000-square-kilometre boundary of the Ring of Fire, a mining project that the Ontario and federal governments hope will attract billions of dollars in private investment. But Rae said money from the massive proposed mineral project can’t be counted on to fix local woes. “The way this situation is now described in the north is to say, ‘We have the magic bullet, it’s called the Ring of Fire,’ ” Rae said. “But everyone has to understand that this is not the magic solution to poverty, because you’ve got to get people ready for jobs and for work. You’ve got to create the conditions under which people are able to participate in the workforce.” Rae stepped down from federal politics this year and is acting as chief negotiator for Matawa First Nations Tribal Council in talks with the province over Ring of Fire development. Marten Falls is one of the nine communities in the council. The northern Ontario communities he’s visited are not against the Ring of Fire plan but are worried about its negative effects, Rae said. “They’re expressing strong concerns about how do we protect the water. How do we protect the heritage that we have.”