Cliffs exit from Ring of Fire more than Liberal taxes
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bymark.pare
https://www.q92timmins.com/2015/11/10/cliffs-exit-from-ring-of-fire-more-than-liberal-taxes/
Ontario’s opposition parties are continuing to put pressure on the governing Liberals to help kick start the Ring of Fire.
Last week, the PC’s revealed that a big stumbling block was the reasoning behind Cliffs Natural Resources pulling out of the chromite deposit, but it seems there’s more to it than that according to the NDP.
According to a release from Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli, the Liberals were planning to tax Cliffs with royalties for chromite. Those royalties would be in the range of $6.6-million to $34.4-million a year.
Fedeli says the discovery of the royalty proposal came from the documents sent out in relation to the cancelling of two gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga before the 2011 election.
Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson (NDP) says it’s not just that, it’s coming down to the failure to be at the table with First Nations groups, forcing companies to do negotiations on their own.
He adds it’s not fair.
He says a template needs to be set up, so First Nations can see what the plan is for things like land usage, environmental concerns and revenue sharing.
Fast forward to now, and the concerns continue as Bisson explains that NORONT Resources is having similar issues.
NORONT is the only company currently in position to build a mine in the Ring of Fire, but with little to no movement from the Liberals to approve permits, the price on the stock market is low and is hindering the amount of money that can be invested.
“People are frustrated by how slow this provincial government responds to development, and it’s hurting the companies and their ability to get people to invest into their particular companies,” said Bisson.