Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Wednesday that within six months of taking power, he would green-light all federal permits for the Ring of Fire and commit $1 billion to build new roads.
Poilievre, who is holding a rally in Greater Sudbury on Wednesday evening, said progress on the Ring of Fire is key to “unlocking billions of dollars in resources and taking back control of our economy from the Americans.”
The long-delayed mineral project, located 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay in northern Ontario, includes large deposits of high-grade chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum.
“Buried just under their feet was tens of billions of dollars of chromite, cobalt, copper, nickel, gold, and countless other resources that the world is desperate for,” Poilievre said at a news conference Wednesday morning in Sudbury.
“It would be life-changing for northern Ontario towns, galvanizing thousands of paychecks and modern infrastructure. It would help our First Nations become richer. It would boost our economy with billions of dollars, allowing us to become less dependent on the Americans after we start selling those resources overseas. And it would turn dollars for dictators into paychecks for our people. It would allow us to break our dependence on Beijing for batteries, turbines, solar panels, satellites.”
He said the federal Liberals did “everything they could” to block progress on the Ring of Fire.
“The process was started by former Liberal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in February of 2020, about the time when Mark Carney became Justin Trudeau’s economic adviser,” Poilievre said.
“After he did nothing for three years, then Trudeau moved him out and put Steven Guilbeault in. Guilbeault is a radical environmentalist who’s still in cabinet, and he blocked the project. In fact, he came out and said he doesn’t want us building any more roads in Canada because he doesn’t like cars.”
He said many First Nations in the area are strong supporters of the Ring of Fire and that the development will help “lift them out of poverty.”
The lack of action has hurt Canada, the Tory leader said, especially as we deal with increasing hostility from south of the border.
“This gatekeeping and red tape was devastating for Canada before Donald Trump threatened tariffs on our economy. Now, it is an act of economic suicide,” Poilievre said in an earlier news release.
“By partnering with First Nations to develop our world-class resources, we will bring home powerful paycheques for all Canadians.”
Since NATO has identified these critical minerals as being essential towards our collective defence, the Conservatives said money spent on the project would count towards the calculation of Canada hitting its two per cent of GDP commitment on defence.
“We will repeal Liberal law C-69 and instead grant rapid permission to our companies to build more pipelines, more natural gas exports, more data centres, more mines, and more projects of all kind across this country. We will stand up for this economy and our people,” he said in Sudbury.
This prospect is something that has mining analyst Stan Sudol excited and he told CTV News that everyone who knows about the Ring of Fire is interested.
“The impact of security supply of, vital critical minerals assuring that the electric vehicle manufacturers have, again, a secure supply of materials from our own people and creating middle-class jobs for First Nations, throughout the north, like ... you can’t get better, reconciliation than economic reconciliation,” Sudol said.
“We have this wonderful opportunity. The only person I haven’t seen talk about this is the liberals in Carney and I’m hoping this excitement will percolate into that campaign.”
A Nanos survey early this month showed that U.S. President Donald Trump – and how to deal with him – is the top issue influencing how Canadians are voting in the next federal election.
“This speaks to a situation where Canadians are amped up over Trump and his threats to the Canadian economy,” Nanos Research Founder Nik Nanos.
“Most importantly, we’ll become a strong, self-reliant sovereign nation to stand up to the Americans and stand up for ourselves. We will reward work, unleash entrepreneurs, harvest our resources, make our own goods, trade with each other, build homes for our youth, rebuild our borders and military, honour our history and raise our flag,” said Poilievre.
In a statement, Sudbury Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe said the first year of the Liberal’s critical minerals dtrategy saw a 15 per cent increase in the production of critical minerals, and last year Canada knocked China out of the top spot for the future of global battery supply chains.
“When people outside our region come and tell us how they’ll ‘fix’ the Ring of Fire, it only serves to show how little they know about mining and northern Ontario,” she said.
“Everyone knows the Ring of Fire is a critical strategic investment for Canada, but you can’t simply decree that it’s getting done when you say so.”
Lapointe also said the federal government has already committed to building the necessary infrastructure for new mines.
“Make no mistake: when the province completes its negotiations with First Nations in the Ring of Fire region, the federal government will be ready to deliver on this project,” she said.
Nadia Verrelli, federal NDP candidate in Sudbury, also released a statement in reaction to Poilevre’s remarks, arguing that attempts to “bulldoze” approvals will only cause further delays.
“New Democrats would work with First Nations to unlock the Ring of Fire and build the roads needed,” Verrelli said.
“An NDP government would work with First Nations to sell our critical minerals to the world and ensure sustainability and Indigenous rights are at the heart of our strategy.”
With files from CTVNorthernOntario.ca journalist Lyndsay Aelick
