Statement by Ontario and Saskatchewan on the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan
The Voice of Canada:
Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, and Bronwyn Eyre, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Energy and Resources, have issued the following statement on the release of the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan:
“The federal government has released its Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP) to identify opportunities for the Canadian mining industry, with the goal of positioning Canada as a leading nation in mineral development.
However, in recent years, Canada’s mineral sector has faced severe economic challenges. And while Ontario and Saskatchewan agree with some of the elements covered in the CMMP, we believe this plan needed to specifically address economic and competitiveness challenges and send a strong message to investors around the world that Canada is prepared to take real action to support our mining sector.
Unfortunately, this plan does neither. As such, Ontario and Saskatchewan do not endorse the CMMP.
Ontario, Saskatchewan and the mining industry are concerned about how misguided federal policy will stand in the way of progress. Energy-intensive sectors, such as mining, are at great risk of suffering from skyrocketing energy costs.
Given the challenges that our resource sectors, particularly uranium in Saskatchewan and steel and other metals in Ontario, are facing around trade, the federal government still has no plan to ensure that companies can access international markets in a transparent, stable, and effective fashion.
That’s why our governments are working to get our energy markets back to being sustainable and reliable. Ontario fought to scrap the cap-and-trade carbon tax program, lifting a significant burden off the backs of Ontario’s manufacturers and reversing course on over a decade of mismanagement.
The people of Ontario and Saskatchewan can be certain that we will do everything in our power to protect our provinces’ industries from the job-killing carbon tax that the federal government seeks to impose on our provinces.
We also must not allow measures such as Ottawa’s Bill C-69 to undo much of the progress we are seeking to create in northern Ontario, throughout Saskatchewan and beyond.
This proposed legislation has the potential to use environmental assessments as weapons against future development. This short-sighted approach by the federal government will curb development efforts and prevent major development projects from getting off the ground.
Until we address these issues that are hurting Canadian families, businesses, and the national economy, Ontario and Saskatchewan cannot endorse the CMMP.”
