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Community leaders respond to stakeholders’ report

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN While local politicians are impressed with a policy document released last week that maps out the future of the city’s mining industry, the jury’s still out on whether or not it will make a difference.

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

While local politicians are impressed with a policy document released last week that maps out the future of the city’s mining industry, the jury’s still out on whether or not it will make a difference.


Greater Sudbury Mayor Dave Courtemanche spearheaded a task force of community stakeholders who contributed to the 23-page report, entitled Claiming our Stake! Building a Sustainable Community.

The document was prepared to let the new owners of Falconbridge and Inco, as well as senior levels of government, know what the community expects in exchange for access to its rich mining wealth.

Investments in local operations, training and education, research and education, local businesses and a sustainable community are crucial to the the future of our city, according to the group.

Some of the specific recommendations include securing funding for the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) and developing a tax policy for mining companies that is more equitable to municipalities.

“There’s never been a community agenda in place before. There’s always been an understood relationship between the city, community stakeholders and the local companies,” says Courtemanche.

“Well, we’ve got new owners now. It’s pretty important for our community to come together and say these are our priorities as it relates to the future of the local mining industry.”

Nickel Belt MPP Shelley Martel isn’t optimistic the report will make a difference.

If the new owners of our mines don’t want to co-operate, there’s not much we can do about it, she says.

“What is there to compel them to make the investments? What is there that will compel Xstrata or the Brazilian company to stay in the community in any significant way when metal prices drop?” she asks.


“For me, that’s really the key. We can have a lot of good ideas. They can be excellent ideas. But if that vision isn’t shared and if those mining companies see Sudbury as small potatoes in terms of their overall operations, what’s going to compel them to be a partner?”

Only the provincial and federal governments can force these companies to do what’s best for our community, and so far, they’ve been hesitant to do so, she says.

“A recent example that really says it to me is that in the past year, Inco shut down the Copper Refinery in Copper Cliff and tranferred the refining process and the jobs to Quebec,” she says.

“What did the provincial government do about that? Zero. The mayor and council met and passed a resolution urging Inco not to do this. Inco blew them off. The provincial government blew them off.”

Sudbury MP Diane Marleau says she thinks the policy document is a good idea because “you won’t get anything if you don’t ask for it.”

“Putting it all together is a good thing. Some of it is not likely to happen in the near future, but a lot of it is the things we are working on and we continue to work on.”

One of the priorities outlined in the report was pushing for federal funding for the Centre of Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI).

The veteran MP says she was close to securing money for CEMI last year, but then the Conservatives won the election.

As for the new owners of our local mines, Marleau doesn’t know what will happen, but says there are encouraging signs.


“Xstrata was very receptive. I’ve met with them twice. They have a history of investing and research in the communities where they are now, so that’s a good sign. But we’re going to have to wait and see where it goes.”

Nickel Belt MP Ray Bonin says he is impressed with qualifications of those on the task force, and has no doubt their recommendations are good.

But the policy document won’t achieve anything if the community doesn’t work to make the recommendations happen, he says.

“I think this community must become proactive and we should stop having commissions to say what we should do, and instead have a meeting every month to say what we did.”

John Rodriguez, a mayoral candidate, says he agrees with everything in the policy document.

“As I read it, I realized there are a lot of opportunities for interface with the provincial and federal governments. We need someone who is able to lead council to make the case before these governments. And that’s my forte.”

Mayoral candidate Lynne Reynolds says she’s happy to see the document, but “the question now is, ‘What are we going to do with it?’”

Most of the recommendations are not within the municipal government’s mandate, but once Inco is bought, the mayor and council could attempt to convince the local mining companies to work together, she says.

Sudbury MPP and Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci says he’s happy our community has a plan for the future, although he knows the policy document is a work in progress.

Some of the recommendations are new and exciting, some are already on the way to becoming reality, and some will require a lot of work before they’re implemented, he says.

The province is already doing plenty to help Greater Sudbury’s mining industry, and is willing to work with local leaders on the recommendations, says Bartolucci.

“The report notes the importance of a bilingual skilled trades program and having apprenticeship programs. No government ever has done more for this type of goal than our government over the last little while,” he says.

The province has already contributed $10 million to CEMI, and Bartolucci would like to see the federal and municipal governments to step up to the plate.

The province is also committed to encouraging exploration by giving tax breaks to companies and training aboriginal people to work in the mining industry, which are priorities in the report, he says.


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