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Ring of Fire will depend on business case, not government: FedNor

“It is a business decision,” Dimatteo said. “Bob Rae is very right, in that at the end of the day the businesses will make the decisions on whether they're going to go forward with these projects.
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Aime Dimatteo, director general of FedNor, told the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce that FedNor has worked to create the “building blocks” for future development in the Ring of Fire. Photo by Jonathan Migneault.
“It is a business decision,” Dimatteo said. “Bob Rae is very right, in that at the end of the day the businesses will make the decisions on whether they're going to go forward with these projects.”

But in late 2013, Cliffs Natural Resources halted its $3.3-billion Ring of Fire development due to a number of hurdles including delays in the environmental assessment process and negotiations with the province of Ontario.

Dimatteo said FedNor has worked quietly to create the building blocks for the Ring of Fire development.

“We want to make sure we have all the elements in place,” he said. “We're trying to be as proactive as we can.”

So far, FedNor has invested $4.4 million to develop business opportunities for members of the Matawa First Nations in northwestern Ontario.

That investment has included a collaboration with Confederation College and Noront Resources, a junior miner with a number properties in the Ring of Fire, to train First Nations people for mining-related work.

FedNor also contributed to a recent Ontario Chamber of Commerce report on the Ring of Fire, that said the mineral deposit should be a national priority.

According to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Ring of Fire is expected to generate $25 billion in economic activity across numerous sectors in the province over its first 32 years of development. In the same period, the Ring of Fire would generate an estimated $6.7 billion in government tax revenues.

The Ring of Fire is also expected to generate 4,500 to 5,500 long-term and well-paying jobs.

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Jonathan Migneault

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