Invest in mining now, Ontario Chamber of Commerce says

With low commodity prices and the mining sector in a slump, it's more important than ever for the provincial and federal governments to make infrastructure investments in Northern Ontario that would benefit the industry, says the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

“Let's now boost investments in infrastructure,” said Ontario Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Allan O'Dette.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce released a report Tuesday, called Digging Deeper: Strengthening Ontario's Mining Advantage, that made nine recommendations to help ensure mining remains an important economic driver for the province.

Chief among those recommendations were increased investments in infrastructure, and mining research and innovation.

O'Dette said he has been encouraged by what he calls a “renewed sense of optimism, and a renewed sense of cooperative overture” between the provincial, federal and municipal governments.

Other recommendations in the report, said O'Dette, would facilitate mineral development and private investment in Ontario.

The report recommended, for example, that government provide a single list indicating which Aboriginal communities a mining company needs to consult when pursuing development of a particular project.

O'Dette said that information is not always readily available, and would help facilitate negotiations with First Nations.

The report also recommends Ontario's Focused Flow-Through Share Tax Credit be increased from five per cent to 20 per cent, which would bring the province more in line with other jurisdictions, including Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

The tax credit is for individuals who have purchased shares from a mining exploration company. It is intended to stimulate mineral exploration in Ontario by improving access to capital for small mining exploration companies.

One recommendation that has already met early resistance from the province, was for the government of Ontario to broaden the mandate of the Ring of Fire Infrastructure Development Corporation to boost investment in northern infrastructure overall.

O'Dette said he had a conversation with Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle on Monday, who said the development corporation should just focus on the Ring of Fire, rather than expand its reach.

“That's really the only thing I think he disagrees with us on,” O'Dette said.

Sudbury Chamber of Commerce chair Karen Hourtovenko said she is in full agreement with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce report, and added it is important to draw attention to the challenges faced by the mining industry.

“When you're low you have to come back up,” she said. “We can't sit back and wait for it to happen.”

Hourtovenko said industrial electricity rates, which have increased by 16 percent over the past few years and are expected to continue to rise for the foreseeable future, also need to be addressed.

But she said the province's decision to make the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate program a permanent fixture was a positive step.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has published its report just weeks before the provincial government is expected to release its updated mineral development strategy.

O'Dette said he hopes the report can still influence that strategy, and convince the government to implement some of its recommendations.