Page 16 Contd on pg 18 W ith the seemingly antidevelopment Liberal government frmly in its rear view mirror domestic and interna tional mining companies are looking forward to a new regulatory regime in Ontario under Doug Ford s PC gov ernment The Fraser Institute worldrenowned economic thinktank provides annual glimpses into jurisdictional attractive ness The Institute Survey of Min ing Companies rates 91 jurisdictions around the world based on their geo logic attractiveness for mine rals and metals and the extent to which gov ernment policies encourage or deter exploration and investment Finland ranks as the most attractive jurisdic tion in the world for mining invest ment followed by Saskatchewan Quebec and Ontario are rank in the top ten globally On one of the dimensions of permit times that the institute asked respon dents to assesshow long it takes to receive the necessary permits 85 of respondents in Quebec 71 of respondents in Ontario and 61 of respondents in British Columbia indi cated that they received the necessary permits in six months or less Canadian jurisdictions on average performed better on this measure when compared to competing jurisdictions Notwithstanding the relativ e attrac tiveness for Canada Ontario has slipped over the years Mining Life wanted to ask two ques tions of Ontario s new Mines Min ister Greg Rickford He didn t have time to speak with us so his Press Secretary provided these responses to our two questions 1 Ontario has seen a steady degra dation of its standing as an attrac tive jurisdiction to conduct explo ration and development What is the government s plan to r everse this tr end and what specifcally does Minister Rickford intend to do to lead this pr ocess Ontario is fortunate to be rich in mineral resources supporting our renowned mining industry Min eral production in Ontario supports 26000 direct jobs and 50000 mineral manufacturing and processing jobs Ontario s mining industry is not only a major economic engine in the north but it supports local economie s across the province and is a key driver of the provincial economy as a whole W e are committed to supporting our min ing industry and we are committed to unlocking the incredible opportuni ties that exist in our northern regions Ontario was once the leader for min ing exploration spending in Canada In 2017 the province fell to second place and is expected to remain in second for 2018 Ontario can and must do better Our government will work with industry and Indigenous partners to address key issues fac ing Ontario s mining and exploration sector including cutting red tape and curbing ener gy costs 2 One of the common challenges facing exploration companies in Ontario is over r egulation Is the ministry actively r eviewing those r egulations and if so please be spe cifc about the r egulations that ar e identifed as most concerning Our government will continue to take concrete measures to make Ontario open for business grow the economy and help create and protect good jobs in northern Ontario and across the province Ontario is lowering taxes reducing regulatory burden and mak ing life easier for people and busi nesses who want to invest in the north Part of our plan to make it easier to do business in Ontario is establishing a special mining group that will focus on speeding up regulatory approvals and attracting major new investments W e look forward to insight from the group that will help us cut red tape and drive new mineral development IAMGOLD CEO Stephen Letwin has some insight In a presentatio n to the T immins Chamber of Commerce in late 2018 he told reporters afterwards that permitting in Ontario is a slow grinding process I am not going to turn this into a political talk but anything you could do to help us in the permitting with By Kevin V incent