Are We Failing Our Future? Seen an Unprecedented POLITICAL Sibility of the Federal Gov

10 NORTHERN LIFE, FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2006 EDITORIAL PAGE GREATER SUDBURY’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER. Northern Life is Northern Life is a member of the Canadian Community published every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Laurentian Newspaper Association, the Ontario Community Newspaper Publishing Limited, 158 Elgin Street, Sudbury, Ontario, P3E 3N5. Association, the Suburban Newspapers of America, the Phone: (705) 673-5667 or Fax: 673-4652; Editorial/Briefs Fax: International Newspaper Marketing Association and the Sudbury MICHAEL R. ATKINS President ABBAS HOMAYED Publisher 673-4352. E-mail: [email protected] Homebuilder’s Association. Canadian Publications Mail Sales KARSTEN JOHANSEN Associate Publisher VICKI GILHULA Editor KIM ROCHON CGA Corporate Controller Classified Department Fax: 673-3904. Product Agreement No. 086185 (ISSN) 0700-527X Government on northerners’ side ver the past year, we’ve review process is the respon- Are we failing our future? seen an unprecedented POLITICAL sibility of the federal gov- S UDBUR level of activity on the ernment, and I must respect Y WEAT HER: MIX OF MATTERS atural resources and who should own and SUN AN D CLOU D. 40 P ERCEN mining front. High their jurisdiction. T CHA GREATER SUDBU NCE OF SH control them for the long-term betterment OWERS, H RY’S COMMUNITYIGH 23 NEWSPAPER Ocommodity prices have It’s our job, however, to of all is a big topic these days, especially in N fueled the biggest boom in ensure the federal govern- ORTHER www.n the Sudbury area. orthernli 20 years. As a result, compa- ment is aware of Ontario’s fe.ca Twenty years ago those who were WEDNE N L SDAY EDITION IFE nies are seeking to secure and the provincial mineral N in the corporate world Jul y 5, 2006 75 ce nts, GST their long-term sustain- sector’s interests and con- included FALCON wined and dined the BRIDGE ability through mergers and cerns, to help guide its deci- OTHER lawmakers and cre- acquisitions. sion-making. We also expect ated free trade deals Ontario, with its strong the concerns of local com- VOICES Who willwill speak speak that expanded foreign for investment climate and munities will be considered. investment into Can- for flourishing mineral sector, The Ontario government ada. Money is what Sudbury? has become the focal point has been working very hard RICK BARTOLUCCI makes the world go See pages 6 - 7 for a number of significant to make sure this province’s round, right! proposed deals. position is clearly under- They proclaimed As expected, there has been much stood by the federal government. that foreign invest- debate and speculation on the part of Most recently, I have taken the extra ment and free trade economists, market analysts and the step of writing personally to Maxime was the way of the IN PHOTOGRAPHY Prime Minister media, as to how these deals could Bernier, minister of Industry Canada, of Canada Minister ERIK LOV future that could of Stephen Harper Industry MPP Nickel unfold. to explain Ontario’s expectations for Maxime Bernier Shelley Martel Diane Marleau RickBelt Grylls Vicki Smith MP Sudbury best produce the CAW But for the people and communi- any companies wishing to do business Chair most growth and Chamber of Commerce Ontario RICK GRYLLS Premier ties of Northern Ontario, there is a lot here. Mines wealth for the Minister Dalton McGuinty R Mayor Greater more at stake than market share. These include: ic k Bartolu Sudbury MP country. cci Nickel David Courtemanche Ray Bonin John Fe Belt Steel ■ Workers Our jobs, our opportunities and our Creating and protecting jobs in SAMS In hindsight, many disagree today, as SA aDicra hopes for lasting economic prosperity the mineral sector; many did then. They were not the best laws, and k DeStefano ■ are clearly top of mind for you and Advancing our research and for the real long-term security of Canadians, our most certainly are top of mind for me, development capabilities; elected governments should maintain control of In February we held a forum on the merger, ■ as Northern Development and Mines Retaining head offices and finan- our natural resources. again calling on regulators to improve the laws minister, and the McGuinty govern- cial and corporate services in Ontario; How many Canadian lumber companies have against foreign ownership control. We again ■ ment. Strengthening the TSX and been sold to American and other foreign inves- stated that the governments of Canada must That’s why I think it’s important Toronto as a global center for mining tors, leaving a tsunami of closed mills? How review the practice of giving away our natural for Ontarians to understand our role investment; many millions of acres of Northern Ontario resources without rules and regulations for the ■ and what we’ve being doing to ensure Increasing exploration and devel- lumber rights belong to Americans? They now long-term development of Canada. Ontario’s interests are heard loud and opment; ship the logs straight to American mills, while We publicly called on Inco and Falconbridge ■ clear. Supporting our mining supply our northern towns suffer high unemployment to answer our eight points on the merger. We The process is complex and involves and service companies; with youth and adults forced to move away from also publicly stated the bidding was not over ■ many players. First, before any take- Ensuring environmental and their homes. and openly predicted Teck Cominco and others over transactions are completed, social responsibility; In the late 1980s on behalf of the members that were sitting in the wings would get into the ■ the offers still need to be approved Maximizing opportunities for of my union, I stood before city council, I wrote courtship of the Sudbury mineral ore body. We by shareholders. Approvals are also Ontario’s aboriginal people and north- to local politicians, and challenged Inco and Fal- understand and have a very clear view of what required from competition authorities ern youth. conbridge to make a deal that would allow an ore is happening here, in the stock markets and in in Canada, the United States, and the body beside East Mine, to switch hands, to save corporate lobbying. European Union. I believe these key elements are 250 mining jobs here in Sudbury. Every one basi- Let’s set the record straight. The CAW has set In Canada, the lead for reviewing vital to our future prosperity and to the cally shrugged their shoulders, except the local conditions we believe should be met, including large transactions involving the acqui- well-being of our mining companies. NDP members who supported the Mine Mill 598 full funding of any pension plans and a long- sition of a Canadian business by a non- And, as the leading jurisdiction position. term development commitments before we sup- Canadian, is the federal government in Canada, and indeed one of the Our argument was that the ore body of the port the merger. These conditions have not been through Industry Canada. leading mining jurisdictions in the Sudbury Basin is non-renewable and nothing of reached. We are urging Canadians to stand up It’s Industry Canada’s job to deter- world, Ontario’s interests are also key value should be left in the ground. The govern- and fight for the future of Canada by controlling mine whether the acquisition is of net to achieving national priorities for a ment should pass laws to make sure we maxi- Canada’s natural resources with better laws and benefit to the country. robust and dynamic minerals sector. mize our natural resources for the long term regulations. The Investment Canada Act sets Our government is on the side of development of the communities of Canada and Since Oct. 11, 2005 we have communicated to out the considerations to be addressed northerners and all Ontarians who for the future generations that will follow us into all levels of government regarding the control in assessing the net benefit of such depend on the mining sector and we this world. But East Mine closed, 250 jobs were of our natural resources. We only get shoulder transactions and the specific process, will continue to make sure your voice is lost and that ore body remains wasted in terms shrugs and silence from every level of Sudbury including confidentiality provisions, to heard and our province’s interests are of potential Canadian betterment. political representation on this issue. protect not only commercially sensitive considered. On Oct. 11, 2005 a Mine Mill 598/CAW news You have to wonder why our political lead- information, but also to not influence release stated this merger, in a mining sense, had ers refuse to take action to protect our natural Rick Bartolucci is the minister of shareholders or interfere with the many advantages by joining the superior Fal- resources. Is there corporate lobbying going on Northern Development and Mines. competitive process. Ultimately, the bid conbridge process knowledge used in its smelter in Sudbury? and milling, the adjoining ore bodies that could After 139 years as a sovereign nation, do you be easily put into production, and the use of the not think Canada should be old enough to con- THIS WEEK IN HISTORY Timmins copper smelter. trol and develop our natural resources for the We were cautious about the short and long- betterment of all Canadians, present and future? term effect on the employees, our community We want long-term commitments from whoever This week in 1914 (July 28) Austria- officially opened the Trans-Canada and local mining suppliers. We reminded all that owns the minerals of the Sudbury Basin. But we Hungary declared war on Serbia, one Highway to traffic at Rogers Pass, B.C., unions bargain on behalf of our members and also really believe that Canada is strong enough month to the day after Archduke Franz this week in 1962.

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