On March 4, 2019, the Government of Ontario announced the creation of a special Mining Group focused on reducing red tape and attracting new investments.
Premier Doug Ford and Greg Rickford, Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, highlighted that this new group brings together industry representatives who reflect the diversity and strength of Ontario’s mining sector.
OSPE is thrilled to note that the following professional engineers and engineering graduates are part of Ontario’s Mining Working Group:
- Marc Boissonneault, P. Eng., Head of Global Nickel Assets, Glencore
- Renaud Adams, P.Eng., Director, President and CEO, New Gold
- Mike McCann, B.Eng., Head of Mining and Milling, North Atlantic Operations, Vale
- Tony Makuch, M. Eng., President and CEO, Kirkland Lake Gold
OSPE has consistently advocated that this group must include members of the engineering community. Without technically sound input from knowledge-based experts, particularly engineers, any policies in this field will be sub-optimized and will fall short of the high standards that we need to set in this province.
OSPE believes it is important that the government gather industry experts and develop concrete steps for identifying opportunities for growth, competitiveness and prosperity in the mining sector. OSPE also encourages the development of Ontario’s Ring of Fire mining region, since it represents a $60 billion multi-generational economic opportunity and nation-building project, in which engineers should be involved in almost every facet.
With the establishment of this working group, OSPE will continue to monitor the government’s next steps and the critical role engineers will play in the development of mining policies in Ontario.
