Ontario MPP John Vanthof - Mining, Infrastructure and Treasure in Northern Ontario. — Transcript

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1. 0:01[music]
2. 0:07>> Now, when a national treasure hunt lands
3. 0:09almost on your doorstep, it tends to get
4. 0:11your attention. Ontario MPP John Vanthof
5. 0:15recently stood up at Queen's Park to
6. 0:17celebrate the Northern Mines Great
7. 0:19Canadian Treasure Hunt after one of the
8. 0:21prizes was discovered just outside his
9. 0:24home or his own hometown of Cobalt.
10. 0:28Well, he joins us now to talk about that
11. 0:30moment of excitement and what it says
12. 0:32about Northern Ontario's mining story
13. 0:35and why the roads that connect those
14. 0:37communities matter more than ever.
15. 0:39John, thanks very much indeed for
16. 0:41chatting to us.
17. 0:44Uh thanks for reaching out.
18. 0:46Well, look, I got I got to start by
19. 0:47asking you when you realized one of the
20. 0:49treasure hunt prizes had been found just
21. 0:52outside Cobalt, practically your
22. 0:54backyard, how did you personally relate
23. 0:57to that moment? I mean, did it feel like
24. 0:59a win for the whole region, presumably?
25. 1:04Well, whenever something happens
26. 1:06in in your home territory and especially
27. 1:08so close to your home
28. 1:10and in a in a that
29. 1:13uh
30. 1:14is part of an industry that's so
31. 1:15important to your area, I thought it was
32. 1:17something that I need to let the
33. 1:19legislature know about and need to let
34. 1:21them know about the importance of the
35. 1:23mining sector in in the province.
36. 1:26You're quite right because the treasure
37. 1:27hunt has clearly struck a nerve across
38. 1:30the country. I mean, from your
39. 1:31perspective, what does this kind of
40. 1:34excitement say about Canadians'
41. 1:36connection to mining exploration
42. 1:39and the north?
43. 1:42Well, one thing in my area where I live,
44. 1:46everyone knows the importance of mining
45. 1:48because everyone has family who is part
46. 1:52[clears throat] of the sector or is in
47. 1:53the sector. But sometimes when I'm in in
48. 1:57Queen's Park in Toronto, the the the
49. 1:59knowledge isn't as high.
50. 2:01You know, it's it it just and I thought
51. 2:03the the treasure hunt was it's a great
52. 2:05idea. It was a way to bring bring people
53. 2:09personally into the mining sector by
54. 2:11thinking about, you know, and not maybe
55. 2:14winning, but but thinking about what it
56. 2:16would be like to win.
57. 2:18And you know, you've said you've said
58. 2:19many times before that discovery doesn't
59. 2:23happen in isolation, right? It depends
60. 2:25on access. I mean, how critical are
61. 2:27highways 11 and 17 right now in making
62. 2:30sure Northern Ontario's mining sector
63. 2:33can actually grow?
64. 2:37Um I think the highways in the north are
65. 2:41the number one subject number one issue
66. 2:44and not just for mining, for everything.
67. 2:46What people in a lot of the other parts
68. 2:48of the province don't realize is that
69. 2:50they're also our main streets. So, when
70. 2:52people people who work in our mines,
71. 2:54when they need to go to work, they're on
72. 2:56the highways. But also, when they need
73. 2:58to take their kids to hockey, when we
74. 3:00need to get groceries, when we we are on
75. 3:03those northern highways and we're
76. 3:05sharing them with Trans-Canada truck
77. 3:07traffic and that's what a lot of people
78. 3:09don't understand. It's the route that
79. 3:11that connects our country.
80. 3:13One of the reasons why, presumably,
81. 3:15you're pushing for some concrete
82. 3:16changes, right? Returning road
83. 3:18maintenance to the Ministry of
84. 3:20Transportation for one, dedicated OPP
85. 3:22traffic enforcement.
86. 3:24I mean, no doubt this will will will
87. 3:27change day-to-day realities for mining
88. 3:29companies as well.
89. 3:33Oh,
90. 3:34absolutely so. I I've actually talked to
91. 3:36the managers of our some of our local
92. 3:38mines who have the same issues that we
93. 3:41do. It it We need We need to redesign
94. 3:44the northern part of our Trans-Canada
95. 3:46route and rebuild it, but that will take
96. 3:48years and years. And and no one is more
97. 3:50cognizant of that than a mining company,
98. 3:53they long-term investment and how big an
99. 3:55investment, but there are things we
100. 3:57could do today that would make an
101. 4:00immediate difference for the safety of
102. 4:03not only mine employees and their
103. 4:04families, but everyone who lives in the
104. 4:06north. There There are things that can
105. 4:08make a big difference.
106. 4:11And and it really does make economic
107. 4:13sense to get those things right, doesn't
108. 4:15it? I mean, the mining companies, for
109. 4:16example, when you speak to them, talk
110. 4:18about fewer closures,
111. 4:20uh you know, from preventable accidents.
112. 4:23One of the key reasons why accessibility
113. 4:25is so important in this economic
114. 4:27equation.
115. 4:30Yeah, 100%. I bring this I've brought
116. 4:32this statistic up in the legislature a
117. 4:34few times. So, from January 1st, 2025 to
118. 4:39the end of September 2025, the stretch
119. 4:41of Highway 11 between North Bay and
120. 4:44Cochrane, which is a critical stretch,
121. 4:47or was
122. 4:49closed portions of were closed for 32
123. 4:52days.
124. 4:53Now, how if you think about it, when
125. 4:56you're getting supplies, when you're,
126. 4:58you know, how can you that has got to
127. 5:02cost there's millions and millions of
128. 5:04millions of dollars of lost
129. 5:07a lost economic opportunity there.
130. 5:10And that we the province needs to look
131. 5:13at this and say, "Okay, how how can we
132. 5:16make sure that this is going to stop?" A
133. 5:19big issue that the province is talking
134. 5:21about a lot is the Ring of Fire, right?
135. 5:23That's also a mining
136. 5:25uh a big mining project.
137. 5:27And it is a big I I little sometimes I I
138. 5:30get a little bit upset about the Ring of
139. 5:31Fire, honestly, because there's so many
140. 5:34other sites in the mining sector that
141. 5:38are ex-super important. So, it's not
142. 5:40just the Ring of Fire, right? So, the
143. 5:42mining in my area is is big. But
144. 5:46to get to the Ring of Fire, they want to
145. 5:48build a road, but that road
146. 5:50it eventually is going to come on to the
147. 5:53Trans-Canada under on Highway 11 and 17.
148. 5:56So, that's going to put even more
149. 5:59pressure.
150. 6:00Right? So, they need to do they need to
151. 6:03the government needs to give the road
152. 6:06the respect that it is it is the
153. 6:08Trans-Canada Highway, it connects our
154. 6:10country, it connects Northern Ontario to
155. 6:13the south and to east and west and it
156. 6:15needs to be given that respect so that
157. 6:18not only mining companies, but
158. 6:19especially mining companies can can
159. 6:22flourish.
160. 6:23And I see that because you've been
161. 6:24calling for that to be treated as an
162. 6:26issue of provincial significance, right?
163. 6:28What's at stake if that modernization
164. 6:30doesn't happen and what's possible if it
165. 6:33does?
166. 6:34Um
167. 6:35I think what what's at stake I've I've
168. 6:38some um economic opportunities are going
169. 6:41to be lost. Some are never going to
170. 6:44reach their full potential.
171. 6:46Um I always speak about economic
172. 6:48opportunities, but
173. 6:49also, you know, families' lives. This is
174. 6:53more important. The families' lives are
175. 6:56con- con- going to continue to be
176. 6:59needlessly impacted. You know, people
177. 7:01are going to
178. 7:02needlessly pay the ultimate price.
179. 7:05If you look at the Trans-Canada system
180. 7:09from
181. 7:10um east to west, the only part
182. 7:15where the Trans-Canada Highway is not
183. 7:17divided four lane is Northern Ontario.
184. 7:21Now, why is that? And no one knows more
185. 7:24than the mining industry how much
186. 7:27economic potential has already come from
187. 7:30Northern Ontario and how much can come
188. 7:33from Northern Ontario.
189. 7:34So, why
190. 7:36isn't the highway system that supports
191. 7:39those mines, supports the families,
192. 7:41supports the other industries cuz
193. 7:43Northern Ontario isn't a one-trick pony.
194. 7:45Mining is a big part of it, but it's not
195. 7:47the only part.
196. 7:49Why isn't it given the not only the
197. 7:52respect, but why does the government see
198. 7:55the economic potential that that project
199. 7:57would create? Yeah, but just finally, as
200. 7:59we as we wrap up here, if there was one
201. 8:01single sharpened call that you would
202. 8:03make the federal government here on that
203. 8:05issue, what would it be?
204. 8:07I think in a time in a We are now in a
205. 8:10time of crisis and it's a and I think
206. 8:13actually the federal government
207. 8:14understands more than the province. I
208. 8:17think in a time of crisis, this is a
209. 8:19time to unite Canada and the the one of
210. 8:23the weakest links in our Canadian system
211. 8:26in our in our infrastructure system is
212. 8:29the northern part of Highway 11 17 in
213. 8:32Northern Ontario. It's a single lane,
214. 8:36you know, 1950
215. 8:381950s basically country road that
216. 8:43is
217. 8:44attaches our country together and every
218. 8:46chain is determined by its weakest link
219. 8:49and in our road system, our Trans-Canada
220. 8:51road system, that road is definitely the
221. 8:54weakest link.
222. 8:55>> Yep. Well, let's hope that the mines
223. 8:58continue to lift up Canada there,
224. 9:01John, because we've got much more prizes
225. 9:03to give away and we hope to have a fully
226. 9:05functioning, well, fertile mining
227. 9:08industry. It's been a pleasure chatting
228. 9:09to you, John Vanthof. Thanks very much
229. 9:11indeed for your time.
230. 9:14>> [music]