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March 3, 2010 - No. 46

Federal Budget

The Government, Economy and Our Accumulated Resources Must Serve the Well-Being of Canadians

Sudbury Rally
Our Resources Stay Here and Must Be Utilized in a Manner Beneficial to the Communities
Thursday, March 4 -- 9:00-11:00 am
Sudbury Airport

Buses from Timmins leave at 5:00 am and return at 6:00 pm. See details below.
Organized by Mine Mill Locals 598 and 599



Toronto Rally
Support Striking Vale Inco Workers in Sudbury,
Port Colborne and Voisey's Bay

Saturday, March 6 -- 3:00 pm
Metro Convention Centre. See details below.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Federal Budget
The Government, Economy and Our Accumulated Resources Must Serve the Well-Being of Canadians

Vale Inco
Hands Off Strikeforce 6500! Anti-Worker Mercenaries Have No Right of Anonymity -- Condemn Vale Inco's Attempt to Impose Censorship on Striking Workers - Dave Starbuck
• Sudbury News in Brief

Timmins, Ontario
Reply to Minister of Northern Development - Ben Lefebvre


Federal Budget

The Government, Economy and Our Accumulated Resources Must Serve the Well-Being of Canadians

Today, the third session of the 40th Parliament of Canada will commence with the Speech from the Throne, followed tomorrow, March 4 with a presentation of the federal budget.

For months in advance of this budget, the rich, their political representatives, ideologues and media pundits have argued back and forth that the federal deficit calls for either dramatic cuts to federally funded social programs or substantial tax increases -- or a combination of both.

These statements are bankrupt and bereft of any sense of social responsibility. Cutting social programs, increasing individual taxation and reducing corporate taxes are not solutions! Those in the ruling elite spouting this nonsense accept no responsibility for the present state of affairs yet would have Canadians believe the same people in power for decades and responsible for the current state of affairs are capable -- even interested -- in solving the problems of the economy in favour of the nation and people of Canada. Enough already!

Thirty years and more of similar anti-social measures by the federal and provincial levels of government have rendered the Canadian economy and society less stable and more susceptible to the effects of the repeated on-going crises of capitalism. What have these same policies solved since Mulroney, Rae, Harris, Chretien, Martin, Harper, Charest and others began their current anti-social crusade? They have made the situation worse as every Canadian knows from the wrecking of manufacturing, skyrocketing unemployment, increased social problems and economic crisis of the last years. What has been solved by these neo-liberal policies? Apparently, Canadians are back in a similar leaky boat of deficits and debt. Economic apologists for the rich are once again screaming about deficits, a "cumulative total of budget shortfalls will hit $164 billion by 2014," and the need for anti-social cutbacks, increased individual taxation and reduced corporate taxes. That's a tired old song. Canadians have already been through that history before and will not tolerate a farcical rerun!

Preparations for the Unwanted Farce Begin with a Staged Jousting Match Amongst the Ruling Elite

Canadians should be aware of a setup. A dark farce is being prepared where the people are forced to line up and argue for one or another neo-liberal bad policy of the rich: cutbacks and higher individual taxation versus a continuation of deficits and stimulus spending to pay the rich. A scenario is being prepared where stimulus spending to pay the rich inevitably leads to cutbacks in social programs and increased individual taxation. It must not pass!

Back in December, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said his government intended to continue "stimulus spending" in 2010 "to ensure the fragile economy makes a full recovery. But after that, the government will usher in a period of frugality intended to balance Ottawa's books again."

The big six banks and other monopolies have made it clear in the corporate media that they expect federal stimulus spending to continue to March 2011 and reach a total of $48 billion. This past January, the President and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, John Manley, as well as the CEO of the TD Bank and other members of the monopoly capitalist class engaged in verbal jousting with the Prime Minister's Office over the size and timing of these "stimulus measures" to pay the rich. Stimulus spending provides the private financial enterprises and others such as the auto and construction monopolies with huge infusions of capital and "investment opportunities" at a time when both have dried up because of the capitalist crisis.

At about the same time, the clamour for dramatic cuts to social programs and significant individual tax increases was being stoked. The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Kevin Page publicly criticized the Harper Conservative government saying, "We are going to have to take drastic measures, either spending reduction or tax increase, to get us back to [balanced budgets]."

The PBO harkened back to the kind of neo-liberal measures the Liberals and Conservatives at all government levels, and NDP provincial governments took at the beginning of the anti-social offensive and have continued more or less. The media reported that the PBO, "recalled how deficits in the 1970s and 1980s piled up to the breaking point in the early '90s when the country was spending 35 cents of every dollar in revenue on servicing public debt interest charges. By slashing government spending [the PBO said] including the controversial decision to reduce transfer payments [for social programs] to the provinces and increasing taxes, Liberal governments reduced the interest payment to 15 cents on every revenue dollar," which the PBO added was the acceptable path to travel. The PBO forgot to clarify that increased taxation was directed at individuals through such measures as the GST while corporations have seen their taxation continually reduced. Also, the PBO did not explain how the neo-liberal path already travelled has landed us back in the same situation where governments and media are once again screaming about deficits and debt, and proposing to repeat the attacks on social programs and the public service, increase individual taxation and continue to reduce corporate taxes. Should the people not conclude that something more profound is wrong with the relations within the socialized economy when a so-called business cycle is allowed to go up and down without radical measures to change the situation? Canadians have direct experience with the consequences of cutbacks to social programs and the public service, increases in individual taxation and reduction of corporate taxes. Canadians should not allow this farcical scenario to be played out again without opposition. Worker politicians should lead widespread discussion as to the causes of the economic crisis and an elaboration of a human-centred program to lift the country out of the crisis with policies and actions that favour the people. At the very least, workers and their allies must not allow a repeat of capital-centred policies that favour the rich and their monopolies under the hoax of combating deficits and debt for which they are responsible and from which they profit.

Drumbeat for a Repeat of the Old

In mid-January of this year Flaherty was still repeating his assertion, "Ottawa can over time balance its books without having to raise taxes or cut spending." Strange but true, that the drumbeat to escalate the anti-social offensive in the name of "balancing the budget" and dealing with the impact of the economic crisis are such that the Harper Conservatives, and former Mike Harris cabinet ministers like Jim Flaherty, are made to look like small "l" liberals! One media pundit declared, "The Harper Conservatives have so far shown little stomach for unpopular belt-tightening measures." ("Flaherty's deficit plan," Toronto Star, December 23, 2009) Wow! Leopards apparently do change their spots or is it the same leopard with a bad paint job?

At the end of January, Finance Minister Flaherty indicated the Harper Conservatives were indeed still on board the stimulus train of paying the rich. Following the annual gathering of the international financial oligarchy in Davos, Switzerland, Flaherty said, "We're all agreed internationally that we need to continue with our economic stimulus.... So we will continue to provide public-sector demand in the Canadian economy in 2010 and into the first quarter of 2011."

But wait a minute. Has the leopard stayed out too long in the rain? February 23, the same finance minister announced spending cuts will hit nearly all departments of the federal government in the March 4 budget and Stockwell Day, a notorious former neo-liberal cabinet minister in Alberta and Alliance Party leader, has been "tasked with finding ways to significantly cut federal program spending."

Same old faces, same old anti-social offensive but this time around the workers' opposition must put its collective foot firmly down and say, enough already: once is a tragedy, twice a farce. You guys didn't solve anything before with these anti-social policies. Cutbacks to social programs and the public service, increased individual taxation and reduced corporate taxes are not solutions! Workers and their allies will not allow them to pass! The people want a pro-social human-centred program that renews the economy in their favour.

Looking Back

One year has passed since the last federal budget but the task facing the Canadian people remains the same. At the time, January 22, 2009, TML wrote: "Canadians need the collective might of the federal government, economy and country's accumulated resources to defend their well-being in this economic crisis. Canadians cannot fend for themselves in an economy that is socialized in its essence. Canadians produce and live collectively. We have long ceased to be a pioneer people engaged in petty production based largely in the countryside and small settlements. The economic crisis has been well documented to have emerged from the internal structural contradictions of the socialized economy and its interconnections with the U.S. Empire. The crisis is not the fault of any individual. The people are not responsible for their unemployment or lack of personal resources to carry them through unemployment, retirement, illness or injury. Problems stemming from the crisis have arisen collectively from within the socialized economy and they must be confronted collectively using the combined resources and wealth of the country. Investments in social programs must be increased to meet the challenges of the economic crisis. Workers cannot be expected to be available to work when needed by owners of capital and then left to fend for themselves when they are too old, injured, sick or simply not needed. Resources must be made available to sustain all those who are unemployed for as long as necessary. Increased investments must be poured into public healthcare, education and the entire gamut of social programs to guarantee the rights of all. No one should be left without basic needs fulfilled at a Canadian standard. People have rights by virtue of being human. The federal budget should uphold those rights and guarantee them in practice."

Real Solutions Are Found in Renewing the Economy in Favour of the People!
Canadians Need and Want a Pro-Social Federal Budget!
Increase Funding for Social Programs! Stop Paying the Rich!

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Vale Inco
Hands Off Strikeforce 6500!

Anti-Worker Mercenaries Have No Right of Anonymity -- Condemn Vale Inco's Attempt to
Impose Censorship on Striking Workers

Stepping up its campaign to portray striking Vale Inco workers as individuals bent on "unlawful thuggery," Vale Inco has launched a lawsuit against United Steelworkers Local 6500, its president John Fera and two dozen executive board members and activists claiming $1 million in damages and a court order forcing the union to stop posting "all pictures and information relating to, about or belonging to Vale Inco employees, contractors and security personnel" on the local's website and the Strikeforce 6500 Facebook page. In addition, Vale Inco wants the court to allow it to "monitor the contents of all Facebook postings by the union and its members to ensure compliance with the order." Vale is also asking the court to order the union to disclose the identity of an anonymous contributor to those sites who uses the name "John Doe."

The lawsuit alleges the union and its members have published pictures and other information about anti-worker mercenaries and, "by doing so, they are arming their members with information, knowing and intending that it will be used to harass, intimidate, threaten and commit criminal and tortious (wrongful) acts against Vale Inco's employees, contractors and security personnel." Vale claims that individuals whose pictures have been posted, "have become targets of violence in the community: their property and homes have been vandalized; they have received anonymous phone threats at home; they have been threatened in the community and when crossing the picket lines." The lawsuit identifies the respondents as belonging to three groups: those who administer and control the union's website and Facebook pages; those who post personal information and threats; and those who use the posted information "to commit criminal and tortious acts." The company also claims union members have used information from the websites to "organize a rally outside the Comfort Inn, the hotel where security personnel are staying." As a result, the lawsuit states, "Vale Inco has been forced to hire security personnel to monitor and protect these contractors and employees' activities and homes, including hiring helicopters to transport many of these individuals across the picket lines."

Coming on the eve of the resumption of preliminary negotiations with a provincial mediator, this lawsuit shows that Vale Inco has no interest in negotiating a fair deal with its production and maintenance employees in Sudbury, Port Colborne or Voisey's Bay. It demonstrates that the aim of the company is to smash all resistance from the workers by targeting the leadership and activists to intimidate them from organizing an effective strike.

Anti-worker mercenaries (scabs in the vernacular) have no right to anonymity or freedom from ostracism. Anti-worker mercenaries at Vale Inco are traitors to their class, their community and their country. The fact that they cannot or will not carry out their treacherous activity in the light of day shows clearly that they are in the wrong. In Canada, when someone has a cause that is just, they will not hide their identity and sneak about. They will proclaim their cause actively before the whole world. As one Inco worker aptly describes it: "Something struck me last night as we watched some videos of past strikes and listened to speaker after speaker recounting the people involved in those strikes. There has never been a video or book about the glory and dignity of being a scab. You meet hundreds of people along the way who say that they were strikers in this strike or that strike but nobody ever admits to being a scab. Scabs hide their face when crossing the picket line or resort to helicopters to access our workplaces. Why? Because they know it is disgusting and shameful!"

"Vale might be throwing stones at a wasps' nest on this one," blogs another worker. "Are they not the ones that have hired AFI security sitting outside striking members' homes? Are they not the ones stalking family members of striking workers while they go do groceries and head out to the mall? Are they not the ones that are taking pictures of striking workers' teen daughters when they get off the school bus? Aren't AFI the ones taking video and pictures, as well as writing down licence plate numbers of everyday civilians while they go about their daily business?" Vale is also disregarding municipal bylaws at will. Day Construction mercenary trucks hauling ore at night have been the source of many complaints regarding noise infractions but Vale has determined that the bylaw is either unenforceable or the meagre fine is the cost of doing business. Similarly, Vale is bunking mercenaries in administrative buildings contrary to municipal bylaws so far with impunity.

If taking a photo of someone and publishing it is a crime, why is it that a few weeks ago a photo of a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) employee allegedly sleeping in a ticket booth was given front page coverage across the country and massive amounts of anti-worker propaganda accompanied it? If posting a picture of a person online is a crime then all the major newspapers and television networks are guilty of invasion of privacy. Why are they not then sued? If the USW Local 6500 workers are guilty of crimes worth $1 million, that TTC worker deserves tens or hundreds of millions in damages!

Vale Inco is seeking to blame the victim. It is Vale that has insisted on rewriting the terms and conditions of work in the mines, mill, smelter and refinery by demanding concessions on pension, bonus and seniority. It is Vale that forced Local 6500 members to strike or lose all dignity for themselves and coming generations, essentially locking out Local 6500. It is Vale that refuses to accept that labour is the source of added value and that labour has first claim on the wealth it produces.

Vale's claim that striking workers are violent boils down to one case in which the purported victim suffered no injuries requiring medical attention. The case is before the courts but Vale immediately fired the three accused to intimidate everyone. If, after nearly eight months of strike necessitated by the outrageous demands of the company, this is the only incident that Vale can point to, clearly there is no violence in the strike or in the community. Indeed, I commend the more than 3,000 striking workers for the patience shown in refusing to be drawn into provocations by the company and its agents.

The Strikeforce 6500 Facebook site has become a means by which Local 6500 members are waging a more effective strike. With more than 3,000 members, it is an important means of communication amongst the striking workers, their family and supporters. Information regarding developments in the strike, links to articles and commentaries, actions both advertised and unadvertised, reports from the line, factual response to rumours, photos, videos and discussions are found on the site. Strikeforce 6500 has built confidence and determination amongst its members. When paid Vale bloggers sought to undermine the open spirit of the site, they were exposed and driven off. The Local 6500 members and the community have built a forum to more effectively wage their defence struggle against Vale. This is what Vale hates and seeks to destroy. This is why they seek to monitor the group and impose censorship. This cannot be allowed to pass!

Down with Vale's Attempt to Impose Censorship on Striking Workers!
Hands Off Strikeforce 6500! All for One and One for All!

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Sudbury News in Brief

Sudbury City Council Urges Speedy OLRB Hearing

On February 24 the City of Greater Sudbury Council unanimously requested Mayor John Rodriguez to send a letter on behalf of council urging the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) to expedite a hearing into a bad-faith bargaining complaint filed against Vale Inco by the United Steelworkers. A hearing in Toronto into the complaint had been scheduled by the board for February 10 but it was postponed at the last minute until March 30. An OLRB official said the hearing date was changed to accommodate lawyers for both sides and that a six-week delay in rescheduling is not out of the ordinary.

Xstrata Nickel Office, Clerical and Technical Employees Reach Agreement

Members of USW Local 2020 Unit 6855 representing about 215 office, clerical and technical employees at Xstrata Nickel in Sudbury have reached a three-year collective agreement with the company. The employees, members of Local 2020 of the United Steelworkers, had been scheduled to strike at 12:01 am Monday, March 1. "Bargaining went to the very end but that was needed to ensure the new collective agreement met the expectations of our members," Gerry Loranger, area co-ordinator for the Steelworkers, said in a release.

The union's bargaining committee unanimously recommended acceptance of the contract. "I am quite confident that our members will be satisfied with the terms of the agreement we have reached with the company," said Marc Ayotte, Local 2020 vice president and Unit 6855 president. Last month, Xstrata and Mine Mill Local 598/CAW, extended its talks with the Anglo-Swiss miner five hours past a midnight January 31 deadline because the sides were making progress toward a no concessions contract which was reached and later accepted by the members.

Vale, Steelworkers Resume Preliminary Talks March 3

Representatives from Vale Inco and the Steelworkers are scheduled to meet again March 3 and 4 in their efforts to end the seven-month strike by more than 3,000 workers in Sudbury and Port Colborne, Ontario. The two sides met with arbitrator-mediator Kevin Burkett at a Toronto hotel February 27 and 28. Vale has been demanding concessions in pensions, nickel bonuses and seniority transfer rights. There have been no formal talks since early July, but lead negotiator Wayne Fraser, USW District 6 director, and Vale's Toronto lawyer Harvey Beresford have had informal discussions in recent weeks at the request of the company.

Standing Together Striking Back for a Stronger Future -- An Evening of Music and Stories in Support of United Steelworkers Local 6500



Top left: Peter Wade of USW Local 6500; top centre and right: local musical performers.
Bottom left: Women of Steel. Bottom right: Richard Paquin, President of Mine Mill Local 598/CAW.

More than three hundred people attended the "Standing Together Striking Back for a Stronger Future" benefit for striking Vale Inco workers at Fraser Auditorium at Laurentian University in Sudbury on February 27. The evening was organized by faculty in the Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy at Laurentian University.

The evening consisted of a lively combination of song, music, stories, photos and videos celebrating the resistance of the Inco workers and the Sudbury community to Vale's assault. The evening was emceed by Eric Delparte, representing USW 6500 and Jorge Virchez and Carol Kauppi of the Centre for Research in Social Justice and Policy. A slide display of hundreds of photos of the strike opened the evening followed by welcoming remarks by Rick Bertrand, vice-president of Local 6500. There were stories in support of Local 6500 from Kari Ann Cusack (Family Support Group for the Strike), Carolyn Egan (President of the United Steelworkers Toronto Area Council), Gary Kinsman (editor of Mine Mill Fights Back), Arja Lane (Wives Supporting the Strike, 1978-79), Richard Paquin (President of Mine Mill Local 598/CAW), Dewey Taylor from Ravenswood (Fort RAC), and Peter Wade (USW Local 6500).

There were musical performances by Stéphane Paquette, Billy John, Pascal and O.B., Ryan Levecque and the Women of Steel. Videos including "One Day Longer," a clip from "A Wives' Tale," and scenes from the present strike were also shown. Cherie MacDonald, an activist with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation urged participants to donate generously to support the strike fund. Thousands of dollars were raised, including one donation of more than $6,000 from OPSEU members.

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Calendar of Events

Thursday, March 4 -- 9:00-11:00 am
Sudbury Airport
Buses leave from Timmins at 5:00 am and return at 6:00 pm.

We are calling upon the government of Ontario to ensure the harvesting, and mining of our natural resources is a benefit to our communities by maintaining and creating jobs.

On March 4, Mick Davis, CEO of Xstrata PLC, the Minister of Northern Development and Mines for the government of Ontario, Michael Gravelle, Trevor Reid CFO Xstrata, Thras Moraitis, Executive General Manager, Group Strategy, and Corporate Affairs, Xstrata, and Ian Pearce, CEO, Xstrata Nickel will be at Nickel Rim South, for a ribbon cutting ceremony.

We are asking for people to show up at the airport for their arrival, we will have speakers from CAW Local 598, 599 Timmins, and Local 103 from the Ontario Northland Railway.

There will be a BBQ after the rally at the Falconbridge Community Center.

Let's Make Our Voices Heard and Show the Governments That Our Resources,
and Jobs must Stay Here!

Timmins Workers Take "Save Our Resources" Campaign to Sudbury

The next phase of the "Save Our Resources" campaign organized by Timmins Xstrata workers will be in Sudbury this Thursday. Mine Mill Local 599/CAW and MPP Gilles Bisson are calling upon people to use this opportunity to demand the Ontario Government assist Timmins in the fight to keep the Kidd Creek Met Site open. The CAW and the Save Our Resources Coalition have organized buses to head to Sudbury on Thursday to greet Mines Minister Michael Gravelle and top Xstrata officials at a mine opening ceremony (see above).

"We want to show both the government and the company how important the Xstrata facility in Timmins is to the people of the region. This is the community's golden opportunity to demonstrate it face to face," said Bisson.

Buses leave Timmins Square at 5:00 am and will return around 6:00 pm. There is no charge to get on the bus but officials need a head count. "Anyone wanting to join the rally should contact Brian Watson to confirm a seat before Wednesday at 10: 00 am by calling 266-5123," say organizers. Officials also advise that participants dress appropriately for an outside event.

* Note: A March 3 report in the Sudbury Star states that Xstrata has cancelled its "celebration" at the opening of the Nickel Rim South mine, because of the planned actions of the workers to hold the company to account for its anti-national anti-social activities. Nonetheless, the workers confirm that actions to put forward their demands will take place as planned.

Saturday, March 6 -- 3:00 pm
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Front St.
(between John and Simcoe) All welcome.
2:15 pm: bus leaves Steelworkers' Hall, 25 Cecil St.
2:15 pm: buses leave Ryerson, 55 Gould Street --
at the end of the Women's Day March.
4:30 pm till late: BBQ social for the strikers back at 25 Cecil St.,
after the downtown action is over.
Any questions? Call John Humphrey: 416-727-8583
To download poster click here (PDF).

Three years ago, Vale -- a giant multinational corporation, based in Brazil but operating worldwide -- was allowed to swallow up Inco. Now it has forced 4,000 miners and smelter workers in Sudbury, Port Colborne and Voisey's Bay out on strike. It's demanding huge rollbacks in pensions, nickel bonus and seniority rights. Our members have walked the line for 8 months already, no end in sight, with the company refusing to talk.

Having poisoned the social climate in these communities for years to come, this arrogant outfit is now sponsoring a conference at Toronto's Conference Centre, to boast about its allegedly 'wonderful' efforts to curb pollution.

They've even dared to hold it on International Women's Day.

How green is our Vale? Not very. How greedy is it? Beyond words. We'll send a message to the conference from sister and brother Steelworkers in Toronto. Stop this vicious attack on working families! Get back to the bargaining table! Canadians workers want and deserve a fair contract!

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Timmins, Ontario

Reply to Minister of Northern Development

Dear Editor,

It has become abundantly clear to anyone that has been paying attention, that the present Ontario Liberal government simply doesn't get it!

In his letter to the editor printed in the Timmins Daily Press on February 4th, Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle confirmed what was suspected all along. His Liberals care little about preserving good jobs that already exist in the North.

In fact, it has become increasingly obvious whose side he really is on and that is clearly not on the side of Northerners.

Make no mistake about it; Minister Gravelle's government is on the side of big business. His comments come across like we don't even know how the mining industry works.

Of course we share our mining resources with other provinces; we have done so for years. We have even smelted material from Europe and South America at the Kidd Metsite. We have become a very efficient and profitable custom feed facility over the last decade.

We are not proposing to stop the flow of material between provinces as Gravelle suggests, that would be biting off our noses to spite our own face.

However, we certainly are opposed to Xstrata's intention to shut down our copper smelter and zinc plant where real wealth is generated through jobs and taxes so this very profitable multi-national can make even more money in their plants in Quebec. That's the real issue Mr. Gravelle.

These are our resources and our livelihoods. Most Northerners are fed up with being ignored by Queen's Park and many of us are ready to fight for our heritage, for what we believe in.

The Coalition to Save the Metsite was created as a result of Xstrata's announcement but the vision of the Coalition goes far beyond Kidd.

I can't say enough to thank the editorial staff at the Timmins Daily Press for the courage they have shown in speaking out in support of the Coalition's efforts and against the arrogance of the McGuinty government policies for Northern Ontario.

As Charlie Angus has noted, we are witnessing the deliberate de- industrialization of Northern Ontario. What Premier McGuinty apparently wants to do is turn the North into a huge park where the rich and famous from around the globe can come to watch woodland caribou roam through our streets and rare breeds of turtles crawl across our lawns.

Well Mr. Premier, not at the cost of our jobs, not at the cost of our children's future, not at the cost of Northern Ontario!

* Ben Lefebre is bargaining unit chair, CAW Local 599.

The job loss that Timmins is facing with the closure of the Kidd Creek Metallurgical Complex is nothing short of tragic. I understand well the impact of job losses like these on a community as virtually all the communities in my riding of Thunder Bay-Superior North have faced closures and layoffs over the past few years.

Unfortunately there are no easy solutions. We have been asked to change the Mining Act to force companies that mine in Ontario to process their ore here. We are also hearing a lot of negative talk about foreign companies operating in Ontario. This certainly brings about some concerns, which I would like to discuss here.

There is no denying that mining is a global business. Most Canadian mining companies both mine and process minerals in other jurisdictions. At the end of 2006, according to Statistics Canada, Canadian mining companies had $62 billion in direct investment abroad, while foreign firms had $38 billion invested in Canada.

In the Mining Association of Canada's (MAC) January 2008 submission to the Competition Policy Review Panel they note that: "it would be delicate, if not hypocritical, to call for restrictions limiting foreign investment in Canada when Canadian companies such as Barrick, Goldcorp, Teck Cominco, Cameco, Kinross and many others are actively investing and acquiring assets in foreign countries."

MAC in the same paper also notes that they support in general "a free and open flow of direct investment -- where the government's main role is to ensure the fairness and openness of two-way flows. Foreign investment flows -- inward and outward -- enhance the access of Canadian businesses to new technologies, to fresh ideas and concepts, and to larger markets and production chains."

While it may be hard to see it now, we do benefit in many ways from foreign investment.

It is also important to note that the vast majority of minerals mined in Ontario are indeed processed here. An example is that almost 100% of nickel mined in Ontario is smelted here and 85% is refined here.

Ontario is also the beneficiary of the free movement of minerals within our country and others. We currently process minerals mined in Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, the U.S. and even Peru, Chile and Australia. In fact, approximately 50% of the material processed at Xstrata's Falconbridge Smelter in Sudbury which employs 317 people comes from other jurisdictions (40% from Quebec, 10% from Newfoundland).

No province in Canada has a law that states minerals must be processed in that province. Newfoundland has a clause that they can choose to invoke to force a company to process in the province but exemptions are available. A common misconception is that all materials from Voisey's Bay have to be processed in Newfoundland when in fact some materials come to Sudbury for processing.

If we close our doors, other jurisdictions will certainly close theirs to us. If that happened, would it be feasible for the Xstrata smelter in Sudbury to stay open at only half capacity? What about Kidd Creek? Twenty-five percent of the ore going to the copper smelter at Kidd Creek is currently coming from out of province, and the same goes for the zinc smelter. If we forced Xstrata to process in the province, and that caused other jurisdictions to retaliate by not sending their ore here to process, would it be feasible to keep operating at 75% (or less) capacity in each smelter? If they couldn't operate the smelter economically and had to shut it down then where would they send their copper for processing? Would they just shut the whole mine down?

The situation in Timmins is a terrible one no doubt, but we need to think not only of today's jobs but the jobs of the future. We have great potential here in Ontario. We need to continue to make Ontario a world class place to do business. If we, by law, make it too difficult for companies to do business here, then they won't. We can't just trade one set of job losses for another.

My heart is with all the families that are affected. Be assured that I will continue to look for ways that we can make Ontario's mining sector more competitive so that more jobs are created in our communities.

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