[ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
OTTAWA \u2014 An ongoing trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s hunger for critical minerals have brought Canada\u2019s rich mineral deposits into the spotlight, with federal and provincial politicians promising to accelerate natural resource projects.<\/p>\n
Interest in the country\u2019s critical minerals surged after Trump started musing about annexing Canada, experts say, and grew as the president\u2019s global trade war intensified.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is now a domestic conversation about how we treat natural resources or natural resource development projects here in Canada,\u201d said Elizabeth Steyn, a mining and finance law expert at the University of Calgary.<\/p>\n
A key element of that conversation is northern Ontario\u2019s mineral-rich Ring of Fire, a region spanning roughly 5,000 kilometres where vast reserves of nickel, chromite, zinc, platinum, copper and many other critical minerals are believed to be buried.<\/p>\n
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said that his government would aim to approve all federal permits for mining in the Ring of Fire region within six months, and commit $1 billion to build a road network to help facilitate that.<\/p>\n
As part of his promises to invest in critical minerals, Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said that he would work \u201cvery closely\u201d with the Ontario government to \u201crapidly\u201d develop the Ring of Fire.<\/p>\n
Ontario\u2019s government tabled legislation recently aimed at speeding up the development of mines \u2014 and other large-scale projects \u2014 by designating some of them as \u201cspecial economic zones.\u201d The Ring of Fire will be one such zone.<\/p>\n
Premier Doug Ford said the need to fast-track mining projects is a direct response to Trump\u2019s threats.<\/p>\n
But Ontario\u2019s move has triggered concerns from Indigenous groups who say any Ring of Fire developments must include consultations with First Nations and respect their rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge the provincial government to commit to genuine, nation-to-nation dialogue grounded in the recognition of First Nations\u2019 jurisdiction, consent, and shared prosperity,\u201d the Chiefs of Ontario said in a news release before the bill was tabled.<\/p>\n
Sol Mamakwa, the New Democrat who represents the riding of Kiiwetinoong where the Ring of Fire is located, said the province is continuing its long tradition of dividing First Nations in order to conquer them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur lands are not for sale,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you want to do any work, you\u2019ve got to do the proper relationship process of acknowledging the treaties that we have with the Crown. We\u2019re supposed to share the benefits of the resources that are there and this government has failed miserably over the last seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mamakwa warned the province\u2019s rush to mine the north will meet resistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot use a tariff war, a tariff issue with the United States of America to override the rights of the First Nations people that live in these lands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The urgency surrounding natural resource development also stems from Trump\u2019s musings about annexing Canada and making it the 51st state, both before and after his January inauguration.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s comments were broadly downplayed as a joke at first. But in comments captured by a hot microphone and widely reported by Canadian media, former prime minister Justin Trudeau told a crowd of business leaders in early February that Trump\u2019s threats are real and motivated by a desire to absorb our resources.<\/p>\n
Carney echoed Trudeau\u2019s concerns after he won the Liberal leadership race last month, saying that Americans \u201cwant our resources, our water, our land, our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s rhetoric seemed to cool off after an initial call with the newly sworn-in prime minister last month, but he and his White House brought back the notion of a 51st state this week.<\/p>\n
Steyn, the University of Calgary professor, agreed that Trump\u2019s comments are partly motivated by the United States\u2019 need to transform its energy and digital sectors, as well as boost national security by accessing more critical minerals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we are being put under economic pressure as a way to soften us up for a kind of reciprocal mineral deal,\u201d she said, adding that Trump\u2019s advisers would \u201ccertainly\u201d have knowledge of the Ring of Fire deposits.<\/p>\n
Trump signed an executive order this week to start an investigation into all U.S. critical minerals imports, which could set the stage for new tariffs and put pressure on China, which restricted its exports of rare earth minerals in response to American tariffs.<\/p>\n
He had previously signed another order to increase the production of domestic critical minerals, and the U.S. administration is currently negotiating critical minerals deals with Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo \u2014 both war-torn countries.<\/p>\n
The United States is one of the largest importers of gallium, niobium, aluminum, palladium, platinum and dozens of other minerals the country deems crucial to its economic development and industries such as renewable energy, electronics and military technology.<\/p>\n
Canada, on the other hand, is a mining country with a rich supply of minerals buried in the ground \u2014 though the Ring of Fire, in particular, remains in development with few active mines and years-long timelines for new projects. Canadian companies also have mining operations elsewhere in the world.<\/p>\n
The fact that Trump has imposed lower tariffs on energy materials from Canada, such as uranium and potash, shows he knows the importance of Canadian minerals, Steyn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada is the storehouse of every one of the critical minerals that American industry needs. Every one of them. And yet, we don\u2019t ever hear about that,\u201d said Michigan-based Jack Lifton, co-chair of the Critical Mineral Institute, a global organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what Washington thinks about this, but I don\u2019t think they realize that Canada is the solution to the problem, not the problem,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
China has so far been the largest supplier and exporter of critical mineral resources in the world. Like Americans, Europeans are trying to find alternative sources for their needs and Canada has the potential to fill that gap, said Ian London, executive director at Canadian Critical Minerals and Materials Alliance.<\/p>\n
London argued Canada\u2019s mining sector should break away from selling raw minerals and instead use them to build an advanced domestic manufacturing industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy counterargument is I want to re-industrialize Canada\u2019s value chains and industrial and export economic base,\u201d he said. \u201cWhy would we just take it out of the ground and give it to others who would then, you know, add (value) there, but we buy back the finished product? (It) makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
China has built companies, universities and research centres around its mining industry, in the process becoming the largest producer of electronic goods and electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
London said current tensions with the United States have provided an opportunity for Canada to do exactly that.<\/p>\n
Building up Canada\u2019s own critical minerals industry would come with some short-term pain, but Canadians shouldn\u2019t give in, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should not give this country away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tracy Hughes, the executive director of the Critical Mineral Institute, said given the United States\u2019 economic reliance on minerals, it is not clear why the country is alienating a next-door neighbour that possesses so much of what they need.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a dark comedy that is taking place right now, is how I would describe it,\u201d she said of the tariff war.<\/p>\n
Hughes said whoever becomes Canada\u2019s prime minister after the federal election should negotiate a mineral deal with the Trump administration, which could clear the path toward a renegotiated trade agreement between two countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring the two leaders together, create a critical mineral agreement, and then we can figure out the rest,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u00a92025 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n