After months of promising to update and modernize Ontario's Mining Act, the McGuinty government kicks off a round of public consultation sessions in three Northern Ontario cities this month.
The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines says the sessions are the first step in a public input approach that will involve discussions with the minerals industry, municipalities and other interested parties.
Land access issues for prospectors and geologists, as well as development of better consultation guidelines with First Nation communities figure to be prominent topics of discussion.
The first stop is Timmins at the Howard Johnson Inn on Aug. 11 followed by a session in Sudbury at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel, Aug. 13. On Monday, Aug. 18, the ministry group travels to Thunder Bay's Valhalla Inn, before heading east to Kingston's Radisson Hotel Harbourfront on Thursday Aug. 28. The public consultations finish in Toronto, Sept. 8 at a site yet to be announced.
A discussion paper will be posted next week on the ministry's web site. (www.mndm.gov.on.ca).
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