What have been some of the key milestones achieved by the OMA in the last two years?

Ontario is blessed with commodities that are currently in demand and the market has been doing well, but in order to keep our industry thriving, we have to be competitive in the global arena. Ontario mining offers high wages and there are high costs associated with operating here. This makes it necessary for us to make gains on efficiency and productivity continually. Whenever we can make an improvement in our competitiveness and solidify our global leadership position, this can be considered a key milestone for the association. First and foremost, we’re continuing to make strides on our safety performance. Over the past 30 years, we’ve improved lost time injury frequency by 96%, making Ontario one of the safest mining jurisdictions in the world, and mining is one of the safest industries in Ontario. In 2016 and 2018, our industry met its zero-fatality objective – a significant achievement on our way to achieving zero harm. These kinds of successes are always the result of collaboration. We’re proud of the work we do with the government and other partners to build a world-class safety culture, and we are committed to collaborating on a number of other files that have a big impact. For instance, we’ve had a constructive dialogue with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board that resulted in the WSIB ending its Unfunded Liability charge, leading to a reduction in premium rates – a big boost for competitiveness. Energy is also a large component of our cost structure in Ontario, so we are working with the government to have industrial energy pricing that is more transparent, more predictable and lower cost. We’re also putting in programs and adopting new technologies to help reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions. Ontario miners are leading the way in, among other things, electrification and more efficient ventilation, and the OMA serves as a focal point for sharing these best practices and encouraging innovation.

How does the OMA’s “Meet the Miners” event bring together industry, government and communities to address pertinent issues?

We have a long history of working constructively with governments and communities of interest to build consensus on issues that matter to our industry and to the people of this province. For the past 41 years, OMA has hosted a Meet the Miners event at the Ontario Legislature. The day includes meetings, presentations by thought leaders, panels that tackle key challenges and opportunities facing the industry and a large reception. It is an opportunity for industry leaders to meet with policymakers and ministry staff, hear what their priorities are and to share our successes and concerns. This type of formal and informal learning, dialogue and relationship building is critical to aligning interests and creating shared success. The mining industry has exceptional potential to contribute to the provincial economy while supplying the world with the responsibly-mined minerals and metals it needs to enable innovation and address some of our most pressing environmental challenges. Meet the Miners is about making the connections between our policymakers’ objectives and what mining can deliver, provided we have good policies and governance structures in place.

How important is the mining industry to Ontario’s economy?

Mining is a key contributor to the province’s economy, as well as an engine for regional development and value-add generation. Though the number fluctuates with various commodity price changes, mining in Ontario has revenues of around C$10 billion per year ($10.1 billion in 2018), and makes significant tax contributions to all levels of government, which pay for public priorities like healthcare, education, infrastructure and supporting Ontarians’ standard of living.  The industry creates 26,000 direct jobs and approximately another 50,000 indirect jobs in mineral manufacturing and processing.  It is important to note that the average weekly wage in Ontario mining is 77% higher than the average industrial wage in the province, so these are good, high-paying jobs.  The impact of mining goes beyond mineral extraction and processing. Mining benefits all parts of the province and has links to other industries and sectors in the economy – including banking, geology, transportation, construction, legal services, environmental management, education, etc. So, it contributes to an economic multiplier effect. Last but not least, the minerals and metals we responsibly produce are irreplaceable components of daily life and modern technology. They are the building blocks that enable the construction of everything from life-saving medical devices to planet-saving clean technologies. As such, they are the foundation of Ontario's innovation-oriented, high-tech, creative economy.

Can you elaborate on the importance of strengthening relationships between mining companies and local communities?

Respectful, mutually-beneficial relationships with communities are crucial to the Ontario mining industry. Our licence to operate and our success depend on our ability to be good neighbors and to create sustainable value at the local level. We achieve this through proactive communication that engages community members. The objective is to build understanding and trust, while helping to identify opportunities for making a positive difference in people's lives. In addition to providing versatile, high-paying jobs, mining companies invest in infrastructure, education, vocational training, health care, cultural programs and environmental initiatives. We aim to trigger growth and diversification in the local economy. While important in any community, this approach is imperative in remote ones, where mining can have an outsized impact. Aligning interests and reconciling values with Indigenous communities is an important element in our relationship building. Over the last few decades, Indigenous-industry partnerships have evolved tremendously through the conclusion of various types of agreements related to mine development. These have proven to be successful in securing benefits for many Indigenous communities. We are working with the government to ensure that an equitable model for Resource Revenue Sharing further aligns community and industry interests and development goals.

Where would you like to see the Ontario Mining industry by the end of 2020?

We would like to see Ontario as the number one mining jurisdiction for capital, not only invested in operating mines, but also in juniors, as a robust mining cycle relies on vibrant mineral exploration that leads to discoveries, which can be turned into new mines. We want to make sure that everybody benefits from mining. In order for those benefits to flow, we have to be more competitive, and this means, first of all, having less red tape and more predictability and long-term certainty in energy prices.

As 2020 marks our association’s centennial, we also want more people in the province to discover and embrace all that our industry has become over the past 100 years – and all it has to offer. This is why we launched #ThisIsMining, a campaign that aims to surprise and inspire, motivating people to form opinions about our industry based on curiosity, discovery and engagement. We hope your readers follow this campaign on social media and add their voices to an emerging narrative on what mining means to this province.