Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford highlighted his promise to speed up project approvals in the mineral-rich Ring of Fire on Saturday as he visited Northern Ontario on the last weekend of the provincial election campaign.
Speaking in Thunder Bay, Ford pointed to the critical minerals mined in the Ring of Fire region as Ontario's "ace in the hole" in the face of possible tariffs from the U.S., an issue he has put front and centre throughout the snap campaign.
"To protect Ontario, to give us maximum leverage on the global stage, we have to get our critical minerals out of the ground, processed and shipped to the factory floors here in Northern Ontario and across the province," he said.
Ford has said that a re-elected Progressive Conservative government would push Ottawa to remove "unnecessary federal barriers and red tape" from major projects under provincial jurisdiction in order to "unlock the enormous economic potential" of the Ring of Fire.
He also promised Saturday to pour money into two programs aimed at boosting First Nations' participation in projects in several sectors, including mining.
An additional $70 million will go to the Aboriginal Participation Fund, which would then be used to train First Nations workers so they can benefit directly from critical mineral development, he said.
The Progressive Conservative leader also announced $3 billion of new money toward a program meant to support First Nations equity participation, billed as a tripling of an existing loan guarantee program.
His government has made mining the Ring of Fire a key priority in an effort to build an end-to-end electric vehicle manufacturing chain in Ontario.
Ford called the election more than a year early, saying he needs a stronger mandate to protect Ontario's economy and deal with the next four years of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States. He has made two trips to Washington during the campaign.
The leaders of the other major parties have said the election is unnecessary given that Ford already held a majority and they would have supported stimulus measures in response to possible U.S. tariffs.
Ford was expected to visit Iroquois Falls and Timmins later Saturday.
The party leaders fanned out across the province Saturday as the campaign entered its last stretch before Thursday's vote.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner announced several proposals aimed at Ontario youth while campaigning in the Kitchener area, promising to eliminate all interest on student debt, decrease the voting age to 16 and bring down wait times for youth mental health services to 30 days or less.
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie cast an advance ballot in Mississauga on Saturday, with plans to canvass in several Toronto ridings over the course of the day.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles was set to make stops in Toronto and Kingston before holding an evening rally in Ottawa.
The Liberals and the NDP released their full platforms Friday with less than a week to go until election day, and the Progressive Conservatives are set to release theirs on Monday.
The Greens put out their platform on Feb. 12.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2025.
The Canadian Press
