Ring of Fire conference in Thunder Bay aims to examine environmental concerns

A one-day conference about the Ring of Fire, taking place Friday in Thunder Bay, is looking at how issues would be addressed before resources are extracted from the mineral-rich region.

Lakehead University's Faculty of Law and Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration is hosting thediscussion, which seeks to build on last year's conference.

Challenges including sustainable development, the duty to consult and impacts on First Nations communities must be considered and addressed before the extraction project begins, saidJasonMacLean, an assistant law professor atLakehead.

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"It would be putting the cart before the horse to speed ahead with the development of the project without ensuring that the project is going to be ecologically sustainable and respectful of indigenous rights,"MacLeansaid.

"We hope the conference will generate a candid and constructive discussion among the region's stakeholders about how to sustainably develop our natural resources,"MacLeansaid in a news release.

"Universities play a key role in facilitating inclusive and respectful debates and discussions regarding our most pressing public policy issues, and that's exactly what we're hoping to achieve with theRingofFireconference," he stated.

The conference takes place Friday at 8:30 a.m. atLakeheadUniversity. Participation is free and registration is available to all. Those interested can visit theLakeheadwebsiteto register.

While no shovels have hit the ground yet, the Ontario government said in July that they would like to see the federal governmentmatch their $1 billion investment in transit infrastructure in the region.