The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor In a move that could have Flin Flon's civic leaders calling for similar treatment, Thompson is set to to gain a new economic development fund financed through mining taxes. The NDP government is apparently ready to proclaim the Thompson Nickel Belt Sustainability Act, which has already received royal assent but was never put into effect. The Act calls for an economic development fund 'to be supported by amounts appropriated by the legislature for the fund, which amounts are to be determined with reference to the taxes paid by Vale under The Mining Tax Act.' Vale, the nickel giant that serves as Thompson's major employer, is getting ready to close its surface operations in the city in the coming years. Underground mining is to continue. The money Vale pays now under The Mining Tax Act goes into the province's general revenues and is not segregated in a fund or otherwise separated. The Act calls for the fund's board to consist of at least five and not more than 11 directors appointed by the provincial cabinet for terms not to exceed three years. In making appointments to the board, the cabinet 'must have regard to the desirability' of having a board that includes one or more representatives from the City of Thompson; Vale; organized labour; organizations that represent aboriginals; the federal government and the general public. The NDP introduced the Thompson Nickel Belt Sustainability Act, on June 2, 2011, and it passed third reading and received royal assent on June 16, 2011. It came in response to Vale's November 2010 announcement that it would be closing its smelter and refinery by 2015, though the smelter is to now stay open an extra year. Hudbay, which has also closed parts of its Flin Flon operations in recent years, is not currently obliged to support an economic development fund for this community. It remains to be seen whether Flin Flon's elected officials will call for a similar fund for their community. _ With files from John Barker, Thompson Citizen
