Province spent over $7.5M on Ring of Fire ads seen during Blue Jays playoff run
CBC
The Ontario government spent over $7.5 million to advertise the Ring of Fire last year, according to documents obtained by CBC News.
The ad became a familiar sight during the Blue Jays playoff run last year.
Under the slogan of “Protect Ontario,” it promoted the province’s development plans for the mineral rich area in the James Bay lowlands in northern Ontario.
A document obtained through a freedom of information request revealed the campaign also spent money on ads for social media, radio, movie theatres and even printed material in 16 different languages.
But the ad promotes a project that is nowhere near completion and doesn’t address the need to build a road or about consultation with First Nations, said NDP mining critic Jamie West.
“They're spending millions and millions of your taxpayer dollars basically to gaslight you about what's going on,” he said.
“It just is basically a way for the government to brag about stuff that they're not actually doing yet.”
The money spent on the advertisements would have been better used towards improving infrastructure in the north or other projects that are in dire need of funding, he said.
“A lot of students and parents [would] like to see it funneled towards education. … We have hospitals, emergency rooms closing all over Ontario,” said West.
Earlier this week, Premier Doug Ford said work would begin to connect the Ring of Fire to Ontario’s highways by November 2031.
The new timeline will see the project completed years ahead of schedule and will help spur mining of critical minerals in the province, said Ford.
The premier’s office stood by the advertisement in an emailed statement on Thursday. Viewers were “talking about the new jobs and opportunities” that were opening up within the province.
“This commercial showed audiences in Ontario and across the country our economic potential that will last for generations to come,” Hannah Jensen said via email.
The Ring of Fire project is crucial for the province’s economy, Jensen said, “especially in the face of [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump’s tariffs.”
WARNING: This story discusses child sexual abuse material and contains graphic details of alleged sexual assault
Jeff Clark spends hundreds of hours pouring over the minute details of B.C.'s geography to produce a single map.
While Niagara residents may be wondering if amalgamation of the region's 12 cities and towns could be a future reality, the mayors of most of the region's smaller cities and towns are flipping that idea on its head with a new proposal this week.
Most anti-Black racism recommendations completed at UWindsor, but some still waiting for more action
The University of Windsor says it has completed nearly 90 per cent of the anti-Black racism recommendations stemming from a special task force on campus, but some are pushing for more progress.
About a quarter of Albertans support the province leaving Canada, but the majority — nearly two-thirds — are against it, according to a new poll from Abacus Data.
After spending six days on a hospital stretcher, Jaymee Miller said she hopes she never has to be admitted to the Western Memorial Regional Hospital in Corner Brook ever again.
Gwen O’Reilly says progress made in the women’s movement has ebbed and flowed over the years.
Two local Paralympians are hoping for gold while they compete in Milano Cortina for the Winter Paralympics.
Some women on Prince Edward Island are not getting equitable access to early breast cancer detection, says a non-profit group that raises awareness about screening practices.
Hundreds of visitors are pouring into Whitehorse this week for the Arctic Winter Games, leaving few hotel rooms, vacation rentals and rental cars available and forcing some families to come up with creative solutions. For Team Alaska parent Rachel Arvelo, that meant renting a moving truck when every car rental company in town told her they were already booked solid.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has touched down in Tokyo for a quick 24-hour visit to connect with his recently elected Japanese counterpart and shore up relations with a major Indo-Pacific partner.
As the war in Iran disrupts oil and gas exports from the Gulf region, the Canadian energy sector could see a jump in demand — and federal officials are positioning Canada as a beacon of stability during an unpredictable moment.
On a regular visit to his parents' final resting place at a Toronto cemetery, Darren Mori made a disturbing discovery.