Let me move on to a couple of infrastructure areas.
One of the challenges we have in the northwest—and although it's regulated by the province, there is a federal role to play in this—is the provision of electricity to these emerging mine sites. While some of these are relatively close to the grid and can be accessed at a reasonable price, others are hundreds of kilometres away from the existing hydroelectric infrastructure. Under Ontario's rules, the proponent must pay the cost of building the transmission lines. This is a change since the mid-1990s. Before that, the ratepayers as a whole would pay for the expansion of the infrastructure, and then obviously the user would pay through their rates.
We've been pressuring the Ontario government to make a change in this, but from the point of view of financing for the development of mines, if this kind of infrastructure can be included as one of the eligible components for any of the federal programs, that certainly would make it easier. As John mentioned earlier, one mine is costing $1 billion to develop and a second one, $900 million. If in addition to that they have to raise another $400 million or $500 million to build the transmission lines, that can be a deal breaker in terms of whether the mine will go ahead, and so we need some support there.
For areas such as the Ring of Fire, where we know that, while one or two companies are in play right now, there are 14, 15, or 20 different known deposits in likely mine sites, it's really essential that the federal government work directly with the provincial government, the first nations in the area, and the mining companies to develop a utility corridor, if you like, that includes ground transportation, telecommunications, hydroelectric, and in some cases even natural gas, to ensure that these areas can be fully accessed not just by the big companies and those with deep pockets, but by the small companies that can take a smaller development and bring it to the fore.
I'll get John to talk about the road transportation to the Ring of Fire.