Good day, bonjour, Mr. Chair and honourable members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the urgent matters confronting the mining industry in Canada. There are going to be three areas, which I will develop in my presentation, that I would like you to consider. The first one is the government's role in supporting one of Canada's key economic drivers. The second one is the role of first nations in the mining industy, and the third one is the position of the Ring of Fire on the national stage.
Before I expand on these recommendations to the parliamentary committee, I would like to give you some background. Every speaker who appears before you on this subject will have a unique perspective. My perspective is based on over 60 years in the mining industry. I know you're thinking I look pretty good for a guy of 80, but let me explain. I was born in the gold mining town of Malartic, Quebec. My father was the chief mining engineer for a dozen mines up there, and also in Ontario and British Columbia. My earliest memories are of prospecting in the bush on his shoulders and doing summer jobs in the various facets of the mining industry. My brother is a mining engineer. It's in our blood. It's no surprise that I chose mining engineering as my career path.
I have worked for many of the major mining companies, such as Kerr Addison, Inco, Iron Ore Company of Canada, and Falconbridge. I have spent the bulk of my professional life in the Ontario public service. I was the chief mining engineer for the Province of Ontario. I've held various executive positions within the Ontario Ministry of Labour, and I've served all three political parties. I've taught in the school of policy studies at Queen's University, as well as in the Buchan department of mining as the Kinross professor of mining and sustainability. I am presently the president and CEO of MIRARCO Mining Innovation in Sudbury and the associate vice-president of mining innovation and technology at Laurentian University.
Why have I told you so much about myself? I want you to know that my perspective is broad. I have the public sector experience, as well as industry and academic experience. I feel very strongly about the importance of mining to Canada, not just its past but more importantly its future. I hope that during the question period today you'll ask me questions about the mining industry, mining research, and public policy. I just attended the World Mining Congress in Rio last week, and what's happening in the rest of the world might be of interest to you, as well.
Mining research in particular in Canada is in grave danger. We were once the best in the world, but no longer. The decrease in investment dollars in mining research demonstrates this dramatically. Australia invests over $2.7 billion in mining research and innovation, while Canada invests about $550 million. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce report in 2013 offered recommendations that deserve more attention and more consideration than they received at that time. It's not too late to implement them, as well.
There needs to be a harmonization of federal, provincial, and territorial regulations, and incentives for research and innovation. The slides that are being translated, which should be available to you in the package later this week, contain excerpts from a KPMG report to rationalize mining research and innovation in Ontario. I believe this report needs to be supplemented by the inclusion of a federal component to assist all provinces and territories to maximize our efforts in research, innovation, and commercialization. Years ago, Canada negotiated mineral development agreements with each province and territory. In the absence of a national consensus, the federal government may wish to bring these back. We should also use policy instruments, such as the highly successful Canada-Ontario collaborative public service agreements, which were negotiated very quickly in the past.
Supporting the mining sector in Canada is not a partisan issue. It's important to our economy and our jobs, particularly in the north. Our world standing as a mining country will be enhanced.
I want to mention a couple of facts here. The World Economic Forum listed Canada's financial and banking system as number one in the world. We're also number one in post-secondary graduates, but we're 26th in innovation. We clearly have the resources and the educated population, but we're missing the target to put the innovative spark back into mining.
Toronto is the mining financial capital of the world. Over 60% of all international deals are made on Bay Street. We need to protect and grow this position, and in addition, we need to promote and support our mining suppliers and service companies that do work around the world.
We need world-class research and development to support our mining industry, and to provide highly qualified persons and innovations that will make our industry the safest, most productive, and most environmentally sustainable industry in the world. We need a coordinated mining research and innovative strategy to maintain our position on the world stage.
I'm going to turn briefly to the Ring of Fire in the James Bay lowlands of northern Ontario. It has been estimated to be worth over $60 billion. There's another Sudbury Basin sitting up there, maybe two, and it's just waiting to be developed.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce estimates it would sustain 5,500 jobs permanently, and of course, the construction phase would be a whole lot more. I believe it's much more, and I would like you to consider the Canadian Chamber of Commerce resolution that just came out a couple of weeks ago to make the Ring of Fire a national priority. It contains copper, nickel, zinc, platinum, palladium, uranium, and gold, along with the largest deposit of chromite in North America. Chromite is a major constituent of stainless steel.
Finally, the first nations people of this country need a strong economic base in order to develop their full potential. In particular, we need programs in all mining schools, at universities and community colleges, to provide aboriginal access to science and engineering. There are some programs, Manitoba, Queen's, but every mining school should have these programs and should be encouraging them.
MIRARCO Mining Innovation at Laurentian University is proud to have graduated the only first nations Ph.D. mining engineer in Canada last year. We're proud of it, but we should have dozens graduating across this country. We should have dozens in graduate programs, and more importantly, hundreds at the undergraduate level.
The mining sector employs more first nations people than any other sector in Canada. First nations people make up about 10% of our workforce. It's one of the only areas where we actually beat the Australians. They're at 6%. My feeling is that we could get it to 20% if we had the will and the resources to do that.
Thank you for your attention and for acting on behalf of a great industry that is so important to the economy of this country. We are in a downturn at this present time. I've been through five of these downturns. The mining industry is a cyclical kind of industry and it has been a lot worse. I've survived when there were 20% interest rates, if you recall, in the eighties. We'll get through this but unless we invest in this industry, we won't be there for the boom times.
Here are three recommendations I urge you not only to consider but to act on. First, recognize and support mining as the key economic driver for Canada's economy. I believe that we can contribute even more than we have to date at 4%. I'm sure that we can get it to 8% by 2030. Second, enable first nations to benefit from better educational access to science, engineering, and management. We need to double the first nations participation rates in the mining labour force from 10% to 20% by 2020. Finally, we recommend making the Ring of Fire a national priority.
Thank you very much for your attention and I look forward to your questions.