My question is for the Minister of Mines.

Everyone across this province is eager to help advance Ontario’s economic prosperity.

Northern Ontario is critical to the future of our province, and unfortunately, its tremendous potential was ignored for too many years under the previous Liberal government.

The rich supply of critical minerals found in the north is particularly important in our transition to clean energy technologies, especially in the production of electric vehicles’ EV batteries. Building a robust supply chain means that we must be able to extract the minerals out of the ground with urgency in order for Ontarians to become an EV leader in the world.

Can the minister please explain how our government is strengthening Ontario’s mining sector?

We can see that the investments that are being made, like those at Umicore in Lennox and Addington and Volkswagen in their EV production plants in St. Thomas, clearly show that our government is focused on building a strong made-in-Ontario supply chain, but we need those critical minerals to accomplish this.

To capitalize on this generational opportunity, we must act with urgency and create the right economic conditions for investments in our province’s mining and exploration industry. Critical minerals exploration is a key driver for creating good-paying jobs and building a strong, globally competitive economy. It’s vital that our government continues to make these targeted investments in order to help our companies search for minerals to be used in automotive and battery manufacturing.

Can the minister please explain what actions our government is taking to expand exploration for these critical minerals here in Ontario?