A discussion was brought up in council over the Aggregate Act. If the municipality is approved to manage this process locally, the city could benefit from revenues (royalties) from private and crown lands. These revenues could help in the repair and maintenance of roads.
The original request was placed back in 2009 but it was said that there is probably political issues, thus why it hasn't been approved.
John Curley says, " Last November, Luv duval and I spent a day at Queens Park, we asked all the MPP's of Ontario if you would allow municipalities ways for another income, whether it's through a tax or some other means in raising revenues for the City of Timmins. With approval, all those trucks you see hauling aggregate would help pay for the damage they are doing to the roads. There wasn't much interest at the provincial level to support municipalities with this."
This is not to be confused with trucks hauling ore as they are regulated by the Ontario Mining Act.
Councillor Doody and Bamford said this should be revisited. " We should down that path that's being discussed here. We should have a say in what happens within our boundries," says Doody. " One of the largest municipalities in North America. We have a greater need than most. If Thunder Bay can have this, why can't we? " Bamford said.
Councillor Marks asked the question if we could start with private pits now?
Steve Black commented that when the city sells land in the future, a royalty should be a part of the sale contract. This may avoid the legal issues in the future until the municipality is approved.
For readers more interested in this story, the below link is from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that has some dealings with this issue including the royalties received and costs associated with monitoring this process.
