The MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River is looking for great things for northwestern Ontario’s mining sector in 2024.

Marcus Powlowski says the abundance of minerals like lithium puts the region in a good position to benefit from the transition to a green economy.

Powlowski says many countries are already moving away from their dependence on fossil fuels to greener sources of energy.

“If you look at the United States and where it’s invested money in Europe, everybody’s investing money in this transition. We in Canada, given our abundance of natural resources and minerals, are really well placed to benefit from it,” says Powlowski. “And particularly here in northwestern Ontario, where there seems to be a lot of lithium, but all the kind of essential critical minerals. We have a lot of them in northwestern Ontario. So certainly having money and investment and making those transitions, I hope, will result in further kind of long-term benefits for Thunder Bay and the region.”

Powlowski hopes some of the area’s mining projects under development can get off the ground in the next year or two.

Other initiatives may provide benefits to the region.

Powlowski points to Toronto’s need for new streetcars that could lead to jobs in Thunder Bay.

He adds shipbuilding and the forest industry could also have strong years.

There is much talk about a possible election in 2024.

The Liberal MP does not see it happening.

He says the agreement the Liberals have with the NDP is working and does not see it coming to an end anytime soon.

“I think with the assistance of the NDP, we’ve basically been able to initiate a lot of the programs that we wanted to start. We were elected even though it’s a minority government, and I think what we learned last time around, the electorate wasn’t real happy when we had an election two years into the last government.”

The next federal election is currently not scheduled until October 2025.