Marathon Palladium Project — Establishment of Joint Review Panel

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Honourable Jeff Yurek, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for Ontario, announced today the establishment of a three-member Joint Review Panel to carry out the environmental assessment of Generation PGM Inc.’s proposed Marathon Palladium Project, located near the town of Marathon, Ontario.

Debra Sikora has been appointed as the Chair of the Joint Review Panel. Laurie Bruce and Gay Drescher have been appointed as members of the Joint Review Panel.

The members were selected based on their knowledge and expertise related to the potential environmental effects of the Project, and are unbiased and free from any conflict of interest relative to the project as required under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.

The Agency recently invited public comments on the draft Amended Joint Review Panel Agreement following the resumption of this environmental assessment, which was put on hold in 2014. The Amended Joint Review Panel Agreement between Minister Wilkinson and Minister Yurek will be signed and published to the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry at a later date.

Under the proposed agreement, the Joint Review Panel will assess the potential environmental effects of the project, consider mitigation measures, determine whether the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects, and identify any follow-up programs required.

As a next step, the Joint Review Panel must hold a public comment period on the Environmental Impact Statement Addendum and supplemental studies that the proponent expects to submit starting in late 2020. After considering the comments received, the Panel will determine whether it has sufficient information to proceed to a public hearing.