You must remember the nature of government burocracy.....slow and inefficient.

Also government is encombered by powerful public service unions that are traditionally unproductive and obstructionist.

Remember the first rule of economics...it is about SCARCE RESOURCES...and I don't mean copper and nickel.

Everyone is fighting for their share of the pie but there are more takers than there is pie.

So even if the politicians get it and realise that mining can contribute in a big way to the economy and economic development, politicians by nature must be seen to be all things to all people....their first priority is reelection.

As an aside, public service wages have been growing almost exponentially and private sector wages now pale in comparisson....not just in Canada.....the economist recently did a lenghty article on this. This is not sustainable since the private sector is financed by the public and by the private sector.

So a few weeks ago the ontario gov't announced a freeze on public service wages.....why did it take so long? I believe the feds are following suit.

The other thing to remember is that the RoF is in North ontario....most people in the south are not interested in northern development.

So yes we should "harrass" the gov't but don't expect action overnight.

SN