The Conservative Government Should Be Strongly Reminded

The ENGO activist bureaucrats working in Environment Canada blockading the La Ronge Gold Project in Saskatchewan quibbling over a concrete dam aught to be reminded just who provides the jobs and the tax revenue in this economy.

How long has it taken the federal government, the only group standing in the way of this project to face up to reality and give the stamp of approval to this project? Several years for a licensed tailings management facility in use over a period of decades which they prefer to call a fish habitat. Probably THE single most embarassing mistake by the Federal Government bar none. NOWHERE in the world will you get this kind of Khafkaesque bureaucratic nonsense, unless you live in ideological lala land. And Canada is presumed a safe jurisdiction for mining. The conservative government has serious egg on its face over this one.

If there's another recession, there's one sector which can still provide jobs, tax revenue, and a strategic asset to the Canadian Central Bank in the wake of government bond defaults. That's the gold mining sector.

Governments got $8.4B from miners in 2011

"Mr. Gratton also acknowledged he hopes the study will help governments understand the value of the mining business and encourage them to enact and maintain policies that keep it healthy. While the business is booming right now, industry leaders have a number of concerns, including labour shortages, port and rail constraints, and power and infrastructure costs. The regulatory review process has also been criticized for being too cumbersome and slow.

“We need to make sure we capitalize on this opportunity and get these mines built while the [resource] economy is so strong,” Mr. Gratton said.

Financial Post