It understandable to see the opposing parties to hammer the Lib, which, by the way, is dishing out the same thing, especially to the Fed (an interesting video to watch: Minister Gravelle was answering a question to a member of the opposition. He was repeating the commitment of $1B again in the Legislature with his hands (moving furiously). Nothing has spent from the $1B, it's still there the whole $1B. Of course he was pointing his finger at the Fed for foot-dragging).
The article quoted NDP Mantha: "Mantha said the Liberals are failing to work with First Nations and lost its most important investor."
No comments on the first part, but Mantha should not blame the Libs for losing "its most important investor", aka Cliffs.
The former Premier and the current Premier, and of course Minister Gravelle were/are so accommodating in promising all kinds of subsidies
- $600M for 50% of CLF private road on KWG claims
- some $1B subsidy in electricity rates for the next 10 years or so.
As we all know, it was CLF who decided to walk away from the RoF project. But of course, it had to put the blame on somebody: the government for not moving fast enough, and the EA process, the FNs (it did not say anything about its potential "future" $ problems).
Just imagine the following scenario, before point the finger to the Libs:
Cliffs had everything going its way: government delivered EA permit, FN agreement, and tons of money to facilitate the BT project. Suddenly, Cliffs came back saying that "sorry, we don't have the money to proceed with what we have been discussed and agreed on...we are broke, we have enough trouble keeping the lights on, let alone the cash to spend on a $3.3B project (current Mkt Cap: $1.4B). Sorry, sorry, sorry".
What now? The Ontario government would take them to court? Noting that Cliffs is considering bankrupcy protection proceeding for its Canadian subsidiary. For sure, Cliffs know how to protect itself. For sure, Cliffs is not a guilty or gullible party, especially with Goncalves at the helm.
goldhunter
