And I think we both agree that the delays are immensely frustrating..., but I think there's more to it than just an incompetent Provincial minister.

The Provincial government has committed 1 billion for the RoF, and I think they're equally concerned about how that money will be spent, as the Federal government is if and when they provide matching funding.

The difference is that the RoF is a project that is anchored in the province, so the Provincial government is the one in the driver's seat, and as such they have no problem with making the commitment, because the money won't be spent without their consent.

The Federal government could have made a commitment to provide matching funding, contingent on their approval of the final RoF plan, but they have not done so, and I suppose the Provincial government haven't asked for it because they want to keep control over the project.

You write: Gravelle (gravel) is just now realizing that the Feds want specific information on what their $$$$ are going to be used for!

The other provincial/federal issue has been wether the funding should be provided separately or within the Building Canada Fund.

Maybe Gravelle hasn't been able to provide that specific information untill now because the plan hasn't been ready, OR it's been a power struggle between the Premier of Ontario (who basically want more money for the province, hence the request for separate funding) and the Prime Minister (who doesn't want to provide the funding for a project that will make the Liberals look good). I think is has been a bit of both.

I'm not qualified to an opinion on wether the federal funding should be provided separately or within the Building Canada Fund, but to me it seems obvious that Harper hasn't been interested in advancing the RoF due to the fact that it has taken Wynne 396 days to get a meeting with him.

And she didn't get the meeting untill the province handled the RoF the way the federals wanted them to and applied for funding for specific infrastructure projects within the Building Canada Fund. She basically had to surrender to all the federal terms in order to get things moving, or am I wrong about that?

My point is that Gravelle might have been held back for some time by Wynne who wanted a better deal with Harper, and Wynne couldn't press for a solution untill the RoF plan was ready.

When the federal funding has been provided, things can progress from there. I don't think that the Provincial government will have any problems with the industry and ONTC as they're not really in a position to make demands. The problem is that NOT and especially KWG can't afford to wait forever, and the real tradegy would be if the delays end up bankrupting KWG.

However the real struggle will be with the FN who will want everything including two thursdays in the week. The phrase "Duty to consult" send chills down my spine.

GLTA of us!

PS: I live in Europe, so I don't know about Canadian party politics. I just watch what's going on as an outsider. The only thing I care about is moving the RoF forward - and in that process improving the quality of life for the natives.