Joe I'm so glad you posted, after too long a time away. I hope your return signifies a return to good health for you and all of your extended family. I have repeated three paragraphs of your excellent post, below, and wish to make some "my take" --Peter" comments of my own. 1. I have a growing sense of anger and frustration with the incompetence and The 10 years + of fear of FN displayed by Ontario liberal leaders (McGinty and his clone Wynne), to date by Ontario minister advisors Gravelle (mines); Murray((env.) and Zimmerman (aboriginal affairs). 2. The continual do nothing Ontario ROF lack of progress will soon trigger a series of actions by the financing and mining private sector members of the Noront mine build team, to the permanent detriment of mining in Ontario; not to mention the jobs continually promised by Wynne. 3. The Wynne liberals are politically afraid of the FN, as McGinty was (Aqisanne - 4 year illegal seizure and occupation without consequences) before her. The economic blackmail practiced by the FN is being allowed to continue because of the Wynne fear of making decisions which require character and fearless leadership on a long overdue set of deliverable promises. The problem is Wynnes lack of leadership and character. 4(a). Industry (Noront) may soon "do a Cliffs".:-- meaning mothball everthing, wait till Ontario liberals are gone. And/or, 4(b):- go to the media with the truth / proof details of the 8 years of false promises and liberal incompetence, using the EA lack of approval permitting process, despite federal EA approvals already given. And/or 4(c) The truth about already received FN approvals for the EW corridor route, and why the Deloitte report recommendations have been withheld by the liberals. In other words , politically embarrass Wynne into a decade of long Overdue action , or wear the responsibility for lost opportunities (jobs; Ontario economic recovery; Ontario decline, etc). Like I said. The problem is Wynne. Most of Joe's post follows, for reference. Apologies for the editing/formatting issues I have with Agoracom site with an iPhone from my cottage. Peter Having said that. we have been closely following the situatioons in the ROF. The family are deeply invested in both Noront, KWG. and Cliffs. In the past few years we focused on when we could expect a reasonable ROI and we thought within 5 years. When the Liberals came out with their budget and put the $1B out there we thought the Tories would finally come forward and at least match the Ont Govt support. Boy were we wrong, then we thought ok the Liberals can still do this by opening it up to the private sector, after all a few years back OMERS said they had a few $B to invest in infrastructure projects. The Teachers also have $B available for investment , but still nothing from the Liberals. Next we saw Gravelle make the most stupid announcement re the Infrastructure Development Corporation with nothing but Bureaucrats on the Committee. How stupid could he be , no this does not require an answer. This man has no credibility within the investment community. If Wynn seriously wants this project to get off the gound she needs to find another project leader one who has credibility within the business community and can galvanise the stakeholders to move this along. Let me give you my take on Cliffs , the family voted with Casablanca to replace Cliffs management. The investment they have in the ROF is definitely up for sale, but Casablanca are also an extemely smart investor and it is doubtful if they will sell this asset at a fire sale price. Sure Noront through Baosteel could make a bid but if they expect Casablanca to take a haircut down to a buzzcut just to dump the asset I think they may be wrong. There are two or three majors who would love to bank this asset and they will be involved in the bidding process. Bottom line for us, this is, and will, become a major mining development, after all there is now no question as to the value of the ore bodies and it can only get better. Will Wynn get off her derriere and move this forward, doubtful. Will the Federal Tories realise how crucial this investment is for Canada, doubtful though Harper will offer all sorts of incentives before the next election so will the Federal Liberals and NDP. each of them will make this a part of the platform for Ontario, they'd be stupid not to. Will all of this ever come to fruition, definitely, but will I be around to ever see that ROI, doubtful. Will my children and grandchildren reap the reward of my investment, hopefully. As the price of Noront's shares decline we will continue to buy and increase our holding, as one of the family says it really is a no brainer. However are there other opprtunities out there to make a faster ROI , absolutely. . In the past few years we focused on when we could expect a reasonable ROI and we thought within 5 years. When the Liberals came out with their budget and put the $1B out there we thought the Tories would finally come forward and at least match the Ont Govt support. Boy were we wrong, then we thought ok the Liberals can still do this by opening it up to the private sector, after all a few years back OMERS said they had a few $B to invest in infrastructure projects. The Teachers also have $B available for investment , but still nothing from the Liberals. Next we saw Gravelle make the most stupid announcement re the Infrastructure Development Corporation with nothing but Bureaucrats on the Committee. How stupid could he be , no this does not require an answer. This man has no credibility within the investment community. If Wynn seriously wants this project to get off the gound she needs to find another project leader one who has credibility within the business community and can galvanise the stakeholders Will Wynn get off her derriere and move this forward, doubtful. Will the Federal Tories realise how crucial this investment is for Canada, doubtful though Harper will offer all sorts of incentives before the next election so will the Federal Liberals and NDP. each of them will make this a part of the platform for Ontario, they'd be stupid not to. Will all of this ever come to fruition, definitely, but will I be around to ever see that ROI, doubtful.