And from me: Chauncey, I agree with all you say and More.

What has the mining sector got to do with providing the road to the Ring? Nothing imho.
It is another lame excuse for not doing anything.

The communities near the Ring need the road more than the potential miners. The difference is that the road would reduce the costs and provide services to those comunities while for the miners it would enable mine construction, and futher infrastructure for all.
For the commuinites it is an expenditure from which not much would get back but it would significantly reduce costs to the federal government.
As for the miners, once they build and are operational they would generate income which would be taxed and both governments would get returns on investment. This is very true with Noront's nickel ore because it should be profitable with just about any metal prices.

Gravelle is making excuses to gullible and uninformed public.