Readyset ...

You know when the Canadian Minister of Finance for the Conservative federal government says "he's worried about the Ontario economy" in a province with a Liberal government, you know the economy is in a little bit of trouble.

The Ontario economy will continue to have a rough time with the Canadian dollar at par with US greenback. The auto industry is being battered by a 30% appreciation in our dollar (against the US dollar), and a very significant change in auto industry itself i.e., fuel efficient vehicles). With 10s of thousands of auto industry jobs in peril, the province of Ontario has a big problem.

I started to have a look today at the Ontario government website wondering what sort of taxation issues face junior mining companies. I haven't found much yet but if McFaulds yields some treasures, I expect the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines will do everything possible to faciliate the development of a mine (or mines).

If you read "The Big Score", there were two major hurdles for John Sopko of Inco when he finally bought Voisey's Bay from Robert Friedland for $4.3 billion: 1) unresolved native land claims, 2) a rather upset provincial government (Brian Tobin). Fortunately, I don't think the same severe issues face the 31 junior mining companies up at McFaulds.

I will be very interested to visit the Ontario government's booth at the upcoming PDAC conference. The government seems to be very favorably disposed towards mining in the province. I would like to know if the exciting events unfolding on the frozen muskeg of the James Bay Lowlands is on its radar screen.

This favorable government disposition bodes well for the SPQ investor.

Snug