Hey Herb, I have to make a comment on your post regarding Canadian content. I am Canadian as you can get but I also realize we are living in a global economy. In the mining world, there is probably not a country on the planet that does not have a Canadian exploration company or a Canadian producer operating. We as canadians have a great reputation as explorers and miners. Our country is respected as a great country to operate a mine and we are rich in mineral resourses. In recent years, we have seen the globalization of many industries, including food, metals, Engineering, Environmental, mining and many more. Canadian companies have become huge international powerhouses and international companies have included Canadian companies into their fold. Huge global companies have Canadians as part of their executive and on their boards. We cannot be so insular in our thinking as to say we have to be exclusively Canadian because there are well run companies that are bent on global dominance and we have to be part of the program or be run over by it..
The unions at Sudbury have made the political statement that the feds gave away our resourses to foreign companies. This is not true. The resourses were not given away and Vale Inco is as much Canadian as it is Brazillian or Austrailian. The fact that the global recession has changed the dynamics of the nickel and steel industry has hit the company in all it's nationalities and the union leadership are leading their workers over the proverbial cliff by not recognizing that their hard won contracts during better times are millstones around their necks. It has nothing to do with being Canadian.
All the majors are international. If Teck moved it's head office to Ohio due to tax advantages, it would still be a great Canadian company that operates in several continents. If Noront was bought out by any of the majors whose head office was anywhere in the world including Toronto or Vancouver, we would be no less Canadian.
Mike
