Not much happening so a comment as I see things delaying us today:
Fundamentally there has to come into existance an agreement between the natives and the federal government as to what the natives are entitled to and what not. This is because the treaties of century past are being interpreted as if they were written on rubber. Both sides stretch their interpretation.
I say that the federal government is the one to be the negotiator with the natives because natives are a federal responsibility.
Lack of a renewal or restatment of what is appropriate or not leads the natives to assume that they are the rightful owners of the land and as a consequence are demanding compensation. They want to forget that most have signed treaties in lieu of being outright conquered as was done in the States.
Because the status around the Ring is not being adequately defined and enforced, most things are for all purposes on hold.
Concerning Road and costing;
I think the East-West road will go to the Ring and roads are a provincial matter. That road is as necessary for the natives as it is for the miners. Because it is to improve things financially for the natives I conclude that the federal government should cough up cash for the construction of that raod. That it should not be mostly paid for by province.
The benefits of the road are equal to the provincial as to federal governments as far as miners are involved so on that equal costs to both governments, BUT as to the natives the benefits are almost completely to the federal government because Ottawa should benefit from lower costs to natives and hence support payments should decrease to the natives. Hence on that usage of road, the cost should be wholly to the federal government.
So I say that the federal government should pay for 2/3 or maybe even 3/4 of costs to build the road instead of just half.
Electrical power;
Here it mostly rests on the Ontario government's shoulders.
I suspect same applies to communications facilities.
Ah, now for a railway;
Some here still say pipe for the ore transportation and I say that while it may be cheaper but not necessarily practical because it is a one trick ponny.
A railway is needed sooner or later and if you are to build it better done sooner than later.
Why insist on a railway?
Because it is a multi-faceted transportation system and still one of the cheapest.
Rail moves everything with the exception that it does not do so in a speedy fashion, as in emergencies. And it is the only means for moving large weight in volume. That alone means that rail has to exist.
We all had our hopes that the Nort-South route would be used for the Railway, after all it looks like the most logical and economical. However with the impediments placed on it by Matawa the next more logical alternate is to James Bay and connect at Moosonee. Those natives seem more willing make it a go so that is now more likely to happen.
Many here were railing against the provincial government as the reason for our delay. While I should be the last one to defend any part of politics, I have to say that Ontario has it's hands tied behind it's back because the native issue has raised horns. ( Do we need another blockade?)
DevCo can not exist as a real entity without a native representative on it's board of directors, that is my opinion. And that representative will not come to be without an agreement with natives in place.
Without the likes of Devco to act as a governing body we stand still just as much if we were blocked by some native community.
So we have a domino effect at play here. I am hoping that with the federal ellection to come this year, that maybe some incentive will come to be to make progress towards an agreement.
Anyone have any additions, deletions or corrections? Ed.
