After all this time and given last year’s reprimand by the auditor general levied against Ministry of Northern Development and Mines’ Ring of Fire Secretariat because of the absence of a plan for the Ring (despite great quantities of staff and money), one must ponder why still no plan?

In this regard, the Minister Michael Gravelle states he will not submit any plan to the Feds unless the First Nations concur with its contents. Meanwhile the First Nations will not agree to anything without concessions from the Feds which they (the Feds) will not accept; hence the current deadlock.

To whit one recalls the planner’s time-worn mantra, “Failing to plan equals planning to fail.”

However, I suggest the minister, a savvy and experienced politician, may have in mind a new verse which goes, “Refusing to plan equals planning to refuse.” In short, lacking the finances and talents to drive the Ring forward, by refusing to submit a plan he can kill the Ring and blame others for the loss. So much for regional economic growth.

Don Wallace

London, Ont.