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Day: May 17, 2011

Commodities bloodbath ‘nothing to fear,’ mining tycoons say – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – May 17, 2011)

Lisa Wright is a business reporter with the Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on Canada’s federal and provincial politics as well as shaping public opinion. This article was originally published May 17, 2011.

The recent slide in metals prices — make that a slaughter in silver — has been pretty hard to stomach for the stampede of investors who have taken a shine to the gritty mining industry lately. But Peter Munk, Ian Telfer and Bob Gallagher aren’t reaching for the Rolaids.

Nor are they the least bit bearish after two rocky weeks that saw silver plummet by 35 per cent, gold dip under the $1,500 U.S. per ounce watermark and a sharp pull back in construction-friendly base metals from aluminum to zinc.

Many investors are squeamish after the gut-wrenching correction which dragged once-soaring silver squarely into bear market territory. (A 20 per cent decline from a market high is the unofficial definition of a bear market.)

In fact ‘poor man’s gold’, as it’s known, suffered its biggest four-day decline in 28 years earlier this month after hitting a peak of $48.70 U.S. in April. Silver slid another $1.85 again Monday, closing at $34.35 in London.

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POV: Political parties start to woo Northern [Ontario] voters for fall provincial election – by Wayne Snider (The Daily Press – May 16, 2011)

Wayne Snider is the city editor for The Daily Press, the city of Timmins newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.

Then there is a true wildcard in place for the fall election: The Northern Ontario
Heritage Party. Their message is that Northern Ontario needs to take over control
of the economic future of the region because Queen’s Park — when coloured by
any of the tradition mainstream political stripes — simply wants to take wealth
from the North to feed the heavily populated south. (Wayne Snider, May 16, 2011)

Off and running

Last week’s Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities conference was held to deal with municipal issues impacting the North. It turned into a launching pad for provincial election campaign debates. Anyone who wasn’t expecting the conference to be so politically charged, hasn’t been paying attention.

FONOM has been gaining a louder voice in the past few years. That’s because Northern municipalities have had a lot of concerns to voice. It seems Northern leaders have had an endless stream of provincial policies and legislation to contend with, many of which have been contentious.

The Far North Act, the Endangered Species Act (caribou protection), forestry tenure and now the Northern Growth Plan have caused municipalities to wave red flags, as our leaders fear more harm than good is being done to the Northern economy.

It is through groups like FONOM, the Northeastern Ontario Municipal Association and the Northern Mayors’ Task Force that the voice of the North has been raised to the level where it is at least being heard.

But there is a huge difference between hearing and listening.

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