Mining Act Reform and The Fox and Wanlin Show

The brain trust at MNDM have brought in former Regional Chief Charles Fox to run their First Nation consultation piece and Margaret Wanlin to talk to industry about what changes they want to see. I guess they don't trust the northern table to deliver the options on mining reform.Better to set up a parallel process and use the Northern table as a distraction.

Ironically the Ontario government is funding Mr. Fox to test the waters in his run at National Chief.Can't say his support in NAN is rock solid.The NNEC file and the revelations in the Bushie inquest should be enough to sink him.

Likely his real role is to one of intelligence gathering.We might say NAN is like a prison. A muskeg prison. In order to effectively manage a prison the guards need informants.And so we hire Mr. Fox. The job of Mr. Fox is simply to tell the wardens at MNDM where the divisions are in the NAN communities and how best to manage them in the interests of mining industry.Much like the informants in a prison. Issues management as they say in the trade.

On Wanlin-with the rising Canadian dollar killing hubby's tourism biz and no hope for his successful election I guess someone has to bring home the bacon.

We know what industry want.Free and unfettered access.For them permits look like red tape, the endangered species act a license to create parks and First Nations as simply bad guys holding them up for compensation.
I hold little hope for mining reform.We will tame this industry with markets campaigns outside of Canada( see the No Dirty Gold campaign], leverage from the socially responsible investment community, rising fuel costs, land claims and on the realization that the state has no answer to blockades and civil disobedience in the roadless far north.