Those that are so preoccupied (I would say fear mongering) with the upcoming BC elections are living in the past instead of learning from the past.

How many of the folks that are playing the NDP dooms-day card has actually talked to the NDP about their mining and natural resource policies? At the recent VIRC in Vancouver Lawrence Roulston came out publicly (during his address to the convention) and stated that after having a long discussion with the Doug Donaldson (MLA Stikine; e-mail: doug.donaldson.mla@leg.bc.ca) he does not think NDP will stop mining in BC like so many doomsayers are spewing out there, but rather will place a lot of effort getting the BC mining industry going. Donaldson is very critical of the current Liberal backlog permitting mess (see below) and stated that NDP policy will address that and streamline the process to speed things up.

In addition I talked to a number of BC geologist currently employed by BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Energy and natural Gas and they all said that their numbers were cut to such a level that permitting is a nightmare because there just is not enough of them do the job on time. They think Liberals got the message and there will be changes, well we'll see.

My point in all of this is that it really does not matter who will win the next election since BOTH parties recognize that natural resources are BC strength, and the natural resource based industries employ high percentage of BC blue-collar workforce, especially in the north where we have our own interest in Schaft Creek.

Before anyone starts speculation about what NDP win may or may not do to the mining industry at least give an effort to contact the party and ask what they are planning to do, isn't this part of your DD? And if anyone will just say that you can't trust a politician so talking to NDP is pointless, well I will reply that we really can't trust you or your intentions.

Anyone that invests a large portion of their personal wealth in any jurisdiction and is not willing to do their "political” DD, well as the saying goes:

"As you make your bed so must you lie on it."

Here is a recent article:

Liberals still scrambling to fix their own mining permit backlog mess

For Immediate Release
Jan. 28, 2013

VICTORIA – The Liberal government is still scrambling to fix a resource permit backlog of their own making, showing they just aren’t up to the challenges facing B.C. today, say the New Democrats.

“The industry has been frustrated by permit backlogs created after a series of short-sighted Liberal government cuts and haphazard reorganizations within key ministries,” said New Democrat mining critic Doug Donaldson. “They keep putting Band-Aids on the problem but so far they have yet to undo the damage.

“In 2007, the average turnaround for mining permits was 55 days, then it shot up to 110 days by 2011. It’s astounding that in just four years, the Liberals managed to double the turnaround time for permits.”

Donaldson said while the Liberals claimed they would reduce the turnaround time for Notice of Work applications to 60 days by the end of December, the latest stats available show it was still 83 days for exploration applications at the end of November.

The government announced Monday at the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia Mineral Exploration Roundup conference that an additional $7 million will be spent on the permit backlog problem and a new electronic system for permit applications will be launched.

Donaldson said the online permit applications might help going forward, but pointed out that the Liberal record on implementing effective, efficient digital systems is abysmal.

“In a best case scenario, the Liberals may finally get one digital system right, and it might have some effect on the current sluggish permit turnaround,” said Donaldson. “But we know the Liberals aren’t up to the challenge; we’ve seen that time and again. We could see another $7 million go down the drain due to Liberal mismanagement.”

Donaldson pointed to other expensive IT system failures under the Liberals, including the $200 million Integrated Case Management (ICM) system that was the subject of a scathing report last week, and the $100 million BCeSIS system that the education ministry is currently being forced to replace as just two examples.

“The Liberals have wasted $400 million and counting on bungled IT systems,” said Donaldson. “For the sake of an important industry in B.C., I hope they finally get one right.”

Adrian Dix and B.C.‘s New Democrats are offering change for the better, one practical step at a time.