So, EDC (Canadian Government entity) is financing Vale to the tune of $US One Billion. I have two sincere questions (sincere, meaning I have no idea what the answer should be). ONE: Why can't Vale arrange its financing on the open market? Why resort to non-market Canadian Government-backed financing? TWO: The long standing labour dispute at Voisey's Bay has just had another failure at settlement -- why woulld EDC not defer this announcement until Vale is able to work out an agreement with its Labrador workers? This seems to me to be a message from our Federal Government that Canadian workers are a lower priority to them than foreign corporate interests.

I am not in the organized labour camp, but surely our Federal Government needs to use a little more finesse with these deals than they are displaying. Or is it that they just don't care.

Best, OF