It's a cloudy, rainy,gloomy day here in oakville, Ontario. Other than the weather, there is no gloom in my world.

My face shows the excitement I feel. I am so pumped and energized right now I could just jump out of my skin.

I spend a considerable amount of time researching things I buy when they are significant buys.

BEFORE I buy a car.. I read the owners manual ...every page.

Seven years ago the service manager at Acura in Mississauga, bluntly told me he did not want my business. I was not a good customer. I could see the hate in his eyes when he was talking to me. His issue with me was, "I read the owner's manual and... he didn't like that." His opinion was people like me were bad for the service side of business.

I had brought my car in for an oil change and a tune up and was presented a huge bill. After looking at the bill I noticed the spark plugs and timing belt were changed without my consent. I asked to speak to the service manager and proceeded to debate the issue.

I told him very firmly I was not paying for the spark plugs and the timing belt.

He proceeded to tell me that the car had 98,344km on it and Acura recommended changing the belt & spark plugs at 100,000km. I told him he was mistaken.

I told him I had purchaed an Acura 3.5RL not a 3.2TL.

I then asked him if he was aware of the difference.

I saw him clentch his teeth.

I went on to tell him that I looked at both models carefully before deciding to buy the 3.5RL. The RL was able to go to 150,000km before a timing belt or spark plug change. The plugs were long life platinum tipped.

The 3.2TL required this type of service at 100,000km. Hence, this feature added to the more expensive price tag of the 3.5RL. I paid more for the 3.5RL.

Things started to get ugly after this.

The service manager told me, "the salesman that sold you the car should not have told you that, it is not true, your car needed the work at 100,000km. I told him that the saleman that sold me the car had every reason to tell me this....after all it was also in the owners manual.

Instead of realizing it was time to back down a bit...the manager got uglier. He told me "it just wasn't true."

AT this point I raced to my car and grabbed the owners manual out of my glove box. I showed him the specific page. He continued to tell me that I didn't understand what I was reading.

He told me,''You can't go by that."

I asked him, "why not?"

He then explained that the owners manual was just a guide not a bible. There was a section in the manual pertaining to severe driving conditions and that Canada fell under those conditions. Therefore, I could not rely on the 150,000km statement.

I told him he was wrong.

I asked him if he had ever read the definition of severe driving conditions in the manual. I told him that I had read it and proceeded to read it outloud to him.

"severe driving conditions are defined as driving in conditions regularly in temperatures above 104F or below -40. I told him I had never experienced a single day while I owned the car that fell into either extreme temperature range.

We argued some more and the end result was I did not pay for the timing belt or spark plugs and he told me he did not want be back as a customer.

I told him the feeling was mutual.

He was replaced as a manager shortly after. ( I drive a Honda Accord now).

Why do I bring this up? Because Noront is a significant investment of mine. I look at every morsel of information that I can find. I looked at the resume's of the management, directors, technical committee, etc. I look at what's happening in the various levels of gov't. I look at what the neighbours to Noront are doing. I look the other major mining companies to see what they are doing. I look at what's going on politically in other mining countries like South Africa, Austrialia. I look to see what are the latest new uses for the metals we have. Hence, I get excited about Vanadium. I like the new Vanadium smart glass invention that saves 40% on the hydro bill, the new vanadium flowthough redox battery, etc. All great things that will create more demand for the goods Noront has. I look at the commodity prices. I look at our growing depositssssssssss, and the current value of them. These are the things that matter to me as an investor.

Because I do my homework every day, I feel confidence in my investment. Short term, the price can do what it wants to do. I am looking at the larger picture. That is what creates the euphoric feeling I have and also accounts for the skipping action of my feet.

There is a skip in my step and a happy in my dance.

The 2011 Canadian federal election will be held on Monday, May 2, 2011. I was delighted to read the following on April 15, 2011.

When asked by Northern Life what he would do to help ensure the development of the Ring of Fire and keep the processing of the resource in northern Ontario, Ignatieff said a Liberal government would “be a partner” in terms of developing “some of the infrastructure necessary to get the chromite out and get it refined.”

“We think (the Ring of Fire) has a possible transformative impact on northern Ontario, and we want to be part of it,” he said. “Crucially, we want to make sure that the refining and processing jobs stay in northern Ontario.”

Wes and Paul have done an outstanding job promoting the RING OF FIRE to all levels of Government. I have posted numerous news articles showing their visits and speeches in Thunder Bay, Timmins, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, New Brunswick etc. They got the people living in these areas excited about the job opportunities. The MPP's got excited too! Now we have the Federal level getting publicly excited about the opportunity in front of them.

It is confirmed that Harper is will be campaigning in Thunder Bay this coming Monday. I'm pretty sure he'll be bringing up the Ring of Fire since Ignatieff already has.

Soon the secret will be out of the bag. Remember the past words?

"The Ring of Fire was highly touted in the Ontario throne speech last year as a cornerstone of the province’s future prosperity

It is the most promising mining opportunity in Canada in a century,” Lieutenant Governor David Onley said a year ago this month

What has been found, in the muskeg is the stuff of top-secret, high-level boardroom discussions and plenty of chatter in the communities that stand to benefit from a potential $2-billion mine, processing and railroad project.

The mineral potential at McFaulds Lake has been compared to the groundbreaking discoveries of nickel, copper and gold in the early 1900s that opened up the North and forever changed Ontario’s economy. It’s considered a top priority by the McGuinty government.

Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Minister Michael Gravelle is adamant Ontario will derive “the greatest value-added opportunity” from the Ring “which includes our commitment to see the processing facility set up in the province of Ontario.”

Through their discussions with the key mining players, the companies have made a short-list of communities that may be suitable to host their facilities.

Gravelle says the Ring of Fire development is what he plans to focus on in 2011, an election year.

“There are six communities being looked at by the companies,” said Gravelle. “That’s been encouraging to me. There was a period of time when there was the suggestion that there was not any possibility that the processing would happen in Ontario. That has changed.

“There is a recognition by the companies that this a real priority of our government and I think on that basis we’re having some positive discussions.”

Below is a link describing how Canada's Action Plan works. Do you not see the Ring of Fire meeting this criteria? Are the strong words above from various levels of government not encouraging enough? This is the REAL DEAL Folks.

My investment in Noront is 6.75 times higher than the investment I made in purchasing my Acura 3.5RL 10 years ago. There was no owners manual that came with my stock certificates. I've had to dig to find the information. It is the digging and the postive nature of what I find that makes me feel very very good about my investment. There are some people out there that speak of Noront much like the service manager that I encountered at Acura 7 years ago. They bully, intimidate, and try to make you feel like you do not understand your investment. It is knowledge that is power over people like this. It is knowledge that allows you to treasure your investment and to appreciate what you hold.

Yes, it is gloomy, and cloudy here in Oakville, but soon the sun will shine and the sky will be bright. Grass will be green, buds will open and reveal fresh green leaves and the birth of a new season will be upon us. The same applies to our beloved Noront .

http://www.actionplan.gc.ca/initiatives/eng/index.asp?mode=5&initiativeId=145&clientid=34

Canada's Ecomonic Action Plan.

How it Works

Projects that are of national or regional significance are selected through federal-provincial discussions and with municipalities and the private sector, where appropriate, to establish priority investments. All projects are approved following a due diligence review to evaluate the extent to which they meet economic and environmental criteria.

Approved project investments are cost-shared, with the maximum federal contribution to any single project being 50 per cent or one-third of funding when municipalities are involved in project funding. For projects where the asset is owned by a private entity, the maximum federal contribution is 25 per cent.