I like the wording of the mining section of the new Nova Scotia strategy:
Mineral exploration
Exploration is an important part of the mining cycle and is necessary for a sustainable mining sector. Nova Scotia competes with other places in Canada and around the world for investments in mineral exploration and development. Therefore, we must be strategic in attracting and working with investors. Mineral deposits, by their very nature, are mostly hidden below the earth’s surface and can only be identiied by costly exploration methods, such as high-technology geophysical and geochemical techniques and rock-core drilling. Since 1990, investors have spent between $5 million and $20 million per year on mineral exploration in Nova Scotia. Since the discovery of new deposits sustains the industry, the Department of Natural Resources should continue to identify and promote new opportunities for mineral exploration. In addition, the department should continue to provide technical and financial assistance to prospectors to help them attract investment for mineral exploration.
And then from the action plan:
23. Help prospectors attract investment for mineral exploration and development. We will consult with prospectors to determine the best ways to help them to attract investment for mineral exploration and development. Then we will put those measures into practice.
I just have to repeat that blogs like THIS is why you get the nasty emails. You sound almost negative when you talk about PEI allowing tax credits for people to invest in local companies (of ANY kind), yet sound almost gleeful that Nova Scotia is basically even doing the marketing for mining companies, besides giving them cheap access to all the minerals.
This just boggles my mind, government does a poor job of marketing its OWN policies, so why is it a good thing that they are doing it for mining companies? New Brunswick, of course, gets even better mining ratings from the Fraser Institute for its ‘friendliness’ to mining companies-beating out countries where the government routinely attacks its own civilians who get in the way.
I know its a question of nuance, but two blogs like this make it pretty easy to see why somebody might think the blog is in some multi national pocket. We get that most small local companies cater to the local economy and larger companies from abroad tend to employ more and export more, and so your focus is to bring in more of that. But in neither case is that ALWAYS or even NECESSARILY true.