The Republic of Mining is a Sudbury, Ontario-based blog on mining.  I recommend it if you are interested in a quiet and sober view of a segment of mining—focussed on Sudbury and the greater Canada.  Unlike this blog, The Republic of Mining in uncontroversial.  Their world perspective is respect and praise.  Seems I grew up and live in a different time and place.  California is its own place and breaks most rules usually in the lead.  And Vancouver is branded the banana-belt Republic in the rest of Canada.  So I am explained, if not excused.

Thus I was neither surprised nor distressed to see no mention on the Republic of Mining about the city manager of Sudbury demanding more money from the province and the feds for Sudbury.  The report reads: 

A passionate presentation before North Bay city council, Sudbury mayor John Rodriguez explained how his city and many other northern communities are not getting their fair share of resource revenue sharing from the federal and provincial governments. He says it’s essential and urgent to get a funding framework in place so that more tax revenue from the mining sector flows back to municipalities such as Sudbury, Timmins and Kirkland Lake. He says in the last ten year Sudbury has seen a half a billion dollars of deficit in infrastructure. To put is simply says Rodriguez, “They’re not sharing in the wealth”.

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No doubt the facts are complex and at least can be argued either way.   Yet this morning’s two news reports, make you wonder about the tendency for people to do wrong:

W.R. Grace and asbestos:  “The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to hear an appeal by W.R. Grace & Co. in a case that involves criminal charges brought by the government against the company and six of its executives for Clean Air Act violations in the release of asbestos from a vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana.”

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