Government stalling on resolutionhttps://www.gfwadvertiser.ca/index.cfm?sid=340557&sc=297
Government stalling on resolution
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Advertiser
Dear Editor:
The Supreme Court of Newfoundland has made it clear that the MineralRights Adjudication Board was the appropriate body to render a decisionon this redundant decade long dispute between Vinland Resources and theprovincial government, Noranda and Canstar Resources. This disputeinvolves the much prized Mary March Property located in centralNewfoundland. On Oct. 23, 2009 this Adjudication Board rendered anunanimous decision rejecting Vinland Resources claim that this propertywas open for staking. This has been the third rejection to date.
Just prior to Nov. 23, 2009 Vinland Resources appealed this decision on apoint of law. A Factum was filed by Vinland Resources on Feb. 19, 2010,followed by response Factums by the government, Noranda and CanstarResources on March 24, 2010. Within the confines of this latest appealthere hasn't been any new evidentiary material submitted. This latestattempt appears to be a rehash, a regurgitation of the same old, sameold.
This dispute is largely and directly between Vinland Resources and theMining Recorder (government). Noranda and Canstar Resources are notinvolved in this litigation directly, merely caught in the middle as theproperty title holders. They simply want to explore and develop theproperty and have been held in limbo for a decade.
In order for the Court to vet these latest Factums, an "application for ahearing" must be submitted, this is the protocol to follow. This mustoccur as the Court does not set civil appeal hearings down on it's ownaccord. This is common knowledge as set out in the Supreme Courtwebsite. It has been recently determined that the Government has failedto submit this application for a hearing.
So, shareholders and the like have waited for a decision for weeks that"could" and "would" never happen. The Department of Natural Resourcesinsinuated and lead us to believe that shareholders must "just wait" forthe Court to make a decision. Misleading statements such as, "...thereis nothing that the Department is able to do outside of the presentlegal process. The Department has no control over the scheduling for thelegal process, which will proceed in accordance with a scheduleestablished by the Court" (April 15, 2010). This is essentially anerroneous statement given the fact that this case has been left in limbofor almost two months, due to this failure to file an application for ahearing. Had an inquiry to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland not beenmade, this situation and belief may have continued for many months.
Statements by the Department of Natural Resources such as, "...it is notin the provincial interest to see this matter stalled", lead us tobelieve that this application would naturally have been filed. To not doso would make this statement erroneous as well. Or has the governmentstalled and delayed this situation for a good reason?
Perhaps the government has purposefully made this decision! Are we toassume that this failure to file an application for a hearing was a"smart" move by the government? Why? Because if an application had beenfiled with the Court, this situation would potentially be prolonged for ayear or more. Why? Because it can be up to a year or more before aJudge can schedule time to vet a case and make a decision. Very smart tohave this remain outside the court system for this very reason, leavesthe door open to end this dispute immediately through legislation. Weknow the Government has full authority to do so.
To have this situation continue for a year or more would be counterproductive for central Newfoundland, an area that very much needs jobcreation and economic stimulus. As has previously been mentioned theTeck Duck Pond mine that is very similar geologically to the Mary MarchProperty and located only 15 km from Mary March employs 290 plusdirectly and 500 or more on spin off jobs. The Mary March Property hasvery similar potential.
I believe the government is fully aware of these facts and has made aprudent decision to finally put this situation to rest. Rather thatdelay this further, I believe the government purposefully failed to filean application for a hearing and has full intention of passinglegislation to finally end this redundant dispute. This would be verysmart economically and politically. Economic stimulus and development,job creation, increased tax base (personal and corporate) and investmentopportunities are the very things we expect our government willprovide. The citizens of Newfoundland are banking on this. Now is thetime.
The remaining question is "when" is the government going to act on this?Why is the government stalling, they have previously stated that it isnot in the provincial interest to see this matter stalled. Is thegovernment going to stand by it's word? Is the next excuse/delay goingto be that legislature is breaking for their extended summer holiday-tell that to the people of the Buchans area and central Newfoundland whoneed a job while their representatives enjoy their summer break.
There is a very simple solution. Why procrastinate?