RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:=Both Winn & Harper must be well aware of potential KWG Glencore &/or China support. Winn Harper Mtg Dec 5 2013. ""All these years later, the hard work of bringing the Ring of Fire to fruition is harder to deliver than a throne speech or a press line. Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. was the heavyweight in the ring, spending $500 million to date in preparatory work. Last week, it announced a pullout. The Wynne government tried to patch things up by setting up a new Development Corporation earlier this month, which now looks like an act of desperation in anticipation of the Cliffs pullout. Without roads and ((NS RR)) infrastructure to make it accessible to mining companies, the Ring of Fire risks flaming out. In her letter to Harper, Wynne estimates it will take about $2 billion to provide needed infrastructure and connect local communities to all-season roads — and asks for matching funds. She argues that the province has been shortchanged while Ottawa has bankrolled the energy sector Out West and backstopped massive Hydro Projects in B.C. and Newfoundland. Hibernia and the Oil Sands would never have reached the commercialization stage without heavy investments from the Federal Government; Ontario argues. It’s hard to imagine the Prime Minister washing his hands of the issue. His federal Conservatives elected 72 MPs in Ontario in the last election, without which he would never have won his majority government. The Ring of Fire is a financial challenge but also a political opportunity that he knows cannot be discounted. Like the Pension Challenge facing all Canadians, the Ring of Fire requires a Prime Ministerial reply — and merits a meeting."" Martin Regg Cohn’s Provincial Affairs Column Dec 4, 2013. cohn@thestar.ca