Well t’is been a long wasted spring and summer check’in me claims to see if they’ed been sterilized by dem new parks which sprung up all over the province. I’ve finally had to stop wastin my time cuse dem cursed tree hugging MNR types keep changin the boundries every time they to sit down at one of dem computin machines. Once I got through checkin one group of claims, they’ed change the boundarys of t’other. But thats nothin new to them MNR fellas they is always chanin the rules to suit themselves and their new bosses in the Partnership For Public Lands Party. Its funny, I still don’t recall seein that party name on the ballot in the last election, my eyes must be getting bad.

Now what really galls me the most is than when I was in too the claims office last spring, I heard how it was our own Minister of Mines, Chris Hodgepodge who put the screws to us little guys. It was our own minister of mines, the guy who’s supposed to look to the well bein of the minin guys who set this whole parks land grab thing up. Where were the senior people at Mines Ministry when this was going on? Doin what they do best I suppose, hidin from controversy. Don’t want to get the Minister upset by tellin him he’s stupid, them senior mines people always knows its easier to say yes Minister. But who am I, just some hillbilly prospector, what do I know about minin?

Now I hear we got this new gung ho mines minister from Niagara Falls. The only minin I seen down there was when I took the missus and we toured the tunnels under the falls. Nice tunnels they are too. Well I hear this new Minister Whodat from the banana belt seems to be marchin to a different drummer. Started off on the right foot, got his self a new deputy minister from outside, not one of those mining branch yes men who like to hide from problems. I hope this new deputy marches to the same drummer as the Minister cause its now time to shake up and wake up the rest of dem them senior minin branch people. We got some real important issues to deal with in this province, dem band-aid solutions of the past just aint gunna stop the hemoragin that’s now goin on with prospectin and minin in this here province.

Fer instance, I think I mentioned before how dem there red robes in Ottawa stirred up some lobster pot and managed to start a big kufful down on the east coast. Well, that pots now boiled over into Ontario and we got ourselves a real native brouhaha startin up in the northeast part of the province, not to mention the problems which have been ongoing in the northwest. This is one kuffel them mines people have been dodgin for years and they’ed better start wakin up cause somebodys bound to get hurt and than its gunna be a bigger problem than they ever dreamed.

Den there is dose MNR fellas and der bosses at Partnership For Public Lands (and I still don’t recall seeing der name on the ballot in the last election) have pushed those old time mines branch people to set up some new committee to grade crown lands and look for areas with Provincial Significant Mineral Potential. Now what the hell is that? Don’t all lands have significant unknown mineral potential? Me oldtime prospecting mentors always taught me to leave no stone unturned cause in most cases there is no rhyme nor reason mines occur only where you find ‘em. Hey, didn’t these fellas do this same exercise in the seventies? Of course, only a deadwood bureaucrat would find it easier reinvent a broken wheel in front of a new wet behind the ears minister. After all whats he gunna know, he’s from Niagara Falls. These mines branch fellas missed the significance of Hemlo, the Big Wopper, the kimberlites of the James Bay Lowlands and Timiskaming Clay Belt, and the current PGE potential of River Valley and East Bull Lake during the last mineral potential search, they couldnt possibly do it ag’in, could they? I see’s it would be one whole lot easier if them der government people would enshrine in law a provincial mines policy of environmentally responsible mineral exploration and mine development on all crown lands, includin these new parks? After all, don’t we all do it now anyways! Or is this simply too easy? But my guess is that dem MNR fellas and der bosses in the Partnership Party will throw out what ever it is this here mines branch committee comes up with cause it’ll never fit in with der ever increasing desire to wipe minin right out of the province.

What we needs here in this province is a major shake up in bureaucracy of our mines branch cause I’m sure getting tired of lookin at the same broken wheels. Perhaps I’ll teach meself French this winter and move to a place where the government actually looks out fer us prospectors.