This has been a tough weekend for you Rocky: Ecuador Farming programs Oil companies having to pay taxes
Guess you are going to have to move to the land of milk and honey-Saskatchewan.
Oh wait....what have they been up to in that bastion of free enterprise?
....In 1974, the provincial government created the Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation, a Crown corporation that would govern all mining in the province. It was during the 1970s that extensive uranium reserves were located in the Athabasca Basin and, following this find, several more mines were established in the 1980s in Cluff Lake, Key Lake, Cigar Lake and Rabbit Lake. In 1988, the Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation merged with Eldorado Nuclear Ltd. to form the CAMECO Corporation.....
..... A surge of development by other companies resulted in twelve companies opening ten mines by 1970. Industry expansion exceeded market growth, producing a crisis that threatened some mines with closure. Having earlier pressed for rapid development, the government was then forced to intervene and introduce a “rationing-pricing” plan, which saved the industry from disaster. As the industry recovered, a new NDP government pressed for increased provincial revenues and wanted to participate actively in plant expansions. Industry resistance grew, especially after a major taxation increase. Eventually, most companies stopped paying provincial levies, refused to expand capacity, launched court actions to thwart government initiatives, and stopped supplying standard production information. Federal actions further complicated matters. The government responded by announcing on November 12, 1975, that it would seek powers to acquire, by expropriation if necessary, ownership of part or all of the potash industry.
From 1975 until 1982 a Crown corporation, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS), acquired through negotiation ownership of four mines and the producing property of another operation mined under contract. These acquisitions, together with plant expansions, resulted in PCS owning 40% of Saskatchewan’s productive capacity. PCS, a very profitable operation which was aided by good marketing conditions, played an active role in international industry affairs and contributed materially to a growing Saskatchewan economy. It also planned on further expansion and diversification. At the same time, negotiations resumed between the government and potash producers, including PCS, on royalties and other provincial payments. The agreement reached brought the government significantly higher revenues while ensuring potash producers a reasonable rate of return. Potash markets became more difficult when the government changed in 1982: PCS expansions continued without an accompanying marketing strategy; and incurred heavy losses. By 1988, PCS was privatized as part of a broader privatization program; the process was completed in 1991, just before another change in government. Studies concluded that the province had lost a significant amount of value in the process.
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