“When the Sullivan lead-zinc mine in Kimberley, B.C., was closed, British Columbia’s Energy Minister Jack Davis was very disappointed. Seeking an explanation of the company’s terse, two-paragraph announcement of an inde/80h/nite closure, he called this press release `blunt, brutal and uncalled for.’ Mr. Davis remonstrated forcefully with Mr. Ted Fletcher, senior vice-president and chief operating of/80h/cer of Cominco Metals, in an attempt to argue him into rescinding his decision. “It is all too understandable that a minister of the Crown would be frustrated about a large enterprise, employing hundreds of people, closing. However, it is quite improper for him to become involved in such decisions. . . .
“The political sector, to be sure, has an appropriate role to play in commercial matters, at least in the classical liberal philosophy of free enterprise and limited government. It must de/80h/ne and protect property rights and be ever vigilant in its opposition to fraud. But in a free society it simply has no proper role to play in the determination of which mines are viable, and should remain open, and which should be closed. It should not be able to threaten innocent corporate executives, however implicitly, who are only doing their best to preserve the value of the shares for the stockholders and maximize pro/80h/ts. . . .
“If Jack Davis wants to be Monday morning quarterback in the business world, let him resign from government and take a seat on a corporate board. Until that time, let him leave the decision- making to those who stand to lose, /80h/nancially, from their errors.”
From an article by Walter Block in Fraser Forum, a publication of The Fraser Institute. The Sullivan mine reopened sometime after this article was /80h/rst published.
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