With this questionable spoofing, good timing and got this update from Save Canadian Mining this morning. Hopefully everyone here has signed the petition to stop unfair trading
savecanadianmining.com/
Dear Supporter –
Thank you for your continued support of Save Canadian Mining and our work with the Ontario government as they and the Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce (“taskforce”) deliberate on potential changes to the Ontario Securities Act. With your support we have been able to make some real progress, and feel that we are closer to getting the amendments we want to help protect the junior mining industry.
Where we are at:
Our coalition of support has grown significantly – through our various efforts to reach out to the mining sector, SCM has attracted over 2,500 supporters. We believe we are on track to reach 5,000 by the start of 2021. In addition, our coalition’s leadership remains formidable with continued participation from the TSX Venture Exchange, the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), the Ontario Prospectors Association, Eric Sprott Mining, Rob McEwen Mining, and several larger mining companies. We couldn’t be this large without your support and we thank you for your continued interest.
The initial report by the taskforce is out and has been responded to - as SCM publicly commented at the time of its release in early July, the campaign is encouraged by the initial direction of the taskforce. There are a number of inclusions that address predatory short selling and reducing “red tape” on smaller issuers. On behalf of the campaign, we publicly and privately (through direct interactions with members of the taskforce) expressed a degree of disappointment that the initial recommendations did not go as far to include the reinstatement of the tick test. We are confident they are aware of the degree of small business support this request has.
The submissions are in – SCM has been able to produce two comprehensive submissions to the taskforce as part of their consultation. These documents make clear the need for better restrictions on predatory short-selling and the impact that the repeal of the tick test in 2012 by IIROC has had on mining juniors. Our submissions are being weighed along with over 100 others from various stakeholders.
The taskforce is preparing its final report – originally set to have been released in the month of November, we are hearing the taskforce’s final report will be delayed. The consultation period is now over and we are awaiting their final report / list of recommended changes to the Ontario Securities Act. Based on our current intelligence, we should be expecting this to be made public before the end of the calendar year. This means there is still time to affect their decisions through continued advocacy.
What we have done:
SCM and our partners have been busy over the past several months as the campaign has made itself an important part of the government’s consultations. Here is a list of what SCM has been up to:
Met with the CEO and Executive Team at IIROC twice – SCM has met with the Ontario Securities Commission and IIROC to share information. In these meetings, it was revealed to the campaign that the tick test has indeed had an impact on a specific segment of securities. While we are encouraged by some of the broader initiatives that IIROC is conducting to address predatory short selling, we still are still debating with them around the importance of our ask that they reinstate the tick test.
Meetings with the Ford government – SCM continues to meet with key offices within the Hon. Doug Ford administration. The last round of meetings focused on socializing SCM’s position on the tick test based on new data shared with us by IIROC. SCM will continue to interact with these offices as they deliberate on the soon-to-be released final recommendations by the taskforce.
Drafted and submitted two comprehensive documents to the taskforce – SCM has made two separate submissions to the taskforce as part of their consultation. The first highlighted SCM’s own research on the disparity between stock valuations and commodities. This proprietary research was conducted by Murenbeeld and showed that there is a clear structural problem in Canada’s capital markets. The second submission encouraged the taskforce to keep the recommendations that address predatory short selling, but it also restated our case for the tick test. The second submission included data provided to us by IIROC that proves the repeal of the tick test has indeed had a negative impact on junior mining companies.
Publicly responded to the taskforce initial consultation report – SCM continued to make a case for the inclusion of the reinstatement of the tick test in a public release that included quotes from key supporting partners like the OMA and the TSX.V.
Executed a number of webinars with leaders from the mining sector – SCM has hosted a number of webinars that featured leaders in the mining sector. These online sessions attracted a great deal of attention, and focused almost entirely on the impact that predatory short selling has had and will have on the industry unless changes are made.