Governments all over the world have a duty, a responsibility and a commitment of protecting the environment. This can be achieved through enactment and enforcement of suitable state mining and reclamation laws. These laws should also ensure that the environment is protected during coal mining and that the land where coal has been mined is reclaimed adequately after coal mining. The private sector has the role of investing in clean coal technology and should be commitment and support the government initiatives of moving the nation towards greater sustainability and energy reliability (Glasson et al., 2005). As noted before the two recent coal mining incidents in China and U.S have brought about new concerns in coal mining industry. The private sector needs to play more ethical and central role to ensure security of coal mining through strengthening safety measures in their mines. If the coal mining companies continue to ignore the casualty costs, a universal, more costly, regulation will have precedent.

After all the years of the government letting coal mining corporations keep unhealthy and environmentally unsustainable mines open, head regulators of MSHA have begun to take action. According to the USA Today on April 27th 2010, ”MSHA chief Joseph Main told a Senate hearing that his agency may start going to court to close mines that repeatedly violate health and safety rules” (pg 1). If this is not just political rhetoric and is backed by firm action, safety in mines may improve. Just because the head of federal mine safety publicly criticized the owner of the Massey coal mine where an explosion killed 29 people in early April, does not mean appropriate action will be taken. However, it is a step in the right direction.

Because the verbal says, ”the government may crack down on ’mine operators who are chronic lawbreakers,’ insinuates that the regulators may not crack down on ’chronic lawbreakers’ at all. Furthermore, the definition of a ”chronic lawbreaker’ is arbitrary and ambiguous. There is not any legislation on how many violations requires a mine being shut down. April 27th 2010 was an unprecedented day for Main said (according to the USA Today),”MSHA has never sought a court order to close a ’cofflaw mine’ (Frank, Thomas, 2010 b).

There are different grant programs available for Canadian companies. The government offers one time grant, renewable grants, equity financing, and conditional repayable contributions. If you need financing for human resource development, then you should aim for one time government grant. Remember, this kind of grant is different from loans so the requirements may be different also. One time grant can be earmarked for staff training, employee seminars, or to fund preparation for small business certification. It would be easier for you to acquire such financing because staff training for human resource development has a specific purpose and easily attainable.

You can also propose an extended human resource development training that will involve some of your select clients. This could be in the form of a training seminar that will strengthen the skill sets of your employees in customer relations. Such activities could qualify for one time Canadian grant programs. So instead of acquiring loans to fund a big event for customer relations management, you can seek the help of the Canadian government through official grants. All you have to do is to file the necessary application, submit documentary requirements, and wait for the approval of the grant. You have to make sure that your proposal is clear and has tangible benefit for your employees. Such clarity of purpose and benefits could facilitate fast approval of your application for official government grant.

You can also use one time grant programs of the Canadian government for subsidizing your internship program. For example, if you want to employ students or fresh graduates as interns or trainees, then the government grant program can help fund the allowances and salaries of your temporary employees. An internship program can also be considered a training or human resource development program. Through your internship program, you are paving the way for young Canadians to acquire new skills needed by the industries. So your grant application can get a favorable nod from the government because you are contributing to the development of the job market. Through your internship program, you can train new employees and the government will pay for their salaries.

Getting official Canadian grant is more beneficial for small businesses. These grants, especially one time grant programs, are free as long as you provide proof that your proposal will benefit not just your business but also the labor force. So instead of applying for loans, you can start with small funding from the government to build your credibility. If your human resource development projects are successful, then you can easily apply for bigger funding for your next projects.