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Finance Miinister Jim <strong>Flaherty</strong> holds a news conference after meeting with private sector economists in Ottawa, Monday, October 29, 2012.Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he is encouraged by recent progress in the long-standing effort to create a national securities regulator.

The finance minister made the comment after meeting with his Ontario counterpart, Dwight Duncan, who is reported to be leading an effort to revive the talks.

The federal initiative has been all but dormant since last year's Supreme Court ruling that struck down Ottawa's plan for a single regulator to police stock transactions and filings across Canada.

The court decision means if a national regulator is established, it would need to be a pared down version of the original proposal and would likely proceed without Quebec, which has been the strongest opponent of the idea.

After six-and-a-half years toiling on the file, Mr. Flaherty says he is still not in position to say if a national regulator will be established in Canada, but that there has been progress.

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