Rob Brown

WE ARE all going to have to take a few extra deep breaths these days, because we live in interesting times. The phrase recalls the ancient Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times.” It is a curse, I’m told, because the Chinese value tradition, constancy and calm, the opposites of “interesting.” The good news […] Read more

GIVING effective, ethical health care to people can be difficult. That’s particularly true when the only possible results are bad and people have to pick the “least worst” option. So I continue to be haunted by the lives of Tracy Latimer and her father, Robert. I believe they paid dearly for failures by the medical […] Read more

EXCUSE me, but are there any farmers left in Saskatchewan? Of course there are, but you wouldn’t know it from the early part of the Saskatchewan election campaign. I have listened and read. I’ve checked the websites of the New Democratic Party, Saskatchewan Party, Liberals and Progressive Conservatives – the rump of the party once […] Read more

MOST western grain producers know a judge has overturned the Conservative government’s plans for the Canadian Wheat Board’s barley marketing. But the decision is not really about the CWB. It’s about how we function as a democratic nation. The facts in the case are fairly clear. The federal Conservatives are determined to change the CWB. […] Read more

SASKATCHEWAN’S government is thinking about joining the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA). But will involvement in it be good for Saskatchewan people, or anyone? Saskatchewan is under pressure to join. Under pressure from business organizations. Under some pressure from Alberta and British Columbia, who know their goal will likely falter without Saskatchewan. TILMA […] Read more

I HAVE always thought the name given of Canada’s agricultural stabilization program, CAIS, should be pronounced chaos. Now, Canada’s auditor general seems to have a similar feeling about the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program. The goal of the program, back in 2001, was to build an Agricultural Policy Framework with five pillars: Business risk management […] Read more

Contemporary society often worships at the altar of progress. It’s true that things are generally getting better – much better in some places, like Canada, than others, like sub-Sahara Africa. This, despite the Nazi holocaust, the bombing of Hiroshima, mass starvation, global air pollution and ethnic cleansing. Yet in his book A Short History of […] Read more

THE LOSS of the Canadian Wheat Board would be a significant blow to western farmers and to Western Canada’s economy, if it happens. The key issues related to the CWB’s future are not about giving farmers a choice in grain marketing. That’s just smoke and mirrors. Producers have always had choice. The CWB is not […] Read more

IMAGINE Saskatchewan with 3,000 farms instead of 50,000. These are not family farms. They are all big corporations. Some have their shares traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Some have their own product brand sold through supermarket chains. This is not the least bit far-fetched. The agricultural sector of the Prairies, particularly grain production, is […] Read more

IN MY last column, (June 1) I wrote that making choices is essential to building the lives of individuals and communities. Essential, but not easy. I also said that having effective information is necessary for making choices as we try to build a moral economy for the 21st century. In addition, the understanding and support […] Read more