Crowns are safe
In response to Ms. Sloan’s letter to the editor in your April 15 edition, I want to assure your readers our government has no plans to privatize crown corporations.Our support of the crowns can be seen in the dramatic increase provided for their capital spending programs to renew and expand their production capacity. SaskPower, SaskEnergy, and SaskTel will invest $1.3 billion in badly needed infrastructure this year. They invested close to $1 billion last year. This is in stark contrast to the spending of the previous administration, which averaged less than half that amount. Where it makes economic sense, the crowns are divesting themselves of out-of-province investments and applying those proceeds to further crown capital expenditures here in the province.Crown dividends have in the past, and continue to play, a key role in providing funds to repair roads and highways, maintain schools and supply much needed capital improvement grants to health-care facilities….Our government is extremely proud of Saskatchewan’s crowns. We believe that the employees of Saskatchewan’s crown corporations are among the best in the world.These hard-working men and women are the reason our crown corporations make a strong contribution to our provincial economy and our communities. …June Draude,Minister responsible for CIC, Regina, Sask.
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July saw below average temperatures, August came in with near to slightly above average temperatures and September built on this warming trend with well above average temperatures for the month.
Farm support programs
How much longer can farmers tolerate the blatant favouritism lavished on Quebec by Ottawa concerning domestic support issues? When does political correctness end and common sense kick in? Quebec has 13 percent of Canadian farms. Almost half of these are supply managed. In 1995 the Uruguay Round was signed, eliminating most of Western Canada’s support programs, while Quebec’s trade distorting ASRA program (Assurance-Stabilization des revenues Agricoles), and supply management were left well funded. Between 1995 and 2007, the federal government subsidized ASRA to the tune of about $1.4 billion.From 1995 to 2001, federal revenue enhancing transfers to Quebec totalled $3.8 billion as compared to Alberta with $944 million and Saskatchewan with $1.1 billion. Totals for Eastern Canada equalled $7.8 billion while Western Canada paled at $3.6 billion. This shows the East getting 69 percent versus 31 percent in the West for federal transfers that directly affect the farmer’s bottom line.From 2003 to 2008, Quebec received 45 percent of the provinces’ federal “companion programs” while managing to get a healthy share of CAIS/AgriStability. In 2008, public accounts show Quebec receiving 35 percent of CAIS/AgriStability federal payouts while Alberta repaid $20 million. Since 2003, about half of Quebec’s CAIS program participants received payments on a yearly basis, including many from supply-management. This seems strange because supply management does not become eligible for CAIS/AgriStability until their program year margin has fallen to 70 percent of their reference margin….Wake up, Western Canada, and start asking how Quebec triggers payments so easily and how we are going to start rearranging product-specific aggregate measurement of support more equally. Lynda Swanson,Elnora, Alta.
SaskTel service
Why should a $120 million SaskTel dividend scoop by the Saskatchewan government concern me? SaskTel just spent cash advertising a province-wide world class wireless network. I use wireless at homes, libraries and net cafes in Estevan, Regina, Saskatoon, Lake Alma and Beaubier. City service can stream files and video at 3G speeds. Back at Lake Alma, 500 feet away from the SaskTel tower, my USB aircard gets a measly 50 kilobytes. At home, my land line get five kbs and wireless much the same with numerous dropped connections. In a world where 3G and soon 4G are required to run business and soon educational and medical applications, service providers need cash to deliver this capacity. SaskTel would be reduced to borrowing money to give me this kind of service. I pay $250 per month for land and wireless for what is, comparatively speaking, garbage. I feel raped, not as much by SaskTel as their political masters, the deputy ministers and MLA in charge of the ministry responsible for crowns. I support SaskTel primarily because I expect profits to be reinvested to enhance my service. If I get better service, I make more profit and the province gets to tax me. In a modern society it takes communication to create wealth. What about this picture does not compute?Morris Johnson,Beaubier, Sask.
CFIA inspection
I would like to respond to the April 22 letter, (Food safety, Open Forum.)Canada has a strong meat inspection system and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency verifies that food, whether domestic or imported, is safe. As part of our continued efforts to improve our food safety system, the CFIA implemented a change in policy to randomly inspect U.S. trucks when they arrive at the border instead of giving them advanced notice. The CFIA will continue to monitor the new system closely and will make changes where required to ensure compliance. Trucks carrying meat across the border are aware of the CFIA and Canadian Border Services Agency requirements. They must comply with instructions to present for inspection. If they do not, they face warnings, increased scrutiny, fines, prosecution and product seizure. The CFIA has received additional investments from the government of Canada to hire additional inspectors and to further strengthen the food safety system.The CFIA will continue to work with our federal and provincial partners to continually improve our food inspection systems and to address new challenges.Cameron Prince,CFIA Vice President, Operations,
Child safety
I wish to express my concern that your paper chose to carry a photo of a very young child hugging a large animal, (WP, April 8.) Not only was the child with one large bull but several large animals. Placing this young child by these animals for a photo was a most irresponsible act by the parents. Printing this photo condones unsafe acts by adults. We are all too familiar with the poor safety records of children living on farms.We strongly recommend that in the future you refuse to print photos like this and send the contributor a letter clearly stating your concern for their childrens’ safety.Bob Dyck,Kelowna, B.C.
Economic slaves
Few young men and women who grew up on the farm have chosen to remain on the farm as their career choice. Why? They know that farming is a difficult, low paying, high risk, high investment career choice.Agriculture financial experts tell us we need a 10,000 acre operation to be financially viable in the present environment. In other words, an investment of $4 to $6 million. …To operate a modern grain farm we require machinery, fertilizer, herbicides, seed, fuel, rail services and borrowed capital. These services and goods that we must have and can’t farm without are all controlled by a few transnational corporations who seem to be more powerful than governments of many countries.During the last few decades these agricultural corporations have amalgamated, consolidated and bought each other out to the point where they are almost able to perform as a monopoly and often do.Competition between the few agriculture transnational corporations seems to be part of the past.Example: Two years ago when world grain supplies plunged to a worrisome low, grain prices to farmers increased substantially. Almost immediately the suppliers of farm inputs raised their prices, some as much as 400 percent. As quickly as we gained a much-needed raise for our grain, they took it away from us. …Young men and women who grew up on the farm understand and know this. Therefore they reject farming as a career choice.George E. Hickie,Waldron, Sask.
