opinion
As columnist Verna Thompson notes this week on the opposite page, the Saskatchewan government appears to have shown a commendable change of heart on rural health-care closures.
That’s good news by itself, but there are also additional indications that common sense and compassion may be creeping back into both provincial and federal levels of government.
The federal government, for example, has just announced that no more rural post offices will be closed. Canada Post is running at a profit, and the perceived need to ruthlessly chop small post offices is no longer valid, if it ever was.
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Although this week’s federal budget will be the proof of the pudding, federal officials concerned with agriculture seem to be showing a real commitment to consult representative farm organizations and to defend the economically important farm sector against internal and external threats.
Back in Saskatchewan, a deficit-reducing budget was unveiled last week that left agriculture relatively unscarred. It even added some programs like $20 million to be invested over four years to encourage rural value-added projects.
It’s too early to proclaim a trend, but the above actions and policies seem to share a common theme — realization of the importance of agriculture and rural society.
Politicians, of course, have always paid lip service to the importance of farming and rural life, but their words have not always been accompanied by concrete action.
Measures like protecting rural post offices or continuing agricultural investment are much better than sympathetic speeches. They are especially notable in tough times, when there is pressure to cut costs everywhere.
It is implicit realization that agriculture is of fundamental importance to the Canadian economy, and that measures to help it remain healthy will have many indirect economic benefits.
In most cases, spending on agricultural programs is a sound economic investment, not a luxury or a wasteful cost to be cut.
If this message has really implanted itself in the hearts and minds of government policymakers, then much credit should go to all the groups and individuals who have worked hard for years to emphasize the importance of rural areas in the Canadian society and economy, and the right of rural residents to certain basic services.
Sometimes it may seem hopeless to keep writing letters, buttonholing officials, asking questions at meetings, circulating petitions, or drafting resolutions. But if the developments of the last few weeks are any indication, that kind of effort can make a difference.
