Bexson tribute
Two of my brothers-in-law, Bill Lamont and Rusty Bexson, became top horse trainers through their own hard work, studying and natural aptitude. I wouldn’t care to say nothing if either one were dismissed as a nameless person who “once trained horses,” so I’m writing this.
I refer to the article on page 61 of the Livestock section in the July 14 issue of the Western Producer.
Rusty Bexson did indeed work on Justamere Farm, established by his grandfather Fox, but he went on from there to do many things in the horse world.
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To mention just one phase: he and his wife trained trotters and pacers for several years at Ladner, B.C., and also took the horses to race meets in Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with their six children.
Rusty and Maureen became well known in that circle but before that they had trained and shown saddle horses for themselves and others and had run stables in the Edmonton area. When they moved to land near Forestburg, Alta., they gradually moved out of the harness racing scene and back into heavy horses. They then became known as two of the top drivers and trainers in the heavy horse show rings.
Rusty also was in demand at clinics to teach people about heavy horses, particularly hoof care. He had been in the horse shoeing business for years.
He had a terrific sense of humour and kept his audience laughing at those clinics.
Rusty Bexson never became a horse-show snob. He treated others well and gave credit where credit was due. For example, he named the youngest son Stewart to remember a man who taught him so much about farrier work.
He never charged enough for his services, and in fact did a lot for nothing. Always the first to lend a helping hand, he spent a lot of time helping others. Although he had confidence in his own abilities, he remained humble.
The unique trophy given to the winning six-horse hitch at the Lloydminster Heavy Horse Show each year in his memory bears the slogan “Friend to horse and man.”
No, I won’t let Rusty Bexson, who could handle the wildest horse and then turn his radio to classical music, be dismissed as some nameless fellow who “once trained horses.”
Those who knew and respected him should not do so either.
– C. Pike,
Waseca, Sask.
Selling durum
Re: CWB sales, (Open Forum, July 7. In his letter, Mr. Nunweiler expressed frustration at the Canadian Wheat Board’s partial acceptance of durum contracts. I’d like to explain the market
fundamentals that were behind this decision.
Firstly, I’d like to assure Mr. Nunweiler and other farmers who may feel the way he does that our marketing decisions are not arbitrary and are not related in any way to the Producer Payment Options available for durum.
Rather, they are made with careful consideration of the market fundamentals, the need to maximize durum returns for prairie farmers and our determination to market as much durum as possible while keeping sight of what the global market will bear every
marketing year.
A balance needs to be struck between these considerations with the objective of maximizing the short and long-term value of Western Canada’s durum crop.
Global durum production reached record levels in 2004-05, building on increased production the year before. Furthermore, North Africa harvested back-to-back bumper crops, which is an unprecedented occurrence.
Considering that this region normally represents almost half of global durum trade, this development had a negative impact on overall global trade in both years. Reduced demand from this region has caused CWB durum sales to North Africa to fall well below traditional levels.
At the same time as we experienced the steep drop in North African demand, western Canadian farmers produced a large durum crop in 2004-05 – almost 700,000 tonnes above the five-year average.
However, only a small fraction of this production was high grade durum (No. 1 and 2 CWAD), and protein levels were well below average.
While Canadian durum is known for its high quality, we were unable to satisfy some of the customer demand we would normally be able to fill for high-grade, high protein durum. …
Again, I would like to assure Mr. Nunweiler that we are marketing as much durum as can be marketed without significantly depressing the market through our own activities.
I suppose one could lower prices to fire sale levels in order to move the entire crop. This action however, would undermine the benefits of a single-desk seller, benefits that over the long term provide more money for durum growers than what would exist in a multiple selling environment.
– Adrian Measner,
President and CEO
Canadian Wheat Board,
Winnipeg, Man.
Use incentives
As I commented to a Saskatoon business reporter last week, the announcement that Maple Leaf Foods will expand its operations in Saskatoon is good news for the people of Saskatoon and the Saskatchewan economy.
However, as I also pointed out, the Saskatchewan Party and I would have preferred that the provincial government use tax incentives as opposed to straight grants to encourage this expansion.
This is consistent with the Saskatchewan Party’s concern that the Calvert government’s continued reliance on direct government investment has failed to produce an economic environment that encourages long-term growth in our province.
The Saskatchewan Party is not alone in doubting the viability of direct government investment as a long-term economic strategy. As former NDP finance minister Janice MacKinnon explained in her recent book, Minding the Public Purse, “Direct investment decisions are made at the cabinet table and soon as a decision reaches the cabinet table, politics is involved. When politics is involved, immediate benefits are more likely to overshadow concerns about long-term costs.”
She also notes that governments “should not be risking taxpayers’ dollars by picking economic winners and losers, especially since the record shows that governments of all stripes pick their share of losers.”
While the announcement of new jobs is always welcome, the overall record of the NDP government when it comes to direct government investments has been a disaster. Spudco, Broe Industries, Navigata and virtually every out of province SaskTel investment, are just a few of the NDP’s well-known failures.
Direct investments raise troubling questions, particularly given Lorne Calvert’s track record.
There are numerous tools at the government’s disposal to make Saskatchewan the place to invest.
As Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall outlined in his paper, “The Promise of Saskatchewan,” new growth tax incentives that create targeted tax cuts on incremental costs and new investment are particularly attractive in creating new economic growth, because they stimulate economic activity in a way that is revenue neutral.
Other models for this type of incentive include resource surcharges, the capital tax and corporate income tax.
The key to economic success over the long-term is to stop injecting politics into our economic decisions and start embracing innovative strategies to encourage investment.
– Bob Bjornerud,
Saskatchewan Party
Agriculture Critic,
Regina
Still a skunk
Once again, Eastern Canada does not want anyone from the West running the country. Yet they sure like Alberta’s oil and gas and their money.
But now the West does not want someone from the East running the country. There’s been too much sleaze for the last 40 years, so that leaves us one choice, to separate. We could be free of corruption, double standards on health care, grain marketing, floods, fires, droughts, etc.
I think it is unconscionable and immoral to put $8 billion in
non-transparent trust funds at the same time gutting Medicare.
Instead of getting cozy and friendly with these guys, the Ontario media should be asking “Where are the other billions and billions of dollars that are missing and why aren’t you looking for it?”
People have paid taxes all their life only to find Medicare wasn’t there for them when they really needed it. People died and suffered and are still dying and suffering.
I don’t want anything to do with people and parties that prop up such a government. To suggest that these guys are different from previous governments is a con. You can paint the stripe on a skunk black but it’s still going to be a skunk.
If Quebec only gets 50 percent of all the different federal tax dollars it sends to Ottawa back, then imagine how little we get back in the West.
I believe, Manitoba the poorest of the four western provinces would be a have province outside of Canada. We could have a proper tax system, health system and a real justice system. We would have to spend to increase our manufacturing base, like Ottawa did with our money in Eastern Canada.
Instead of ridiculous policies like CAIS, the set-aside plan, we could be testing all older animals like a plant in Alberta was going to do until Ottawa pulled the plug on it and stuck another knife in our backs.
Canada itself got tired of being England’s colony and separated, now we should do the same.
When I think of Canada all I see is a cow standing across the country. It is grazing in the West, the udder is over Eastern Canada and the tail is over the Maritimes. That’s all Canada has ever been and ever will be.
– Conrad Olsen,
Teulon, Man.
