Rail complaint
To the Editor:
Why is it that every time the anti-Wheat Board types have a bad-hair day, they issue a press release blaming the Canadian Wheat Board?
The latest foolishness is from the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. They are condemning the CWB for going after the railways for failing to transport our grain last crop year.
The railways have been using all sorts of legalistic tricks to try to wriggle off this $65-million hook. …
The Wheat Growers condemn the CWB for sticking up for farmers. Why would they demand that the CWB drop its legal case and let the railways off the hook?
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Speaking of bad days, how is it that the same bunch can be lobbying in the back rooms of Ottawa to overturn the farmer vote to keep the CWB?
They could not destroy the CWB by persuading grain producers to throw it away, so now they are trying to get their way through back-room deals.
And what about the commitment to democratic referendums from the leader of the official opposition? Farmers have voted two to one in favor of the CWB.
Now it seems that commitment to honor referendums is about as real as the commitment to give up the perks of living in the Opposition mansion at Stornoway.
– Ken Larsen,
Benalto, Alta.
Russian sale
To the Editor:
Browsing through Globalink on Wednesday, Sept. 24, I came across an interesting article on Farm World News. It was a press release from the Russian Embassy.
It stated that Russia had returned to Canada for wheat for the first time in four years. My first thought was positive because another wheat sale would help the so-called glut of wheat in the world.
As I read on, the message became clearer and clearer. Private Russian buyers were looking for “the best deal” and found Canada to be the “least expensive.” It goes on to say that buying wheat from Canada to supply eastern regions of Russia is cheaper than shipping wheat from the western regions.
Let’s analyze this. How in the hell should Canadian wheat be cheaper to buy in Canada than in their own country? Is this another example of CWB export marketing clout? Is the Western Canadian farmer subsidizing another sale to Russia as they have in the past? Is the CWB or the Federal Government so desperate to make a sale that they have to undersell every country in the world? Is this what western Canadian farmers expect out of the CWB?
Until we achieve dual marketing in this country, don’t expect anything in this country to change. Remember, the CWB works for the government, not the best interests of Western Canadian farmers. Maybe the wheat Russia bought was in exchange for some kind of “special interest” documents on how to run a country!!
– Alex Herle,
Neilburg, Sask.
Separatism harm
To the Editor:
Canadian separatists of East and West must be reminded of Bosnia. The legislature of Bosnia declared independence, not even giving its people a chance to vote on the issue.
For those who think Bosnia was no big deal, let me recall the damage. Thousands of people killed, hundreds of thousands injured, maimed and crippled for life, including children. Atrocities committed too numerous to count; billions of dollars in public and private property damage. Many people lost all their belongings and possessions and may never get them back.
There is peace in Bosnia now but the enmity created between the various factions may last for centuries. Just for the sake of independence, was it worth the price they paid?
If one more example is needed, look back to the American Civil War. Not one U.S. state has raised a voice for independence since!
In view of these and other historic facts, it is irresponsible to stir up any smoldering pot of separation just for the sake of media attention.
If the right wing in politics has nothing better to do, they might want to write a history on the carnage created by thought and action for independence or separation. How about it, Senator Pat Carney?
– Ernest J. Weser,
Laird, Sask.
Use Churchill
To the Editor:
Your Oct. 2 issue of the Western Producer advised that Thunder Bay will be doubling last year’s grain handling to secure a 1997 eastward grain movement in excess of 10 million tonnes, requiring the payment of $250-$300 million from funds already collected when grain was delivered to local elevators.
Use of Churchill eliminates the payment of costs from Thunder Bay (via the Great Lakes Seaway) to St. Lawrence and Gulf ports of $25 to $30 a tonne.
Unlike Thunder Bay, the Canadian Wheat Board is most certainly not going to raise this year’s Churchill grain export from the 1996 figure of 304,000 tonnes to the break-even 600,000 tonnes, a total which would have avoided paying $15 to $18 million, saving money for the CWB pool and producers.
OmniTrax, through its Canadian subsidiaries – the Hudson Bay Railway and the Hudson Bay Port Co. at Churchill – is working hard to increase exports of your grain through Churchill this year and next.
Western people, municipalities, SARM, Prairie governments – and you – must again speak out and work for the secure and busy trade route to and from the world via Churchill.
– Willis Richford,
Norquay, Sask.
Reform vs CWB
To the Editor:
The letter from George Hickie prompted me to write re the Reform Party and the obvious facts that they are no different, perhaps even worse, than other parties when it comes to listening to their constituents. It is obvious they are prepared to push the party line regardless of constituents’ wishes. We in Prince George-Peace River have a prime example in our MP, Jay Hill. Hill continues to ridicule and put down the Canadian Wheat Board and refuses to honor the wishes of the two-thirds farmer vote on barley.
In addition to that, Hill himself had a survey done in the Peace. The majority of farmers supported the CWB. Then he ridicules the CWB as being too secretive re sales.
Does Cargill tell the public their sales plans or the price received? Does Cargill get the best price for Farmers?
The CWB are a competitive market and one would be stupid to think they can make public their sales and prices at all times. Mr. Hickie is right – the Reformers are power-hungry and will do whatever it takes to get there.
– Jean Leahy,
Fort St. John, B.C.
Obey laws
To the Editor:
There are many laws in this land of ours. Most of them we don’t like. But if these laws are broken and you get caught, you pay the penalty and sometimes go to jail.
There are many things we need to have a licence for, such as to hunt, fish or to drive a vehicle. You can buy a $25,000 car; it is yours, you paid for it; but you have to put a licence on it before you can drive it.
That is the law.
You need a licence or permit to sell grain across the border, but some people think they are above the law and when they get caught, they cry foul and write letters to every newspaper editor in the province. …
I guess this all comes down to breaking the wheat board.
If they don’t want to sell to the board, why don’t they sell on the open market, get all their money the same day and go home happy? Or move to the States if they don’t like Canadian laws, because they will never be satisfied here – look how they accepted the barley vote.
Without the wheat board, they will have a hard lesson to learn and they will still have single-desk selling.
– Eric Wenbourne Sr.,
Tisdale, Sask.
Road safety
To the Editor:
I’m writing to set the record straight on a very important issue. One of the opposition-party MLAs recently obtained media coverage by making accusations that more people are dying on Saskatchewan highways because the NDP government has allowed the roads to deteriorate. Such comments are both outrageous and irresponsible!
The accusations were supposedly based on statistics released by SGI concerning traffic collisions during the first six months of this year. SGI’s figures show a 46.8 percent increase in fatalities on provincial highways over the previous three-year period, and although we agree that these numbers are unacceptably high, it is not unusual to see the numbers fluctuate in any given year.
For example, in the first six months of 1993 (a little more than a year after the Devine Conservatives were voted out and the NDP were voted in), there were 58 fatalities. Yet, in the first six months of 1996, there were just five fatalities.
Using the opposition’s logic, there must have been a dramatic increase in the quality of our highways in early 1996.
We all know, of course, that this has not been the case. …
The facts speak for themselves: over the past 25 years, the annual average number of fatalities on provincial highways has actually declined significantly, in spite of increasing traffic volumes and a highway system that has been subjected to considerable pressures. …
The federal government has a significant obligation to transportation in western Canada, an obligation that they are ignoring. With federal assistance, we could solve many of our transportation infrastructure challenges in a much shorter time frame.
We are committed to improving our highway system.
In the 1997 budget speech, we announced a fiscally responsible transportation program and committed to spend $2.5 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade the system. We began the process this year with a $30 million increase in the Department of Highways and Transportation budget.
Thank you for the opportunity to clarify this issue.
– Judy Bradley,
Minister of Highways,
Regina, Sask.
Farm stress
To the Editor:
Having had considerable enjoyable experiences working with cattle, there is no doubt Jeff Grognet, columnist for The Western Producer, understands cattle better than most veterinarians I have met. If that were not so, he wouldn’t have discussed why some cattle suffer stress and explained what cattle people can do to alleviate trauma in cattle.
To clarify his point, Grognet briefly discussed stress in humans by explaining that stressed bodies have less disease resistance and tire quickly.
Stress results simply from any altered condition beyond one’s ability to resolve the challenge.
Stressful conditions may contribute to any variety of disorders like depression, diabetes, memory lapses, circulatory problems, obesity, lacking ambition, respiratory problems, low self-esteem, anorexia, family problems, etc.
Some causes of stress may be alleviated by learning to relax or doing something one enjoys.
Music is said to be relaxing. That is partly true. Some kinds of music are relaxing and stimulate mental creativity, while other types produce the opposite effect.
The same can be said about TV broadcasts and reading. Time and/or job management can make a difference. Being alone is unhealthy.
Many people suffer stress because of moral and/or legal crimes committed against them. Large farm operators in their lustful greed inflated land prices so as to make life difficult or impossible for small and would-be farmers.
This not only gives urbanites the impression that all farmers are wealthy, it also kills farms and discourages young people interested in farming.
This stresses parents in seeing their children forced to seek a vocation other than their first choice.
Because of the land grabbers, these parents often lose their heritage and suffer stress in much the same way whose toddlers and young people were abducted or murdered as they wonder what kind of people their children would have become….
– Stuart Makaroff,
Saskatoon, Sask.
