Letters to the editor

Diatribe continues

Trish Jordan’s letter to the editor in the June 1 issue questioning Nettie Wiebe’s “facts” is very interesting. Trish has a great idea for a perfect world. Her last sentence expresses this so well by “it’s fine to express an opinion, but that opinion should be based on fact and not deliberately create fears and mislead the public.”

She has just suggested eliminating the modus operandi of most of extremist environmental and lobby groups.

Even the topic title of Nettie Wiebe’s May 18, article under the column, The Moral Economy, is used to mislead the public. Her use of “Spring can no longer be taken for granted” sounds very similar to Rachel Carson’s book title Silent Spring. Carson was a pioneer in misleading and creating fear amongst the public.

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Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts

As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?

For those unaware, Carson’s main thesis was how birds and particularly the North American robin populations were being destroyed through use of pesticides. By the time her book hit store shelves, robin populations were on the increase. But what would the truth have done to her story, book sales and agenda?

Another common practice of these misleading groups is to knock larger companies as being biased and only interested in their bottom line. Of course, these groups will never mention their biases and how they must continue to mislead the public in order to obtain operating funds through donations.

They will never be satisfied with results and admit the conclusion of any cause.

Some of the reasoning behind developing sterile seed technology was to appease these extremist groups that claimed numerous plant species would be contaminated by pollen from GMO developed plants. With plant breeders solving this supposed problem with sterile seed technology, the extremists alter their battle plan.

The new attack is to falsely claim how all farmers the world over will have to buy their seed every year and that big companies only developed it to facilitate excessive profits.

So despite many of us wanting a world where truth prevails, the diatribe will continue.

– Ken Wasmuth,

Wainwright, Alta.

Keep the irons

Dr. Roy Lewis, DVM, wrote some statements in his article, “It’s time to put branding out to pasture” in the June 15 edition of your paper with which I strongly disagree.

Contrary to what Dr. Lewis states in his article, I think the pain of branding is of rather short duration. Flesh is certainly not burned.

He indicates that cattle must be restrained for branding but not for castration or dehorning. Perhaps in his next article he can tell us how he castrates and dehorns without restraining the animal.

Brands are still the best means of cattle identification in many sorting situations. Brands of a moderate size are the most readable. The very small brands advocated by Dr. Lewis are of little value outside of the feedlot.

Don’t throw away those branding irons, folks. They are still a very important and necessary part of our industry.

– Wilkes Parsonage,

Maple Creek, Sask.

Well testing

The recent story by Barbara Duckworth titled “Water worries still plague coalbed methane industry” (WP, June 22) was published with a glaring omission of fact. In the article it states, “the province ordered testing of all water wells that are 600 to 800 metres from proposed coalbed methane development.”

This statement is totally misleading. What the province’s May 1 baseline water well testing order says is that the CBM developer must test wells within 600 metres of a proposed CBM well only if the well is to be completed above the base of ground water protection and must test one well within 800 metres if no wells are found within 600 metres.

Since most CBM wells are completed just below this level, this testing will result in less than one percent of the water wells within a 600 metre radius of CBM development being tested.

I must also point out that this testing does not include the springs that many of my fellow ranchers and farmers depend on for their water supplies.

To have excluded this is indicative of lazy journalism that I believe shows a disinterest in this very serious issue facing Alberta’s rural communities. …

There are other misrepresentations of information in this story that indicate a failure to do one’s homework before and after attending a government sponsored “spinergy” meeting that was little more than an attempt to improve the image of a government that has failed its rural citizens.

– Glenn Norman,

Pine Lake Surface Rights Action Group,

Innisfail, Alta.

Stroke danger

I found the article on stroke (Quick response crucial for stroke patients, WP, June 1) caught my attention since I am a recent survivor of an ischemic stroke.

On May 24, my wife and I were checking fields in the pickup when I began to experience the characteristic symptoms of suffering a stroke – slurred speech, partial paralysis of right arm and leg, confusion. My first thoughts were anger. How can this be happening to me? I am 59 years of age, non-smoker, not overweight and very actively involved in our farm and did not consider myself a stroke candidate.

There is a three-hour window in which to get to a medical facility with CAT scan capability in order to determine the type of stroke. This must be done to determine if a clot buster can be administered.

(My wife) gave me three aspirins and drove directly to Swift Current, where a CAT scan indicated that it was not a hemorrhagic stroke and they were therefore able to administer a high powered clot buster “tenecteplase” within three hours after the initial stroke symptoms.

Within four hours of the initial stroke, almost all functions had returned.

The fact that one must have access to a CAT scan creates a two-tier system for many rural residents that would simply be out of range of a CAT scan within the critical three hours. The regional inequity of timely access to high-tech, high-priced technology in the major centres for treatments for such things as heart attacks and ischemic strokes should be a concern for Canadians wanting to enhance universal health care.

It is so easy to jump on the “reduce taxes” bandwagon while complaining about health care and rural roads. Having been a stroke victim and literally living to tell about it within hours of the stroke, I can tell you that any amount I have to contribute towards providing life supporting services such as I experienced would outweigh my concerns about taxes that support universal health care….

Like the practice of locating the fire exits when you stay in a large motel, rural residents should identify the nearest facility with CAT scan and map out the shortest route to get there. I am living proof that time is everything.

– Ken R. Hymers,

Swift Current, Sask.

About image

It’s all about image.

It’s possible that the photo of the little pink piggies snuggling on the nice clean straw (WP, April 6) was taken at the Prairie Swine Centre, a showcase 600-sow hog operation with a covered manure cesspool near Saskatoon.

On April 11, Saskatchewan agriculture minister (Mark) Wartman announced funding of $1.6 million for this “world-class example of applied agricultural research…”

Besides money received from producers, researchers, suppliers and service providers, this industry public relations facility also received, between 2000-2004, $83,400 in federal funds for workshops, research like paying volunteers to sit in toxic hog dust for five hours, and a video to expose youth to the many career opportunities in the hog industry.

And, in 2001, the federal government handed over $75,730 for a viewing gallery above the floor of the barn.

From this enclosed and ventilated vantage point, school children are brought to observe this operation in order to dispel all that ‘misinformation’ out there about how an industrial 5,000-sow pig factory really works. And to take photos, of course.

– Elaine Hughes,

Archerwill, Sask.

Change needed

To the Editor:

Canada desperately needs change. Excluding the brain dead, the deceived and the deceivers, everyone realizes there are changes which affect democracy; the positive, neutral and destructive.

The term democracy originated from the Latin word “demo,” meaning a governmental system which serves the masses. Reliable dictionaries emphasize that. Deceivers changed that …

Canada’s democracy began to die after secret societies discovered Diefenbaker’s weaknesses, which they magnified. Canada is no longer a democracy. The gun registration among other absurd legislation are making way toward a tyranny, which functions like a military state.

During the (federal election) campaign, (Stephen) Harper opposed gun registration. Now he wavers about abolishing gun registration. Was Harper playing a political trick or did secret societies influence him?

Much crime can be reduced by restoring capital punishment upon repeat murderers and the money lovers who have become merchants of death as they dwell in products like crystal meth, heroin, marijuana, etc. …

Deceivers in various ways convinced thoughtless farmers it is advantageous to exchange bulk payment for the Crow Rate. Now they regret making that mistake. If Canada were a democracy, the Crow Rate would be restored and fuel prices wouldn’t have rocketed as they have.

As we mentally digest periodicals like the Western Producer, we see many needs for positive changes. Canada’s sad state resulted because of deception. Professor Walter J. Vieth pointed out deception is the most heinous crime against humanity. British Lord Acton stated, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.”