Bad stats
To the Editor:
How your staff came to the conclusion that “Registration will increase safety: police” (Feb. 1, 1996) is beyond me. While the Edmonton police study came to this conclusion, the statistics it provided hardly backed this up. As the article points out, no Edmonton police officers were even injured in the 693 gun-related investigations (which include 134 guns turned in to the police) in 1994. The study states “In 1994, police members had adequate information available to them to respond to high risk situations.”
Your article goes on to state that “79 percent of stolen guns were not properly stored by their owners.” This figure is based on data “in cases where police file information was available.” The study states “It is possible that in the majority of cases, the investigating officer did not record storage information on the police file when the guns were deemed properly stored.” Police laid 52 improper storage charges in 1994.
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Late season rainfall creates concern about Prairie crop quality
Praying for rain is being replaced with the hope that rain can stop for harvest. Rainfall in July and early August has been much greater than normal.
The Edmonton police study on firearms occurrences in 1994 provides some interesting numbers. The analysis of these numbers is confusing and at best a very weak attempt to support mandatory firearms registration.
– Dale Blue,
Amisk, Alta.
Berserk editing
To the Editor:
Allow me to thank you in this forum, that you are doing a good job in responding to your readers’ opinions. Although my letter of Feb. 1 fitted nicely in the vacant space, it was edited to leave out all meaning and reason. I have never written a letter the length of John Simpson’s. His letter, not mine, should have been edited.
This is not a complaint, for you have served me well in many years of writing; I just want your readers to know that I don’t write letters without meaning or reasoning.
The missing words between the first two paragraphs were the all-important content to make sense.
– Ernest J. Weser,
Laird, Sask.
Young farmers
To the Editor:
Some of the articles on page 5 of the Jan. 25 Western Producer merit a response, for example, “Young Farmers Fear Traditionalists Bias Panel Decisions.” I am sorry to think that the dual-market lobby is resorting to this tactic of turning young farmers against their elders. The agricultural community has already been divided into a variety of commodity groups to argue amongst ourselves for our own selfish reasons. Many of us are older, and we have sons and daughters needing help to start farming as our parents helped us. The decisions taken today will affect the livelihood of the young people who are the future of the industry.
A very little reflection should convince anyone that there will never be such a thing as a viable dual-marketing system. On a rising market, the grain will go to the open market, but in a downswing the producer will naturally sell into the pooled system.
The Canadian Wheat Board did not come into existence because of any political will in Ottawa, but rather resulted from the peculiar circumstances of wartime necessity after a 10-year depression. The system has on the whole worked well and has been the envy of most American farmers. …
By illegally trucking grain into the U.S., some people are selling into a market distorted by the export enhancement program, by the stripping of domestic supplies, and by targeting traditional Canadian markets. American interests have been strangely reserved in their responses so far, but this will come to an abrupt end as soon as the Wheat Board has been disposed of. …
Difficult to understand is the enthusiasm of Alberta Agriculture’s Walter Paszkowski, and his predecessors, for change which will inevitably bring lower gross returns to the agricultural community.
– Thomas Rodvang,
Coronation, Alta.
Farmer pays
To the Editor:
On the front page of the Jan. 18 Western Producer, it states that farmers should pay a larger share of road costs. How wrong can one be? In our Municipal District there are many commercial trucks hauling grain, fertilizer and crude oil. They pay licences and fuel tax to the provincial government, but all local roads are maintained by the M.D. out of local taxes collected from farmers. If the truth were known, all roads are paid for by farmers. It doesn’t matter to any industry or business what the price of labor, steel, transportation or anything else is, they add them all to the cost of the goods they sell. It goes from industry to industry, business to business until it gets to the farmer and he has no one to pass the increases to. He pays for everything.
– Mathew Wozniak,
Eaglesham, Alta.
Older, wiser?
To the Editor:
I would like to make a counter-statement to the one made by Alberta farmer Michael Bury, where he states: “Look at those guys. They’re getting the pension. You get the feeling you’re not being listened to.”
These farmers may be getting a pension, but will continue farming for another 10 to 30 years. A lot of them listened to their sons and their theory of bigger is better and watched as the farms they spent years in building were taken over by the FCC or the banks.
These farmers have dealt with the big multinational grain dealers in the past and seen how they can control production and prices. If these young farmers and truckers who farm on the side feel that they have the ability to market their own grain have them turn in their permit books and go to it.
At the same time the government should give the power to the Canadian Wheat Board to handle all grains and pulse crops. These people that turn in their permit book could not be reinstated without five years notice. Happy marketing.
– Percy Green,
Osage, Sask.
Farm trucks
To the Editor:
On the front page of the Jan. 18 Producer in big headlines: “Farmers should pay share of road costs, say truckers.”
I say the truckers should be paying much more registration, they are the ones that are ruining our roads. If you drive early morning or late evening you will see there are actually ruts in the pavement. These are not made by farm trucks. …
Getting back to the remarks of Warren Smith, I say to him that the truckers better get to know what their truck can haul legally, that’s what we as farmers have to do. If a trucker comes on my yard I have no clue how much his trailer will hold weight-wise or otherwise. He is the one that has to know. He can get a list of grain weights from any elevator.
As far as paying more registration fees, I disagree. My truck only gets three to five thousand kilometres on it in any given year, and 49 percent of those are driven without a load and a lot of underweight loads.
I live close to two highways here, and from what I see I don’t think that the commercial truckers are driving very many old trucks. Most look pretty new to me. I only know of two new farm trucks in our whole area in the last five years.
I believe Mr. Smith should have another look at the trucking industry, and cut the number of trucks down on our highways. It’s a bit ridiculous when you see B-train trucks hauling lumber from B.C. to the Maritimes when the mainline railway runs right beside the highway.
– Charles V. Reimer,
Swift Current, Sask.
Public pensions
To the Editor:
Premier Romanow is asking the citizens of Saskatchewan for input and advice on how to deal with the looming fiscal crisis facing the province as federal grants etc. are cut back.
Most of us agree cutting needless expenses rather than raising taxes is the only way to achieve balanced budgets from here on.
I believe one good place to start would be with the taxpayer funded “public employees pension plans.”
All government employees have their own separate pension plans which they contribute to through payroll deductions each month, but what may not be generally known is that the taxpayers of Saskatchewan are also required to throw in a greater amount each month than the employees themselves to these exclusive pension plans.
This is true of every government employee right from judges, teachers, SaskPower, SaskTel, highways, etc. down to every last government agency in existence. Of course it also includes MLAs. The percentage we pay is almost scandalous. For judges we pay four to one; teachers over two to one; MLAs one to 1; others varying amounts.
These public employees, as we all know, receive excellent and above average wages during employment, so there is no good reason why we should have to contribute heavily to their very generous pension plans as well. It is a great injustice that we can no longer afford.
I urge every reader to forget politics and write the Premier stating in the strongest terms that we want out of any funding to these pension plans, not just a partial cutback but a total elimination of our contributions.
– T. A. Madison,
North Battleford, Sask.
Anarchy & CWB
To the Editor:
I would like to comment on
J. B. Forrest of B.C. in regards to where banks get their money (Open Forum, Jan. 4).
Further ask, what is the Bank of Canada? Is it government or private individuals? If it is a government bank, why do they borrow their own money? Pay interest to who?
As taxpayers paying for this unnecessary debt of our country, we wish to have accountability. The large percentage of people borrow money. Inflated prices cause us to borrow, the system knows this.
Who is in charge of our country? Banks or government? Whoever has control of the money tells a country how to operate.
It doesn’t appear that any government is in charge. If they are, why the debt? Why borrow money?
Also, our farmers for justice choose to ignore our government in regards of selling. If you freedom fighters have your regulations and laws ignored, what steps would you take?
Someone has to be in charge. We can’t all have computers, offices and secretaries compete each day to find a market; the Wheat Board is doing this. Just ask for more accountability and efficiency.
The freedom farmers are only creating an anarchist system. The system to the south is only complementing a few allies for their purpose – control of markets from our far north to the deep south.
A big farmer is a mere speck in a world market. Manitoba in itself is a mere slice in the world markets.
– Peter Rae,
Virden, Man.
Eco-danger
To the Editor:
Farmers have good reasons to fear the federal government’s move toward protecting so-called “endangered species” by the Liberal Private Member’s Bill and a “tough new bill” promised by Sheila Copps, Minister of the Environment.
You could easily see swarms of environmentalists searching your land. If they find traces of a double-rooted, triple seed foxtail, or any indication that a yellow tongue frog once lived there, you could have 40 acres immediately taken out of production.
Extreme? Not even remotely extreme when you consider what they just did to Canadians by means of the Gun Bill. The innocent-sounding bill to force gun registration, a bill that most non-gun-owners couldn’t care less about, took away legal rights enjoyed by British Commonwealth and many other western countries since the Magna Carta in England, some 750 years ago.
Under the so-called gun registration bill, police now have the legal right to enter your home without warrant, and without notice. All they require is a suspicion that you have a gun in there not registered, or that you have a gun, legally purchased for sporting purposes, that is now declared prohibited.
You think you have the right to remain silent and to not incriminate yourself? Not any more. Under the new gun bill you are required by law to tell them, if asked, whether you do have a gun in your house (among other things). It’s a criminal offence not to answer them.
With this bill if they say you are guilty of something, you must prove you’re innocent, not the time-honored tradition enjoyed in civilized countries where you are innocent until proven guilty.
This bill also gives them the right to seize and take from you, without compensation, any of your legal guns, if it is one of a type such as a common Ruger hunting rifle that has now beendeclared prohibited, or in the future if you have failed to register any rifle or shotgun.
Of course, you would then be a criminal with a criminal record unable to do such things as enter the U.S.
So farmers, don’t think that just because you own your land it is safe from trespass or drastic laws that could take it out of your control.
The environmentalists have caught the ear of our socialistic style government in Ottawa, and some provinces, and are riding high. They have devastated the once great mining industry here in B.C.; they are doing their best to cripple the huge forest industry, are interfering with commercial fishing management and are hard after the automobile.
They probably think farmers will be easy picking.
– Bruce Lamb,
Salmon Arm, B.C.
Vote question
To the Editor:
There has been a great deal of public comment on the results of the November 1995 Alberta grain marketing plebiscite. I have submitted the following question to several Manitoba members of parliament, including my member Jake Hoeppner (Reform).
Are you prepared to recommend that all future plebiscites on provincial or national issues should duplicate the Alberta grain marketing plebiscite in actual process and structure?
To date I have not received any response to the question. If members of parliament are unable to endorse the process, are they able to endorse the results of the process?
– Fred Tait,
Region 5 Co-ordinator,
National Farmers Union,
Rossendale, Man.
Hopper cars
To the Editor:
There have been times in the past when I wondered if the Sask Wheat Pool was actually working in the farmers’ best interests. This came to the forefront from comments I’ve heard by talking to other farmers and statements I’ve read in the Western Producer.
At the heart of my concerns are all the reports I’ve read and heard in the media as statements made by Mr. Loewen, the Chief Executive Officer of Sask. Wheat Pool.
This person is a paid employee of Sask Wheat Pool, a farmer-owned company, yet I can’t help but wonder who really is running the show in Regina. From everything I’ve seen and read, it does not sound like my elected representatives are taking charge; it sounds like Mr. Loewen is Sask Wheat Pool.
I am particularly concerned that Sask Wheat Pool is not supporting producer ownership of the grain cars.
We are told that the federal government wants to sell their fleet of 13,000 grain cars, which have already been paid for by the Canadian taxpayer. Mr. Loewen and his group of senior executive officers are promoting selling the grain cars to the railways for $100 million, when we know they are worth much more than that. Furthermore, the farmers of western Canada will have to pay an extra $1 a tonne in the freight rate for five years to pay for these cars which will end up being owned by the railways.
As a farmer, I know that this does not make good business sense from my perspective; if I as a farmer have to pay for those cars at the end of the day, we as farmers should own them.
Another thing, I find it extremely interesting that the potash and sulphur industries have their own cars for the movement of their commodities; likely it makes good business sense for them to have these cars when they deal with the railways.
I can’t help but think that their situation might be a good lesson for us to learn in the grain industry. However, there are those like Mr. Loewen, I believe, who do not think we farmers are smart enough to manage our own grain-car corporation.
He should remember that the very company he works for was created by farmers who saw the need for their own grain company at that time.
I believe Mr. Loewen better realize that there are a lot of farmers in Saskatchewan that could manage businesses like Sask Wheat Pool; the proof is that many of us are still in business despite high input costs and low commodity pricing. The Sask Wheat Pool CEO better realize which side his bread is buttered on and who produces both the bread and butter.
Perhaps Mr. Larsen and his board might like to remind him of this and show farmers that they, the board, are the ones who are actually in charge on farmers’ behalf. …
– Ron Lutz,
Weyburn, Sask.
Dump GST
To the Editor:
Re screwed-up question gets response government sought on grain marketing. To me it meant the same as some parts of B.C. selling to CWB or open market and it seems to work well in B.C.
But what is unclear to me is Liberals and the GST. During the election campaign I thought I heard the Liberal leader laugh at the GST. He said there was tax on top of tax.
He would get rid of it if elected. Now it seems to be okay if the Liberals are collecting it now, he says.
What he had in mind is homogenize GST with PST. Well I do not believe it will work as Saskatchewan has no sales tax on used sales or tax on junk heading for the dump, to which GST applies. Alberta has mostly no sales tax.
So I would say we should have a vote on this GST thing soon to clear up what the vote on it was all about; and also on grain cars as I do not recall Goodale asking any province if they should sell.
– John Pokorney,
Tilley, Alta.
Extremist letters
To the Editor:
A letter in one local paper recently came all the way from Peace River, and with a message that … tries to draw a parallel of the Wheat Board to the dictatorial ways of Hitler’s Third Reich … So what is all the fuss about? The right to dump grain south of the border, even though our American counterparts have made it crystal clear that they don’t want our grain, period.
As to the price advantage, that is exclusively the result of EEP and has now largely evaporated due to Mother Nature taking a hand and will likely stay that way due to Uncle Sam’s fiscal cupboard (the same as ours) resembling that of Mother Hubbard’s.
As regards the Wheat Board itself, it is a merchandising mechanism the same as those utilized by GM, Ford and Chrysler, wherein you don’t see the shareholders running around individually peddling a Chev, Taurus or a Valiant as these Freedom Crusaders say we should do.
They go to extreme lengths to disguise the fact that they are really only the “monkeys” whose job it is to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for the Global Cereal Traders, who have never stopped drooling over memories of the “green pastures” they enjoyed in pre-Board days.
What we need is a prairie-wide vote and to ensure conclusive response, this should be tied to the next issuing of permit books.
The question should read: “Do you wish to retain the Board as it is, or do you want a dual market, wherein you can capitalize on buoyant periods through the open market and use the Board as a dumping ground in sluggish periods – that is, as long as the Board survives?”
Then let the chips fall where they may.
– Philip Lindenback,
Weekes, Sask.
Canadian vote
To the Editor:
I saw a film clip of Jean ChrŽtien in his younger days at a Quebec political rally yelling at the top of his lungs “I am a Quebecer first and a Canadian second!” It is time for Canadians to stand up and demand a Canadian referendum to be held at the same time as the next Quebec one. The question should be “Will you accept the results of the Quebec referendum – yes or no?” This should be held inside and outside Quebec for the sake of all Canadians.
If the Quebec separatists do not ask a clear question, then Canadians can judge by a democratic vote to reject the results of that referendum. Then Jean ChrŽtien will not be able to give Canada to his home province, like a lobster on a plate.
– Rod Lazerte,
Choiceland, Sask.
McKee curse
To the Editor:
Re the Curse of the McKees in the Western People. That was from the days when the Souris river had dried to just a trickle. Some farmers that had carloads of wheat in storage lost it all. Wheat was about $2 a bushel. They were waiting for a better price when all was lost for the cost of storage when prices dropped.
As for the three miners killed in Estevan, they were not involved in the clash with police; they were shot at random. Hence the reading on the grave marker “murdered by RCMP.”
At one point the “RCMP” was chipped out on the grave marker; that is why the recess on the marker. Why did the miners march on Estevan? Because when the cuts came they no longer got paid for laying tracks, timbering in the mine or for boiling water. They just got paid for coal tonnage.
However my uncle stuck with that mine till 1939 when he left for Crowland, Ont. My uncle was there at Estevan when he saw N. Nargan, his brother-in-law and the other two miners shot. That is where I got the story from. I have a wedding photo of my uncle, Peter Pokorney. N. Nargan is in the photo … N. Nargan helped us move.
I am still bitter about this unnecessary killing today. Anybody looking for this grave of the three miners, you will find it in the old cemetery. I could write more about this but I am not going to.
However things can turn very ugly again anytime as the large corporations stash the money away and want the poor to work for nothing, and most governments are right behind them.
If Canada was so broke, then how, when war broke out in 1939, was there no shortage of money to go to war?
– John Pokorney,
Tilley, Alta.
Dairy jobs
To the Editor:
Re Producer, Feb. 1, “Trade Dispute.” If the supply-managed dairy and poultry closed-shop system could lose 27,000 jobs, and all the other gloom and doom predictions, because of allowing competition in the marketplace, then something must be seriously wrong with that system. Alberta agri-food export value in 1994 was $3.6 billion, half of that to the United States, and in 1995 up by 16 percent.
If other agricultural commodities can compete with the trading world, then why not dairy and poultry products?
– Hans Visser,
Taber, Alta.
