Gas gouge
It took more than a year after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans before the Energy Information Agency finally concluded the effects the hurricane had on oil production and refining were negligible at best.
This conclusion wasn’t much of a surprise given that traditionally, hurricanes have a consistent history of reducing demand more than they affect the supply of oil.
In the aftermath of most hurricanes that come ashore from the Gulf of Mexico, gas stations can’t pump gas because they have no electricity and commuters can’t return to work until the roads are passable and electricity has been restored.
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Fast-forward to hurricane Ike hitting the (Mexican) Gulf Coast and once again Albertans are expected to believe it is reasonable to immediately hike gasoline prices by an average price of 12 cents on the speculative premise of a possible gasoline shortage.
However, when oil drops from a record $150 a barrel to just over $100, we are expected to believe it takes time for gasoline prices to trickle back down, to reflect the lower price for oil.
How gullible are we as a public? In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Exxon Mobil’s fourth-quarter profit rose 27 percent to more than $10 billion, a record for the company and one of the highest quarterly totals ever posted.
As Exxon continued to reap a windfall from high oil prices ConocoPhillips posted a 51 percent increase in earnings in the fourth quarter and Royal Dutch Shell reported a 68 percent jump in profits.
Ironically, after investigating consumer complaints, politicians in both Canada and the United States couldn’t find any evidence of price gouging.
Oil and gas development has been very good to Albertans but that is no excuse to allow the very few who control the price of oil, to gouge the many. It is time we held big oil accountable for price collusion and price gouging. Price gouging is not just anti-competitive, it is illegal and it is a cancer on our economy.
If only our elected officials had the courage to look into their campaign coffers, they just might find some of that elusive evidence of price collusion and gouging that eludes their official investigations. …
– Joe Anglin,
Rimbey, Alta.
Cattle woes
It’s October and that means it’s Agriculture Month in Saskatchewan. It is a time for all Saskatchewan people to stop and appreciate the contributions of agriculture and say thanks for the meal to all those in the industry.
Now that should give all us producers a warm and fuzzy feeling, to know that we are appreciated. As the golden sheaves of harvest are brought in from a bumper crop, optimism has risen to new heights, we are told, in rural Saskatchewan.
It sounds like an idyllic situation, the kind of bedtime story book I might want to ready to my grandson, but unfortunately all is not quite as rosy as this picture might indicate.
Amid the golden rays of sunshine that glitter on the fall leaves, there hangs a great dark cloud of despair among the cattle and hog producers in the province, the forgotten ones in this story.
Since BSE hit us, cattle producers have been hammered by low prices while we watch meat packers’ profits soar to record breaking levels.
Hammered by rising costs of fuel, labour and just about everything you can think of, thanks to the booming economy in the oil patch. Believe me, this so called booming economy hasn’t helped us cattle producers one little bit.
We are the forgotten ones, the poor cousins, so to speak. While our provincial government ponders over its dilemma of what to do with the huge budget surplus, allow me to suggest that as a cattle producer, a cash injection of some kind is badly needed here.
I’m sorry (Saskatchewan agriculture minister Bob) Bjornerud, but a cash advance or loan payment just doesn’t cut it. We need real help.
How about rewarding us for all the acres we have in pasture and hay lands that greatly contribute to reducing our carbon footprint on our environment? An acreage payment on that would be a start.
If there is an optimistic cattle producer out there, I don’t know where he is. He must be hiding under a rock somewhere.
If optimism means hoping that enough people go broke or give up in despair and then vacate the business, leaving the few left standing to enjoy higher prices when the cattle shortage comes, that would be the only kind of twisted optimism left out here.
– Lynnel Person,
Preeceville, Sask.
Balance of power
Why does the Conservative party hate the western Canadian farmer?
I thought it was great to have a western prime minister. It’s too bad the balance of power was the Bloc Quebec. To stay in power he has to give them everything in Canada. A campaign promise was to be fair and give Saskatchewan its non-renewable resources outside of equalization. The broken promise cost Saskatchewan billions.
They are scrapping hundreds of lightweight hopper cars that could be used on the Churchill run. The saving there is $30 per ton freight and use could be tripled.
I shipped a semi of wheat worth $2,500. The railway got over $800, the elevator over $300. I got less than half, $1,200. What business can stay in business giving over half its income away on shipping and handling?
During (the federal election) debate, (Stephen) Harper said western farmers were in favour of getting rid of Canadian Wheat Board, a bold-faced lie. He consulted western wheat growers, maybe 200 out of 45,000. A few hot shots, given their dad and granddads’ farms, think they can outshoot Cargill and company.
They should check with grandpa to see why we got the board in the first place.
Why would you want to get rid of a salesman that has contacts in 150 countries, speaks 25 different languages, no subsidies, and costs one percent of sales and is big enough to stand up to Cargill, ADM, Dreyfus, etc.?
On holidays in the United States, we meet many American farmers. Most wish they had a wheat board. Both countries have a cheap food policy. In U.S. the taxpayers pay. Here it’s the farmer….
If this dictator wants something to do, check on freight costs.
Why does a $2 loaf of bread give the farmer 10 cents? Why does 25 cents of wheat cost $5 in a box of cereal?
We voted in 13 stooges. Not one had the guts to oppose Harper on the CWB, although we are a farm-oriented province…
– G. Ferguson,
Cochin, Sask.
Future thought
To whoever didn’t study the single desk Canadian Wheat Board: should anything go wrong and we lose the CWB, how many of you have thought about orderly marketing?
Have you thought it will be a dog eat dog situation out there? Who will regulate the transport of grain? Co-ordinate shipments?
We need somebody to do that and the CWB is doing a very good job for us.
Please think about your future. I am 75 years young but I’m thinking about your future.
– Lucien Cote,
Donnelly, Alta.
Farmer friendly?
Oxymoron. Does that word apply to the Saskatchewan Party and its claim to be farmer friendly? Example: Brad Wall and his $1.6 billion Saskferco sale.
Think about it. Fertilizer pricing includes an allowance for return on investment. Grant Devine made a fantastic agreement in setting up Saskferco, (that) would make any Socialist proud, although the NDP were against it. We taxpayers have been getting our investment back, so the return on investment of our fertilizer bill would not be very large. Now farmers who buy fertilizer will be paying for this deal.
With open market competition, the weakest seller sets the price. Everyone else has to lower their price to get a share of the market. That is why companies like Yara International purchase, amalgamate or consolidate to be close to being a single desk seller.
Any company involved in sales knows the advantage of being a monopoly. One can extract more out of the market when one does not worry about the other guy. Brad Wall helped them along. We farmers will pay more because of this….
– Lorne Jackson,
Riverhurst, Sask.
