GOODBYE TO EARTH
To the Editor:
Goodbye old Earth, you have been a faithful friend and a constant provider for all mankind during the countless centuries of time, but all that is coming to an end.
For, according to the leader of the federal Conservative party during his speech at the Conservative convention in Calgary (Nov. 1), this will no longer be the situation.
The glaring comments that passed the lips of prime minister (Stephen) Harper tells us that Canada’s cherished and finite resources will now be extracted and utilized to the best advantage of bolstering Canada’s economy.
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Farm groups are too amiable with the federal government
Farm groups and commodity groups in Canada often strike a conciliatory tone, rather than aggressively criticizing the government.
Conservation and environmental concerns will be allowed to partner with development undertaking, but will not be allowed to impede or get in the way of any ambitious progress. Timing is of the essence, and to hell with all else.
Does the government have to literally destroy every single resource that our Earth has to offer and share? Do they not have any concerns of what they are planning and doing during their time on Earth, ravaging its resources to the fullest and leaving absolute devastation?
This constant greed will leave a shameful footprint that mankind will be unable to erase.
An elder raised his eyes to the heavens and uttered these solemn words, “Lord, you promised you would not destroy the Earth again, as you did so long ago. Why is this happening?”
And a voice answered from above: “And I will keep my promise. The Conservative Harper government in Canada is doing it for me.”
MINERAl rights correction
To the Editor:
My Oct. 31 letter to the editor (“Mineral Rights”), focused on the Potash Restricted Drilling Area (PRDA) controversy arising from oil and gas drilling being sneakily and effectively prohibited back in 1995 on 46,080 acres around every potash mine, contains a typo of significance.
It should have read “…the de facto expropriation of our mineral rights without compensation (not “competition”) was unjust.”
As well, while corrections are being made, I do not believe that, as the original Sept. 30 article (“Farmers near mine fighting for mineral rights”) claimed, “both the government and the potash companies have a responsibility to pay.”
PRDA compensation should in fact be viewed as just another cost of doing business that potash companies should responsibly pay. This reportage misunderstanding is understandable, given the circumstances: while Karen Briere was ably interviewing me, I was driving a tractor pulling a grain cart unloading combines on the go.
FARMERS NOT STUPID
To the Editor:
To have the vice-president of marketing of Richardson International bemoan the fact that Canada’s top quality milling wheat reputation is beginning to slip (WP Oct. 11) is the height of chutzpa. Supposedly he was at the March Grain World Conference where Keith Bruch of Patterson said, “premiums will go the way of the single desk.”
Did they really think that farmers would be stupid enough to keep producing higher-fertilizer-requiring, lower-yielding high protein wheat so that the $10 per tonne premium could accrue to the grain corporations’ bottom line?
