SENATE REFORM SUGGESTION
With all the attention in the media lately regarding the Senate, perhaps the time is right for the Tories to scrap it.
Senate reform has always been one of the main planks in the (prime minister Stephen) Harper government’s platform.
There is no doubt that if ever there was a time to scrap the Senate, it is now. Public support for the Senate is at an all-time low. Even the government has had enough.
The problem with Senate reform has always been the provinces. Why would any provincial government agree to Senate reform if there were nothing in it for them? Perhaps if the federal government was serious about Senate reform, it is time to sweeten the pot.
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Here is a suggestion: If the provinces agree to abolish the Senate, the federal government could agree to pass the savings to the provinces for a set term, say five years.
The money could go to improve infrastructure, health care, education or whatever. The federal government would just have to tally up the total savings from abolishing the Senate, divide by the number of senators and then pay each province annually based on the number of senators each province had prior to disbandment.
MORE LIMOUSIN FACTS
It was with great interest that we read the article (by Robert Arnason) entitled “Luing breed’s calm nature complements Limousin herd” in the Oct. 10 Western Producer.
First, we applaud Mr. (Dane) Guignion for utilizing the powers of crossbreeding. While it is not a new concept in cattle breeding, it seems like that “free lunch” has been forgotten over the years.
Guignion’s statement about complementing his Limousin herd with a British breed proves the added value to be gained by his management method.
We would like to take this opportunity to also inform the readers about a few additional facts.
Limousin breeders were the first to record docility scores and use the data to calculate a Docility EPD (expected progeny difference). For many years now, cattle producers have been able to select for genetically superior animals for docility, backed by high accuracies. The genetic improvement achieved by Canadian Limousin breeders has gained significant ground over the years, from an average Docility EPD of +1 in 1990 to +19.9 in the latest run this year.
Does your breed of choice offer you top carcass yield, excellent feed conversion and a tool to guide your selection for docility? The Limousin breed does all of the above.
For more information, please visit our website: www.limousin.com.
DUE PROCESS IMPORTANT
Most Canadians have come to expect a certain level of hypocrisy from their politicians, but the current Senate scandal involving (Mike) Duffy, (Pamela) Wallin and (Patrick) Brazeau, three of the many Harper-appointed senators, have exposed this hypocrisy in spades.
Led by Conservative senator Don Plett, some Conservative senators have suddenly become aware of the importance of due process.
Conservative senator Hugh Segal even made reference to the foundation of modern law, the Magna Carta, in saying the Senate motion to suspend the three Harper senators was “riding roughshod over due process and presumption of innocence.”
Liberal senator Romeo Dallaire put it more bluntly, calling it “shotgun justice.”
I would have more sympathy if I had not sat in senator Plett’s Ottawa office while he tried to humiliate and demean a dozen young western farmers who were there at their own expense to remind the good senator the law required that farmers have a vote on killing the Canadian Wheat Board.
A few weeks later, along with other farmers, I testified before the Senate agriculture committee and pointed out that a just-released federal court ruling on the issue had confirmed farmers had a right to vote on the changes to the CWB and the Senate should suspend the legislation until the legal issues were resolved.
After all, due process and Canadian tradition dictated that the Senate should respect the federal court ruling, but there was to be no due process for farmers or their CWB.
The following week senator Plett and his cronies rubber-stamped the Harper legislation killing the board.
So while there should be due process for senators with dubious expense claims and the elected politicians and officials who apparently have run interference for them, readers can forgive this farmer for observing that due process is only important to some Conservatives if one is connected to the Senate.
EDUCATE ON REAL ISSUES
I would like to clarify some rambling from the Oct. 10 column by Kevin Hursh titled “Putting money where my mouth is means ‘no’ to A&W.”
He states that, “an organic label has some established standards.”
“Some” is an understatement, as Canadian Organic Growers has worked very hard to set not only standards but certifying regulations as well as inform the consumer through COG logo branding and their website.
I’m sorry to hear how irked he is when “food promotion campaigns spread falsehoods,” but he couldn’t take five minutes out of his day to tell the manager at the restaurant the difference between GMO and tomatoes.
Instead, he placed him in the “non-GMO crowd is horribly misinformed” category. Good job at educating.
He stated that “all-natural, hormone-free, organic and non-GMO are distractions from the real issues,” yet they obviously are bothersome for him to include in his weekly column when he could be educating us on these real issues.
The fact is that society is under-educated on many issues, like the chewing gum that strengthens tooth enamel. Look at the label. It states, chew two pieces of gum, four times a day for 30 minutes.
Consumers need to go the extra step and be cautious in the marketplace.
Organic or not, all food products on the shelf have the same nutritional facts table on the back of the package. We all need to turn it over and do a little checking.
GMO advocates state that there is only one way to feed the growing world, and that is through GMO research. They constantly use the starving humanity marketing ploy to make it an acceptable practice. In a magazine Hursh is the editor of, they state that the average American corn yield is 180 bushels per acre, while the world average is 82 bu. per acre.
Maybe we need to focus on the real issues and educate the underperforming farmers worldwide with some good old Canadian work ethics.
