Swift Current NDP News

The unabashed jealousy of columnist Bob Hughes never ceases to surprise me. He can't stand anyone but him achieving success. Take Mr. Hughes' latest bile-inducing attempt at rational thought.

Life is not always fair. Some people have $5,000 cats. I have a cat whose sole ambition is to some day weigh 5,000 pounds. He is well on his way.

First he never stops to think of why things may be priced what they are. Maybe the Asian Leopard Cat is in demand and people are willing to pay $5,000 for it. While his cat, which may have great sentimental value to Bob, is not in demand.

Then he makes an insane comparison between Sam Richardson and Al Gore. I have nothing against Sam Richardson. I know he is a curler. I have never heard him speak. According to Mr. Hughes, he is a fine speaker. Mr. Richardson apparently gets between $1,000 - 2,500 per engagement (click here to see how much other sports figures charge per engagement). Good for him, I wish him success, but I am really not that interested in what Mr. Richardson is speaking about, and so I am not willing to spend money to hear him speak. If, however, 3,000 people were willing to shell out between $30 and $75 per person to hear his message, then I would say "Good for him, he deserves the $125,000 that he was paid" and move on. I wouldn't begrudge him his success. I wouldn't discount his message because he got paid to convey it. I wouldn't be jealous that people wouldn't give me bus fare to hear me speak. Maybe I should find something worth talking about, and people would desire to hear me speak?

I have never heard Al Gore speak in person. As far as I am concerned, he is just another politician giving a speech.

I see Bob, without anything to back up your opinion, you spew it forth like a fountain of vomit. You are like the lovable drunk who, after a few drinks, becomes an expert on things that you know nothing about. Your statement would be like if I said that "the new Spiderman movie sucks hard" without ever seeing it. That's not what I would consider responsible commentary, and people shouldn't trust such an uninformed opinion. But Bob Hughes is a little, little, petty man. His ego just can't fathom how insignificant he is in comparison to Al Gore, or the Asian Leopard Cat. He likes to think that people respect him. When he sees people who are successful, he is so overcome with envy that he does the only thing he can, he creates another non-sensicle article criticizing people who have the audacity to be more accomplished than he is. What irritates me the most, is that he is using a fine man in Sam Richardson in his diatribe. Leave him out of it. Or become his agent and attempt to book him for speaking engagements.

People like Bob Hughes desire to belittle those that are better than them. When he wrote for the Sports section, he would take great delight in his "Chaos by the Creek" articles. He participated in Schadenfreude because he is so envious of the abilities of the professional athletes. When the 'Riders lost, which was a common occurrence at that time, Mr. Hughes appeared to take great delight in breaking down these superior athletes. He never gave any suggestions as to how to improve or anything, he simply insulted their ability to play the sport. Now he is trying to belittle Al Gore. Grow up Bob, and stop acting like a 10 year old who hates the neighbor kid because he has a nicer bike than you.

On Monday, April 16th, the local announcer at CKSW stated that the people of Saskatchewan wanted a change in government. I’m not sure on what basis he said this. Was it because business is booming in Saskatchewan, more people are employed than ever in this province and the citizens enjoy the lowest utility rates? Was it because a new business from Alberta is relocating to Swift Current which will employ 180 people or did the opposition write the script based on the hate mongering policy which they are permeating this great province. Perhaps the announcer is prepared for the slippery slide to fiscal irresponsibility, the selling off of natural resources to their corporate buddies, and a complete disregard for the working people in this province.
The opposition condemns loudly and long on the wasteful spending of the government – but not a word when Harper reneged on the equalization formula which robbed the citizens of Saskatchewan of $800 million dollars. Shameful!!
Did you appreciate the rebate from SGI? Most if not all the citizens did. Besides having the lowest auto insurance rates in Canada, thanks to SGI, a crown corporation and through prudent fiscal management, part of the profit was returned to the people. The profit did not go to New York, London, Tokyo or Zurich but remained here with the people. What would the Sask Party have done? First of all, SGI would have been sold to the highest bidder, workers would have been displaced, rates would have sky rocketed and the profits sent to New York, London, Tokyo or Zurich. You still want a “NEW” government. Give me a break.
Call it fear mongering but time after time Wall has stated that there are too many Crown Corporations. Which ones doesn’t he like? I hope he never gets the chance to show his true colours as the people of this great wonderful province will certainly suffer.

Handing over billions of dollars in equalization payments just before the Quebec election made political and practical sense for Harper. He needed the Bloc support to pass the budget and he needs their support because of their larger populated voting area to win the next Federal election.
Federal Industry Minister Maxieme Bernier announced the Bombardier contract in Quebec to gain more favour. The Tories collapsed the Liberals deal and recapped $180 million of the $3 Billion that the Liberals had already invested. We are told this is a good deal for Canadians because the Tories have stricter repayment guidelines. I suggest it is a better deal at pork barrelling and vote buying. Harper seems to believe if he says it… coming from this “new” yuck government, we should believe him.
How do you Tory voters in Saskatchewan and Alberta feel about this? How do you feel about Saskatchewan losing billions of dollars in transfer payments because he has your votes sewed up. The elected MP’s come blasting out telling us we got what we were promised so quit your whining. This is the “New” government and we know what we promised.
I implore the voters of Saskatchewan and Alberta to find out a few facts before we go to the polls for the next Federal election. Please don’t go to vote the same old way just because your Mom and Dad or Grandpa and Grandma voted a certain way. Lets get informed!

A Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan when he fell while climbing a communications tower. This brings the total to 54 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat. See the story here.

According to Saturday, April 14th's Regina Leader Post, the Saskatchenut Party is planning on launching their usual diatribe of substance less attack ads on Monday. I can hardly wait!

While the picture shows a giant fan sending stacks of money flying away, an announcer takes the NDP to task for “blowing your money.”

The ads criticize the NDP for paying $275,000 to a former employee who was fired following allegations of harassment — a reference to the settlement of former Department of Environment manager Murdoch Carriere’s lawsuit against the government. They also slam the NDP for “wasting” money on government advertising initiatives.

What could possibly be missing from such an ad? Hmmm...I wonder what it could be...maybe...THE TRUTH! First of all, when Carriere was fired, it was because of the 0 tolerance policy for workplace harassment adhered to by the Calvert government. Lorne Calvert didn't fire Carriere using the proper channels, so Mr. Carriere had every right to sue the government for wrongful dismissal. The department of Justice lawyers informed the government that they would lose the suit and in order to save the taxpayers money, they were advised to settle the suit. Now, I believe that it is admirable that Lorne Calvert was so incensed by the behavior of Carriere that he insisted that he be fired IMMEDIATELY, but the channels are there for a reason. It is so that when a government of a certain ideology is in power, they can't fire people simply due to political leanings. If the channels are too difficult to navigate in the instance of workplace harassment, then the government has the power to alter the law to make it simpler in extreme circumstances. I implore the NDP to look into doing such a thing.

Why didn't the Sask Party bring that up, and recommend that the government correct the problem? The answer is pretty clear. The Saskatchewan Party has no desire to improve government. They have no desire to do the job that they were elected to do, as the opposition they are to perform oversight, and recommend ways for improving laws and policies. Instead, they only want to act like spoiled little kids and bitch, moan, and yes, distort reality in an effort to achieve power. All Brad Wall and the Saskatchewan Party care about is achieving power. The right-wing hates government, which is "we the people", yet they desire to govern. This type of duality is dangerous. They believe that government is bad, so in order to prove their point, government must fail. So, if they do a good job as the party of power in the government, they, in essence, disprove one of their core ideologies. This idealogical conflict ensures that Saskatchewan Party will fail as a governing party. When I say fail, I mean fail the majority of the Saskatchewan people. The migration of the province's wealth into a small minority of hands means that they may be better off, but the well-being of the majority would decrease.

Let's look at the second implication in this ad, that it is appalling for the NDP to have spent money advertising the benefits of life in Saskatchewan. More specifically, the Sask Party thinks that they shouldn't have advertised to people who already live in Saskatchewan. Yet they complain that people are leaving Saskatchewan because they don't seem to realize how nice this province is. If only there was SOME WAY TO LET THE PEOPLE IN SASKATCHEWAN KNOW THE BENEFITS OF RESIDING HERE. Oh wait...there is a way...it's called ADVERTISING! And the advertising appears to be working. The population of Saskatchewan is growing. Now, there is no way to accurately measure what effect the advertising had on bringing people to the province as well as convincing current residents to remain here, but it is fair to assume that it didn't hurt.

Do you think that commercial will be re-edited to be more truthful? Here is re-tooled script for the commercial.

The NDP is wasting tax payers money by following expert lawyers' advice and having 0 tolerance of workplace harassment. The Saskatchewan Party would show much more tolerance.

The NDP is also squandering your money on advertising the benefits of Saskatchewan. Advertising that appears to be effective. The Saskatchewan Party doesn't believe in telling people about Saskatchewan. Advertising Saskatchewan's numerous advantages and strong points would only lead to people moving here and not moving away.

Every good idea that was ever perpetrated by the NDP government, including the ordering of a fine Merlot with their Blackened Catfish at supper, were actually stolen from the Saskatchewan Party. So, If you like the direction New Democrats are taking the province, then vote Saskatchewan Party in the next provincial election. Yes, we know that it sounds incredibly ridiculous, but we at the Saskatchewan Party have so little respect for the intelligence of the voting public, that we think that you will buy it.

...The Saskatchewan Party...We Got Nothin'!...

I authorize Brad Wall to feel free to use the above script in any of his future commercials.

2 more Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday. According to a front page story in Thursday's Regina Leader Post:

Master Cpl. Allan Stewart, 30, and Trooper Patrick James Pentland, 23, died after their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in an area about 38 kilometres west of Kandahar City, and in a region that Canadians claimed last June to have mostly rid of the Taliban influence.

Military officials confirmed the dead soldiers were members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, based in Petawawa, Ont.

That makes 8 Canadian soldiers killed within a week. There have been 53 Canadian soldiers and 1 diplomat killed in Afghanistan.

6 Canadian soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan. Read about it here. The dying continues. This brings the total to 51 Canadian soldiers and 1 diplomat.

NATO reported that six soldiers had been killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province.

"Sadly today has been a difficult day in Afghanistan," Harper said at a dinner for veterans in the French city of Lille, near historic Vimy Ridge.

"We've learned that an incident has claimed the lives of six Canadian soldiers and injured a number of others."

"Our hearts ache for them and their families, and I know as we gather here on Easter Sunday our thoughts and prayers are with them," said the prime minister, who is in France as part of the ceremonies marking the 90th anniversary of the attack on Vimy Ridge in the First World War.

Harper's announcement was met with an audible gasp from the crowd.

My sincere condolences to the friends and families of the soldiers who were killed or injured. Let's bring them all home soon.

A front page story in the Regina Leader Post talks about how Climate change is threatening to destroy "20 to 30 per cent of all the life forms on Earth and flood hundreds of millions of people out of their homes". The article goes on

“Hundreds of millions of people are vulnerable to flooding due to sealevel rise,” says the report. By 2100, it says rising waters will drown low-lying, and densely populated coastal regions in Asia and small island countries.

It says one sixth of the world’s people also face growing freshwater shortages as snow-packs shrink and glaciers recede.

Ecosystems and their inhabitants — mangroves, coral reefs, salmon runs, polar bears — are also at risk, the report says: “Roughly 20 to 30 per cent of species are likely to be at high risk of irreversible extinction if global average temperature exceeds 1.5 to 2.5 C,” which could occur within decades given current greenhouse gas levels. It says many more plants, bugs, birds and mammals could disappear if temperatures climb much beyond that.

I don't want to be alarmist, no wait...yes I do, we need to curb our polluting habits NOW! The scientists released a report in February that stated that "global warming is “unequivocal” and human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, is the main driver causing temperatures to climb". Worldwide devastation and mass extinctions are likely if we don't smarten up. A lack of fresh water, due to the loss of glaciers, pest infestations, drought, malnutrition, forest fires, disease, and more severe storms are just some of the "benefits" that we can look forward to.

I know that some people will undoubtedly say that these dastardly scientists are simply trying to frighten us to further their agenda, although I'm not sure what they think that agenda is, possibly to SAVE THE INHABITANTS OF EARTH. I have gotten right-wingers who respond to the idea of Global Climate Change by stating things like "Do you want to park your vehicle and start walking to work". Wake up! There is no "agenda", facts are facts. If the facts frighten you then we need to change our habits and be proper stewards of this planet.

We need to do this for the well being of future generations. Just as the World War I and II veterans fought fascism in order to make the world safer for their children and grandchildren, it now falls to us to do everything that we can do to alleviate global climate change for our children and grandchildren. This is a world event. This effects everyone, young, old, rich and poor. Do what you can do to lessen your personal pollution footprint. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. Make your next auto purchase a hybrid. Carpool when possible. In the winter, set your furnace 2 degrees cooler, and in the summer avoid air conditioning when possible. Click here to obtain more tips.

Former Vice President of the United States of America (elected President in 2000 by the people, but George W. Bush was elected President by SCOTUS)is coming to Regina on April 23, 2007 to grace us with his immense knowledge of Global Climate Change. The event is sponsored by SaskTel, which will recoup their money if 5,000 people purchase tickets to the event. Any profit will be donated to an environmental charity. The right-wing is not particularly happy. They are claiming that this event is partisan. That it is the NDP's attempt to be "seen with the stars" to quote Bob "I should have stuck with chaos by the creek" Hughes. I hope that Mr. Hughes and the rest of the cynic brigade take advantage of this "attempt" to actually learn something from Mr. Gore.

This is a fantastic event for Saskatchewan. Global climate change is REAL! It is not some attempt by the left. As Al Gore mentions in his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth", this is not a political issue, it is a moral issue.

Every adult that attends should take along at least one youth (10 - 17yrs). These children are the ones that will have to live with the consequences of our disrespect of the planet. For tickets, Click here to visit ticketmaster. I hope that everyone will take advantage of this unique opportunity to expand your knowledge on this issue.