Swift Current NDP News

For the second straight quarter, Saskatchewan's population has grown. In fact, according to this James Wood from the CanWest News Service, "The latest increase is also the highest first quarter interprovincial growth since 1976". The article also mentions:

The numbers are especially heartening for the NDP government as the province's net gain is based mostly on getting 769 more people from Alberta than Saskatchewan lost to its booming neighbour and traditional nemesis.

"I think there's a buzz about the province and that's certainly the impression I'm getting from expats who are living in Alberta and are on their way home," said Finance Minister Pat Atkinson, who pointed out the population includes 5,176 more people than at the same time last year after four straight quarters of growth.

Of course the Saskatchewan Party thinks that the population should be growing faster. Apparently, controlled, responsible population growth is not what the Saskatchewan Party wants. They want droves of people to move to Saskatchewan, and in the grand tradition of Conservative parties, they don't want to actually plan ahead. Alberta has an ever increasing problem with homelessness. Saskatchewan needs to be careful not to grow faster than our infrastructure can handle. Housing prices in Regina and Saskatoon are increasing at an alarming rate. If we intend to keep growing, serious investment in the province's infrastructure is increasingly crucial.

Our provincial NDP government is certainly on the right track.

Three Canadian soldiers were killed in Afghanistan by a roadside blast today. You can read more about it here. This brings the total Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 60, and 1 diplomat.

In the wake of the Saskatchewan NDP government announcing that they will seek legal action to force the Conservative federal government to actually keep a promise, Jim Flaherty is in full spin mode. It really is amazing to watch and listen to these galling liars try to use quasi-logic to assert that they didn't break their promise on equalization to Saskatchewan.

"Contextually, I have trouble understanding why the premier would be upset. Actually, he should be rejoicing that Saskatchewan does better than any other province per capita in this budget," Flaherty said Thursday. "We're satisfied our position's sound and constitutionally grounded."
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Flaherty said the prime minister did not break his promise and that the cap on the value of oil and gas revenues adheres to the principle that a province receiving equalization payments should not have a higher fiscal capacity than a province that is not.

Let's look at a scenario from a real life perspective shall we. Let's say your teenage child wishes to use the family car anytime they want to. To convince the parents, the child swears to keep the gas tank filled. The parents are not sure if that is enough, so the child ups the ante and swears that they will also perform regular maintenance on it (oil changes, wash it, etc.). The parents agree and the keys are given to the child. Once the teenager has the car, they continue to put fuel in the tank. In fact, they put premium gas in the tank, but neglect any other maintenance.

After a while, the engine seizes up because the child didn't perform oil changes, or even check the oil. When the parents receive the bill for a new engine and confront the child, the child says "What are they complaining about? They should be happy that I not only put gas in the car, but I put in premium. I didn't break my promise, besides, putting gas in adheres to the principal of keeping the car moving, none of his friends perform maintenance on their parent's cars. Why should my parents receive special treatment just because I promised it?". I am sure that every parent out there would accept this argument. Then Flaherty resorts to one of the most hackneyed non-logical tricks in the book that liars use when they have nothing to back up their argument.

"It just doesn't make common sense," he said, noting any "reasonable Canadian" would agree with him.

He tries to imply that if you don't agree with his position, then you don't possess "common sense" and that you are not a "reasonable Canadian". Give me a break you half-wit. Is that the best you can do? Apparently it is. Since he has no defense against the broken promise to the people of Saskatchewan, Flaherty tries to use a cheap psychological trick to sway your opinion. He also tries using repetition of a lie, "...the prime minister did not break his promise...", hoping that if you hear it enough, you will believe it.

Those tricks will work on his right-wing bretheren. They will grasp at anything so they don't need to face the reality that the party that they voted for has no problem bald-faced lying in order to purchase votes. Kudos to the Saskatchewan Party for finally standing up, even if it is just a little bit, to their heroes the Conservatives, and finally standing behind the people of Saskatchewan by supporting the court action. The same can't be said about the "Dim Dozen". The Saskatchewan federal Conservatives that were elected, in part, due to this promise. They can't pry their lips off of Harper's ass long enough to stand up for the people who elected them.

Trooper Darryl Caswell was killed in Afghanistan on Monday, June 11 2007. Trooper Caswell, 25, was killed when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. This brings the total Canadians killed in the war in Afghanistan to 57 Soldiers and 1 diplomat.

On Wednesday, June 13 at 7:00 p.m. a meeting will be held at the Entrepreneurial Center (885 6th Ave NE, Swift Current, SK) to discuss TILMA. One of the main topics will be the effect TILMA will have on our provincial organizations such as Sask Power, Sask Tel, Sask Health, etc. Hope to see you there.