May 23, 2012
WEDNESDAY
A6 EDITORIAL
Canada’s great divide With the discussions Canadian politicians and business people are having about the Dutch disease, (resources and higher dollar values undermining manufacturing), maybe it’s time for Canadians to revive our moribund manufacturing sector with a little good old-fashioned Canuck resolve. We could begin with “buy Canadian” policies, and that would include our resources and environmental projects. We would not be defying any free trade agreements currently in place since no country involved in any free trade agreement with Canada has had any problem in breaking the spirit of the agreement whenever they find it convenient. Our foremost trading partner, the United States, has no compunction in implementing America First policies when they find it to their advantage and nobody holds them to task for it, nor do we blame them. They wear their patriotism on their sleeves. Ours occasionally shows up during international hockey tournaments. International trade agreements should always be about making deals and we need not make excuses for taking hard-line stances. Most of the time these deals and contracts work well for both sides. You get what you want in goods, money, service or future considerations. As long as all those who sign the agreements live up to the commitments, there should be no major problems. So signing deals within and then from beyond our borders could be the first priority. If the resource sector in Western Canada is really to blame for manufacturing malaise in Eastern Canada and the high value of the Canadian dollar that supposedly restricts foreign trade (debatable), then maybe we should do something about it. Are all our oil and gas drilling rigs made in Canada? Who builds our coal haulers and locomotives? We have the capabilities to make that happen in Canada, but do we? Do we keep the higher valued Canadian dollar circulating in Canada, or do we ship it out to the slightly lower bidder in another country? What are the consequences if we keep the manufacturing business at home at the expense of a higher price? What does that do to our international reputation as fair traders? Do we even have a positive international reputation these days? What’s so wrong with Canadian-made tractors and combines? Could we prove we can build something more than grain storage bins? Are Canadians capable of mass producing anything other than a few automobiles anymore? Can we even identify and manufacture anything for niche markets? If we, in Western Canada, are to be relegated to the ranks of being simple hewers of wood and haulers of water, then perhaps someone in Eastern Canada should be manufacturing axes and buckets for us, or we’ll have to do that ourselves too. In other words, instead of whining about the current imbalance in our country’s set-up, maybe we need to get the inventive and entrepreneurial juices flowing again with, or without, the politicians on side. What we do know for sure is that this current situation of one side of the country pointing at the other side of the country crying that “they got the bigger piece” isn’t serving anyone any good and is only dividing us into the old have and have-not arguments that only politicians can mine for their own benefit. They won’t be looking for the solution, therefore we have to find it.
Prairie Perspective MURRAY MANDRYK Murray Mandryk is a political columnist with the Leader Post
SMA winners offer inspiration
“When someone tells you that your community isn’t big enough or it won’t work here, they are almost always wrong. “When someone tells you that it is too expensive or you won’t find the money, they are almost always wrong.” The above statements came from Maple Creek’s successful entry in the 2012 Saskatchewan Municipal Awards honouring excellence in local governance. And while it may have been the above words that caught the judging panel’s attention this year, even more inspirational was the determination and optimism in overcoming adversity that was reflected not only in Maple Creek’s entry, but also in several other entries for this year’s SMA awards. In fact, as solid and successful a submission as Maple Creek’s entry was, it wasn’t even the biggest winner. In a year that seemed all about rural communities overcoming adversity, there was an even more impressive entry. For the sixth consecutive year, I was honoured to be on SERVING CANADA’S SUNSHINE CAPITAL
Volume 110 Issue 3
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It’s hardly a jungle out there
Sometimes technology gets so advanced, we lose sight of the original goal. Take distance education for one example. The instructor need not be physically present in the time and space where the students are. So by extrapolation, nor does the student. He or she can pick up the lecture or lesson later on the ‘puter. Sort of like taking a textbook home, isn’t it? Only with more pictures. You can listen to the lesson later, or you could read about it. Ergo, we need not build any more schools. Of course not too many people want to read these days, or they don’t like to read very much. According to current technology, if you’re over 140 characters in your message, you’re taking up way too much time and space. But not really ... because what happens is, you send out your 140 character message, receive a 132 character response, send another, receive another, send another and ... before you know it, the morning’s gone. Yay ... efficiency! Speaking of wasting time and short attention spans ... I was studying my corn flakes the other day and son of a gun, there was one flake that looked like Jesus, or maybe it was Moses. I picked it out of the bowl and preserved it in a jelly jar to show all my friends on Facebook, but then remembered I’m currently shut out of that place because I’ve been compromised or something. Whatever it is, it doesn’t bother me, except for the fact that I cannot share my corn flake messiah with others who I am sure are anxious to check
Norm Park All Things Considered on my most current status. Well, my recent status is ... I’m fine, a little overweight and a bit tired from yard work and I need a haircut, OK! Now back to the corn variety of flakes. No sooner had I preserved the Jesus flake, when lo and behold, my next spoon full of milk and flakes brought forth another revelation. This time the flake from corn totally, and I mean totally, resembled Julia Roberts. Then I burned up some toast, and darned if I didn’t get an image of Aunt Eileen. Then I went back to the corn flakes and whoops, there it was, I kinda blushed because it was Madonna in her bustier ... no, no, no, not the real Madonna, but the sing-
Dive bombing robin attacks columnist.
SMA’s selection committee along with fellow judges Holly Hetherington, president of Executive Source; Jim Angus, RM of Harris administrator; Bob Linner, former City of Regina manager and Senator Pamela Wallin. In the Heritage Conservation category, Maple Creek won for its Main Street revitalization program that emphasized restoration as a means of tourism development. The determination in getting this accomplished - especially while this community also coped with the impact of severe flooding - was truly impressive. The runner-up was a solid entry from Moose Jaw featuring the restoration of the 1949 Peacock War Memorial. The judges further recognized the Maple Creek entry as the winner of the Economic Development Leadership category where it topped the solid entry from the Town of Assiniboia, Village of Limerick and RMs of Excel, Lake of the Rivers and Stonehenge that joined together to create a regional economic alliance to support local development and policy making. In the Municipal Innovation and Service Excellence category, the Town of Carrot River and RM of Moose Range won for their Pasquia Trust. A first of its kind in this province, the trust has become an investment vehicle for worthwhile community development projects. The runner-up entry was from the Village of Paradise Hill and the RM of Frenchmen Butte for their project that resulted in the conversion of their closed hospital into a Level 1 and Level 2 facility. In the Regional Leadership and Partnership category, the Town of Fort Qu’Appelle, RM of North Qu’Appelle, and
PETER NG: Publisher BRANT KERSEY: General Manager CHAD SAXON AND NORM PARK: Co-Editors CINDY BEAULIEU: Advertising Sales Manager Member Canadian Community Newspapers Association. Member Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association. Audited by Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Phone: 634-2654 Fax: 634-3934 e-mail: editor@estevanmercury.ca 68 Souris Ave. N., Estevan By mail: Box 730, Estevan, Sask. S4A 2A6 website: www.estevanmercury.ca
ing Madonna who just likes to sing about virgins. I gave up and went outside and noticed the two tulips we have in our pretend garden were blooming and one totally looked like Donald Duck ... I swear to you ... four epiphanies in one morning. It was much too exciting. Because of these diminishing attention spans, I was going to swing into yet another tale of my friend, the dive-bombing robin, that has set up a nest on my back fence. She is now feeding tasty insects to two little ugly robinlettes who will no doubt thrive while I retreat into the front half of the back yard that the mother robin has allowed me to use. I never imagined how threatening robins could be. This one has certainly gained my attention and respect. If you need to talk with Park about anything regarding education, images in cereal, limited attention spans or wildlife, you can reach him, sometimes, at normpark@ estevanmercury.ca
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communities of B-Say-Tah, Katepwa, Fort San, Lebret and Lipton won for their Calling Lake Planning District Commission. The runner-up was the joint entry from Towns of White City, Pilot Butte and Balgonie and Village of Edenwold that got together on the White Butte Regional Commission to enhance local fire and protective service, utility service delivery and highway safety. The Environmental Stewardship Award went to the Town of Unity that worked with Sifto Salt Plant to build a six-kilometre underground pipeline to carry town wastewater to the mine where it is utilized in their operations. Unity was also the runner-up in the Community Life Enrichment Award category for its compelling Unity Community Resources Centre - a non-profit, volunteer-run facility that now houses a food bank, second-hand clothing store, toy exchange, parent mentoring and support programs and a high-school equivalency program. In a normal year, Unity might have been the handsdown winner, but it had to compete with City of Yorkton’s Aviva Project that turned the devastation in that city’s downtown after the July 2010 flood into a skateboard park. Using social media, Yorkton secured a $150,000 prize needed to finance the construction. And for turning the devastation into something productive, the Yorkton project was presented with the special judge’s award only handed out on two other occasions. This was indeed a great year for rural communities showing what they can accomplish - especially in the face of both the elements and naysayers suggesting they couldn’t.
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