Feudal Fiefdoms of Saskatchewan, contd.
think that was a secret or notable offence.
kindly, rational people, they magnanimously offered a one-time opportunity to remove the 1000-square foot, three-level-split building OR we could sell, but only to a buyer pre-approved by the Board.
The email continued, saying I was just trying to scare them (the Board) with my fancy words and my police family. My daughter and son-in-law were both longtime members of the RCMP.
I warned you! It may have been Canada in 2018, but the Park IS a democracy-free zone. Ok, the rest of the offer… Lisa’s cabin is on a hilly lot with undeveloped parkland behind it and fronting onto a single lane road with a 90 degree turn on it. To even attempt moving the cabin would require widening a couple of hundred meters of road that is closely grown in with lilacs and native trees, and the Cowboy crew had a codicil in their offer saying no Park property could be damaged. Jim and John both faced these circumstances as well.
Anybody reading this story will recognize that “fancy words” are not really my thing.
The lease terminations were the main event, but over in ring #2, one Sunday afternoon John and I went out and picked up some small deadfall trees along the access road into the Park and cut them up for firewood. In total this would amount to about 10 armloads tops. Keeps old men busy and fit. The land lease the Park holds with the Government of Saskatchewan prohibits the cutting of green or growing trees without specific permission. I’ve had forest fire prevention and fire-suppression training in the past. I know deadfall and duff layer buildup represent significant fire hazards, especially to a community 30 kilometers from the nearest fire truck. You might think voluntary fire prevention would be appreciated. At our Park you would be wrong. I was assessed a $500 fine for “cutting trees in the park”. More specifically I was fined for cutting “standing deadfall” – yep, that is in a sworn oath. John got a $500 fine, too, for helping me. Poor John, his fine was not enough to satisfy the Cowboy crew’s malicious management style. They added an additional $500 fine to his portfolio. His offense? Bedecking the Park with red velvet bows in celebration of Christmas. Four months earlier. John didn’t have Board permission. It is worth noting the public side of the Park is officially closed for the season September 30th until May 1st. Neither of us have paid the fines. My notice of being fined came in a cut-and-paste document that included bits scavenged from a lease agreement and their untested Park bylaws. It was never prosecuted but 14 months later I was still getting invoices.
Oops!
Along the way, the Minister for Parks, Culture and Sport and his staff became involved. Minister Makowsky – Saskatchewan Roughriders football icon – is Saskatchewan’s version of Wayne Gretzky who shops at Really Big/ Really Tall stores. Mr. Minister had his department conduct what they called a “satisfaction survey”. I can say with some certainty I’ve never scored very high on one of those. This one was no different. It was a bizarre process that would have made Joe Stalin proud. The questionnaire left out a ton of important facts, allowed Board members to survey themselves and had the Secretary handpick a sample of itinerant campers as respondents. From hundreds of potential visitors, he picked 25 or so, about half of them answered. Itinerant campers have nothing to do to do with management on the private side of the Park. I was quite upset at the blatantly biased piece of work. In what I now recognize as a serious error in judgement, I emailed the Minister and asked if, when playing football, had he ever considered wearing a helmet. I should point out I am nearly twice as old as the Minister, nearly a foot shorter and maybe half his weight. If I ever run into him in person, I am going to stick out my hand and say “nice to meet you Sir, my name ….Jose Jimenez”.
Official Opposition Defends Us in Committee Meeting
Our collection of ancient rebels had advised the Official Opposition (NDP) of our goings on. Parks critic Warren McCall took up our cause. He faced off with the Minister for 37 minutes in a Committee Meeting on concerns at our Park. In that 37 minutes, the Minister managed to say 13 times that issues would be solved at the local level. This was during the time his department was engineering a propaganda piece on user-satisfaction. God, I love politicians, their honesty and sincerity is sometimes overwhelming. Almost as good as lawyers.
Along with this frivolity, the Secretary inadvertently sent me an email intended for Park Board members. It said I was running short of money and was going to sue the Board for Defamation of Caricature (that’s not a spelling mistake).
The official results of the satisfaction survey were released at the 2018 Suffern Lake Regional Park Annual General Meeting. I did not attend. I considered myself lucky for having escaped the 2017 meeting more or less intact. Why push my luck?
I’ve been short of money since I was 13 years old, I didn’t
I won’t go into detail but suffice to say the satisfaction
30 dialogue
AUTUMN 2019, VOL. 33, NO. 1
www.dialogue.ca