Trying NOT to state the blatantly obvious here,but why,when Canadians WILL NOT gamble on the NDP federally,do we keep letting them in to f*ck up various provinces?Their priorities are every bit as messed up as your highways.

Hey, that's not fair and balanced reporting. I do not see any pictures of the good road, the Calvert driveway.

sincerely,
Lorne

Head Dipper

It is for precisely this reason that I hope upon hope, that Nova Scotians come to their senses on Tuesday and prevent the NDP from swallowing up another province.

It is for precisely this reason that I hope upon hope, that Nova Scotians come to their senses on Tuesday and prevent the NDP from swallowing up another province.

It is for precisely this reason that I hope upon hope that Nova Scotians come to their senses on Tuesday and prevent the NDP from swallowing up another province.

Sorry about that folks... my internet went nuts. Damn Aliant

The NDP is bankrupt of ideas, morals and common sense.

On Golbal news Calgary this morning, they show some retarded NDP stunt about the poor state of school infrastructure and blame the Alberta government.

And the Alberta government just threw in an extra $45 million into schools alone.

And there is talk of laying off teachers.

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT?

I just love the photo captions. I still like the one I "borrowed" from the late John Morgan of the Royal Canadian Air Farce; No Discernable Prospects.

We only have to think of the Fast Ferry Fiasco when the NDP come calling. That generally screws any cridbility they might have acquired.

Now, if the Sask. government was on the ball, they'd be trying to figure out how to get on the VANOC 2010 Olympics bandwagon. Surely there must be a way.

Maybe I shouldn't give 'em any ideas.

Mike from Canmore passed away? Damn, that just ruined my day.
I'm sure that if John Morgan ever took a road trip in Saskatchewan he would tell lorne calvert to "Get Stuffed!"

Thanks for the link Kate. I emailed Gormley about the view of Highway 15 from space. It's really possible to see the potholes from hundreds of kilometers away, as you can see in the link for "#15" in my blog entry you linked. I found that to be incredible.

The USA is littered with hellways.

Seems that Dippers and Republicans have something in common. Dippers have no business sense and conservatives are tighter than bark to a tree. Net result...bad roads.

They're re-paving perfectly good highways in Ontario just so they won't fall into a state of disrepair.

Vote Liberal and you'll get great roads.

Saskboy...Thanks for the link to that amazing photo.I say amazing because this stretch of Sask.highway actually has a curve in it!COOOOL!! :-)

We had a family function in Saskabush in May and decided to take our trailer for sake of convenience and possibly to take an extra day before and after. Before leaving I had a gander on the internet for day trips and camp sites along the way. Both searches were fruitless goose chases. Being used to Travel Alberta, I assumed it was just me, that I couldn't seem to locate much in the way campgrounds or rest areas other than those, way off the beaten path.

After having been there, done that, and beating a hasty retreat home, I can see why there isn't much done to welcome or encourage tourism in Saskatchewan, let alone pulling over for a rest. Apparently the don't encourage lingering in Sasketchewan. Even the ring roads in places like Saskatoon and the Battlefords don't seem to give any advance warning that you're almost out of town and headed for the next elevator. Sad to say.

p.s. Our cousin, now a quadrapalegic, is no better off under the Sask. Health system. I'm quite certain his recent problems due to a bed sore and the resulting blood infection would never have happened in Alberta.

I've been down hundreds of highways, large and small, across the US - including Montana and North Dakota where the weather challenges are the same as ours.

I have seen nothing resembling what we have across this province. These are not isolated examples - these are the norm in rural Saskatchewan.

Your comments about rest stops are important - there are virtually none to be found.

I agree with Kate. I grew up in the US. The roads in the US are made from a much higher standard than in Canada. There is nothing like the interstate system in Canada---PERIOD.

Plus, I recall that road conditions are usually much worse in Democratic, big union regions like lower Michigan.

Want better roads--become more like America!

Take that you pathetic wimp wayne!

Rob, I'm hoping that the NDP support remains concentrated in Halifax (always has been before), which means that their 36% polling number won't translate into nearly as many seats as the Tories 38%.

Mind you, having that spend-happy, gas-regulating Rodney Mac as premier for the next 4 years doesn't exactly fill me with excitement. He's far more of a Red Tory than Hamm was in my opinion. I'm having a hard time mustering up any real enthusiasm for voting for the PCs on Tuesday.

Kate... I totally agree, we should be devoting much more of the provincial budget to highways. But provincial spending is about choices and successive gov'ts. have chosen to devote 10% of the provincial budget to grease the interminably squeaky agricultural wheel. If the farm welfare lobby is successful in getting the egregious NISA program reinstated, that percentage will increase substantially. Until we get the ag monkey off our backs, forget about it.
BTW, how much of the state budgets of N. Dakota and Montana are devoted to ag subsidies?

Meanwhile, back in NB, there's a hole in front of my workplace the entire width of the road... they've been there now for a week... whatever they're doing, why on earth can't they do it in a day? Stupid. It's just one hole, for heaven's sake!

That's where my tax dollars go... into big holes in the ground where little seems to be accomplished... putting union types to work basically standing around...

Not much different, really, from Sask doing nothing... the roads here always suck, too... hell, the other day some guy got his Tercel hung up in a rut...

Maryjane "But provincial spending is about choices".
In MB, they don't have a CHOICE about where to spend money collected for roads. We shouldn't here either.

And you're so out to lunch blaming farmers for bad roads. It's farming related, but blame the feds, the SK NDP for poor foresight, RMs for agreeing to railline abandonment, and CPR and CNR for the added load on our roads.

Get off the agricultural hobby horse, maryjane.

Millions upon millions pour out of the rural regions which create the wealth in this province - and directly into subsidizing a bloated provincial NDP-voting civil service that creates none. Rural communities see nearly nothing in return. Crumbling roads and closed hospitals and steadily increasing local school taxes paying the union waqes negotiated by a union-controlled government in Regina.

The municipal roads - paid for by local ratepayers - are in pretty good shape. It's the provincial highways, especially those at the edges of the province and in the north - that are the embarrasment.

Lorne Calvert isn't building a wall around this province, as has been said. He's digging a ditch, one pothole at a time.

Kate, you have a comma in your URL when you post.

On the tourism note, the south is severely neglected for highway funding. south of Killdeer, Rockglen and Wood Mountain, the highway to the border with Montana is pretty sad. Grasslands National Park east block is right there, as are Wood Mountain's Regional and Historic parks. The local highway crew does a fantasic job of keeping things patched, but without a railroad any longer, it's hard to see it lasting very much longer. Highway #13 west of Assiniboia was redone about two years ago, and it already looks like the worn parts of #1 between Regina and Moose Jaw. The highway was noisy and rough as soon as they finished, it was obviously a botched job.

The NDP are simply statists and collectivsts by another name. They don't care about the highways, as they want to get away from isolated transportation devices like automobiles, and have us all ferried across country on communal buses and trains, like in their Cuban and Chinese utopias.

Timo, don't knock the busses or trains. The NDP can at least be given credit for supporting bussing, but sadly couldn't give a *poop* about trains or the benefits of them.

What an eye opener. When I visit Quebec, I'm astounded at the bad roads, I had no idea Sask. is giving them competition.

Saskatchewan...on a quiet night you can hear the asphalt crumble...

Saskboy....How many times must I repeat: I don't blame farmers, I blame farm SUBSIDIES.
If you are talking about dedicated taxes in Man., then fine, dedicate every dime of gas taxes and license fees to roads. That's where the choice comes in. An increase in the highways budget means a decrease in some other program. That's not ideology, dear boy, that's arithmetic. And the logic of a dedicated tax for highways implies a dedicated tax for every expenditure but I have yet to see a robbing urban Peter to pay farmer Paul tax.
Kate... If subsidizing farming creates wealth in SK, then subsidizing any enterprise ,(Meadow Lake pulp mills, P.A. pulp mills , Moose Jaw pork processors, hell, any business that runs, walks, or crawls) makes economic sense. Sounds like socialism to me.

"Sounds like socialism to me."

Maryjane, your reponse suggests you struggle with literacy.

In your case, commenting anywhere is a waste of effort that would be better spent improving your reading comprehension skills.

Hmm... "The Roadkill Diaries"... could be subtitled, perhaps: "Documenting the socialists' killing of Saskatchewan roads".

Now it might have two meanings.

Know what? I think the Sask NDP is finished. No way will the people take any more of that horseshit from those reds.

I see it coming: their end. Soon.

Those signs all look like they were made by the same disgruntled Conservative...

I frequently see pieces on this Blog that whine and complain about the commie government the residents have elected. I don't recall the right wing run being much of a reprieve either.

Since Sask is an ugly, silly, flat, underpopulated place with awful weather and a horrid economy anyway, why not just move to say ... BC or Alberta where you would find it a paradise comparatively.

I am sure you must know by now that there are too many idiots living in Saskatchewan to ever have improve.

Flashback: Toomy and George and Lester and Jack and George Grant. Oh,.. almost forgot the Rev. L. Calvary. ...

"Grant had pleaded with Douglas not to side with Pearson."

The ongoing alliance/bond/pact between the CCF/NDP/Liberals leads to this: Socialism; a dead-end road. ...

"The 1963 Federal election in Canada set the stage for Lament for a Nation. Tommy Douglas (NDP) joined ranks with Lester Pearson (Liberals) to defeat John Diefenbaker (Progressive Conservatives). Grant had pleaded with Douglas not to side with Pearson. President Kennedy had backed Pearson, and Grant knew that if Douglas tipped his cap to Pearson, this signaled a green light to Kennedy’s brand of American imperialism and the defeat of Canadian nationalism. Kennedy despised Diefenbaker, and although Grant was no uncritical fan of Diefenbaker, he did stand by his nationalism against American imperialism.
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20050307145911911/print

Did I mention there are way too many Indians there too. Maybe get the hell out and let them run the place themselves. Who knows, they might then get a clue about ow important the white sucker is to their very standard of living.

I seem to recall that before the white sucker came along, they lived in teepees and had to rub sticks together to make a fire.

When all else fails, employ the invective. Good one Kate.

Kate should lay off the NDP. Our roads are progressive! :))

As for the farmers, I'm not an expert on the subsidy thing, but I do know that my Grandfather and Grandmother (farmers) worked their fingers to the bone and had little to show for it when they retired/passed away. It was grossly unfair - they had cattle so they worked 7 days/week - but they had farming in their bones.

Sure, there are some farmers who are well-to-do, but I believe the overwhelming majority are barely getting by. Why do you think farm children opt for a 40 hour/wk job instead of deciding to farm like Mom and Dad did?

Maryjane, you don't understand, I believe.

Infrastructure is the great enabler; the great facilitator.

Without infrastructure, nothing much will work. Not the private sector, nor the communist nonsense.

However, the only industry, eventually, that'd be viable in Sask. the way things are going will be in high-clearance 4x4s with low range transfer cases. Hell, GM will resurrect the Humvee H1...

I can see it now... everyone with a Hummer, a 4Runner, a Range Rover...

Yeah... why invest in roads? What good'll it do?

What business does gov't have in infrastructure, anyway? Yeah!

/sarcasm off

BTW, Willy Sutton robbed banks because "that's where the money is." I ride the ag hobbyhorse because THAT'S where the money is. I mean Kate, essentially we are in agreement as far as the need for increased infrastructure spending. But it is my opinion that ag subsidies HAVE to be on the table of any budgetary tradeoff discussion.

Dr Wayne: "The USA is littered with hellways."

Bull. I've travelled in the USA numerous times and their roads are a helluva lot better than ours. Indeed, most of their roads seem to be along the line of Alberta's roads. Travelling from Sask into Alberta is like night and day when it comes to roads.

All my friends say the same thing about US roads versus Sask roads.

Sorry Sentinel...As far as Saskatchewan goes, it's obvious you don't know your arse hairs from celery shreds.

Another failure of literacy.

That wasn't "invective". It was "observation".

Perhaps you are experiencing a failure in reader comprehension.

You ingrates.

Can't you see that no ANFO truck bomb could navigate those roads? The clairvoyante NDP gubmit of Sask has added all these security devices to the road system for your benefit. It's part of the elaborate "security moat" Calvert promised you all.

Maryjane, I'm from Saskatchewan. So I know what has happened to the roads since I left in '78, when they were just fine, as I remember. I also remember that the economy was better. Much.

And I see you make a very convincing counterargument. I see you understand how the economy works. You paid close attention pursuing your business degree, obviously, particularly the economics courses.

I'm impressed, honey. ;-)

Have you driven in Manitoba lately? I'll match your miles of bad road with our miles of bad road and our NDP government.
At least the Trans-Canada is in good shape across Saskatchewan (which, I admit, is about the only highway I drive in the province and I do spend at least some time there.)

Sentinel....Indeed, in '78 the roads, the economy were much better. , under the NDP. Then in '82 the Devine Conservatives were elected, espousing the same freemarket fundamentalism as yourself, and things kinda went downhill from there. Don't let a business degree get in the way of commom sense.

The NDP, however, has been in power a long time now... and the roads and economy have gotten worse.

Don't blame a long-gone gov't.

Blame the guys who've had the means and power to do the right thing... or not... for I forget how long.

Common sense? You have that? You, who believes in socialism, which has been proven over and over again all over the world to be ultimately unworkable?

YOU're telling me about common sense? I know what I've been observing and understand how it does and doesn't work.

Don't knock education. It isn't ALL dogma. Some of it is actually good stuff!

No Sentinel, actually the economy has much improved since the Conservatives were given the boot in '91. The roads, however have gotten worse because the gov't. has elected to waste money on farm subsidies rather than invest in infrastructure, which is my point, however illiterately expressed.

Maryjane, Sentinel makes way more sense than you do.

Farming IS where the money is, but not the subsidies. The "subsidies" you rail against [pun intended], are critical to providing stability to the province. You can't just tell a farmer with a million dollars invested in dedicated, one purpose equipment, to switch careers for a year, then flip back when the conditions are right. If Canada wants professional farmers, running domestically owned farms, then be prepared to keep them in business. Being able to provide our own food is a national security issue, not just good economic policy.

Roads aren't just for farming you know, there's tourism in them thar hills, eh?

"Since Sask is an ugly, silly, flat, underpopulated place with awful weather"
I just wanted to quote a troll, ok?

It's so easy for people to whine and complain. It would appear that a lot of readers don't understand the nature of physicl reality but that's really what is up for question here. Why are the roads falling apart? Ask yourself that.
The truth is that the rail companies were allowed to abandon branch lines following the elimination of the crow subsidy. All of that grain freight was downloaded onto provincial infrastructure.
Further, All of those b-trains hauling grain are exempt from road weight restricitions and the faster they travel the more damage they do. Many semi drivers have modified the suspension systems on their rigs to allow them to carry even more weight and thus improve their profit margins. As long as the grain is moved on highways, Saskatchewan taxpayers will be paying to fix roads.
Interested in solutions? Well, we could slow the trucks down, encourage (open to debate) the use of short line railways, or build new railways on the old rail bedss.
In the reality based community, we deal with the nature of the universe...not the whimsy of a bunch of whiners who didn't help build anything and can't understand why things are the way they are. Stand down Tories.

Um, Maryjane... if the economy is so robust in Sask, then how come so many youth keep leaving to find employment, as I hear?

Plus I noticed you slammed the NDP for neglecting the roads. Very good. That shows you do have some common sense at least.

Now you need to come to understand that is a symptom of the ineptitude of the socialist overlords of today and give the SP a try.

What could it hurt? At least they'll finally fix the bloody roads, which really need fixin'!

Well, this is going to add fuel to the fire that Kate and maryjane have set (the ad hominem remarks notwithstanding).

SK's ag land is 162 million km2. AB's is 107. Work it out. You need a much greater (like about 60 per cent) network of roads to access this land in SK than AB. This costs money. Money that SK doesn't have. Back in the day, the railways moved crops on inefficient branch lines. They are mostly gone. THe SK provincial road system can't handle the load.

With ag representing less than 15 per cent of provincial GDP, there's not much return in the province spending money to access inefficient farms. But, the culture is that they should. The fact is that 80 per cent of ag products are produced by 20 per cent of farmers. The 80 per cent of farmers seem to think they need roads.

Much better for SK to pay for road improvements that enhance trade with other provinces and the US. Trade with greater value added than farm products. Think oil and gas, potash, urnaium, etc.

The land soource is here : Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin Catalogue no. 21-006-XIE
Vol. 3, No. 2 (September 2001)
URBAN CONSUMPTION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND
Nancy Hofmann, Statistics Canada

Famouspipeliner, you're merely making complicated excuses for the socialist regime.

In my life, I'm not allowed to fabricate complicated excuses out of circumstances in order to get out of doing my job. I'm told to simply do it. And I do it. I always figure out how to make it happen!

The Sask gov't could do the same!

See here: it's not all that hard to simply make it so that roads are being fixed, period.

Point is: the NDP is a plain, simple failure. They failed to do their job.

Why not just do whatever it takes to fix the roads? Is it impossible? No. Gimme a break; don't be a socialist apologist.

Stand down, socialists!

"Reality based community"? "Nature of the universe"? Yeah... you Dippers only BELIEVE you're members thereof and understand that stuff, respectively...

Too easy! No wonder the NDP is finished!

Andy, I'd suggest that the reason why Sask doesn't have money is because it has a socialist gov't.

And we know socialism doesn't work.

Why can't so many folks see the relationship between socialism and economic malaise?

Hey Sentinel,

I can't argue with you, but the roads were no screaming hell when Devine was in power. That was the beginning of not having money (not totally Devine's fault), but he did seem to spend a lot of effort in getting ag money (rememeber the pathetic phone call to Mulroney before his second election?). The real culprit was Eli Kramer (Blakeney) who wanted to pave all the roads in SK, found out he couldn't and then went with the "thin membrane" roads (gravel sprayed with tar). These are the roads that are getting really beat up now.

Saskboy....Farming is a business and should be treated like any other.Subsidies are not critical to providing stability to the province. They are critical to maintaining the welfare state cycle of dependency, mentality of entitlement status quo in farm country and ensuring SK will never have the resources to adequately fund our infrastructure needs.
Sentinel... History has shown that, bad as the NDP are, the sad fact is that, at their worst, they are 10x's better than Conservatives at their best.

maryjane:What's the matter? Nose out of joint'cause you can't get farmers to join a union and support your beloved ndp

Maryjane "Farming is a business and should be treated like any other."

Farming is NOT just another business, it is the BASIS of our modern society. If you take away farming, society will crumble. If you take away real estate agents, economists, shoe factories, City Hall, or McDonalds, then society will manage to get by, but we all need to eat and farming is what gets that done. We aren't 100% dependent on Canadian farmers and ranchers because it's "cheap" to move goods over the ocean or from the States, but if oil ever hit $4/L then how important does it become to have a local food source?

"Subsidies are not critical to providing stability to the province. They are critical to maintaining the welfare state cycle of dependency, mentality of entitlement status quo in farm country"
There you go again calling farmers welfare grubbing, lazy lowlifes that would suck us dry if we let them get through a bad year or two due to weather. We've already addressed your "point" about roads being a farming subsidy. Duh, farmers use roads, and don't build them themselves, therefore they are being subsidized.. blah blah blah.

Are you just trolling, or do you believe your anti-farmer nonsense?

This issue is being skewed and mislead, this debate is about an industrial center that produces millions of dollars in manufactured goods and is denied basic needs by the current long standing government. The selection criteria the NDP uses for selecting where the budget is allocated should be reviewed. This section of highway has been repeatedly been paid for through taxation. Taxation continues to be collected yet gets diverted to subsidise socialists people like mary jane who spend most of their working days arguing topics posted on these blogs.

Again, this debate is about rural people throughout the province who are innovative, creative and hard working like many of the people in the private sector of large centers) that are trying to make a living only to be financial discriminated against by the current government.

Maryjane: "Sentinel... History has shown that, bad as the NDP are, the sad fact is that, at their worst, they are 10x's better than Conservatives at their best."

Oh, puleeeze... you're gonna drive me to drink (in a Hummer, of course, considering the condition of the roads)...

Ten times better? I don't see how... Do they bring ten times the economy? Ten times the tax relief? Ten times the farming success? Ten times the goodness of the infrastructure of the province?

Or did the multiply the number of unionized public servants by ten?

Did they show they're ten times better by bringing in all sorts of new social reengineering which was only demanded by a tiny leftist minority?

Well, good luck with the whole socialist thing...

Meantime, what are the NDP doing with the roads, if anything?

And how come the oil industry isn't really booming in this day and age? Why don't the socialists find the religion of capitalism and facilitate/laissez-faire the oil industry so it can expand and bring in the bucks? Find a way to fix the roads-- that's one way. Stop punishing folks for creating economic value... that's another...

Oh, and it's futile to try and sell socialism to the Canadian Sentinel...

When Culvert goes out for his drive he should be forced to use one of those new, freaky, enviromentally friendly, Dipper 'dinky cars'. A pair of SUVs could drive behind and ahead of him to 'protect' him from the bad guys and ensure that he eats lots of dirt.

Andy, did you mean Eiling Kramer? That name rings a bell! I still have a Sask map somewhere in the house with him on the back cover... he was indeed responsible for that sort of thing back then...

But I maintain that since the NDP has been in power for an astonishingly long time (I remember Romanow's reign), I really don't see any excuse for letting the roads deteriorate to a degree that will make the state liable for any driving deaths thereupon...

Of course they could've allocated the funds! But they didn't want to... for social reengineering and having a helluvalotuv do-little unionists making amazing salaries and drawing incredible benefits at the taxpayers' expense and without consent thereof... is more important, plus it guarantees the NDP votes...

maryjane, just wondering, can you provide some evidence of these massive "farm subsidies"? What are they? What in your mind is considered a subsidy? I've checked the Sask agriculture website and the few items they have listed relate to emergency assistance in the case of drought, crop loss, etc, and for the main programmes, the farmers have to pay into it like insurance.

Poor Maryjane....everyone picks on her...but she deserves it....your father must have been a poor farmer or something because you sure hate farmers...oh yeah you said you hate the "subsidies"...what do you call those hundreds and hundreds of millions that are going to the natives in this country.....they get their own University that is always in financial problem because sonmeone is stealing money but they are given more money..no non-native can get into the school even though at KELSEY there is up to a 17 yes 17 year wait to get into certain programs...NOW that does not make sense...we pay for the schools but can't get into them...does that make sense...to you it probably does....

sorry gotta go to morning prayers..I will pray for you Maryjane cause you really need it

Me thinks the likes of maryjane doth protest too much!!!! Has she ever been outside the urban NDP enclave she lives in? In many centers outside of Saskatoon and Regina people are gainfully employed in value added operations other than farming. The east central part of the province that has the dubious distinction of having the worst roads in the province has a number of very successfull manufacturing enterprises that not only produce direct employement but each manufacturing job produces about 6 jobs neccessary to support those jobs. Some of this work is in maryjanes beloved cities. It is not only the rural areas that benifit from the success.

This socialist regime wants all of these companies to relocate to their power bases(Saskatoon and Regina) where they can more easily unionize these jobs and take credit for the "job creation". You can be sure that the union leaders that are hand in glove with the current government see these jobs a missed tap of union dues .

If the lefties ever get their wish and move these companies out of rural Sask they will not relocate to Saskatoon or Regina. There are many jurisidictions on this continent that would welcome these individual with open arms. Be carefull what you wish for maryjane.

When there are no roads in rural Saskatcehwan left all the cattle , hog and chicken farms will have to be located right in the city. Then the farmers would not have to be subsidized with drivable roads. Why don't you post your address maryjane. Someone could set up a nice big hog operation right next door to you. Wouldn't that be nice???

Why the hate on for farmers maryjane??? Your arguments sound very personal as opposed to being based on any reason or logic.

I think maryjane needs to boycott all agricultural products and purge all that toxic ideology out of her system.

Started to rain yest. so had a chance to catch up reading my favourite Blog. Being a farmer, I cant figure why you hate me so much MaryJane.You spout the same drible everytime this subject comes up. Reading your posts from yest. you must have had a very slow day in the office or the boss was away for the day, you were on here all day!
The last two months, I have spent money in small towns near me, and have been to the Golden Hub of NDP Regina maybe a dozen times. While there I have bought fertilizer, oil for my machinery, parts from two machine dealerships, groceries from three different stores, and bless me, my wife and I took an hour and sat down and had supper in one of your restaurants.
I buy fuel from another outlet in a small town near me, I picked up a piece of used equipment in Yorkton before seeding started. While there we bought oil filters, stopped at a greenhouse or two, and yes we bought dinner at a restaurant.
Last fall we picked up a piece of used equipment from a dealership in Melfort. Yes while there bought lunch at a restaurant. I am only a small farmer, just think of all of us together, how much money was dropped in all the towns and cities in this prov.? I spent money I dont even have. And I bet Maryjane, you havent been out of the city once that whole time. Actually dont blame you, If I had a choice of driving on these goat paths and staying in the Golden NDP land, I would sit on the computer all day and spue B.S all day to.

Sentinel... You ever hear of hyperbole? How 'bout a history book? Check out the Devine record. Read the business page in your local rag. You may discover the oil sector IS booming in SK. If anything, I.m trying to sell laissez-faire capitalism. It's you and the other rabid right-wing ideologues who are rising to the defense of socialism for agriculture. Go figure.

Saskboy..".Farming is the basis of our modern society"? Let's just say this kind of foolish statement exemplifies the mentality of entitlment that decades (not one or two bad years) of feeding the cycle of dependency has produced.
However, this is my last post on the subject here. I don't want to wear out my welcome. If you want to bat it around some more, I'd be more than happy to take it to your blog.

Sorry, but I've stopped LOL and can't resist.
sick... I live in rural east central SK ( the highways are quite decent around here), in the country, half a mile from a hog farmer, and own a bit of farm land.

Mur....because a healthy chunk of everyone else's paycheck is taxed to subsidize guys like you, they don't have that money to spend in their local economies, in their restaurants, grocery stores and greenhouses. It's a false economy. If subsidies benefited the economy, then we should be subsidizing pulp and paper, hog processors and everything else you can think of.

I would like to nominate Kate from SDA for "Citizen of the Year " for her defense of"non urban citizens" ofSaskatchewan(kind of like non-aboriginal only different). Kate (and John Gormley) have been keeping this issue front and centre and we have to keep up the momentum. The Dippers hate to have their dirty laundry (undrivable roads) hung out for the world to see. These roads mostly affect the "non urban citizen" .

We in the "non urban sector " have to become more vocal and organized to fight the unfairness
that continues to be disguised as Goverment Policy.

The Dippers have very little support in rural Saskatchewan. The more people they drive away either to the cities in Sask(votes are diluted and unionized) or out of the province (remove that deadly right wing vote altogether just in case you can't unionize them) the better off they are in the short term. In the long term when all you have left are cities with individuals living off the state you are not going to last very long.( Bread and vodka lineups anyone?)

Non urban citizens(NUC)are mainly self sufficient farmers , manufacturers and business people. They are used to relying on their own devices but they are being out manoevered by the URBAN LEFT.

The URBAN LEFT is using the wealth created to a large extent by the "NUC"to keep them in their place(self serving government campaigning oops!!! I mean advertising) and out of the limelight. The only way to get any action on the abandoned highway program is to let the world know what is happening here. The NUC have to have to work together like the lefties and the unions and stop taking crap fom the NDP.

How long do you think it would take to raise the money privately to rebuild "HELLWAY 368" or "HELLWAY 32" if the stateholder were allowed to use their own before tax dollars to build a decent road? Not too long I would think.

Keep up the good work Kate . Thank for giving the non urban citizens a voice and a place to connect.

I guess that make everything right with the world. maryjane has good roads so the rest us can just go staight to hell!!!

"'Farming is the basis of our modern society'? Let's just say this kind of foolish statement exemplifies the mentality of entitlment that decades (not one or two bad years) of feeding the cycle of dependency has produced."

Never mind feeding the cycle of dependency, without farmers, how do you figure society will FEED ITSELF!? If you want to be taken seriously, you'd better come up with these "evil subsidies" you keep referring to, and explain how you'd eat without farming.

"However, this is my last post on the subject here. I don't want to wear out my welcome. If you want to bat it around some more, I'd be more than happy to take it to your blog."

Tempting, but I encourage you to make more sense before you express undefendable positions, first. If you aren't going to bash farming as some kind of welfare system, then stop by anytime.

People a deluded mind like MJ is honestly not worth responding to. She has bought the the NDP line that those that vote against the NDP are the source of Sask's economic problems. Like the Communist of Russia or China and National Socialist party of the 1930's 40's Germany socialist are driven to promote hatred. Socialist like MaryJane are torn apart by jealousy and envy raging at those who she thinks are more powerfull or she perceives doing better than her. Instead of creating their own wealth they attack those that do with their use of voodoo economics and misinformation. Giving your attention to people like that only allows the sickness of socialism to grow.

I think maryjane is short for what she/he's been smoking. Albertaman is quite correct about trying to figure her out, she/he doesn't even seem to know, just knows it's fault of farming/farmers.

I think this might be a big clue to her NIMBY & Not On My Dime state of mind; " I live in rural east central SK ( the highways are quite decent around here), in the country, half a mile from a hog farmer, and own a bit of farm land."

I'll bet your roads ARE the nicest around. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, just ask the local Councilor or the Public Works department.

She/he could be an expert hobby farmer (aka acerage owner), makes enemies with her neighbors who were there before her with their manure smells and combines going all night. Doesn't fit in, doesn't want to and knows everyone's business, or think's so.

Ask her what she thinks about subsidized healthcare, day care and housing.

Pity Maryjane won't be back to this thread. I do have the following q. to pose:

MJ, if Sask's oil industry is "booming", then how come there's "no money" to fix roads?

How do you explain the difference between Alberta's "embarrassment of riches" and Sask's "not enough money for basics"?

I think something's amiss.

Maryjane
Opps the boss is in the office today eh? Cant sit on the computer?

Sentinel... There's no money to fix roads because every spare dollar is going to ag subsidies.
"How do I explain Alta.'s..."
1. Alberta won the geological lottery.
2. Devine's Conservatives drove us into bankruptcy by implementing the economic policies you espouse.
3. Every spare dollar goes to ag subsidies.

Marymoron:
INDEPTH: AGRICULTURE
Battling foreign farm subsidies
CBC News Online | August 6, 2004
For years Canada's farmers have been at the short end of the stick when it comes to farm subsidies. European farmers got the most state help, then Americans, then Canadians. No matter how severely Canadian farmers were hit by drought, hail, flood or grasshoppers, they stood with hat in hand well behind their European and American cousins.
On the farm subsidy front, farmers in Europe received subsidies of about $6 a bushel, U.S. farmers got $2.50 a bushel, Canadian farmers received subsidies of only 40 cents a bushel

Copied:From your favorite news source MaryJane. Its about fair trade you moron.

"Every spare dollar goes to ag subsidies."

MJ: is this just what you've been told, or can you provide proof? Like an official gov't document acquired via the access to info act, if there is one in Sask.

Doesn't Alta also provide some sort of "subsidies" to farmers? Besides, if every spare dollar went to ag subsidies, then the farmers, given a supposedly "booming" oil sector in Sask and billions in gov't royalties, the farmers would be filthy rich.

Sorry honey, but I still think you're just making weak excuses for the NDP gov't which has failed to demonstrate basic competence and intelligence while in power.

And it doesn't do any good to keep blaming a long, long gone administration for WORSENING problems of today when they don't have to worsen.

Further, the rest of the world provides heavy subsidies to agriculture... far, far heavier than whatever Calvert provides, including the US. And I haven't heard of them being unable to fix their roads.

If I'm wrong, pls. provide proof that doesn't involve... ahem... leftist websites...

Sure, Alta is lucky, but so is Sask. But I see the socialists failing to capitalize on theirs... high taxes and red tape don't inspire oil companies to rev up the exploration, development, extraction and refining. How do we know that Sask doesn't have further reserves, hitherto undiscovered?

In a nutshell, I see Sask as having incredible potential which isn't and never, ever will be realized under a socialist gov't. Don't you agree?

I wouldn't want to see my former home province become like oil-rich, ultra-extreme socialist Venezuela today, with its 50% unemployment rate...

It's bad enough that NB feels like a Soviet Republic, with all the dependence and (overall) flatlined economy... but I hope the new fed admin will eventually effect positive changes which will allow NB to rise high...

Oh, I initially overlooked Albertaman's provision of info above.

So I'm afraid you've got a lot of work to do, MJ, unless you want to accept that maybe you were mistaken? If I'm proven to be mistaken, I'll admit to it.

What will the your party do? They won't even ask the Tories for a better transfer deal. I gravel all marginal highways and twin the highway from here to Weyburn. Also twin the road south to Portal. I think part of the reason the roads are hammered to hell is due to Farmers larger grain truck pounding them. I'd also like to comment on the overpass for that Moose Jaw road. Most of the people killed there are hit by semis. Most are seniors who's eye sight and reflexes are slow. We all know people like them in our own towns. My grandfather was a nice man but a menace on the road. He was over 75 and shouldn't have been driving. His arthritus finally stopped him. There are dozens of roads where we could put overpasses at lots of intersections but we can't make people better drivers. At North Pasqua here in Regina they put an overpass mainly to stop stupid drivers from getting killed. And they do drive with undo care. I've travelled southern Sask for years.
I've seen how a lot of these old codgers drive their 1/2 tons and grain trucks. You've seen them too in your home towns. They're Ok as long as they're in town but get them on the hiway and look out. I've seen them on the ringroad 80 years old and merging at 60 kmh in a 100 kmh zone. When you're 80 years old you shouldn't be driving on busy hiways. I won't be.I'll take a cab.

check out

http://www.highway32.ca/about.html

For more evidence of NDP largesse.

It is clear to me that individuals like 'Canadian Sentinel' have never had to work with the actual real world but nonetheless posit themselves as 'knowing' because of their blind adherence to a certain political philosophy. For those of us who have actually built roads or worked in the oilpatch, as I do now, comments from Canadian Sentinel are an insult to our intelligence. I mean, has this person ever heard of a road ban?
The truth is that the state of the roads is not dependent upon any political party. What needs to be done is to address the cause of infrastructure damage which, in the context of roads is that there is an abundance of overweight vehicles on our roads.
This is no one's fault other than those who put that traffic on our highways, years ago, when the Crow rate was abandoned. The corporations downsized rural Saskatchewan. At the time there were plenty of rural residents publicly coming forward to warn politicos about what would happen to our roads if rail beds were abandoned. Their concerns fell on deaf ears.
The question now is not simply to complain but to find real, practical solutions.
Repairing roads ad infinitum is no solution to the problem.
Those who spout political dogma as an answer today are as far removed from the reality of the situation as those who years ago, thought they 'knew' more than the rural residents they were supposed to represent. That means you Tories. Stand down.

pipeliner: This thread is about people are talking about fixing a highway for an economic hub that ships over a hundred million worth of manufactured goods all over the world. It has nothing to do with farm trucks and everthing to do with a goverment that has grossly neglected this area because they have better paid non union employees, in a rural environment that vote Saskparty. They employ as many people a Weyerhauser did and the goverment was seriously considering spending hundreds of millions buying it and won't consider spending 3-5 million to fix a the infrastructure which a basic government responsibilty. This government has recently spent millions to fix a highway going to a casino near Dakota Dunes outside Saskatoon and refuses to give these people near St.Brieux a drivable highway. This after they have collected tens of millions from these people in business a personal taxes. This has nothing to do with not offering solutions and everthing with politics.
Those that think that everything belongs in the large centers like Saskatoon or Regina are deluded. I have personaly brought potential customers from NY or Chicago and they laugh at the remoteness and lack of infrastrucure services Saskatoon has. Its a matter of perspective isn't it. So Pipeliner it is you who is ignorant and isn't living in the real world.

And I'm telling you that loads cause roads to break down. If the highway in question is being driven upon by traffic that is above the weight restriction of said road it will break down. That's reality.
I regularly travel highway#32 which is the object of some contention as well. I guarantee you though, the traffic servicing the natural gas business there caused the road to break down. No question.
Grain farmers have to use the roads, oilfield companies use the same roads, and whatever comes out of wherever uses the same roads.
I'm also telling you there's no way to keep up with all of that work. There is no road construction for a good portion of the year over winter and break up and whenever it rains and those guys work 16 hours a day whenever they can. Christ how much work are you expecting a man to do?
That's why I say a number of critics here have never done the work.
There may be a legit grievence. I also know that there has been lots of highway construction in surrounding constituncies and they voted Saskparty.
It's one thing to say that a road needs work and another to suggest some kind of political conspriracy. Further, in the southwest 100 million isn't that much and I don't believe I called anyone ignorant. I only wanted to imply that your ducks aren't all in order.

Well put Albertaman. This is not a situation that has happened overnight.Bourgault Industries has been operating since 1972 and this highway has been neglected for the past 15 years. I would love to know the cumulative tax take from this community in the past 35 or so years. This is not the only example of a campaign of exclusion directed to this little economic tiger. The community has been turned down repeatedly( at least 10 times in 10 years) for an infrastructure grant because the fund was out of money according to the power brookers. Is this the norm? It is also my understanding that the regional park in the community of St. Brieux has been totally cut off from any grants to help run the park. They are hit with a double whammy. The access to the park ( and subsequently revenue to run the park)has been almost totally cut off from the south due to the total disrepair of HELLWAY 368 . I'm not sure if this policy is province wide or just directed at communities with Sask Party MLAs. Maybe this government no longer gives grant to regional parks or infrastructure grants to qualified communities. Is there anyone out there who is in the know?

I want to propose my top 10 alternate uses for HELLWAY 368

1.Watering holes for wildlife.
2.Testing ground for ATVs.
3.Gravel pit.
4.Amusement park(a ride on the 368 makes the Drop of Doom seem like a walk in the park).
5.Training ground for Canadian Military .
6.Fish farm(yes the potholes are that big).
7.Movie set for war film.
8.ALBERTA promotional video.
9.MANITOBA promotional video.
10.NORTH DAKOTA,SOUTH DAKOTA AND MONTANA promotional video.

Please post your top ten uses for this or any other terrible highway in Saskatchewan. a little humour goes a long way.

pipe liner: These people have dealt with government funded competitors such as Flexi coil for years. Tens of millions of forgiven loans and grants by the NDP government to prop up a freind of Roy Romanov. Your attitude is of the ignorant union worker of claim that "hundred million is not very much". I gaurentee you just about any jurasdiction in other that communist Sask would give them the infrastructure they need in a heart beat. They are already expanding out of province because of the kind of utter ignorant stupidity you espouse. They now realize it is an uphill battle because the NDP will spend million to fix a highway leading to a casino that hasn't been built yet than support true free enterprise with basic service. It is disgusting to even defend these people with the likes of you pipeliner. It is the very attitude that you spew that keeps economic stagnation in place. Keep it up though Alberta needs more entepreneurs chased this way.

Hey, man,

You haven't proven anything except that you are apparently incapable of addrressing an issue in a civilized fashion. Oh how superior thou art. If you want to try and argue that there is a conspiracy afoot by the NDP to ruin some business, well you'd better have some hard evidence. You haven't presented any. Insults aren't arguments by the way.
I'm a big boy and I can take it but it would seem as if anyone who disagrees with you must be possessed with wickedness. Give it a rest pipsqeak.
Besides, it sounds to me like they've been hauling heavy loads down a thin membrane highway. What do you think is going to happen? Oh yes, I am asking you to think.

Pipefitter: Hard evidence the evidence is in the years of subsidies to competitors. The gross neglect of infrastruture for over a decade. It was a well know industry fact that the NDP subsidized Flexicoil. It is a well known fact that highways to NDP pet projects like the proposed Casino at Dakato Dunes has a new highway. Highway 368 south has never brought to even thin membrane standard. It has black dirt base and these people have been asking for aminimum standard road nothing more and would be happy with an actual thin membrane highway. In fact the highway 368 noth is thin memebrane and has held up just fine.
I serviced this are for over a decade and have seen the blantant neglect and of basic infrasture requirement. It is your moronic attitude that it is their fault that the highway is crumbled. This highway has crumbled from shear volume of traffic as a result of economic activity and not weight alone.
I not sure what one can call someone who faults a region being overly successfull. I think ignorant fits real well.

Pipeliner how would you propose they move the measly hundred million dollars worth of product in and out of the community? The teleporter is not on the market yet. It is amazing that individuals such as yourself can scoff at those numbers. When was the last time your ilk created one real job? The investment on the part of the employer is upwards of $100,000.00 to create one manufacturing job. You multiply that by 500 and you get $50,000,000.00 of their and their shareholder's money that is at risk. None of this is taxpayer's dollars.

As it has been pointed out repeatedly this community pays enough in taxes to pay for a safe road many times over on a yearly basis. What part of the concept of fairness don't you understand? The money pipeline from this community seems to only run one way. I guess there is some kind of valve in that money pipeline that makes sure that this continuous supply of tax money is never allowed to flow back to the community of origin . It is because of loyalty to their community that these people stay because there are many options open to true entrepreneurs.

As Albertaman points out a beautiful new highway is being built to a Casino that is not even built yet. I have been on that road you would swear you've been transported to Alberta. The road that is being replaced is in much better shape than the 368. It's interesting because the road to Dakota Dunes is about the same length as the really bad stretch of HELLWAY 368.

How do they justify this? That is just what we need in this province a pipline to create more problem gamblers.What is the cost to the provine to treat every problem gambler? I guess the province really is just interested in the easy money they get from gambling rather than true wealth creating entreprises such as manufacturing.

Since these companies are international much of the wealth is coming from outside the country as opposed to gambling which just recycles taxpayers money.How many people outside the province will choose Saskatchewan as their gambling mecca(Las Vegas or Saskatoon in the middle of the winter? Where wold you go?).

A person really has to wonder what criteria this government uses to decide on infrastructure development. They certainly do not use economic criteria.

Ok boys, I have said in my earlier posts that maybe there was a legit grievence with the road in question. I also mentioned that I rountinely travel highway #32...the link to the Shackleton gas play. The Shackleton area has produced billions of dollars worth of economic activity and the road needs work. Is it the case then that there is some conspiracy not to fix #32?
Is it an attempt by the NDP to stop Husky from being able to compete with other energy producers? Meanwhile, highway #37 to Shaunavon has been done, #4 south and north of Swifty has been done, work continues on #13 (a major east west artery) and #1 has been 4 laned. Clearly anyone on those routes must be NDP supporters.
According to Albertaman, we need only see that a road isn't fixed to believe that the conspiracy exists. Pah!
Is the political fog so thick that you can't cut through it to see what I'm trying to tell you about the highways?
And just so you boys know, I used to work on parliament hill during the Mulroney administration for guess who? Not the Libs, Not the NDP.
Joe Clark used to say that he disliked Saskatchewan conservatives because all the did was complain...never had any ideas. After listening to Albertaman, I can see that the tradition continues.
Besides, you guys might want to direct your attention to you MLA and his office. Why the ineffectiveness at addressing your issue? Maybe the people you chose at election time are not doing a good enough job. Ever think of that?

Pipeliner: Telling us you worked for Joe Clark does wonders to increase your credibilty. It is pointless to continue pointing out to a stunningling moronic individual that a highway fixed in another area does nothing to help an area almost completely cut off from its southern access.
Anyway these people will survive despite the likes of you and your petty NDP jealousies.

maryjane:

Where honestly do you get your facts? The NDP has proven better at managing an economy than the Cons? Give me a break. Please, indulge me with your history.

I know you're going to quote Grant Devine and the boondoggle of his era, but why has the province’s population continued to fall since the NDP took power. We've decreased in population and industry since Devine was in power. In our lost of industry, we’ve also lost jobs. We have a growing public unionized sector combined with a failing private industry, agriculture industry and healthcare system.

I just graduated from the U of S with a comp sci degree. Most, and I mean most, of my peers have moved to Alberta or BC. Some of them have even moved to the states. There is no industry here to support our work. What work there is pays just above minimum wage and requires 50+ work weeks. That's what the NDP boasts of when they talk about job creation. My wife graduates this fall with an accounting degree. I can tell you that we have already planned to leave the province as of December and are actively looking for jobs in Alberta. If you think that we're an anomaly, you're dead wrong.

I am so frustrated with people like you who are seriously living in some kind of la la land. You're driving your own children out of province because you’re too stubborn to see the writing on the walls. The only reason the NDP has any money whatsoever is through taxes and the shear luck that oil has boomed in the past five years. Talk to anyone in the oil industry and ask them how friendly they view this government. I have plenty of friends and acquaintances in oil (and industry in general) that would laugh themselves silly at the things you spout off at.

The roads are only one of the many currently crumbling components of Saskatchewan. What we’re (and soon to be you’re) heading for is much more of the same deteriorating facets of the Saskatchewan economy under an NDP government.

In general, I’m just tired with putting up with ideologies and philosophies of the NDP and their ilk. For a lesson in the effectiveness of socialist government take a look at European history. In a utopia all the dogma of the NDP looks feasible – unfortunately, we all live in reality.

Postscript:Well said. Tragically socialist do not care if they destroy an economy or chase bright young minds like you away. They are driven by a jealous rage and work to destroy those who they see as more powerfull or more successful than they are. They seek to take away the wealth of those who have worked hard to create it and redistribute it under the guise of "compassion". Their compassion is not real but a disguise for their own sense of entitlement. People Maryjuana are being eaten from the inside out at by their sense of powerlessness and belief system of scarcity and if an imdividual prospers it must be at the expense of someone else rather than the more the merrier. If you chose to come to Alberta we welcome you. Leave the disease of socialism behind and join the prosperous here in Alberta.