(Post timestamped to stay at the top of the page for the time being. Scroll down for new entries.)
Rita Bourgault is trying to get the attention of the Calvert government – always easier said than done when you live in rural Saskatchewan;
I just moved back to my home community of St. Brieux after living in Saskatoon for 30 years and, then most recently, Calgary for 4 years. This little town is an entrepreneurial success story. It has a population of just over 500 people and about 500 manufacturing jobs. As you would expect, many of the employees have to commute from neighbouring towns.
The crux of the problem is the abominable condition of Highway # 368 (I use that term loosely), between St. Brieux and the town of Lake Lenore. This is the only highway into St. Brieux from the south. This road is almost impassable when the weather is perfect. It becomes impassable when it rains. It is 30 KM of broken pavement with pockets of gravel and warning signs. You would swear you’re driving through a minefield. There have been 2 road accidents involving semi trailers that are attributable to road conditions. The road is so soft in places that I have bottomed out with my 4 x 4 Nissan X-Trail. In the areas that don’t have loose gravel, you basically weave using the entire road trying to avoid hitting the large potholes. I have included some photos of the road so you can see its condition for yourself.
Because of the condition of the road, any manufactured products or supplies shipped in and out of St. Brieux have to be routed through Melfort. This is about a 100 KM detour. This is a significant additional cost to everyone including the environment. Any employees who live to the south of St. Brieux have to travel this very dangerous road on a daily basis.
Besides the negative impact to the companies located in St. Brieux, there are a number of individuals who live in this community who do business and receive medical, dental and other services in the town of Humboldt. This has become a nightmare journey for these individuals. Many of these people are elderly.
My late father, Frank Bourgault, founded Bourgault Industries in 1973 and his sons continue his dream. He founded this company, in a time when many people were leaving the farm and the village, largely to create employment for his children and his community. This has lead to a community with a virtual unemployment rate of 0%. Because of the relative prosperity, the social problems in the community are almost non existent.
Over time there has been a concerted effort on the part of the business and community leaders to work with the government on addressing this crisis. This is not something that has just come about. This is a result of years of neglect of the roads in this vital part of the province. I am told that, at one point, the mayor of the town took the provincial Transport Minister for a ride on this road.
The various manufacturing enterprises ( Bourgault Industries Ltd, F.P. Bourgault Tillage Tools Ltd., Dryair 2000 Inc., Assié Industries Ltd., Free Form Plastic Products, and other smaller enterprises) conservatively annually produce between 150 and 175 million dollars of equipment, much of which is exported to the U.S. and overseas. The revenue to all levels of Government from this little community is probably between 70 and 100 million per year.
Bourgault Industries Ltd. offered to help fund the building of a passable road to southern markets. This offer has been met with silence. It would seem to any fair-minded individual that this community has paid for a decent road time and time again.
This Government always talks about creating employment and yet a community that has done such a good job of keeping its young from moving to Alberta is treated with such contempt.
I am reaching out to you to help to inform the public of Saskatchewan and Canada of this very serious problem. I followed your website very closely during the last federal election. I personally believe that you and other like-minded fair rational individuals have had a major impact on the election by overriding the bias of the mainstream media. I am hoping that you would be willing to help our great little town in its fight for a decent road.
My pleasure, Rita.
More Callers to John Gormley Live this morning included one resident who advised that there were 72 red warning flags along a 16 km stretch of this highway last year.
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Today the Saskatchewan government launched an ad campaign that will promote tax cuts to out-of-province business called “Think Sask”. They have a website… this is how it looked this morning. It’s a subliminal message, I guess. (It’s now been changed) |
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(If anyone has more photos, send them on. Identify the road, send in .jpg format, and not too large, please. If I get enough, I’ll do a followup post next week. My email info is on the sidebar.)
…is it true Saskatchewan has the highest Internet users and bloggers because they can’t get out or visit neighbours because of the bad highways?
Dang, another Sask joke…
…got a stupid question. Seeing this is a fairly large business, known around the world, how do they ship their products out to the global market?
Surely not by Semi…
To Maryjane: The ignorance in your remarks is fitting of the typical NDP voter. This conversation has nothing to do with farm subsidies and everything to do with an industrial center that produces over 100 million in manufactured goods and who is denied basic infrastructure. Also, I have nothing to do with farming but the reason our farmers are hurting are unfair trade subsidies that is out of their control something your socialist Federal Liberals and NDP have done nothing about.
Tomax7: Yes unbelievably, millions of dollars of goods are moved back and forth by semi through roads like you see above. It is nothing short of treacherous to meet a semi on these roads but we are given no choice.
The Bizarre new business friendly “Think Sask” NDP really believe they can trick businesses into setting up shop here when they continue to aggressively pursue tactics that are hostile to existing businesses.
This conversation has got a lot to do with farm subsidies claude, because money that should be going into infrastructure is diverted into farm subsidies. So if you’re going to bellyache about the state of the roads in this province, then you have to talk about the reasons for the lack of resources being devoted to highways. The budget for the dept. of agriculture is a lot bigger than the dept. of highways.
EU and US subsidies go to a largely domestic market. Canadian production is largely for export. To blame farm woes on foreign subsidies is a canard.
– to maryjane spending per capita –
Sask exactly how many live here? Gov website says 990,930 as of Jan. 2006.
Highway projected spending for 2006 expected 278 mil you can check the facts on their website
http://www.highways.gov.sk.ca/docs/FrontPageElements/contructionlist_06.pdf
(that makes approx. 280.54 a head)
Alberta’s population as of April 2005 count was 3,236,906 and rising if they grow by another 50,000 that would take them to 3,286,906
so let’s make it and even 3.3 (wouldn’t want the math to be too hard for some)
Highway spending for 2006 3.6 billion to cover the next 3 years, that’s 1.2 billion a year if you want here is their website
http://www.gov.ab.ca/budget2006/index.cfm?page=1410
(so they plan to spend approx. 363.64 a head)
I know I am a little generous on the Alberta growth, I would not want mj to think I was playing with the numbers and giving Alberta an unfair edge on Saskatchewan.
Your comments show truly clueless you are really not worth responding to but here goes anyways. Subsidies in the U.S. an EU encourage overproduction and result in less importing from efficient producers like our SaskFarmers who by the way are the most efficient in the world. I live in rural Sask. and have virtualy nothing to do with that sector of the economy but to blame farmers for failing infrastructor is pure idiotic drivel NDPer’s like you like to spew. The Ag sector is still a net contributor to the economy despite their woes unlike socilists like you who Churchill describes:As envious ignorant and failed.
I don’t blame farmer’s, bonehead, I blame farm subsidies. Farmers in the EU and US are every bit as efficient as Canadian farmers. The US and EU consume 70-80% of what they produce. Canada EXPORTS 70-80% of what we produce. Who’s overproducing? Do you have the wit to realize that YOU’RE the one advocating socialism?
Again clueless MaryJane: American and EU farmers are technologicaly 10 to 20 years behind our farmers. I worked in the sector for 20 years on both sides of the border and massive subsidies have made U.S.them inefficient because there is no real incetive to improve. The subsidies ours get is less than 10% the average American and EU farmers gets so it cannot even compare. Calling for a level playing field is not advocating socialism. Uniformed statements like you make are truly why this province stagnates as it focuses its energy on attacking the results of ignorance like you spew rather than the real problems of poor fiscal policies.
So what is it, comrade? You worked in the sector for 20 yrs. or you have virtually nothing to do with the sector?
And how much of the North Dakota budget is devoted to farm subsidies? Close to 10% as in SK or close to zero?
I left the ag sector years ago and sell to the US construction market. Is that too comlplex for youi to grasp. Again you are making incorrect or inaccurate assumptions.
Again Maryjane’s idiotic drivel has forced me to throw my 2 cents in (I suppose a good NDPer like maryjane would want to tax it as well). I think I am correct in suspecting maryjane is a civil servant. For a civil servant to complain about subsidies to agriculture is like the pot calling the kettle black. A government paycheck is a drain on the tax dollars as well. I suppose we should blame a bloated inefficient civil service on the NDP’s lack of funds for infrastructure. Agriculture does provide to the public funds.
So what is it comrade Don, does agriculture provide to public funds, or is it a drain on tax dollars, like a government paycheck?
I have a question for Maryjane? Where does she think the food she eats everyday comes from? Quess what it must be that dreaded farm sector or mayby it’s just magically appears in the grocery stores. Everytime a farmer seed acrop he is taking a hugh risk and in Canada particularly in Saskatchewan for very little reward. On top of that they carry a very heavy property tax load a large part of which goes to education. And a successfull farmers pays ever more because in many areas their property taxes are based on the production of their land.Therefore the moreproductive their land is the more property tax they pay. There an incentive for you.
Grant Devine fed the farmers so much money he almost bankrupt the province. He even got a billion from Mulroney. He wanted to distribute the provincial government among the small communities. In short, he wanted to take the province back to the 19th century. You cannot fight the worldwide natural trend toward urbanization. Devine unnaturally tried to stop a natural process. He was doomed to fail.
The NDP seem to be aware that the future is urban.
I discovered today that Saskatchewan’s debt is the smallest among all the provinces, with the exception of Alberta which is a special oily case. So if Saskatchewan can be accused of wasting money you can rest assured that they waste less than anyone else.
If you want to investigate a money mystery try figuring out where all that Alberta oil and gas money is going. They have 12 billion in the Heritage fund while Norway in the same amount of time has banked 200 billion!
steve you probably have something there. I think the roads in rural Saskatchewan were actually probably better than highway # 368
steve d,
“If you want to investigate a money mystery try figuring out where all that Alberta oil and gas money is going. They have 12 billion in the Heritage fund while Norway in the same amount of time has banked 200 billion!”
Let’s see if you can wrap your little socialist mind around this. Norway is a country – Alberta is a province. Alberta has to pay their money to the rest of Canada – a mafia like tribute … Norway doesn’t (because it’s a country).
You can probably Google province and country and check out the difference yourself.
Claude, you are right….Maryjane is an idiot, and all she does is blab as if she knew what she was talking about…as with other bloggers you have uncovered another some little person that is a wannabe…..but does not have the intellect…..poor little girl…she must be awful lonely and with her know it all attitude i can see why….
steve you probably have something there. I think the roads in rural Saskatchewan were actually probably better in the 19th century than highway # 368 is now
So what, rita, farmers produce food. How does that justify the forced wealth distribution scheme that takes a big bite out of my paycheck.
For all the kvetching about socialism you yahoos sure demonstate little faith in the free market.
maryjane,
Are you the Rain Man?
And by the way rita, weren’t you preaching the virtues of Ayn Rand and objectivism a few posts back? What would she say about you’re selective socialism?
Reply to maryjane: in 2000 agriculture’s gross receipts were 38.3 billion, operating expenses were 33.2 billion. I thought you said it was all done on the public teat for the 1 billion in subsidies. Sorry to burst your bubble but it looks like Agriculture is a positive contributor to the tax revenues unlike a gov’t paycheck which is 100% drain on tax revenues. I don’t care if you pay taxes, your paycheck originates from FREE ENTERPRISE tax dollars.
LETS NOT FORGET OUR ORIGINAL ARGUMENT IS OVER THE DEPLORABLE STATE OF HWY 368 (typical NPD tactic to try and create a diversion).
Ural
So all Alberta’s money goes to the Fed’s. Hmmm. I don’t think so.
Try to wrap your full of excuses brain around this. Alaska has a heritage fund(they call it the Permanent Fund) of 35billion. They cut cheques to their population yearly from the interest earned. Last year they gave out cheques amounting to $845 each. They are still miles ahead of Alberta’s heritage fund even though they cut cheques yearly. Some years they have gotten cheques of almost $2000! Perhaps Ralphie should send someone up there to take a few notes on how to build, manage and distribute dividends with regards to Heritage Fund money.
Don… If agriculture is so profitable, then why in the hell are you always after a handout? The fact that agriculture is profitable only makes subsidies that much more egregious. How can you call agriculture free enterprise when you have your hand in the public cookie jar from cradle to grave?
So doctors, nurses, police, teachers, corrections workers , highway workers etc. are a 100% drain on society ? If thats the case then you would have no objection to eliminating the Dept. of Agriculture . If we did that and did away with the attendant farm subsidies we could fill all the potholes in SK with gold. See, farm subsidies are highway related.
Saskatchewan Thrives but The People Like To Complain
That was the title of a piece written by the Canada West Foundation describing the the booming economy(1 billion more than forecast) and the compulsive need for residents to whine.
The writer thinks it has to do with the rural mentality of the population. How most are only a generation removed from the farm and so as the farm goes so goes the atitude.
While farming is important it is becoming less so as time goes on.
They have a report showing how the GDP of the province was higher than the Canadian average for 03 and 04. Saskatchewan is a “have” province along with Alberta and Ontario. So apparently, Saskatchewanikans(?) are complaining while raking in increasing amounts of money. I suspect with the price of oil being what it is Saskatchewan will continue to thrive.
Saskatchewan Thrives but The People Like To Complain
That was the title of a piece written by the Canada West Foundation describing the the booming economy(1 billion more than forecast) and the compulsive need for residents to whine.
The writer thinks it has to do with the rural mentality of the population. How most are only a generation removed from the farm and so as the farm goes so goes the atitude.
While farming is important it is becoming less so as time goes on.
They have a report showing how the GDP of the province was higher than the Canadian average for 03 and 04. Saskatchewan is a “have” province along with Alberta and Ontario. So apparently, Saskatchewanikans(?) are complaining while raking in increasing amounts of money. I suspect with the price of oil being what it is Saskatchewan will continue to thrive.
Saskatchewan Thrives but The People Like To Complain
That was the title of a piece written by the Canada West Foundation describing the the booming economy(1 billion more than forecast) and the compulsive need for residents to whine.
The writer thinks it has to do with the rural mentality of the population. How most are only a generation removed from the farm and so as the farm goes so goes the atitude.
While farming is important it is becoming less so as time goes on.
They have a report showing how the GDP of the province was higher than the Canadian average for 03 and 04. Saskatchewan is a “have” province along with Alberta and Ontario. So apparently, Saskatchewanikans(?) are complaining while raking in increasing amounts of money. I suspect with the price of oil being what it is Saskatchewan will continue to thrive.
Saskatchewan Thrives but The People Like To Complain
That was the title of a piece written by the Canada West Foundation describing the the booming economy(1 billion more than forecast) and the compulsive need for residents to whine.
The writer thinks it has to do with the rural mentality of the population. How most are only a generation removed from the farm and so as the farm goes so goes the atitude.
While farming is important it is becoming less so as time goes on.
They have a report showing how the GDP of the province was higher than the Canadian average for 03 and 04. Saskatchewan is a “have” province along with Alberta and Ontario. So apparently, Saskatchewanikans(?) are complaining while raking in increasing amounts of money. I suspect with the price of oil being what it is Saskatchewan will continue to thrive.
Ok steve d I think we got your point the first time…
😉
They can,t build a divided highway to St Brieux so a bunch of farmers can work at Bourgault for 10 bucks an hour!!! move to Saskatoon or Winnipeg thats where manufacturing should be anyway
KADO: You are probably another clueless Government or union worker like Maryjane who clogs up sites like this with idiotic comments. Someone should take your computer away from you before you hurt yourself with it. People like you are why droves of Sask brightest are leaving. I hate to see the gene pool in a few 10-20 years when all that is left are knuckle draggers like you. Keep it up moron we need more good people here.
KADO you idiot….you think that because you are probably a union worker and Employees at Bourgault Ind.are not you think they make $10 pr hr.??? you must get your information from maryjane…..besides we did not ask for a “divided” highway JUST a hiway nothing more…..you and Maryjane ought to get together…..Anyway, how would profit sharing sound to you??? try Bourgault Industries …I dont see any union shops offering that…no they want 1000$ a yr in union dues and what for??? we just want a real hiway
MaryJane. How much comes out of your pay cheque to Agriculture Subsidies? What line of work are you in? By the postings you put on here, looks like you are on the computer all day, or do you do this while sitting in an office some place? Just curious.
Taxes pay for farm subsidies. Working people pay most of the taxes. Most farmers pay very little income tax. If they are losing billions exactly how much money do farmers make? My buying power as a wage earner is at 1987 levels.
Our grid roads aren’t made for semi trucks that’s a big problem. A lot of old paved roads should be changed back to gravel roads. That would help.
ok4ua You sound like MaryJane in drag. From your comments I gather that you think that farmer’s are not “working people” as you so aptley describe yourself. I read this and realize that you must suffer a total disconnect from reality. I assume from the way you write that you are a unionized employee that feels that he is extemely overworked and underpaid and is entitled to a very high standard of living. I have experience with uions after being forced to be a member of one as a condition of employment. I can only talk about my experience and I work in the health care field. I worked with individuals that routinely put in about 1-2 hours per day of real work and spent the rest of the day conducting personal buissness on company time. This was not an aberration, this was the norm.This is one of the reasons that health care has become so inaccessable to the ordinary person.
This brings me to another sore point. Does anyone else find it ludicrous that the Saskatoon Health District did not have the interest or resourses to help baby Paige and her family. No they had to go to the “Evil Empire” Alberta for proper care.So what would this have entailed? A pediatric consult, an MRI, a Nuclear Medicine Scan and some bloodwork and mayby some other incidental testing.
This would just have been the standard of care for a situation like this . Lets face it when a 2 year loses the ability to walk this is a serious medical emergency.
I have a few question. Who made that call to send these people away? Does Saskatchewan only have one functional or in this case nonfunctional MRI? And how come there is no money or resourses to help Paige but all of a sudden the NDP can tie up a Pediatric Oncologist for 2 weeks to cover their sorry butts? I think his time would be much better spent treating sick children.
And as far as the buying power goes have you looked at your tax bill lately? To blame farmers for this problem shows just how successfull the NDP/Librano administration hs been at deflecting the truth. I think it was the Fraser Institute(Yes another arm of that great right wing conspiracy) that published the fact that Candians on average pay more in taxes than they spend on all their basic need combined. Therein lies the problem not a few measly subsidies to hardworking farmer.
Another tax fact that the general bublic is probably not aware of is that the top 10% of wage earners pay over 50% of the taxes in this country.
Another question. How many sick children could be properly treated with the taxpayer money the Dippers are using to cover their butts in this “investigation” aka whitewash?
Why has the Saskatoon Health District lost all of it’s Endocronologist and again have to bailed out by the “Evil Empire” Alberta?
How many mile of road could have been paved with the money spent on that self serving(taxpayer funded) video that had to be pulled after one day because of the gross incompetence of whoever was in charge of that fiasco. Again is anyone going to lose their job over the blatant waste of taxpayer dollars? I doubt it.
One more comment then I have to stop. Mayby Alberta would pave our highways for us if we asked. They are always there with a helping hand. Lets face it good roads would make it easier for people to mave to Alberta.
Rita, I got a better idea…
Why not incorporate Sask into Alberta. Think of the benefits. No need to change licence plates, no confusion over who to cheer for at a CFL game at MacMann stadium, no need to think of leaving the homestead for greener pastures.
While we’re at it, Southern BC has voiced about joining Alberta too, seeing Victoria forgets them often in budgets.
I mean seriously, why is PEI a province?
But this is a pipe dream. Too much pride on Saskatchewan’s part. Hey we’re sister provinces. Make Lloydminister the captial.
Speaking of Lloyd, has anyone seen the glaring difference from one side of the street to the other?
Hmmm.
I grew up in rural Sask. I have heard nothing but whining from farmers for 50 years. Good times bad times all times. Devine started this new trend that us city folks don’t like farmers. That’s not true. We just wonder what they want. It’s always billions. Every damn year. The federal gov’t should pay them not the province. Devine and the Sask Party are all farmers.Why would I believe anything they say. Working people across Canada live on a salary that is 1987 in spending power.
Mur… very good questions, not that it’s any of your business, but I’ll answer them anyway. I work in the private sector,blue collar, shift, 4 on, 4 off.
How much comes out of my paycheck? That’s hard to calculate accurately, but certainly more than $1000.00 per year. And like ok4u, I have lived in rural SK farm country for all but 5 yrs. of my life, have heard
the tired rhetoric all my life and know the dusty old farmer jive for the lie that it is.
And Rita, you had have yet to reconcile your endorsment of Rand’s approach to capitalism on the one hand, and your endorsment of confiscatory socialist distribution of wealth when it comes to ag subsidies. But don’t let it get you down, you’re in good company, I have yet to encounter a right-winger who is not completely hypocritical on this issue.
I think farmers live a priviledged life and it’s hard for them to comprehend what it’s like to live on a fixed income without all kinds of write offs. Some of my best friends are farmers or come from a farm background. My friends get literaly thousands of dollars from their farmer parents. I never had that as a young man. And I mean thousands. Most farm kids grew up with this I didn’t. I watch Don McMorris on TV and wonder what’s his angle. I know his family. They are super rich. That’s why I don’t support the Sask Party they do not represent the majority. Only farmers. They make no bones about it.
I honestly don’t remember commenting on farm subsidies one way or the other. Mayby I’m getting demented. I don’t know enough the subject to have an opinion. I just know that farmers are not single handedly responsible for all that ails Saskatchewan and Canada. If farming is such a priveledged life why are farming bailing out at an increasing rapid rate? It’s because they’re tired of working for nothing , plain and simple.The fact speak for themselves. Mayby there is someone out there who has the figure farm subsidies and then mayby they could compare them to the subsidies awared to liberal friendly firms like Bombardier.
Most farm kids don’t want to farm. They want to sell it,buy a house and get out of debt. My friends don’t want to farm,they may have some lean years. And if they do farm they don’t want second jobs. So that’s taxpayer’s fault? Or the government’s fault? You can’t artificially bolster farming. It goes in trends. I think grain farming is suffering not all farming. You can’t favour farming or labour you have to balance it out. But I sure as hell don’t believe the Sask/Tory party. The Tories devided us and the SaskaTory pary continues the same trend. I think their doom and gloom rhtoric drives people out and make farm kids wanting not to farm. That’s all I hear from Brad Wall is how rotten Sask is. I think they’re rotten.
It seems to me that all this was about was the frustration of a business community based in Rural Sask. demanding that they be treated fairly with basic infrasture(not a divide highway :Moron Kado) . They produce over a 100 million of goods shipped all over the world with millions of spin off and taxes. In Alberta and the US these people are supported. In Sask. they are attacked by leftist who feel powerless and frustrated by their own lack of capabilty and inititive. Maryjane and Ok4ua and Kado you know I am right don’t you. What a sad spectical you three are I have seen people like you many times and I know your jealousies and envies are eating you from the inside out. You can do nothing better than blame farmer’s or farm subsidies for your pathetic lives. Keep it up though because we need more people and their wealth here in Alberta. All that will be left in Sask. will be the NDP in 10-20 years with a “Rainman” gene pool.
One more comment. The USA thinks our farmers are already subsidized by the CWB. So all you pro-americans on this Tory blog who’s telling the truth?
Rita… When you ask ” Where does maryjane think the food she eats everyday comes from?”, it certainly sounds like you’re defending the status quo as far as sibsidies are concerned, as this is a stock response from the farm subsidy lobby.
By the same token, I never said farmers are responsible for what ails SK and Canada. I said farm SUBSIDIES are a big part of why we don’t have the resources as a province to properly fund real infrastructure needs, such as a decent southern access to St. Brieux.
and Albertaman… well, you sure sound like you’re from the faculty of Harvard, but I’ll respond anyway. What is leftist about wanting to keep the fruits of my labour and spend it as I see fit? You right-wing fundamentalists are always going on about choice: in health care, in education,etc. Well, I want some choice too.
MJ
Farm susidies must stop. Farmers in Saskatchewan should not have been allowed to pay 32% of the education property tax for the last 40 years when they were only 3% of the population in SasWkatchewan.
Because the agifood and agriculture industry creates 1 out of every 8 jobs in Canada and gives us such cheap food we should cut the bastards off and import all of our food.
That will learn them.
When 1 farmer alone can pay $15,000 road tax for tractor diesel on his farm he doesn’t deserve a road.
Agriculture is bigger than the auto industry in canada but producing cars is more important than food and deserves more susidies as those jobs pay way more. Give more to the big three auto makers so they can buy more parts from Belinda and close more plants.
Those darn farmers are always using their sick days right after an EDO and taking long coffee breaks when it rains.
And those darned American farmers know what their price is before they plant so our farms should be moved to the States
MJ: You really have this “hate the farmer” thing down pat. Do you have the same hate for the “Aboriginal” subsidy of over 6billion a year, or the same hate for Bombardier. How bout hate for the subsidy for the Melfort Saw Mill of almost a billion. “Spudco”. Calm down, your blood pressure must be really boiling these days.
Mur.