The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
By Roger Cathcart More Critics and More Criticisms There will of course always be critics and criticisms of any government actions and policies. Just read letters to the editor in any paper. Really this is okay and part of our democracy, even when the critics make little sense. Criticisms we are sure to see (and indeed already have been seeing) revolve around the Harper government's ending of the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly on purchases of barley and wheat. The Wheat Board is an anachronism from the past, paid for by farmers, the huge majority of whom want the freedom to sell their products to the best buyer. They solidly support the Conservative plan. The Wheat Board critic for the NDP is Pat Martin, even though his poor Winnipeg Centre riding includes no farmers. Why Jack Layton appointed the loud MP as critic is beyond me. Martin says there will be a big fight by the opposition on the issue. They of course want to keep the monopoly and a lot of cushy Winnipeg jobs, some of which may disappear under freer trade. It is important to note that the government is not eliminating the Wheat Board, just ending its monopoly, which should mean much more cash in the pockets of farmers. A recent announcement by Canadian Air Transport Security Authority said that big airports in Canada's major cities have to reduce staff by 20 per cent. This follows last year's review by the Transport Department. This drew the ire of Martin and his union supporters, who claim there will be long line-ups and increased danger from terrorists. Martin claims the relevant budget went up last year and passengers pay more for security, which Transport denies. One union represents 1,200 screeners in only 12 airports Ð a lot of staff! Any regular passenger who has been through some ridiculous screenings may welcome the cuts. Critics will really oppose the Harper team's plan to finally end the long-gun registry, a billion-dollar boondoggle that targets only honest hunters, fishermen and farmers and does nothing to end gun crimes. Let's hope it ends soon. Announcements Manitoba's NDP government, facing a general election in October, has been making a number of announcements hoping to help stave off defeat. One was to announce an increase in the minimum wage by 50 cents an hour. Critics of that move say this will do nothing to alleviate poverty, and point out that Manitoba has the highest taxes on modest incomes in the country. Pay rates in Canada are not even close to those in Australia, especially in the energy sector, which is running wild in the boom. A waiter I talked to while in the Land Down Under said energy salaries have reached insane levels where a coal mine manager has a base of $250,000 plus extras, and even unskilled truck drivers average over $120,000. Of course the mining companies can sell all their diggings to China, Japan and India, and the high wages drive up the cost of living, which is truthfully double that of Canada. A recent report on Manitoba Hydro's BiPole III spoke of the difference between running the transmission line down the west side of the province rather than the shorter east side. The cost difference is huge. The report kind of negated Premier Greg Selinger's re-release of information on the sale of future power to the northern United States. The report, released by the provincial Tories, shows the many problems of west-side transmission and again the hundreds of millions of dollars in increased costs to Hydro to be passed on to ratepayers. Tory leader Hugh McFadyen pledges to change the west side back to Hydro's preferred east side, saving money, helping the impoverished east-side reserves, and not ruining the Boreal forest. One editor wrote that if negotiations on the east route had begun six years ago, Hydro would now be raising transmission towers, not still negotiating with reserves and farmers. He goes on to claim that we Manitobans will bear the cost of that mistake for decades to come. Let's see what happens in the October election. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.10/6/11
