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.
The trials and tribulations of politics will always be with us, which is good for the media but not always so good for the long suffering public. One ongoing story is the dispute between the federal Conservative Party and Elections Canada over the ToriesÕ spending on the 2006 election. EC claims the Tories overspent and the party denies it, actually suing EC in a case still before the courts. Who cares about this? The Liberals, of course, who desperately want the public to forget about their financial scandals. The dispute is about spending on advertising between the individual ridings and the national campaign. The eastern media is questioning if this dispute may trigger a spring election. Not very likely with the LiberalsÕ polling numbers. Besides, would voters care about this issue? Harper insists that the ConservativesÕ legal position is sound, but the opposition needs any issue they can get. Another strange happening was the revelation that a Conservative MP said bad things about gays and lesbians at a drinking party 17 years ago, long before he was elected. He immediately apologized for his indiscretion, but Liberal and NDP members demanded Harper penalize the MP. Particularly vocal were Scott Brison, the gay Nova Scotia Liberal and former Conservative, and a couple of gay NDP members. This is actually a non-issue. Who cares what a backbench MP said in his youth 17 years ago? Want to buy a piglet for a pet? You can get one for nothing as hog farmers, especially in Manitoba, are seeing sales nosedive. American buyers of the young hogs have stopped buying them, leaving the farmers with no choice but to kill the young animals. Apparently a new trade regulation in the U.S., which takes effect in September, will require food products to be labeled with the country of origin. That has spooked American buyers of the four million piglets Manitoba farmers have shipped each year at $40 a pig. With pork prices low and feed prices high, these farmers are rapidly going broke. About 25,000 piglets are being euthanized each week, with great financial help from the federal government but not a nickel from the province. Hopefully the meat will go to food banks and help feed the needy. Look for hog farmers to get out of the business and plant high-paying grain crops. They are also plenty angry with the Manitoba government for their lack of help and concern. A significant happening in April was the release of the Manitoba NDPÕs 10th budget, a budget much like the other nine with an increase in spending, a minor cut in personal taxes and some business taxes, and an increase in fees, such as camping, speeding fines and car registration. Yes, sportsmen, even fishing licenses are up by $3, as are camping fees and provincial park passes. One tax not changed, much to the chagrin of business types, is the payroll tax, which they point out greatly hinders large businesses from establishing in our province and providing large payrolls. Even with the new tax cuts, Manitoba workers are taxed much more heavily than in other province. Although a significant surplus is predicted, the provinceÕs debt has been increased by nearly $400 million to nearly $9 billion Ð bad news for future generations. Manitoba firmly remains a have-not province, the only one in the West, with 30 per cent of our budget paid for by transfer funds from B.C., Alberta, Ontario and, yes, Saskatchewan! The transfer funds are all spent, and more is requested. One interesting new program that the province and City of Winnipeg are financing is a sport plan for impoverished areas of the inner city. The province will pay to hire recreation directors to provide sports for needy kids. Soccer and baseball are planned as the equipment is cheap, unlike hockey and football. The idea is to keep the kids off the street and away from gangs. The sports teams will be free as many young people can not afford the fees and equipment costs, and thus do not play. This sounds like a great idea; letÕs hope it works! RogerÕs Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
