Brad Wall announced his retirement from politics last week and my knee jerk reaction to it was one that was less than favourable. Saskatchewan has prospered under his leadership and I wanted to see how he would manage given that the province is suffering through some tough economic times. Now that I’ve had more time to digest it, I think it’s a wise move. If he stayed on, the SaskParty was going to lose the next election. I see an appetite for change developing even though the number of viable options from opposition parties equals zero. That should frighten residents. The SaskParty now has an opportunity to win back some of the support it has lost over the last year by having a new face at the top. The big issue there is that I don’t see any current MLAs who may be able to take over and succeed even if their qualifications say otherwise. People are won over by charisma, which Wall had a lot of. To that end, I’m going to suggest a dark horse candidate to take over the SaskParty - Pat Fiacco. I don’t even know what side of the political street the guy is on, but he would be someone that would have potential to right the ship. He was a very popular mayor in a city that appears to be almost anti-SaskParty at the moment.
I shouldn’t go here, but I’m going to anyway because I think my readers expect it. The violence and outright display of racism in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend needs to be condemned and President Trump failed when he, originally, didn’t acknowledge the white supremacists by name as he chastised the people for causing this embarrassing and hateful spectacle. I’ve long said that fighting hate with hate will only bring more hate. I said that when a football player sat during the anthem last year (it polarizes people) and I’ll say it here as well. Whoever thought holding a white rally or protest should be committed. You are, basically, asking for violence even if you say your intentions are noble and even if you didn’t start it. It’s like the little boy who dangles food outside the lion’s cage and then can’t figure out why the lion ate him. I don’t blame Trump. I don’t blame Obama. I blame mainstream media who throw gas on the fire several times a day to enrage people of all colors and all political stripes. I’ll only use one example to back up my point: I haven’t found a single person who can tell me anything about the press conference Rodney King’s daughter held last September in what was her effort to bridge that hateful divide. That’s the media’s fault. But, I have no trouble finding critiques on what Trump should have said, what Obama didn’t do when he was President, the hypocrisy of the left, and on and on it goes. The media needs to focus on fixing the broken bridges we have with one another and leave their political beliefs at home while doing it. Many of us are not left or right wing. We are regular joes who want to live our lives and allow our neighbor to live his/her life however they want. No interference. No hate. Just don’t shove your beliefs down my throat.
Now, for my Canadian immigration rant of the week: If a person is, legally, in the USA that person has nothing at all to fear as far as being deported. It’s people who are there illegally that have every reason to fear and for no explanation ever given to me, Canada wants these folks to come here as opposed to allowing the legal process to run its course in the US. Remember, any person who hasn’t gone through proper channels in the US, probably, has a good reason for not doing so. And, that reason should also mean they aren’t welcome in Canada either. Here’s how ridiculous it is: according to a 2002 agreement, migrants seeking asylum must apply to the first country they arrive in. So, if they go to a legal port of entry into Canada, they’d be returned to the United States and told to apply there. I’m assuming they’d also be deported once American government agents discover they’ve been, covertly, living in the US. However, if migrants come to Canada at a location that isn’t manned as an official border patrol site, then they can seek refugee status. You would think Canada would take immediate steps to close this loophole. No, instead it’s promoted as a way to flee the danger that is the United States. Mainstream media even says Canada has set up a ‘reception centre’ at a location where a ton of people are crossing illegally. Yes, a reception centre. “Hi, everyone. It’s illegal to cross here, but if you cross anyway we have people ready to receive you and welcome you to Canada and process your paperwork.” The reason for all of this is the ‘perception’ of Donald Trump and the fact the United States may no longer be as welcoming as it once was. There you have it. You can now flee a democratic country because of ‘perception’.
Nice people mentions this week: Becky Harris, Rob McDougald, Karen and Frank Lang, and Trevor Blevins.
