Last week I started out by saying that another week has gone by and we are another week closer to spring. Well, soon it will be the middle of March and before we know it April can't come soon enough for me. We also all know this is Saskatchewan and anything can come our way, and usually does! We should be aware there are no crows back yet and we always receive a "crow snow." Around the time the crows come back we get our wet, cold snow and the old crows sit in the trees all fluffed up trying to keep warm. I expect, as per normal, we will receive one crow snow or maybe more before spring. My brother-in-law Gary Polinsky says there are always five crow snow. He might be right. We will see.
On the home front, I am at a complete standstill. This column is being dictated by Victor and written by my secretary Bev. At the moment I am taking a vacation in the Lloyd hospital due to pneumonia. It is not exactly the holiday I planned but it is what it is.
On the political front Bill C-18 is being debated in Parliament, not that any of us would know. The media have totally ignored it even though it could cost farmers hundreds of millions of dollars. Let some dirty senator get a couple hundred thousand and the media is all over that story, for weeks! Funny how that goes. The Conservatives seem to be intent on enriching multi-national companies. Who speaks for the farmers? The National Farmer's Union has raised the concerns that this new bill will not allow farmers to grow seed and make provisions for companies collecting fees on export. The bill is on the Internet. I have read it and it takes about an hour to read and the bill says the farmer has the "privilege" of keeping his own seed. That used to be a "right" and now is a "privilege." That can be revoked at any time by the commissioner. I didn't even know that we had a commissioner. So here we are, our livelihood subject to the whim of another #@%* suit!
Farmers who have midge in their wheat have been signing the stewardship agreements right, left and centre. That doesn't allow you to keep your own seed unless it has 10 per cent midge susceptible seeds. That way the midge is never eliminated. The logic of this situation screams out at you. If the plant works and the midge is killed how does a dead midge mutate? Give me a break. Seed companies are definitely making sure the midge survive. Who speaks for the farmers? We have had the Saskatchewan Wheat Commission almost imposed on us taking deductions off of our wheat cheques. Where were they when transportation problems appeared? I don't know who these people represent or who they speak for. Who speaks for the farmers? The price of fertilizer keeps going up and up as it is now $700 a tonne for urea. Agrium has total control of the price of fertilizer and the government turns a blind eye. Who speaks for farmers?
Fuel has gone up 20 cents a litre, the oil is still around $100 a barrel. Why did the fuel go up? Because it can. The government is getting more than their share and they are quite happy. Who speaks for the farmers and the citizens driving vehicles here? We know it is not the government.
Joke of the week by Chris K: There was this lady who went into labour and delivered triplets. Her husband was completely shocked that there were three and he asked her, "How did this happen?" "Well." she replied, "It must have been the 3 in 1 Oil we always use." A deadly silence fell on the room and the husband replied, "Thank heavens we never used WD40!"
