Maybe there are other ways to look at the problem and get the job done.
Maybe Estevan officials could consider an old fashioned way to raise the $10 to $12 million that is needed to rebuild our local streets and avenues. Might we suggest the issuing of a local municipal bond program that would raise the money from within the community with the City repaying the local investors at a rate of two to four per cent rather than paying banks and other governments?
Keep the money churning at home instead of Toronto.There is some red tape attached to this process, but it might be a partial solution to the current problem that isn't being addressed effectively right now and Lord knows, there is no way in Hell's half acre (i.e. Souris Avenue north - Highway 47 south) that we can drive a regular vehicle on these IED crater infested stretches of something or other.
It's obvious we can't wait, so maybe it's time we formed an action plan instead of waiting for so-called government approval. We don't need government approval any more. That time has come and gone. They had their chance to step up and they took a pass. The current situation is below deplorable and will obviously get worse once the real thaw begins.
I witnessed City work crews frantically shovelling cold mix into 23,267 craters last week, but the holes simply outnumber the pieces of decent asphalt now. And I doubt if Estevan is alone in this plight, so there is no reason to wait for a provincial government to come a calling here.
They are focused on Regina and Saskatoon right now and maybe rightfully so.The two major cities rule, I understand. It's about economic impact, business clout, population and votes. But eventually someone in the legislative seats will have to cast their eyes southeastward and ask the question "now what can be done there to help these people who have provided this government with hundreds of millions of dollars over the past eight years?"
Doncha think? What do you say? Dream on? OK.
So what are they saying then?
"You know that Estevan place, it's somewhere down there past Weyburn, better Google it. I went there once. We can't twin their highways or even pave them now. They still like us even though we can't build a truck bypass for them. We can't participate in the rebuild of the highway through their city either. We won't allow them to buy their own CT scanner and operate it. We're not sure why, but we just can't. We can't improve their social safety net. We can't help them with their affordable housing mess. We can't fix their leaky school roofs. But hey, we can send a cabinet minister down there again to say thank you. It worked the last eight times, maybe it'll work again."
"They can thank them and tell them how well they're doing in this booming economy. That's always cheered them up before. Our guy will have to fly in and out though, he can't risk driving on those highways and streets. Just for fun, we'll call it the Gullible Traveller's Victory Tour."
Maybe that's what they're saying in the bowels of the legislature this week. Do ya think?
Naw, I'll guarantee you they're talking about the Regina overpass, transportation hubs and Sidney Crosby's new jaw ... you know, all the important stuff.
