Buckdog

Everyone over a certain age, will remember an old TV program known as 'The Beverly Hillbillies'. Whenever I turn on Saskatchewan's Legislative channel and watch the performance of Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party government, I am reminded of the Clampett family.

Want some examples? Well to start, the Wall government recently put a bounty on coyotes and have been paying Saskatchewan farmers $20 bucks a head for each one that they kill. After a few months of the program, 23,000 coyotes have been shot or trapped.

However, having killed so many coyotes, it seems that the 'gopher' population is exploding and the Wall government is now going to pay for eradication of the rodents. It's too bad that the Wall government can't make the connection between coyotes and gophers. Coyotes are nature's way of controlling gophers!

In their zeal to put whatever money they can into the hands of their rural voting base, the Saskatchewan Party has compounded the problem for the very people they say they want to help.

Not only are the actions of the Wall government reminiscent of the Beverly Hillibilles, so is the oratory skill level of some of their MLA's - in this case, the Saskatchewan Party Deputy Speaker. Here is an excerpt from the March 31, 2010 Saskatchewan Hansard. New Democrat MLA, Judy Junior is called to task for 'unparliamentary language'. HUH? What unparliamentary language is the Deputy Speaker referring to?

Ms. Junor: The Sask Party has totally underestimated the people of Saskatchewan. They will not take it. They will not be fooled by another budget that ’s just totally going to take us into debt. It forward -thinking, whatever. None of the above. It certainly lost the words transparent and accountable a long time ago. Nobody buys it, and nobody ’s bought this one.And I can see by the faces of the members opposite they don ’t buy it either.They ’re looking extremely uncomfortable. They came to this legislature in government pretty darn cocky, extremely cocky, arrogant. They were rude, obnoxious. Now there ’s nothing. There ’s .. .

The Deputy Speaker: I would caution the member when talking about other members not to use unparliamentary language. I recognize the member from Saskatoon Eastview.

Ms. Junor: — I was talking 'rude and arrogant', so I ’m not sure if you could tell me, Mr. Speaker, which ones of those are not parliamentary?

The Deputy Speaker: — First of all, a member is not to question the Speaker. You were talking about members with them words.

Ms. Junor: — Thank you, Mr.Deputy Speaker. I ’ll try to use better words. I know that the Speaker has ruled that we can certainly use “simply not true,”so I do think that people understand that these members, the members of the Sask Party, what they ’re saying to people is simply not true. When they talk about all the t hings that they ’re doing and giving and all the good things in the budget,they ’re not true.They ’re not true. There ’s things in this budget that .. . People are going to really suffer. And my colleagues have pointed many of that out, many of those things out.

I am sure that Ms. Junor will be careful not to use 'them' words again! ;)

Postscript:
The good news is that Saskatchewan people will be rid of these yahoos in 584 days!