Why Brad Wall Will Have NO Choice But To Do Something About Looming Agriculture Disaster
It just won't stop raining in Saskatchewan this spring. As a result, 10,000,000 acres (about 15,625 square miles) of farmland is drowned out and no crop is expected this year. The potential loss of such a large amount of grain is raising international concerns as well. India is particularly concerned.
Both Brad Wall's and Stephen Harper's Right wing governments depend on rural support to maintain their hold on power. Yet, not a word is coming from either the government of Saskatchewan nor the government of Canada when it comes to what they plan on doing to help with this pending disaster. Why, you ask? - It's simple. Both Brad Wall and Stephen Harper notoriously assume that farmers and those on the rural prairies will vote for them, no matter what.
Saskatchewan has bought into the Right Wing mythology that Canada's 'equalization' formula is akin to being on 'welfare'. Complete nonsense. For over 100 years in Canada it has been acknowledged that when there is an occasional agricultural disaster, Saskatchewan's small population simply cannot bear the weight of carrying such a large segment of the AG industry for the rest of the nation. Traditionally, the whole country must, from time to time, help to ensure that our AG sector does not go under.
So as over 15,000 square miles of farmland will NOT be cropped this year, what do we hear from Brad Wall and Stephen Harper? ... (cue the sound of crickets chirping cause our Right Wing governments aren't planning on doing a damned thing!)
Saskatchewan's Official Opposition Leader, Dwain Lingenfelter is calling on Premier Brad Wall to implement a program with cooperation from Ottawa, to find $100 per acre for the area affected by the unusual flooding.
At the moment, if a farmer manages to get some seed into the ground and then goes and purchases provincial crop insurance, he can qualify for up to $50 per acre when the crop inevitably fails. But, if you don't put any seed in the flooded ground, you can't purchase crop insurance!!
Any farmer who can't even get out on his land to plant the crop .. is completely out of luck ... oh ... and is still 'expected' to vote for both Brad Wall and Stephen Harper.
I happen to think that prairie agriculture producers (a more fancy way of saying 'farmers') are smarter than that.
Mr. Wall ... put our money where your mouth usually is! Mr. Harper ... oh never mind, you're toast anyway ...
-Official Opposition News Release
UPDATE:
-Western Premiers Urge Ottawa To Shore Up Prairie Flooding Support
It's always been a mystery to me why prairie farmers consistently vote Conservative (or worse). What have right wing parties EVER done for family farmers?
Posted by
double nickel |
5:57 am, June 17, 2010