By: Timothy W. Shire
Prairie grain producers have always known that the politicians from Quebec and Ontario were more then a little short on their knowledge of agricultural economics but it was a shock yesterday to learn that the Prime Minister was all but completely out of touch with the topic. Perhaps what is even more unsettling is that he is grossly miss-informed by his advisors and cabinet. Since the Prime Minister's former boss's famous "Why should I sell your wheat" statement it would appear that little if anything has changed. The major news story continues to be the upsetting issue of the Federal government trying to figure out how to get itself out of the treaties with the country's First Nations and no one in Ottawa, Toronto or Quebec City seems to understand the impact of their inaction and international betrayal of the people who created the country in the first place.
It would seem that these harsh realities have brought us to a single and yet inevitable conclusion. We have only one decision to make, will we form a republic or a constitutional monarchy. The evidence is so clear and so compelling to us all that confederation is designed only for Ontario and Quebec that they must consider us with such contempt because we have backed them so loyally throughout the country's history. Last week a woman from the National Post told a Regina audience that it was time that Saskatchewan merged with its neighbours, that Canada had to many governments and Saskatchewan was to small to remain viable.
Saskatchewan by itself is a viable entity, always has been, produces more of everything then it needs and continues to export products and materials because of its rich natural resources and skilled efficient people. The federal government long ago ended its involvement in anything but Quebec and Ontario with simple services like weather, air traffic control, defense and all the kinds of national services one expects from a national government. With the cutbacks of all national services we have seen the growing and deliberate efforts that can only be described as "Economic cleansing".
Depopulation of the vast Canadian Great Central Plains appears to be well on its way and is not an accident. Federal Government action on the international trade scene has been designed only to serve the very limited area between Toronto and Windsor to the expense of the entire nation. It is precisely this kind of concentration of efforts by the federal government to enhance only the core that has weakened and continues to weaken the dollar and the economy as a whole. Almost all parts of the country, except the core (Ontario and Quebec) have balanced budgets, yet the Canadian dollar remains weak because of the lack of reasonable economic measures for the whole country. The festering blight of Quebec permeates all federal government activity and deems the rest of the country less then important.
The reason we with other countries sent peace keepers and even offensive aircraft to the former Yugoslavia was because the government of Serbia was bent on degrading all other portions of the country and was involved in excluding from their own land, those people who were not Serbian. We the people of the world have come out strongly on the side of the breaking up of Yugoslavia and promoted the individual portions to assert themselves as autonomous countries. With our federal government excluding all items of importance, other then those affecting Quebec and Ontario, we are in a similar situation, only our people are victims of economic reprisal, rather then ethnic persecution, but the results are the same. Our people are being driven from their homes and communities in numbers that will equal anything that happened in Kosvo and the policies of the federal government are as specific and focused to create these difficult conditions.
Just because the federal government has not used military and police forces to execute its policies does not make the destruction of the prairie way of life any more civilised. We will be forced reluctantly to the barricades but there is not alternative,
- the existence of Saskatchewan and its people is not negotiable.
- Obliteration, is not an option.
- Long live the Dominion of Rupert's Land !
I know all this seems crazy but our premier, one of the staunchest supports of confederation in the country's history used the word "alienation" this morning and he was not happy with the complete lack of awareness by the Prime Minister and his staff. The time has come, when confederation is for all people from the Pacific to Atlantic to be part of this land, or to go our own and separate ways, because that confederation has no function other then to support Upper and Lower Canada.