Thoughts From Wood Mountain

Saskatchewan Liberal Leadership Contender in Gravelbourg

2008-08-08T22:01:00.001-06:00

For an opportunity to meet Ryan Bater and share your ideas for the future of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party:

Gravelbourg – Coffee Meeting

Saturday, August 9th
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Café Paris
306 Main Street

For more information about this event, please contact Mike Klein at:

266-2115 or mklein(at)sasktel.net

Part I: Are Canadians Being Set Up 1930s Style?

2008-05-12T22:55:00.002-06:00

By Pilot:

I’ve often heard people wonder how the German people were able to be hoodwinked by the fascists. However, the parallels of what happened then exist today. None more so than what Harper’s government is doing to Canadians.

Their first step was to build false allegations against opponents. Whenever an opponent dares to point out truths as opposed to the created truth, full scale attacks were undertaken. Wherever possible they silenced any creditable sources and then did what ever they needed to do to discredit creditable sources. Once they gained power then they changed the rules so than they could not be removed from power. At this point they had gained absolute power and nothing the public wants to do matters any more because you have all the levers. The fascists created a scapegoat for the country’s perceived problems. They controlled the media to ensure only their message got out. They removed knowledgeable people to ensure their voices could not tell the public about anything that did not match their controlled message. They even went so far as to burn books to ensure their message was not contradicted.

So what are the parallels that exist. Here are some facts of this current Harper government. They managed to be presented with an issue that was real in nature but would allow them to try and convince the public that their chief rival the Liberals were all corrupt.(scapegoat). That imagery was enhanced by the NDP when they called for a RCMP inquiry into supposed wrong doing by the then Finance Minister. An allegation that should never have been made and was done so for only purely political reasons by a desperate NDP party. These allegation have been shown to be totally off base, but that information is normally ignored.

On taking power, the Conservatives presented the first budget, which included a tax cut for large corporations and a tax increase for middle and low income earners. We were also rewarded with a 1 point GST cut. Thus if you spent about $8500 you could gain back the increase of taxes actually experienced. Of course the message was that we all experienced a tax cut and therefore should feel very thankful. The number of lies now being put forth has substantially increased and the grain of truth the lies are normally built around is getting smaller. What is most important is to have all Conservative members speak only on topic. The government at this point has undertaken to ensure that the only message remains the controlled message.

Other parallels include the following. Web sites are purged of any information not suited to government propaganda. For example in its first weeks the government ordered the word Kyoto removed from any web site with that term included. At the same time the government has been systematically removing any bureaucrats who dare to tell Canadians the truth. At this point they have removed key information people in Agriculture, Environment Canada, in the nuclear industry, in ethics. All removals were of individuals who steadfastly did their jobs despite Government orders to not do so.

At this point they have damaged the credibility of various government agencies whose legislative role was important to Canadians and who where supposed to have what is termed “arm's length” from government. The situation with AECL and the Chalk River reactor and the situation with the manipulation of the Canadian Wheat Board are good examples. They even went so far as to try justify their Wheat Board actions by having a corrupt vote. Appearance is most important when you are trying to fools most of the people. Hide the truth and replace it with your own version. State it constantly, and ridicule anyone who opposes. Hey, does this sound familiar?

...

Saskboy adds:

Aaron at Macleans has some interesting, and related thoughts on the tone of this government.

No advantages accrue from consolidating schools

2007-12-06T22:06:00.000-06:00

Published in LeaderPost: Thursday, December 06, 2007

I have read with interest how the Saskatchewan School Boards Association (SSBA) is preparing us for another round of school closures.

The new minister of education indicates how closures are inevitable and that he will work to develop a new set of criteria.

The common denominator in all of this is the continued destruction of what was once a very good educational system.

The SSBA asks if it is better to keep a school with 20 kids -- or to combine our resources in order to provide supposedly a better education. It bases this assumption on some untested theory that resources provide education. Again, no information is forthcoming to show how that theory has any basis in fact.

I can only say that, after gathering what information I could relating to whether or not keeping that school of 20 students is better than combining resources, the information I've gleaned is a very definite "yes".

In our own case, which saw a school of 50 students closed in order to consolidate resources, we also experienced a substantial decline in educational quality.

Along with that decline, there was also a decline in quality of life, a decline in extracurricular opportunities, an increase in absenteeism, an increase in family problems and a threefold increase in costs. All of this after a guarantee in writing by the department that there would be no negatives. We have yet to find a single positive.

Given that information, the answer to the question about whether it would be better to keep the school of 20 students or to consolidate is self-evident. The fact that the department has refused to live up to its guarantee only confirms that the attitude of "don't confuse me with the facts" is leading our educational system into very poor future prospects.

The mindset demonstrated by the SSBA and the new minister of education indicates a very costly, yet ever-increasing decline in a system that clearly is in need of a major overhaul.

Michael Klein
(Klein is mayor of the Village of Wood Mountain.)
Wood Mountain

On CBC in Winnipeg

2007-08-06T11:34:00.000-06:00

CBC NewsWorld is showing a story about West Nile Virus where they interview my Dad on camera, while he was outside a Winnipeg apartment building the other day. Fortunately he's not contracted West Nile (which is picking up infection pace in Manitoba and Saskatchewan right now). He has made it onto national CBC news before, on the cbc.ca website, after he needed to be hospitalized due to a house cat bite.

Honourable Minister asks agent to deliver "flowers" to Administrator

2007-07-26T17:05:00.000-06:00

The Village of Wood Mountain made an effort to annex an area that didn't border the existing limits of the village. It was an interesting idea that would have potentially benefited both areas involved in the maneuver. However, a Minister of the Government of Saskatchewan informed an agent involved that he'd get further in securing the favour of Administrators responsible for approving the zoning, by delivering them nice things of little monetary value.

That might fly in many parts of the world as sound government practice, and certainly describes the habits of lobbyists throughout the continent, but in Saskatchewan citizens hold their civil servants to a higher standard. Accepting gifts to curry favour is not only dishonest, it's also a major crime.

So it's not surprising that many people consider Saskatchewan a difficult place to conduct development. It seems the government is waiting for favours that developers can't legally offer, and the government employees can't legally accept. Deadlock.

Wood Mountain fined $1000 by SERM

2007-04-13T19:13:00.000-06:00

You can read more about the court case here. More details and analysis will appear on this blog in the coming days.

John Moneo passed away

2007-03-24T14:41:00.000-06:00

John Moneo (my apologies if I spelled the name wrong?) passed away on Wednesday. The funeral was Saturday March 24, 2007, today.

==

Travis Bender (from the Wood Mountain region) also passed away recently.

Highways' seasonal job open in Wood Mountain

2007-03-06T21:00:00.000-06:00

If you have a Class 3A drivers license, you can get a job in sunny Wood Mountain [PDF file] during the best months to live there. The Wood Mountain Regional Park, with its camping and swimming pool are just a 5 minute drive from the village.

School Closures indicate NDP ignorance

2007-01-30T10:32:00.000-06:00

Dear editor

Since the Weyburn election Ive been amazed by the NDPs lack of understanding about why people in this province are getting so finished with them. However, here we are in times of billion dollar surplus and yet at least half the population of the province are being punished. It appears all but NDP power elite recognize how their actions are destroying this wonderful province. Just let me illustrate.

For several weeks now we are hearing about pending school closures. That act alone is the most destructive action that can be imposed unto a community. On top of that destructive act, there is no evidence to indicate that the act has any benefits. There is more evidence to indicate that school closure does not save the system any money, as in the past most school closures have resulted in a steady increase in tax rates. Those same closures can be shown to deteriorate quality of education, as well a quality of life for all involved. It drives away families resulting in more rapid population declines. It reduces the ability of communities to regenerate themselves.
Next we see a constant decline in the availability of health services. Those in charge argue that they cannot find people to fill the necessary jobs. However, minor investigation indicates that in fact the problem is more related to the unwillingness of the system to hire full time workers. Yes they do have trouble filling part time jobs, but they dont even consider full time jobs unless they be administrative in nature. We even see where they remove full time lab positions only because they dont like how well certain facilities were being utilized.

We see the constant removal of public service jobs from our areas. Power, telephone, gas personal all belonging to public crowns are becoming fewer and fewer, resulting in continually increasing dangerous situations for our rural residents. At the same time our property is expected to pay for more and more of the services enjoyed by our large center cousins. Plus our ability to create the wealth that is enhanced in those urban centers is under more and more threat of being totally removed. (Talk about killing the goose that lays the golden egg) These are all actions that have been totally controlled by this government. But wait there is still more.

This is the same government that has acted to effectively remove local input and autonomy. They have created huge government bodies to administer those service removals from us. These large administrative structures are very effective in gobbling up large percentages of funds in health and education. Those are very, very large sums of monies that never reach the end user of the health and education. For example, our current school board is the result of the amalgamation of some 7.5 division boards. They subjected us to a 2 mill increase in taxes their first year in existence and at the end of the year indicate that they are some 5 million dollars in debt. That debt is interesting because at least 5 of the amalgamated divisions operated on a yearly basis of 5 to 6 million. Thus the so called efficiency of amalgamating was about equal to the operation of an individual division. The problem being that the so called efficiency is in reverse.

So what would be the advantage of amalgamating except that now local autonomy is even less of a reality than existed under previous division boards. Now there is no accountability except towards the provincial government. Thus there is no doubt that we are now seeing a dying government ensuring that it imposes the most destruction possible on its rural residents. The evidence is more than overwhelming. The list of such actions can be added to with little effort. Our lack of cell phone service, our denial of high speed Internet service, the double billing for services we get very little of. We could also speak of the denial of a multimillion dollar development none of which would require government dollars, or the hundreds of thousands of dollars to force our community into court with regards to our non supply of chlorinated water to residents whove expressed to the minister their desire to supply their own water. My list has only begun but I think Ive clearly illustrated why this government should understand why so many people in this province want them gone. I do believe that Tommy would be at the head of the political movement to get rid of this government. It seems to me that his history was one attacking the very ills Ive illustrated, but now is been imposed on us by his successors. The facts that this government is accelerating its destructive desires on such a large portion of its population is undeniable and I had hoped that some of the political whiz kids within the governing party would be suggesting a different course of action. Instead we seem to be getting an acceleration of the destruction. Who would have believed such folly would have continued even leading up to an obvious election.

Thank you
Michael D. Klein

saskatoon announcemnet

2006-12-22T21:14:00.000-06:00

I listened to the Dec. 20 announcement in Saskatoon regarding
environmental and agricultural issues. I was hoping that I would be able to
pronounced them as environmental and agricultural announcements. However,
that hope was dashed by the lies that were being pushed. Instead of it
being a positive announcement that would bring hope to producers and all of
us concerned with the environment we saw and heard this government doing
every thing it can to create a lie to us that it is concerned with the
environment and agriculture. As I listened to the announcement on CPAC I
heard the environmental minister once again pronounce that we have not
abandoned Kyoto. I guess technically she could be correct, they have only
delayed the emissions concern for some 40 years. The fact that may be some
30 years too late doesn't really factor into the picture until it is to
late. She was even so nice as to indicate that there would be no
discussions relating to such topics until the so called clean air bill was
passed. If it turned out that the opposition in its stupidity would not
allow that bill to pass, well it was not the fault of government after all.
Remember they are the only ones trying to do something to... for Canadians.
The opposition parties are simply a bunch of ideologists that want nothing
but power. It takes one to know one I guess.

As far as the ethanol content in gasoline mixtures, the percentages
indicate a government that either is terrified of big industry (oil and
gas) or has no knowledge of the path it is entering. Their numbers are so
small they barely register in the scheme that even the Saskatchewan
government is trying for. To push for 5% by 2008, 10% by 2010 and 15% by
2015 would have indicated a government serious about supporting the new
industry and agriculture. I suppose they could not have considered such
numbers and all of a sudden have a bunch of producers actually making
profits. It would destroy the whole political mantra they are trying to
create. I suspect similar numbers could have been used for the bio diesel
plan, based on John Deere's endorsements a couple of years ago.

I guess if one makes pronouncements about Kyoto, tax cuts, the wheat board
statements, and any number of other mis-truths often enough you can
convince the public of anything. Maybe that will make my lose of income
with the July 1 tax cuts disappear also? Boy do we need an election.

--
Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.15/581 - Release Date: 09/12/2006

gun control

2006-12-14T21:22:00.000-06:00

Gun control has not only been a serious waste of money, it has in fact rendered the entire system to be more dangerous than without gun control. For the current legislation to have any legitimacy it must assume that 100% of long guns are registered. That is not the case and will never be the case. Using figures released by the RCMP in the 70's and figures released by the gun registry one can assume that something like 50% of guns may actually be registered in the system.

Unfortunately, most pro gun registry people dont understand that their position has been strongly influenced by the 14 million dollars spent by the registry given to groups to lobby the government for the registry. The overall message is that of safety, which the Dawson college clearly demonstrates is not present. Here you had an individual who had been identified by the military as being too unstable for their purposes, yet he was allowed to have an FAC to legally acquire guns.
Instead of spending such vast amounts of money to register long guns, significant funds should have been allocated towards ensuring the FAC was not provided to individuals whos mental, emotional, or other antisocial position would indicate them to be a high risk to own a rifle. There is very little to no resistance in the society for that kind of system.

The lack of safety in the current legislation is also highly illustrated by the fact that hand guns have legally required registration for many decades. Yet the vast majority of gun related crime in Toronto involves unregistered hand guns. There cannot be a much stronger evidence to illustrate that gun registration does not increase safety. People using guns pose the danger, more so than the guns themselves. Hand guns do in fact pose a greater threat only because they are easier to conceal.
Prior to this registry, an FAC required training which was in fact widely available. However, since the registry, those courses have become more difficult to take, which is another factor raising the level of unsafety. Thus returning to a well scrutinized firearms acquisition certificate with more resources to check on certificate holders would in fact increase public safety, and police safety. Currently, the system is supposedly used so often by police, but those numbers are seriously inflated, because the registry is automatically checked when police do a routine information request. If the FAC info was used instead of the gun registry info, police officers would have a better indication if a potential situation includes a high risk individual. If a regular information request about Gill at Dawson had occurred, and if that information had included a red flag about Gills unstable nature a larger degree of safety would have been present than the information coming back to the officers that he had a gun and was more likely to us it in a dangerous manner.

ideas to liberal leader candidates

2006-10-01T22:09:00.000-06:00

Oct. 1
Sept. 16, 06

Candidate:

In the past, I have been a candidate for the provincial party and I have served on the Provincial executive for most of the 90's. One of the key reasons we as Westerners and as Rural Canadians have so much problem with the current political system is because for the last part of the decade we have been constantly told of our importance and at the same time we have been totally ignored when it comes to fixing the problems. Paul Martin went so far as promised actions and then ignored his own words as soon as he arrived back in Ottawa.

Gun control is typical of that problem. The current gun control law makes a number of assumptions to try justify its presence. Unfortunately, most of the assumptions made have no bases in fact. For example it is stated that police officers use it daily, and that has a bases in fact because the registry is tied to the computer system used by police whenever they look for information on a potential situation. The information looks to see if the person stopped has a gun registered. The assumption that the information coming back is reliable is dangerous in itself. That is because the answer to that request is assuming that all guns are registered. Those of us in Rural Canada know for sure that no more than 50% of all guns are registered. The number may actually be smaller than that, but on the extreme let us assume that the number is 80%. That means that every request has a 20% error, in a situation where a 1% error could be fatal. That and after having talked with many patrol officers we know that for every police officer that supports the registry there are 10 who do not.

The second troublesome aspect of our parties approach concerning the registry stems from the fact that despite the fact that it is stated that we as a party we must be the party of individual freedom and the party of law and order; which is a motherhood statement; that position is already broken by the current law. The registry removes individual freedom supposedly for the good of all, at the same time as it has made criminals of thousands of farmers, hunters, skeet shooters and the like. While it has done all of this it has not increased the safety of a single individual. It can be argued that is has done the opposite. The solution is so simple that it becomes confusing the solution is constantly ignore. All those opposed to the registration of guns are not opposed to the registration of gun owners. The need for an FAC (firearms acquisition certificate) could do all that is desired in the registry. When police computers look to see if a traffic stop is a potential gun owner, the police officer could be reasonably assured the information coming back to him/her was meaningful if significant dollars had been spent ensuring that the individual requesting ownership of a gun was reasonably safe to own the firearm before the FAC was issued. If strong reasons for not issuing an FAC exist then they should be listed with that individuals name. When the police officer has that information with them in their contact with the incident they have much stronger clues as to how that individual should be handled. The old registry system was heading in that direction until it was side tracked by the need to register all guns. It is sad by true that the guns cannot cause damage unless utilized by some unstable individual.

Our partys approach towards the political system and voting is also interesting. We obviously recognize that the current system is filled with faults. Im most troubled by Harpers approach (similar to that of Chretien) which is that I've been given a mandate to do my agenda. Nothing could be further from the truth. Harper was elected by something like 23% of eligible voters in Canada. That is not much of a mandate to do more than pay attention to what we have to say. He has gone to even greater lengths than most to restrict what people have to say.

The approach that the national parties providing a national agenda is exactly why Liberals now sit as opposition. The perception has become one that Liberals are controlled by central Canada. The exposure of Adscam which in reality exposed the way politics was/is being done in Quebec only enhanced the ignoring of Liberal voices (as well as any other voices in the rest of the country). Quebecs anger is somewhat troubling, because it more truly speaks to anger at having been caught, not so much for having done anything wrong. We in the west are tired of the constant sell outs to Quebec and then not applying the same principles to us. That probably I believe stems from a fear in Central Canada that it will lose its power. Unfortunately, that is a misconception, because it will lose its power if it does not listen. As pointed out, the shift West is occurring anyway.

I believe that the party system is failing. It is failing because the national parties are more concerned with hanging onto power, than with fair governance. That phenomenon actually started full scale with Brian Mulrouney. His failure is what led to the conservative split which is still ongoing, despite Harpers attempt. As I have often pointed out, I live in an area where 80% of those voting in wheat board elections support the single desk wheat board, yet that same 80% voted for a candidate who was advocating undoing the wheat board. Our candidate was/is a former conservative who cannot support that view. Yet the imposition of gun control means that no matter what candidate we put forth would have a chance of any success. The lesson of that registry imposition means that the voter will not consider any options/ideas we could bring forth. The lesson that has been learned is that old style parties say what they need to get your vote, they will never act in a manner to consider your ideas. A party that has no history is much preferred to the history of old national parties which is one of constant betrayal. I must admit that I remain Liberal for two primary reasons. I believe in the broad tent of the Liberal party despite its ignoring of us lately, and I also believe the only way to affect change is from within. Thus, despite the fact that as Liberals, we managed to have a Liberal convention pass resolutions for many of the fixes needed for Canada, we saw two successive Liberal governments ignore even their own party ideas.

That brings me to some of my final points. I believe that as Liberals we should be strengthening Harpers accountability bill. Point out where his bill actually encourages less accountability and provide amendments to undo those failures. Dont bring in amendments that apparently weaken an already weak bill. For example political donations should be totally directed to elections Canada. We must remove the perception companies or individuals can gain access to the political system. Remember that in politics perception becomes reality.

Government must be perceived as being able to regulate and address inequalities. Unfortunately, Harpers approach is one that creates more inequalities than it removes. Conservatives tend to be exclusive, while Liberals tend to be inclusive. The NDP also tend to be exclusive but in the exactly the opposite sense of that of the conservatives. The NDP tend to want to create mechanisms to lower everybody to the least common demoninator excluding themselves, while the conservative approach is to create mechanisms that will benefit themselves and friends over every body else. Liberals tend to fall in between those extremes. However, lately we have been failing badly. Given, that all industry sitting on the shoulders of primary producers in this country are now making record profits while the producers themselves can no longer survive provides all the evidence needed to see how we have been failing. Our party has got to return hope to average Canadians. The party has to regain power to show that it is a government of all people and that it seriously considers and in fact implements policy that came from all sources even those not directly holding Liberal memberships. It has to be prepared to listen to non liberal voices. It has to remove the influence of political advisors . That is why I offered to be eyes and ears for Paul Martin and his entourage. I offered this with out pay, but was ignored. My observations to him turned out to be totally correct, while his paid staff who ignored me and others like me turned out to be totally wrong. The failure of the party system is what needs to be addressed first.

Elected senators should become a Liberal priority. Providing the senate with elected regional representation would provide some counter balance to current power structures. That counter balance would set us on a course that could prove to strengthen our nation, because of its inclusion of all elements. Diversity, as you know is a good thing. However, it must be utilized.

Thanks for letting me vent, but as I have said, Im not sure we are hearing from you the fix for our problems.

Michael Klein

Wood Mountain Farmer's Market 2006 was a success

2006-08-26T11:22:00.000-06:00

I wasn’t able to attend this year, but I’ve heard from several sources the Farmer’s Market at Mergel Ranch outside of Wood Mountain, SK was another success. This year a few slithery special guests were invited too. No, not politicians, rather snakes were the guests of honour along with their keepers. A snake conservation and education group made a presentation, and quite a few people showed up for the excitement.

Welcome to Thoughts from Wood Mountain

2006-06-18T19:36:00.000-06:00

This blog is to keep people informed about the events in the community of Wood Mountain, or just letters to the editor that deserve to get some additional attention. It will feature information that explains in greater detail things you might have heard about Wood Mountain in the news, or from a friend.