Alberta`s Unluckiest Farmer

[TOM4CWB]

Alberta`s Unluckiest Farmer

Via email;

Ray Danyluk must love being an MLA for the good folks of Lac-La-Biche St Paul.
Indeed he must be very committed to his constituents and very committed to living among them.

We know that is true because nothing else would explain his irrational attachment to the jinxed land that he farms.

You see, over the last ten years Ray Danyluk’s small mixed farming operation in Elk Point has had AFSC claims totalling $1.36M – that’s not too much less than he got for being an MLA and cabinet minister.

He has had worse luck than his neighbours many of whom have more land and larger operations.

Year after year, since Ray was elected in 2001, bad luck strikes and Ray gets AFSC payouts to cover his catastrophic losses.

Indeed, his best luck years have resulted in payouts that were twice his insurance premiums, in his worst year he received 13 times what he paid in premiums.

In the last 4 years he has received over $700K in payouts on premiums of $101K.

The voters of Lac La Biche need to do Ray a favour and defeat him.

That way he won’t feel compelled to hold onto this accursed land. He might be able to sell it and move to farmland that won’t be so prone to flooding, hail, and drought.


I hope he`s laying low today, what with it being Friday the 13th.





http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/



Posted by Kate at April 13, 2012 2:23 AM

Comments


Seems Ray has discovered the ULTIMATE "cash" crop.

Some people grow canola.
Others grow wheat.
Ray grows claims.
Posted by: Dystopian Optimist at April 13, 2012 6:57 AM

AFSC is what exactly?
Posted by: Al_in_Ottawa at April 13, 2012 7:06 AM

AFSC is a provincial crown corporation that sells crop insurance to farmers.
Posted by: Joe at April 13, 2012 8:15 AM

this is a game played out in saskatchewan also, crooked farmers.
Posted by: doug at April 13, 2012 8:25 AM

Geez...no wonder all of Ontario's commie croppers been lickin' Uncle Dildo's arse for 'risk mamagemnt plans'.
Posted by: Jamie MacMaster at April 13, 2012 8:43 AM

Reminds me of a neighbour we had, who loaded up on hail insurance.

Every morning he would step outside, look up, and say a prayer...

"Hail Mary, full of grace. Hail Mary, full of grace. HAIL, MARY!"
Posted by: Norman at April 13, 2012 8:54 AM

Curious minds want to know: Has Ray's political adventures helped keep his premiums low and his payouts high?
Posted by: Joe at April 13, 2012 9:09 AM

And why hasn't AFSC not done their own investigation/audit? This is shining the light not just on the MLA, but also on yet another poorly run government organization.

I guess when it's other people's money it doesn't matter?


Posted by: theredsuit at April 13, 2012 9:12 AM

Living only twenty minutes away from St. Paul / Elk Point we thought we were just damned lucky to have missed all those storm cells that circled around us the past couple of years. Now I know the good Lord had a specific plan!!
Posted by: Whitetail1962 at April 13, 2012 9:13 AM

308.com has hike trailing the wildrose candidate by ten points.
Posted by: Gord Tulk at April 13, 2012 9:16 AM

What?....and he's not a Liberal??
Posted by: a different bob at April 13, 2012 9:21 AM

After the province bailing out the insurance companies from the Slave Lake fire this does not surprise me. The province put everyone in hotels for free who were evacuated and gave them a weekly cheque to boot.

I could see the province helping people who had no insurance but the majority had insurance policies and every policy I have seen covered temporary housing. It was total Bull.
Posted by: Dave at April 13, 2012 9:52 AM

DiffBob

Yes, indeed, Danyluk is a liberal. It's just that, here in Alberta, we now call them Progressive Conservatives.
Posted by: Rob R at April 13, 2012 10:04 AM

$1,360,000 from the public teat in 10 years. Peanuts! That's what Kowalski got for severance. Danyluk is a mere amateur.
Posted by: Scar at April 13, 2012 10:08 AM

If Edmonton is an indication the north loves their subsidy culture. The Agri-welfare culture is well established there - so many clains from hail and rain damage - dryland farmers in the south could only wish they had these disasters to cope with.
Posted by: Occam at April 13, 2012 10:46 AM


So, according to this information does this mean all the other Farmers in the area can resubmit, or appeal their claims ?
Posted by: Ratt at April 13, 2012 11:41 AM

Would you expand on that statement,"scar", for those of us not from Alberta,and not knowing who "Kowalski" is?

Thanks.

Sounds like Mr.Danyluk may have some explaining to do,but I suppose it was all legal and above board.
Posted by: dmorris at April 13, 2012 11:48 AM

Why is there a crown corp. selling crop insurance? Isn't that better left to private industry?
Posted by: Al_in_Ottawa at April 13, 2012 12:13 PM

Guess it pays to be connected eh?

In other Friday the 13th news, its a coolish but bright sun shining day here in deepest Ontariostan, and the motorcycles are converging in vast numbers on Port Dover for the traditional Friday the Thirteenth p1ss-up.

Its a good day to jump on the iron horse and set fire to the roadway anywhere but Haldimand County, because every available OPP cop in the province from here to Kenora is in Dover today watching 100,000 bikers drink beer and drive around the main drag really -really- slowly. We're talking paddling with both feet here, unless you're a trials rider and can balance stationary for minutes at a time.

Cost to the province for overtime? Probably several million bucks. Potential for rioting? 1,000 actual bikers surrounded by 99,000 middle aged lawyers with their wives, riot potential zero. Might see the odd burnout or wheelie.

I never go, I can't stand lawyers. ~
Posted by: The Phantom at April 13, 2012 12:29 PM

Forwarded the note to St. Paul Journal.
Posted by: jasperavenue at April 13, 2012 12:31 PM

I liked Ray but WTF??

Has he not heard of a phenomena called "optics"?

Fire Them ALL.
Posted by: eastern paul at April 13, 2012 12:51 PM

Why is there a crown corp. selling crop insurance? Isn't that better left to private industry?

Because nobody would buy it. Premiums would be too high. It's a welfare scheme, like medicare...
Posted by: fiddle at April 13, 2012 1:02 PM

What a freakin crook. I think an audit should be in order after he loses the election. Or even if he wins. (yeah right).
Posted by: Rick at April 13, 2012 1:19 PM

And why hasn't AFSC not done their own investigation/audit? This is shining the light not just on the MLA, but also on yet another poorly run government organization.

I guess when it's other people's money it doesn't matter?

Posted by: theredsuit at April 13, 2012 9:12 AM

Following the CWB template: Motivation: Kickback$
Posted by: Jema54 at April 13, 2012 1:25 PM

"What?....and he's not a Liberal??"

Yes he is that's why we are getting rid of them.

Every institution of center of power becomes infected with Liberals over time. They infiltrate, that is why you need to periodically flush them out before they solidify their power and it needs to get bloody.
Posted by: Knight 99 at April 13, 2012 1:52 PM

A politician who feathers his own bed ? I'm shocked. Shocked I tell ya.
Posted by: peterj at April 13, 2012 1:55 PM

Caught with his hand in the till. Silly Politician.
Posted by: Revnant Dream at April 13, 2012 2:09 PM

Caught with his hand in the till. Silly Politician.

Hardly. Just a run of the mill rural conservative welfare bum. That's how they play it down on the farm. They all got their hand in the cookie jar.

Posted by: phil at April 13, 2012 2:16 PM

phil >

"Just a run of the mill rural conservative welfare bum"

Where is the NDP voter base again?
Posted by: Knight 99 at April 13, 2012 2:22 PM

Where is the NDP voter base again?

I give up. Where?
Posted by: phil at April 13, 2012 3:05 PM

pill said: "Where is the NDP voter base again?

I give up. Where?"

With -both- hands in the cookie jar. To the shoulder.
Posted by: The Phantom at April 13, 2012 3:17 PM

The long deceased Ukrainian relatives of Danyluk must be rolling in their graves. Their fleeing Stalinist oppression, travelling across an ocean to break the land by hand and carve out a living on the Canadian prarie has now been cheapend by this gladhanding corrupt spawn, a modern-day politician. He has tarnished the legacy of these hard working forefathers by taking the easy way out. Shame on him.
Posted by: Eskimo at April 13, 2012 3:25 PM

phil >

Rural.

The NDP are the welfare party of Canada.

Your weird hatred for farmers must have come from growing up on a Hutterite colony or something, but it's misplaced, you should be more homophobic or something akin. Although there are all sorts of strange fetishes and phobia’s out there, who’s the famous actress that’s afraid of butterflies? I truly forget, I think its Nicole Kidman.



Posted by: Knight 99 at April 13, 2012 3:27 PM

Backphil is afraid of dirt...go figure.
Posted by: syncrodox at April 13, 2012 3:52 PM

Hey phil >

Why not join in the conversation for a change, instead of drive-by smears on farmers. Out of mild curiosity who would you vote for in the upcoming Alberta election, and why?

Posted by: Knight 99 at April 13, 2012 3:54 PM

phil >
Rural.

Oh my, are you really that ignorant, 99? Silly question. You are, after all, a Conservative.


has now been cheapend by this gladhanding corrupt spawn, a modern-day politician.

He happens to be but a modern day farmer. There's over $5 billion a year in tax dollars going down the ag welfare crapper that's testament to that fact.

Posted by: phil at April 13, 2012 4:02 PM

phil >

“Ignorant”? What little hellhole do you live in to want so much continuous, hope, change, regulation, and restrictions on personal freedom?

I live in Alberta, prosperous and free. Have travelled the world extensively to see firsthand what it’s like, and live a very comfortable lifestyle here. We are keeping it that way, and you’re ideologies have no place in it, so it’s sour g****s for you and we don’t care.

Who’s ignorant?
Posted by: Knight 99 at April 13, 2012 4:16 PM

"Kowalski" is presumably the politician described in the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kowalski

The article is anodyne. "Scar"'s comments are of those Alberta in-things no doubt.
Posted by: John Lewis at April 13, 2012 4:46 PM

Who’s ignorant?

You are if you think rural Alberta, rural Saskatchewan or rural Canada votes anything but the right wing option.
Posted by: phil at April 13, 2012 5:06 PM

Did I say rural Alberta? No I don't think so, I clearly stated “NDP Voter Base” resides in rural Canada.

Regardless of your reading comprehension, Saskatchewan has only started to economically recover from its NDP socialist heritage with some Conservative leadership, and the rest of the NDP “voter base” indeed resides in “Rural Canada”.

Are you seriously suggesting the NDP voter base is in major Canadian cities? LOL

You can lie and spin truths, all you wish, it won’t change the facts. We win you lose, and you’re not invited to the party. The left is finally losing ground across the western world, there is an awakening happening, and we don’t care if you see it or not.
Posted by: Knight 99 at April 13, 2012 5:28 PM

Rural Canada in general votes conservative and rural western Canada, solidly conservative, as any electoral map will demonstrate. As the majority of free loading farmers reside in western Canada, designating them rural conservative welfare bums is accurate. The NDP has no base in farm country. To suggest otherwise is ignorant. That's not a put down. It's a only a description of reality. It's only a put down if you choose to wallow in that ignorance, as most conservatives do, deliberately wallowing in ignorance like farmers wallowing in the welfare trough.
Posted by: phil at April 13, 2012 5:55 PM

KNIGHT 99:

Read Kate's post. Peruse the linked-to PDF. What's
the topic?

STOP. FEEDING. THE. TROLL.
Posted by: EBD at April 13, 2012 6:50 PM

[tipsy]

What I'd like to know is how does one's private dealing's with a crown corporation become public knowledge?

[TOM4CWB]

"RCMP Raids SNC-Lavalin’s Montreal Headquarters

As part of executing a search warrant, RCMP swarmed the Montreal headquarters of SNC-Lavalin today (Ottawa Citizen and 570 News). Neither the RCMP nor SNC-Lavalin provided any details of the search.

The Ottawa Citizen reported, “SNC has been beset by a financial scandal relating to its contracts in Libya under the regime of the late leader Moammar Gadhafi. Concerns about more than $50 million in missing funds led to the departure of two senior SNC executives in recent months, executive vice-president Riadh Ben Aissa and vice-president of finance Stephane Roy. At the time, the company announced it would conduct an internal investigation. Weeks later, CEO Pierre Duhaime resigned after it was revealed he had signed off on questionable payments. Duhaime received a $4.9 million severance package.”

This is not the first time that SNC’s offices have been raided by the RCMP. 570 News reported, “The World Bank has temporarily suspended its (SNC’s) Bangladesh subsidiary from bidding on new projects while it completes an investigation that prompted RCMP raids of Toronto-area offices last year.”

Thestar.com reported, “It appears SNC is trying to sweep under the rug one of the most significant apparent breaches in recent memory of the high standards of ethical conduct in which SNC has long claimed to be an avatar…SNC chairman Gwyn Morgan has been a noisy scold of purported low moral conduct in the public sector. Of alleged misconduct at private-sector SNC, he is silent.”

Many in the upper echelons of the corporate world may simply think that SNC-Lavalin has been unlucky and that they broke the 11th Commandment – “Don’t get caught”; however, one has to wonder how much more negative news this company can endure.

SNC shares fell 6.56% on the Toronto Stock Exchange, losing $2.63 at $37.44 this afternoon.

SNC-Lavalin, which owns 100% of AltaLink, is playing a major role in building the controversial Heartland power line together with AltaLink and EPCOR; and will also be playing a major role in building the Western Alberta Transmission Line together with AltaLink. SNC-Lavalin has many other projects in Alberta. For more information on SNC and AltaLink see http://retasite.wordpress.com/category/snc-lavalin/, and for information on the connection between SNC-Lavalin/AltaLink and the Alberta PC Party, see Making Money by Making Friends."

http://retasite.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/rcmp-raids-snc-lavalins-montreal-headquarters/

We are known by the friends we keep...

[TOM4CWB]

Today’s front-page story in the Edmonton Journal indicates AltaLink donated $14,999.50 to the Alberta PC Party in 2011, ATCO donated $12,950, and SNC-Lavalin (which owns 100% of AltaLink) donated another $2,500.

Is it possible that large donations like these to the Alberta PC Party help ensure that massive overhead 500kV lines keep getting built even though they aren’t needed? The Heartland line is being built by AltaLink, SNC-Lavalin and EPCOR; the Western Alberta Transmission Line will be built by AltaLink and SNC-Lavalin; and the Eastern Alberta Transmission Line will be built by ATCO.

No wonder the Alberta government has streamlined the high voltage power line approval process and passed legislation that takes away the public’s right to review the need for these lines and gives Cabinet the authority to establish a power line corridor on private land without the landowners’ agreement.

For more information on the connections between SNC-Lavalin/AltaLink and the Alberta PC Party, see Making Money by Making Friends.

[TOM4CWB]

SNC-Lavalin’s CEO Resignation a Mystery

On the issue of SNC-Lavalin’s CEO suddenly resigning earlier this week amid allegations of breaching the company’s code of ethics, the San Francisco Chronicle says, “you have to burrow through tons of legalese to get an idea of what the problem was……..(Pierre) Duhaime’s guilt or lack thereof notwithstanding, no one disputes that he was in charge when $56 million officially went missing.”

Meanwhile, AltaLink, which is owned by SNC-Lavalin, tried to distance itself from its parent company by suggesting that the controversy over SNC-Lavalin’s financial problems in Libya and the related CEO’s resignation will not affect AltaLink’s operations and leadership (Calgary Herald). This is hard to believe considering that 100% of AltaLink is owned by SNC-Lavalin, and three of AltaLink’s nine Board of Director members are SNC-Lavalin vice presidents (Gilles Laramee and Jim Burke are Executive VPs, and Don Chynoweth is a Senior VP). Patricia Nelson, past Alberta PC Minister of Energy and Minister of Finance, also sits on the AltaLink Board. March 22, 2012

[TOM4CWB]

Alberta Energy Minister Ted Morton suggests ATCO Electric’s Eastern Alberta Transmission Line (EATL) may be built before AltaLink’s Western Alberta Transmission Line (WATL) because there are fewer protests over routing of the former (see this article). More specifically, Morton says, “Even though the western line is the shorter line, it’s very possible the eastern line will be completed before that because there is much less landowner concern.”

The AUC hearing for the WATL is scheduled to start June 11 in Red Deer, and the hearing for the EATL is scheduled to start July 23 in Brooks. Both lines are controversial, and have received significant opposition from landowners and power consumers. The need for the lines cannot be questioned at the hearings because the Alberta Government has taken away this opportunity by legislating the building of both lines (Bill 50).

March 10, 2012

The Choteau Acantha reports that Montana Alberta Tie Ltd. (MATL) is asking the courts to grant it easements on the private properties of 46 landowners (79 parcels) who refuse to permit the 214-mile-long merchant high voltage line from Lethbridge to Great Falls to be built on their land.

The MATL transmission line has seen its fair share of controversy: landowners refusing easements on their properties; original MATL owner running out of money and buy-out by Enbridge; significant construction cost overruns; delays over work quality, safety and contract interpretation issues; and not meeting with some landowners.

March 17, 2012

[ColevilleH2S]

Someone should have told SNC Lavalin there's a storm brewing on the horizon, and it's forecast to hit April 23rd.

[sumdumguy]

These guys wouldn't happen to be from
Montreal?

[riders2010]

That's probably as big or bigger story than what this issue is tipsy! Unless in alta gov officials have to release that info?

Maybe he's a shitty farmer raking the system. Maybe he is a great farmer raking the system. Who doesn't know the program is f'd up! I am sure there is a list a mile long of people manipulating the program. Maybe he did have hail etc. on his farm more than others, did he grow different crops provide all the facts. Not defending the guy but provide all the facts before making assumptions or at least so we can. Really tells us nothing. Pretty desperate smear campaign. But it will work on the morons for votes.

Maybe he hired raheem jaffer he knows all the insides to gov. programs that come from the current gov. and when that came out he was banished by the king. lol

Pretty interesting how those numbers got out? Although I think everyone that recieves gov money should have it listed that would get rid of the need for about 90% of the fraud investigations.

[sumdumguy]

How can $56 million go missing? It came out of
the bank account somehow. Any body can follow
every cent except some of these crooked
accounting firms. Throw them all in the clink!

[sumdumguy]

How can $56 million go missing? It came out of
the bank account somehow. Any body can follow
every cent except some of these crooked
accounting firms. Throw them all in the clink!

[sumdumguy]

Make it all public knowledge.

[ASRG]

SNC Lavelin has a pretty poor reputation wherever they go. They have a long history of "buying governments". They would be poster boys for "Crony Capitalism".
On April 23rd, Alberta is set to elect a new Wildrose government. It is expected there will be a real investigation into the power line scandals, and just who sold us out! I know for a fact Wildrose candidate Joe Anglin will be pushing for one!
In addition there should be an investigation into the Northwest Upgrader and the Enhance Energy C02 pipeline. This is another very shadowy deal that needs to be investigated.

[Burbert]

Sounds like the PERFECT company fer
Albertie, crooks, crooks, and more crooks,
suckin up to the gobermont. After all
Albertie is known by its favorite slogan,
sh-t, shovel, and sudup! Ain't it?

[Burbert]

That's framin!