Local media just might be onto something

[cakadu]

Over in the beef room cowman, you posted about a certain reporter for the local Red Deer paper and a recent article she had written. I happened to read the article and interpreted it just a little differently than you did. Yes, she did talk about slowing things down but from the perspective of everyone is travelling at such a frantic pace that terrible things can and will start to happen. She didn't necessarily point fingers at the oil patch because everything is booming in the province and more specifically in the Central Alberta region.

She wanted things to slow down so that we could catch our collective breath. She also referred to the driving rage that exists out there, along with all the other "rages" that come from no sleep, no time and too much money.

I will give you a perfect example of what she was referring to in terms of driving. I was travelling to Red Deer this morning before 8:00 a.m. I watched in shock as a car passed a school bus on the bridge, on a double-solid line going up the hill. Lord only knows what the speed of the car was, but think about how absolutely fool-hardy that move was. At that time of the morning there would have been children on that bus. Because this moron couldn't wait for 3 minutes until it was safer to pass, whoever it was put the lives of those on the bus, any oncoming traffic not to mention their own life(lives) at risk. And for what? It was only by the grace of God that there wasn't another vehicle coming from the east.

The real kicker was that this person turned off onto Highway 2A at the top of the hill.

That is the behavior that the reporter was referring to. Think there doesn't need to be an end to that type of stupidity?

[cowman]

Well she specifically referred to pickup trucks with oil company logos...but whatever? The meat of the article was we need "less economic activity"? Which is just dandy if you are some kind of sit in an office editor or something dragging down a big salary...not so good if you are some young kid trying to raise a family?
Maybe she has some kind of a point, but personally I just don't get it? All my life I've been out hustling a buck, trying to keep the wolf from the door, so maybe I don't understand this elite leasure class who like to dictate the world to us peasants! It reminds me of "Let them eat cake!" Totally NOT in the real world?
As far as the bus thing...who knows maybe the idiot was some soccer Mom trying to get little Johnny to hockey practice! There have always been idiots on the road...and there always will be? It's something that just happens.
Usually when a person needs to do a lot of driving, they don't do dumb things like passing school busses? For the simple reason that if they do soon they will be losing their license? And then what do they do...walk forty miles out to the lease?

[cowman]

cowman, I have seen more acts of stupidity out on the highways over the last year than ever before. There was a time that truckers were courteous and many of them still are but I have been passed on solid lines on hills, blind corners and suicide jockeys in huge trucks pass when there is oncoming traffic.
I think we are in such a Godalmighty hurry because many people are paid by the loaded mile or are in a hurry to meet a deadline.

I live in the oil patch and don't see that the pickups that are associated with it are a problem on the highway, certainly there are a fair share of idiots out there, but the main ones are big trucks and cars, mainly small ones.
In our local town there is a kid about 17 with a new Jeep TJ that drives like a fool, he weaves in and out of traffic through town, turns u turns at corners etc. I only hope when he eventually gets in an accident no-one is hurt.

The local propane dealers driver is a real example of someone that shouldn't be behind the wheel of anything more powerful than a bike. He pulls off side roads in front of oncoming traffic then drives 40 km and back up traffic for miles on hills etc.

I am going to call in there the next time I see him doing something stupid, because they likely aren't too excited about having an insurance claim because of his stupidity.

I agree that we are in too much of a hurry, and really there is no need for it. The oil patch will keep on 'truckin' whether people drive like maniacs or not. Slowing down our pace doesn't necessarily mean slowing down the economy, and the guy that has a family to feed may live long enough to see them grow up if he backs off the gas pedal a bit.

[skhadenuf]

As a so called Agricultural journalist Kevin Hursh should be part of our solution and not the problem that he is, and he and some other media people are a big problem for us. They haven't got a clue of what is realistic and they are protraying their messages to the urban people that we need to have on board to the way things really are. So many of his comments made are so far into the same fantasy that our NDP government is living and not the reality of what is happenning, that many many producers at least in our area wonder if he isn't on a retainer for the prov. ag department as a propagandist. If you look at the similarities; the prov. gov. is still on the idea we are all stupid and all we need to do is feel good and your troubles will go away, Hursh has over and over talked about this change in attitude being the single answer. I went to my banker last week and he thinks farmers need to have more happen than just feel good to turn things around. Even our local banks are calling crop insurance and cais a joke, they see what money is coming out of those programs and they know how poorly they are working.
I hope my neighbor doesn't here these latest comments by Hursh, last spring Hursh was commenting on how we all need to participate in cais and my neighbor inded up putting a hammer through the radio in his tractor.

[jluimes]

CAIS = Chartered Accountants Income Stabilization Program. Nuf said.

[ivbinconned]

I have posted plenty about the Quebec ASRA program over the past 3 years. I have yet to hear Hursh, a western Ag minister, Western Seducer or any other leading western voice mention it.

Wecome to the mushroom farm!

[dalek]

One of the higher-up bureaucrats in Ontario agriculture said last week that CAIS was designed to further the trade liberalization goals of NAFTA and WTO, not to help farmers, and as such is doing exactly what it was intended to do. Someone suggested that meant weeding out farmers, and he didn't disagree.

[dalek]

OFA Commentary #1306



Understanding government signals



By Ron Bonnett, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture



Ontario farmers know that existing government programs to provide stability to their incomes are not working. That was predicted as the CAIS program was being developed – we identified a number of short-comings with the program and urged our governments to correct them. That didn’t happen, and now farm families across the country are caught in the resulting financial crisis.



At the March meeting of OFA directors, senior staff from OMAFRA advised that the current thinking within the bureaucracy of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada was that the CAIS program is working the way it was designed to work. It was designed to eliminate farmers that continue to produce a commodity that shows no sign of being profitable, we were told.



Government staff claim this was the reason the ‘renewal’ pillar was included in the Agricultural Policy Framework – an opportunity for unprofitable farmers to exit the industry.



Government staff went on to say that farmers should not confuse income support with income stabilization, and urged farmers to be vigilant as bureaucrats work to transform the CAIS program. Farmers should be aware of the changes being proposed, we were told. Government interference in the global marketplace ‘is an idea that is not going anywhere,’ we were advised.



This bureaucratic mind set leads us to believe that the designers of our agricultural programs are more interested in economic theory than traditional values. OFA does not accept this vision.



We will be telling the MPs on Parliament Hill that existing farm programs are failing to address the massive hole in farm income over the past several years. The resulting deficit is eroding agriculture’s equity, built up over decades of profitable farming. The negative income position farmers are experiencing now is threatening the economic future of rural Ontario.



Our MPs will be told agriculture needs bridge funding programs that will take them to the next Agricultural Policy Framework when it is due for unveiling in 2008. We will also make it clear to them that immediate funding is essential and that provinces must have the flexibility to deliver that funding as local needs dictate. We need this flexibility to fund options like the Risk Management Program and Self-Directed Production Insurance.



A vital message for our MPs will deal with the absolute necessity to support and strengthen marketing structures like supply management and the Canadian Wheat Board. These systems continue to provide for profits for farmers operating within them, allowing them to plan a successful future.



The Ontario Federation of Agriculture has no appetite nor time to consider the concepts of social and economic engineering proposed for farmers in Canada. Canadian agriculture has a long and productive history, a history that has allowed generation after generation of farmer to make a future for their families by producing food to feed the nation and others around the world.



Farmers aren’t prepared to accept the theories that food should come from the lowest standard or most heavily subsidized source of production. We believe that Canadians want and deserve a healthy, safe and secure source of food – food that has come through a proven system of tests and approvals.



We also believe that Canadians, given the opportunity to choose, will want their government to support the domestic production of their daily supply of food.



That’s why we are calling on all farmers to attend the Solidarity Rally in Ottawa on April 5th. That’s why we urge our farmers to bring their agri-business partners and their urban friends to the rally. A strong show of support for Canadian agriculture will be an important demonstration to Canadian politicians as they begin a new parliament.



-30-





40 Eglinton Ave. E.,

Toronto, Ont. M4P 3A2

416-485-3333

www.ofa.on.ca info@ofa.on.ca

[Horse]

I would like to make you a bet cowman that I can get home safely no matter how drunk I may be by being careful and slow but when you add speed it dosent matter how good you think you are at some point speed will kill.
As for oil logos on doors just drive the #2 and count how many vehicles pass at a high rate of speed about 80% have logos.

[almoy]

In a very high percent of accidents alcohol is involved. A lot of people seem to figure they drive good when they are drunk !

[SASKFARMER3]

Problem with the Ag Canada design of the system in Saskatchewan with our useless Sask Crop Insurance and No Protection from CASIP Were done.
Its not that I cant compete against the Ontario Alberta Quebec or Americans and EU, I can because of cheap land costs high nutrient soil and abundant rain fall. Whats killing me is the frost of 2002, Wet wet spring 2003 then stopped. and finally frost 2004. Our insurance premium in Sask for 2006 will be $60,000.00 For what peanuts.
It will be the Governments and their useless programs that take me down not my marketing or dealing. Some bureaucrat that knows better than the farmer.
Kevin hursh should do what he knows best, Nothing!

[almoy]

GEEZ horse, please post the number of the highway on here before you decide to get plastered and behind the wheel so none of us are on the same road !!!

[carebear300]

Kevin Hursh is good at one thing only. He will say what ever anybody wants as long as they have enough money to pay him to say it. A man of principle, you say. The principle being that he is going to make money.

[dalek]

Solidarity Rally April 5th. Farmers expected in Ottawa from Ontario, Quebec (UPA claims to have at least 3000 coming), Nova Scotia, PEI, and several coming from the prairies (so far). Tractors will be driven to Ottawa from as far as 300 km away. April 6 sounds like there will be rolling blockades of food distribution terminals starting in Ottawa and progressing across Ontario.

[dalek]

Manitoba Solidarity Rally
Date: Wednesday, April 5, 2006
12:00 p.m. (noon)
Location: Legislative Grounds
450 Broadway, Winnipeg, MB
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR
ALL OF THE FARMERS STRUGGLING IN
MANITOBA, AND TO SHOW SUPPORT AND
SOLIDARITY FOR THE RALLY TAKING PLACE IN
OTTAWA.
The Ottawa Rally is calling upon the federal
government to show leadership in addressing the
deficit in realized net income.
Keystone Agricultural Producers
1-1313 Border Street, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0X4
(204) 697-1140 (phone); (204) 697-1109 (fax); kap@kap.mb.ca
We Need
You…..
Solidarity