MLA Report From
OPINIONS
OPINIONS
OPINIONS
Nancy Heppner
Page 14 - june 23, 2016 - martensville messenger
Phone: 306-668-1093 Email: [email protected]
and other benefits, visit
Saskatchewan’s
Population Continues saskatchewan.ca/business/
68-1093
Email: [email protected]
ne: 306-668-1093
Email: [email protected]
Wall OverSimplifying Oil
Issue
The more complex the
issue, the more politicians
are eager to simplify for
their political advantage.
In its most extreme, we see
Donald Trump dutifully
trying to capitalize on
the recent shootings at an
Orlando, Fla. gay bar by
making it all about “radical
Islam”. It’s a narrative
that neatly fits his policy
of banning Muslims from
immigrating to the U.S.
Trump’s
argument
conveniently leaves out
the reality that the gunman
was born in Queens, N.Y.
And notwithstanding the
shooter’s stated motivation
and pledges of loyalty
to ISIS, there was really
likely a series of complex
mental health and other
factors that caused this
Muslim man (who had
a penchant of hanging
around gay bars) to gun
down 49 innocent people.
However,
mentioning
“radical Islam” as much as
he can does simplify things
for Trump’s support who
want to believe there is a
simpler way to end such
threats.
Of course, such oversimplification by politics
isn’t always so dramatic.
But it does consistently
happen. And it happens
rather close to home
where politicians will
take a nugget of logic and
pound on it until it fits their
purposes.
Take the 1990s NDP
government that decided to
close 52 rural hospitals and
the Plains Health Centre in
Regina
in
response to the massive
debt
and
structural
deficit left behind by the
Progressive Conservative
government of the 1980s.
Logic suggested something
had to be done, but what
was less logical was
closing the best hospital
facility in Regina and
spending
$100-millionplus to renovate the oldest
hospital facility in Regina.
Even less logical was
leaving vast swaths of
rural
Saskatchewan
without emergency care.
(If the NDP felt the need
to close these hospitals,
should they not have
considered the value of
STARS ambulance?) But
logic in politics doesn’t
work that way. Instead, it is
the nature of politicians to
take a complex issue, strip
away a lot of logic from the
discussion and leave voters
only with what politicians
think voters want to hear.
In a very real way, this was
exactly what Premier Brad
Wall is now doing in his bid
to convince supporters that
the oil industry is under
siege from the left. Now,
don’t get me wrong. The
logic part is that there isn’t
much logic in the “Leap
Manifesto” now being
explored by the federal
NDP. In fact, it’s rather
nuts, starting with its rush
to end all fossil fuel usage
and to abandon large-scale
commercialized farming in
favour of boutique small
(read: organic; non-GMO
farming).
Provincial
Politics
with
Murray Mandryk
Wall is right that such
notions can be beaten
with facts. And it is fact
that converting Canada
to a carbon-less economy
would be ridiculously
unaffordable. It is also a
fact that it makes more
sense for Canadians to build
pipelines - especially the
Canada East pipeline - than
to import oil from Saudi
Arabia. But let’s face it:
This Leap Manifesto notion
is not going anywhere.
And Wall is just oversimplifying matters to
point of absurdity by
suggesting
the
Leap
Manifesto or Hollywood
crowd
(including
th e
likes of 1980s star Darryl
Hannah) are a threat to
the oil industry. Wall is
doing his job by defending
unemployed oil workers,
but they are out of work
because oil is less than $50
US a barrel - not because of
the Leap Manifesto, Darryl
Hannah, or the notion that
investors are bailing from
oil because of massive
environment concerns.
Work on convincing people
in the east of the validity
of building pipelines for
Western oil rather than
importing from disreputable
regimes in the Middle East.
Help put oil workers back
to work by pressuring the
federal government to
offer financial help with
abandoned wells. But don’t
insult voters’ intelligence
by simplifying a complex
issue like oil. This problem
deserves more thoughtful
consideration.
to Grow
Saskatchewan’s population
grew to another all-time
high in the first quarter
of 2016, according to the
latest figures released by
Statistics Canada.
There were 1,146,655
people
living
in
Saskatchewan as of April
1, 2016 – up 4,085 from
January 1, 2016 and up
16,118 over the past year.
Saskatchewan’s population
has now grown in every
quarter for 10 consecutive
years, growing by more
than 155,000 during that
period.
In the previous decade 1996
to 2006, Saskatchewan’s
population dropped in 28
of 40 quarters, declining by
more than 26,000 people.
Changes to
Compassionate Care
Leave Benefits
Saskatchewan employees
who need to take time
away from work to care
for a loved one will soon
be eligible to receive up to
28 weeks of job-protected
leave – an increase from
eight weeks.
Saskatchewan will be
one of three provinces to
increase this leave to match
the changes to Employment
Insurance,
recognizing
that families are important
and generational needs are
changing.
For more information on
compassionate care leave
employment-standards.
Family Matters
Program Available
Province-Wide
A successful program
that has been helping to
minimize the effect of
separation and divorce
on
family
members,
especially children, is now
being offered throughout
Saskatchewan.
Family Matters can help
couples work through
issues outside of the courts
by providing information
on
child
custody,
parenting plans, children’s
developmental needs and
property division.
For more information, call
1-844-863-3408 or email
[email protected]
Government
Introduces
Legislation
to Improve
Saskatchewan Auto
Injury Coverage
Coverage
amendments
introduced
in
the
Legislative Assembly will
improve Saskatchewan’s
auto injury program to
better meet the needs of
people who are injured in
vehicle collisions.
Amendments
to
The
Automobile
Accident
Insurance
Act
have
different impacts for all
Saskatchewan auto injury
programs. In total, there are
more than 20 changes, such
as:
ABOVE: MLA Nancy Hepner
•
When
an
impaired driver causes
a collision and is killed,
allow an innocent party or
the family impacted to sue
for pain and suffering or
bereavement damages (No
Fault, Reduced No Fault
and Tort coverage).
•
The
list
of
offences that trigger the
ability for an innocent
party to sue for pain and
suffering or bereavement
damages will expand
to
include:
criminal
negligence causing death
or bodily harm, criminal
negligence
causing
bodily
injury,
flight
from a peace officer and
dangerous operation while
street racing (No Fault,
Reduced No Fault and Tort
coverage).
•
Ensuring income
benefits maintain pace
with minimum wage (Tort
and Reduced No Fault
coverage).
The amendments are based
on
recommendations
from SGI resulting from
consultation with and
feedback from a variety
of
stakeholders
and
groups. The legislation is
anticipated to be passed
during the fall 2016 sitting
of the Legislature, with
changes taking effect
January 1, 2017.
Letter to the Editor
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