Why Would we Believe Anything they Say?

The immigration minister Jason Kenney is hell bent for leather to deport a couple of Nigerian, University of Regina students. Victoria Ordu and Ihuoma Amadi made an honest mistake and worked for a couple of weeks at a Walmart store in violation of their student visas.

Many people are outraged by the actions of Canadian Immigration Services. Kenny and Cabinet puppet Vic Toews both have lied to the public about the matter saying the students were not actually enrolled in university. Something the U of R refutes. Both have been enrolled since 2009.

Both students, here on scholarships, have had to take refuge in a church to keep from being forcibly being put onto an airplane back to Africa.

Not surprisingly, there is no indication that any managers of the huge America company that hired them have had to take refuge in a church or anywhere else, to avoid deportation for hiring illegal aliens.

As often happens with Harper and his gang of thugs, we are getting mixed signals from this Government. At the same time he is trying to deport these young women the Minister is trying to amend legislation to make it easier for foreign students to stay here in Canada after they complete their studies. To be able to apply to immigrate from right here in Canada instead of having to first, return home.

Canada recruits foreign students. They pay a great deal more that Canadians students do for tuition. In many ways, a foreign student is basically, a cash cow for universities.

It is worth noting that many, many of these students the minister is trying to entice are here on scholarships paid by their home countries, often developing nations, that cannot afford to lose their best and brightest.

At the same time, Canada is continuing to under fund the education system in our own country. As an example, it is cheaper to steal doctors from developing nations than it is to provide more spaces for Canadian students in medical school.

Chasing Balloons

The CTV balloon had a slightly ungraceful landing,  tipping the basket.

Yesterday was another of those amazing days we seldom get in fall. Not warm but hot. Not what you'd generally expect for the end of September.

About 6:00 as the sun was getting lower in the sky a couple of hot air balloons slowly drifted by.

It was a spur of the moment thing. In minutes we were in the car, heading north and west, cameras in hand chasing balloons down grid roads, along farmer's dirt tracks and across the prairie trying to figure out where they were going to land.

We pulled on to the edge of a farmer's freshly harvested field, in behind the chase trucks, just before they landed and just before the sun slipped over the horizon.

Regina is a Funny Town

I don't think I've seen so many people on the Scarth Street Mall before - ever - but the Regina Folk Festival's Stage was packing them in on Sunday. The place was solid people

Hawkley Workman perhaps said it best, gesturing to Beer Brothers patio, "I don't know but, if that was my bar, I'd be open." Indeed. What a missed opportunity.

I could have used a beer and a late snack. Perhaps next year the owners will get a little better tuned in, to what is happening downtown.

And in the News Today

Canada Post Fiasco

I am always impressed by how governments manage to turn public opinion in the face of all logic.

The Postal Workers were holding rotating strikes to put pressure on the Canada Post, a Crown Corporation, to put a better offer on the table. Canada post was determined, in collective bargaining to undermine pension benefits. While I might have missed the odd day’s delivery, I was pretty much getting regular mail delivery.

Canada Post then locked their employees out. The mail stopped. The Government then expressed concern about the stoppage. 

Instead of telling Canada Post to lift the lock-out the government brought in legislation and after a NDP filibuster delayed the passing for some time, the legislation passed and the mail will move again on Tuesday.

Canada Post is legendary for their bad industrial relations record. The government has just rewarded Canada Post's bad behaviour by forcing workers back on the job, something they would have done willingly, just not for every day.

Listening to the debate around the dispute I was disappointed to hear some Canadians rise to support the Harper Government’s reaction. On the face of it no one will admit voting for these guys but too many are pretty eager to buy the Harper “For the good of the economy” argument  hook, line and sinker.

I don't object to legislating Postal Workers back to work after a strike has actually begun to have a real effect on the economy but when they are locked out by the same government that controls the legislative agenda. That is another thing.

The Ugly Canadian

It’s an old story. Foreign companies come into a developing nation bring with them the promise of hard cash for a struggling government.

Resources are exploited, people are displaced and a way of life ruined all in the name of the economic good the benefit of which few but government officials and local businessmen ever see.

This time it is Peru and the companies are Canadian. Some are familiar, some not. I am sure there are good guys and bad guys although it is tough to sort out who is who. The list includes Barrick Gold, HudBay Minerals, Bear Creek Mining, Sukkiden, First Quantum and others.

The locals say that farmland is being destroyed, water polluted and although the government may be seeing an increase in revenue, local people have yet to see benefit from the operations. No schools, no good hospitals, no new roads.

Protests have become ugly and the government in response has revoked the mining rights from at least one Canadian Company, Bear Creek. In typical corporate bully boy fashion, the company says they will sue under the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement. 

Hands up now, everyone who knew there was one. 

Always There For a Laugh

Those of us who read the Regina Leader Post can always find a couple of things to post fun at.

In Monday’s edition of the paper lived up to expectations.

There is a special feature about what entertainers who are coming to Saskatchewan this summer. Reading about k.d. lang in this morning’s paper my breakfast partner pointed out that the reporter must not have been paying attention at J-School when they talked about, the backbone of any story, the 5 W’s.

Jeff Dedekker somehow managed to leave out the When, Where and the Why. For those who may be confused, k.d. lang is playing the Regina Folk Festival in Victoria Park, downtown Regina, August 6th at 10:45

We were also quite mystified by the headline, “On Line Dating Linked to Rise in STDs”

Frankly it defies imagination.

Wascana Creek Pelicans

To be honest I don't know a hell of a lot about pelicans but, for reasons I don't understand, there are a whole lot more of them on the prairies these days.

They are pretty amazing to watch, huge birds really.

In recent days the water has been so high on Wascana Lake in Regina the city opened the weir at the Albert Street Bridge to see if they could get the water level down.

Tipped off, I went down to the dike to watch them this morning.

To see more pictures of pelicans feeding and swimming in the foam generated by the rushing water have a look at the blog, Latitude Drifts.

Regina Leader Post's New Coat of Paint

To much self-congratulation the Regina Leader Post unveiled their new format to readers this week.

Rob McLaughlin, the editor in chief of the Leader-Post tells us it is “...a thrilling opportunity to try new things, to meet new people and to go new places. Redesigned and refreshed from front to back, the new look of the Leader-Post is the first of many steps we're taking to better represent a city and a province in the middle of a significant transformation.


Brighter, bolder and easier to navigate from section to section, it's the first major overhaul of the paper in just under a decade. Our new look starts with a revised masthead on page one and extends through the paper with cleaner page tops, improved readability and better spacing of our columns and lines of type. And while we're preserving many of the existing features you've come to expect, we've also added a few new elements.


We hope it better reflects how we now connect with each other to express our opinions and debate the challenges facing our communities.”

Well, I’d say, it will take more than a fresh coat of paint to fix the old LP and based on the comments I’ve seen so far most readers agree with me. They find it disjointed and confusing and the new format uses too many conflicting fonts. The most common refrain is “Go back, go back.”

Format, shormat, I judge a paper by its content, the weight it gives to stories, its political biases and what it puts on the front page.

Anderson Clipping

Yesterday the northern Saskatchewan community of Wollaston Lake was served with an evacuation order because of threatening forest fires. There is no summer road in and out. Using small planes the town’s people were being airlifted out until smoke closed the airport. Now the only hope is that the still frozen lake has enough open water along the shore to boat the folks out.

Pretty dramatic front page news if you ask me but the editors stuck the story on the bottom of page two and it appears the LP couldn't even bother to send in a photographer. If Wollaston goes the way of Slave Lake perhaps the Leader Post can buy something from Reuters later.

This morning the Leader Post front page featured a large, poorly printed colour photograph of U2’s Bono and The Edge along with a story about a Regina woman who plans to attend eleven U2 concerts while they are on this tour. I have to ask why anyone might be interested in anyone who is dumb enough to do that and who at 34 should know better.

Next there is a story about the fact that veteran football player Chris Szarka has been cut by the Riders. Whoop de do. Why should I care? Szarka has already moved on and last year was elected to Regina’s City Council.

Next there is a story about a hockey player being charged as a result of a fatal accident outside Calgary.

So here are a couple of hints for publisher Marty Kline. Start with hiring some more reporters, assign more reporters to beats, so news isn’t reported by journalists who start each day with a blank slate, use less wire copy and if you have to use it at all rewrite it to give it a local slant and use a few op-ed pieces from people who actually know how to write.

If the LP wants to become relevant, it needs more than a new coat of paint

I Guess This Just Isn't Scilla Country

I used to live on the west end of the Island of Montreal. In fact I lived in the area three different time in my life. Once in my teens, later when I worked at CFCF television and again for about 10 years starting in the mid eighties. My mother still lives there so, I am back fairly often.

It is a lovely mix of old suburbia and historic villages established in the 1700's.

There isn't a nicer time than spring on the West Island so it was the memory of front lawns blue with scilla that prompted me head to the garden centre a few years ago to find some bulbs and plant them in my lawn here in Regina.

I am not quite sure what went wrong but instead of a subtle blue carpet I managed to produce three scraggly blue flowers. Perhaps I should try growing wheat.

The Dipstick

It is how you check the oil you dork
Leader Post Photo

During Election Campaigns I feel almost compelled to mock public figures. With good reason I think. Election campaigns are not about substance or real policy or what candidates really stand for. It is all about tightly managed messages and photo ops of highly controlled "visits" to local business, universities and peoples houses.

Harper has been spending his days announcing new economic initiatives which are dutifully reported by every newspaper in the country. Everyone seems to miss the fact that if these new "gifts to Canadians" were real he'd have put them into the budget released not two weeks ago. I think Conservative policy wonks think them on the campaign jet as they wing their way back and forth across the country

So, I thought this morning offering in the Regina Leader Post had to be shared. Harper visited a boat sales shop and in an effort to look like he cares, seems quite curious about the marine engine dip stick. I know Harper doesn't drive his own car, the RCMP get him from place to place, and it must have been years since this "ordinary Canadian" checked the oil but in this photo it looks like Laureen Harper is explaining to Stephen what a dipstick is.

Saskaboom not Quite What Some Claim

Living here in Saskatchewan I am getting more than a bit tired of all the talk about the economic boom we are living through. I lived in Calgary during the booming early 80's and believe me, the Saskaboom is quite different. 

By anyone’s terms, Saskatchewan is still small potatoes compared to the big boys.

Sure we have lots of oil and gas, our own, yet to be developed, tar sands, potash, uranium and of course diamonds. And, if agriculture was as bad as the farmers would like us to think, no one would be still in the game. So, according to the government and the newspapers things are really cooking but, truth be known, it is bubbling away  in a pretty small pot.

Things may be percolating over at WalMart but I still can't get an Ikea Stornas/Henriksdal dining room set without driving to Calgary. Boom or not, Saskatchewan is too small for Ikea to even think about opening up an outlet.  

This week, in the midst of our so called boom,  Standard & Poors downgraded their outlook on the City of Regina from stable to negative. I don't know a hell of a lot about the language used by financial ratings organizations but even "stable" doesn't sound very good to me. To me "stable is not all that many steps away from "on life support", but what do I know.

Regina’s Mayor, Pat Fiacio got elected on a cut spending/no new taxes campaign and true to form he tried to beat up the city's workers and held the line on taxes. He and his pro-development council have approved ugly and sprawling new housing developments and shopping centres but have done very little to maintain what we already have. Roads are so badly made it is like riding a roller coaster just driving to work, we  still don't have curbside recycling, residents complain that street lights take months to be replaces after they burn our and the snow removal is so spotty residents living off bus routes have to hire contractors to clear snow from their street. 

Now the city faces a deficit of $238,000,000 to the Civic Employees Superannuation and Benefit Plan and there is a infrastructure debt of almost $1.5 billion in the 10 year capital plan.

Lets bring back a much needed small dose of reality to all this. I heart Regina too Pat but, in my books, you are all booster, no boom.

The Things You Learn in the Bar

Not long ago I was having an after badminton beer in Bushwakkers and wondering what group was providing the music the following evening, I asked Eric if he could read the notice pasted on the wall some metres away as I was having some trouble focusing. It was quite noisy in the bar and I thought he said it is The Regina Male Boys Choir, the redundancy in the name not quite sinking in.

Coming into the bar the next night I was therefore surprised to see a choir of well dressed gentlemen, some of whom must have been in their late 70’s at the very least. The “old boys” choir I thought.

It turns out the Regina Male Voice Choir was there to entertain us with Christmas music.

A beer or two later and just at the start of one of their numbers we were surprised to see a couple of the kitchen staff coming out carrying a large boar’s head, on a tray which they carried around the room during the singing of the piece.  “Oh, that was the Boar’s Head Carol” we were told.”  Who knew?

It turns out that this little known carol – at least little know amongst beer drinking badminton players – dates back to the fifteenth century.

The story is that an Oxford scholar named Capcot - no first name provided -  who was studying at Queen’s College   was walking over the common on his way to church in Horspath village when he was attacked by a wild boar.  Capcot, obviously a very tough guy, is said to have grabbed the boar by the scruff of the neck and to have jammed a copy of Aristotle which he had been reading down its throat.

The scholar then is reported to have cut off the boar’s head and stuck it on his staff leaving it outside the church during the service. He subsequently brought it back to his pals at Oxford for dinner.

The Horspath parish church has a window celebrating this event.

This event is still celebrated in Oxford at an annual dinner during which the carol is sung and during the singing three chefs carry a boar’s head  decorated with a garland of bay leaves and rosemary around the hall.

The things you learn in bars these days.

Ok everyone, all together now.

The Boar’s Head Carol

The boar's head in hand bear I,
Bedecked with bays and rosemary;
And I pray you my masters be merry,
Quot estis in convivio

Chorus:
Caput apri defero
Reddens laudes Domino
Laudes Domino, Laudes Domino, Laudes Domino

The boar's head, as I understand,
Is the bravest dish in all the land
When thus bedecked with a gay garland
Let us servire cantico.

Our steward hath provided this
In honour of the King of Bliss,
Which on this day to be served is
In Reginensi atrio

Watch Pat Squirm

Big news in Regina.  Property taxes are going up almost 5% and water will cost us 9% extra in each of the next three years.
Anyone who has been paying attention shouldn't be surprised though. The
Pat Fiacco has always run on a "no increased taxes" platform as if a city could always maintain services in the face of increased costs by just tightening a few belts here and there, contracting out services and by beating up on city workers. It is cheap politics and gets people elected but it doesn't work in the long term.
Under his leadership services like snow removal have become a laughing stock and now Pat has to start talking realistically about  services and where the money is going to come from to provide them. I find it kind of funny.
Pat has always been guided by the self interest of groups like the Canadian Federation of Independent business that is speaking out against any hike. They don't think this is the right time to hike taxes. Nothing new there.
Personally, I don't mind paying my fair share. It is worth every penny just to see Pat squirm.

Some Other Time Brad

With time spent traveling to Central Canada and then contracting a bad cold I have been neglecting this blog but I am back, if only at half steam.
Here have been so many issues missed over the last few weeks. Harper and his crew never stop offering opportunities to rant.
While in Quebec I was quite interested in the debate over Federal funding for a new arena in Quebec City as a part of a bid to get Les Nordiques back. Even Harper waded in for a while seeming to support the idea of injecting Federal cash into the project contradicting several of his Quebec ministers. In Quebec it was seen clearly as a vote buying scheme in an effort to garner support much needed by the Reform/Conservative/Alliance bunch. They have taken a big hit in Quebec over the gun registry issue. They are practical people in Quebec. The sentiment seemed to be. “OK, give us the money but we aren’t going to vote for you anyway.”
Now I see that Hamilton wants a bit of Federal cash to refurbish Ivor Wynne Stadium in advance of the Pan American Games. Why not jump on the vote buying bandwagon too, after all?
All this action puts the likelihood of the much hyped Regina stadium project going ahead into doubt. Both Regina mayor Pat Fiacco and Premier Brad Wall see the stadium as a legacy project. Their legacy project.
They are starting to panic.
Wall had a meeting with that motley crew of Saskatchewan Conservative MPs this week and came away with very little. I am not sure how they sounded while they were in the meeting but after the discussions ended a few of the MPs had comments none of which should encourage Saskatchewan Stadium fans. My own MP Tom “A Team” Lukiwski’s comments were incomprehensible. According to media reports he suggested that the Regina bid would have a better chance of success securing funds under a kind of public-private-partnership which of course is what Saskatchewan has already applied to the Feds under. Then he said “We have been facilitating that process for Saskatchewan rather that advocating one way or another. P3 is not a perfect fit, but it has a lot of commonalities in it.”
Now in fairness, no one ever said that Lukiwski was very bright but, his comments make no sense. I sometimes wonder if these Conservatives have been sent on some kind of Ottawa double speak course or, perhaps they are all so afraid of contradicting Little Stevie that they just mumble gibberish when asked a question. The theory being that if they say anything to offend Harper, they will find themselves sitting in the backbenches beside some Independent.
I think Brad is out of luck. Harper was recently quoted as saying, in Saskatoon of all places.
“In terms of financing major sports facilities, there are demands here, there are demands in Quebec City, I am aware of demands elsewhere. In terms of financing these things going forward, we’re going to have to respect the precedents we have had in the past and be sure any treatment we’re prepared to make to one city we’re prepared to make to all,” said Harper.
That sounds to me like “Perhaps some other time Brad.”
Harper needs votes in Quebec and in Hamilton and it appears that he isn’t going to cough up in those cities. Why should he bother when Saskatchewan voters will support him no matter how many promises he breaks in this Province?
And Brad Wall? Brad still clings to the hope that his “special relationship” with Harper will benefit the province at some point. It is kind of cute that Brad can hang onto that small town naivety in politics but I am afraid he heading for a rude awakening.

Live Long and Prosper

I always thought the slogan, I Love Regina was more than a bit lame. I was never sure why a decades old slogan idea was suddenly popular again so, I was more than a bit surprised when it actually was embraced by Regina businesses and even by citizens.

That branding was shamelessly copied the I Love New York slogan first used in 1977. The New York logo, using the heart to symbolize love, has been copied over and over again and every time someone in New York make a few bucks.

So yesterday, Mayor Pat Fiacco announced in his annual "State of the City" address, that Regina now has a new logo and slogan. Mayor Pat, who never saw a camera or microphone he didn't like, told the media that "This is how we will tell the world what a great place Regina is to live, to work, to invest, and to visit." Fiacco boasted that the cost of the logo was well worth it and that "...it will pay for its self in population growth and job creation."

Wow, all that in a logo. With that, it will be worth every cent of the $320,000 it cost us.

The Regina Leader Post's editorial board, never one to miss an opportunity to slather over anything Mayor Pat says or does pronounced that, "It is a measure of how far Regina has come that the slogan infinite horizons now accurately describes and promotes a city that's dynamic, innovative, full of potential and possibilities." Oh Yeah, did I mention that it was designed by a Winnipeg company?

But wait, there is more. Fiacco's announcement yesterday was just a preview. The new logo will be officially launched this coming weekend at the new Saskatchewan Olympic pavilion in Vancouver. Does that strike anyone but me, as odd.

I'll bet Vancouver residents and Olympic visitors will be pretty excited about that.

Can anyone spell boondoggle.

I could give the Blackberry Mead a Miss

You know what it is like to find a bar that you think of as your own? In the UK it would by my "local" or simple "the pub." It is the kind of place where you can go for lunch, settle in for a pint after a game of badminton or with a gang after floor hockey. A place where the staff get to know the regulars, a spot where you feel comfortable, somewhere you can linger over a couple of pints and talk. For me that sort of place is Bushwakkers.

Bushwakkers has character. It is in Regina's old warehouse district and the old square rough sawed posts that hold the roof up must be 2 feet square. They were probably shipped in by train from B.C. The floor creaks and the decor could use an update and if I was the chef I'd update they menu and bring back the potato skins, but it is comfortable.

It is a brew pub with a line of beer with good prairie names like Stubblejumper Pils, Sodbuster Brown Ale, and slough Shark Ale. I always have a chuckle when people order a pint of Mother-in-law - half a pint of bitter and half a pint of stout.

The only drawback about the place is that, around this time of year, Bushwakkers introduces Blackberry Mead to the drink menu. The place fills up every night with rowdies who have come to drink up the mead as long as it lasts. There are those who are there for the taste but without question, many are simply there for the high alcohol content.

My favorite place turns into a zoo for a few weeks each year. Friday evening when the forecast was for an overnight low of -49 with the windchill there was a lineup out the door and not a chance of getting a table for eight. After our weekly floor hockey game we had to go somewhere else for beer which for us was a giagantic break with tradition.

I hate to sound like a Grinch but, at least when it comes to Bushwakkers, will be happy to see then end of the holiday season.

We're Number 12, We're number 12

In a constant search for something to boast about, our leader in boosterism, the Regina Leader Post’s headline says. "Regina 12th on list of cities popular with young professionals." Now there is something to boast about.

Everybody chant with me, “We’re number twelve. We’re number twelve. We’re number twelve.” Ok, you can stop now. I agree, it sounds a bit lame.

The LP with its usual in depth reporting style found a "young professional" (27) who has moved to Regina from Swift Current. He likes Regina. I guess I can figure that out. And they talked to city alderman Michael Fougere who wouldn’t be described as a young professional even by the legally blind.

The study, done by Next Generation Consulting, a group in Madison Wisconsin calls its report their Next Cities ranking. They ranked Canadian cities with populations of over 100,000 as to which were the best places to live for young professionals. They must have been commissioned by someone but God knows who.

Let’s look at the list.

CANADA'S NEXT CITIES:

1. Victoria, 2. Ottawa, 3. Vancouver, 4. Kingston, 5. Halifax, 6. Toronto, 7. Calgary, 8. Saskatoon, 9. London, 10. Edmonton, 11. Winnipeg, 12. Regina, 13. Thunder Bay, 14. St. Catharines- Niagara, 15. Saint John, 16. Montreal, 17. Kitchener, 18. St. John's, 19. Quebec City, 20. Hamilton, 21. Sherbrooke, 22. Sudbury, 23. Oshawa, 24. Windsor, 25. Abbotsford, 26. Trois-Rivieres, 27. Saguenay,

I am not sure what it says about their eye for detail but their on line media release spelled Niagara wrong and listed Sherbrooke as being in Ontario. (Spelling isn't my long suit either so I kind of understand) I also note that there are no French speaking cities rated higher that Regina. Being quite familiar with some of those cities and I am curious to know if any of the Wisconsin research group could actually speak French, or if they just couldn't find enough English speaking young professionals to make their probe accurate.

So there you have it. Regina beat out cities like Kitchener, Trois Riviere and Oshawa. Is that something to boast about? There is nothing wrong with Regina. I like it here. It has improved by leaps and bounds since I first moved here 11 or 12 years ago. But, a message to LP editors, if there actually are any, don’t boast about being number 12. It makes you look like idiots.

Wascana Evening

We walked around Wascana Lake yesterday evening around sundown. Our last training session before flying out Monday Morning.
The place was full of duck families close to the shoreline on the north-west side of the lake. Later on the way around we saw scores of goslings, yellow and brown waddling around under the watchful eye of their goose parents.
We were also surprised to see a couple of beaver. One we got within a couple of feet of. So close you could hear it chewing away at the tree shoots it was having for a meal. It was so nonchalant, our presence didn't seem to bother it one bit. It just chewed away nonplussed by our intrusion into its summer evening.

In the Main it was a Water Problem

After driving from Vancouver to Regina in a couple of days I was pretty beat when I pulled up outside my house Tuesday afternoon. I was immediately taken by the stream bubbling through my front yard. Now a spring suddenly appearing in your front yard, might be turned into a nifty landscaping feature but I thought I should check out all the possibilities before getting carried away with that idea.

I called the city.

Sure enough the water line had split and although we still had water in the house, something had to be done about that stream.

This morning an army of workers and a convoy of heavy equipment arrived in front of the house and in short time they were digging holes in the road and my yard. The city water crew had moved in and had the problem in hand.

Who knew the problem would go right back to the old issue of contracting out? Instead of having city crews install the water lines, the city sub contracted the work. The contractor cut costs by using plastic lines instead of copper and now one by one they are splitting and have to be replaced. The workers tell me that thousands will have to be replaced within the next few years, and they will. Where is the contractor, who knows. Probably doing it all over again in some new subdivision.

Complain all you like about city workers. They will at least do the job right.

City counselors? They will continue to contract out to the cheapest bidder. You figure it out.