Archive for February, 2007

Today’s column is a collection of bits of news on various items of interest.

Fans of the SJHL will be encouraged to note that the private members bill rolling back tax on hockey players’ housing and food allowance is getting near third and final reading. This will bring the situation back to where it was a few years ago before a tax grab by Revenue Canada: So, good news is around the corner for the Humboldt Broncos and Melfort Mustangs.

Debate on anti-terrorism legislation is the hot topic in Ottawa. Current legislation is required to be reviewed and reaffirmed by Parliament, but it appears that this may not happen. The Liberals (who originally passed the anti-terrorist legislation) have now decided to oppose the legislation. Unfortunately, Stephane Dion is determined to make it harder for the police to combat terrorism—even though prominent Liberals John Manley and Ann McClellan are calling for support of the Conservatives on this issue.

A new energy retrofit program has been announced. April 1st funding will be in place for people to get energy audits and upgrade their houses to make them more energy efficient. This program will replace the old Energuide program (which had a horrible record, as most the program’s money was spent on administration.)

Also, keep your eyes open for some rural infrastructure announcements coming up in March for our area. I’ll be out and about to make some announcements.

I’m Brad Trost your MP for Saskatoon-Humboldt. I welcome your feedback. Contact my offices anytime.

Premier Calvert is calling me a liar on his NDP website. Now I could do one of two things. I could get into a name calling exercise with the premier (not my style) or I could lay out the facts and let people decide for themselves on the issue.

I had written a letter on equalization pointing out that the federal NDP had “studiously avoided the issue”. I said this because the federal NDP have not come out in support of the Conservative government’s position on equalization which is: non-renewable natural resources must not be counted as part of equalization.

The premier’s response was to post a handful of quotes on the issue by the federal NDP on equalization, and call me a liar. Naturally, being interested in their response I read their rebuttal and found out that the NDP proved my point for me.

Instead of clearly stating their position, the NDP fudged in all of their statements. They talked about fairness for Saskatchewan, fairness for non-renewable natural resources, and other general platitudes. Not in one of the quotes on the NDP site, did the federal NDP commit to what both I and Stephen Harper have pledged: 100% removal of non-renewable natural resources. The federal NDP did not do what Lorne Calvert asked; instead they studiously avoided the issue.

The NDP do not want to support the removal of non-renewable resources, because they want to cater to Gary Doer’s NDP in Manitoba. They don’t want to support the Conservatives. They want to be able to say one thing in Manitoba and another thing in Saskatchewan.

Now I understand the premier has spent wildly in the past six years, (40% rise in spending over the last six years according to one set of numbers I saw) and has next to nothing to show for his efforts. But his personal and vicious attacks are not based on facts; they are based on rumors and un-sourced leaks to the press.

I stand by what the Conservatives said on equalization. 1. Non-renewable resources will not be included in the formula, 2. The formula will be based on a 10 province average. 3. The final result will not disadvantage any province from the current formula.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament, and I welcome your feedback. Write or call my offices.

Welcome back to my column. With the resumption of Parliament and the political issues that have come up in the New Year, its time to return to the issues of the week.

Barley: For those of you who are just getting back from a month or two down south and haven’t heard, a plebiscite is taking place on changes to the Wheat Board involving the marketing of barley.

The barley plebiscite will be only for Western grain farmers. While the NDP and the Liberals want non-farmers to participate (they also wanted 15,000 non-farmers to vote in the CWB elections) the government is only permitting farmers to vote. Anyone who has produced grain in 2006 and barley in at least one of the last five years (2002-2006) will be eligible to vote. Also, farmers who do not meet this criterion but are active farmers can swear an affidavit (explaining that they had planned to produce a grain crop in 2006 but were unable to do so) and still receive a ballot.

The question on the ballot for the barley plebiscite will be:

1.) The Canadian Wheat Board should retain the single desk for the marketing of barley into domestic human consumption and export markets.
2.) I would like the option to market my barley to the Canadian Wheat Board or any other domestic or foreign buyer.
3.) The Canadian Wheat Board should not have a role in the marketing of barley.

As a conservative, I make no apologies for urging people to vote for option 2 or option 3. The Wheat Board has done an awful job of marketing malt barley. (Just compare what you can make now on your feed barley compared to what you can get for malt, which should be at a price premium.) In the end, how barley will be marketed will be decided by farmers–not by CWB bureaucrats or people with a vested interest in making an easy buck off the backs of farmers.

I’m Brad Trost, your Member of Parliament, and I welcome your feedback. Write or call my offices.