YORKTON THIS WEEK (March 13)

I don’t know what it takes to get a highways department to shut down a road; but I can’t imagine travel conditions being any more treacherous than they were on Saturday night in Manitoba on the Trans-Canada Highway from Brandon to Moosomin.  It was an odd day as there wasn’t a snow storm or anything like that; but the entire highway was a sheet of ice with blowing snow.  There were places you couldn’t do more than 40 km/h and even then there were times when you would spin out.  We passed numerous vehicles in the ditch or in the median. 

For me, I put on 40-thousand kilometers a year in travel on highways throughout Saskatchewan (and a little bit in Manitoba).  I don’t recall a highway being as bad as the one we were on Saturday for quite a few years.  Yet, Manitoba seems to shut down the Trans-Canada, regularly, just outside Winnipeg.

There is a rest stop as soon as you enter Saskatchewan (or right before you leave Manitoba); but it didn’t look accessible Saturday night for travelers.  Am I wrong to think these rest stops should be one of the first things cleared of snow so that weary or careful drivers can stop and wait out the conditions?  It just seems to defeat the purpose of having it.

While on the topic of snowy roads, I will (once again) say, publicly, that there isn’t a municipality in Saskatchewan or Manitoba that does a job as well as Yorkton when it comes to city snow removal.  Our crews deserve the best grade available for their work.  Thank you.

I’m throwing in the white towel on winter.  I give up.  Winter wins.  I’m tired of it.  Too cold, too much snow, too many days of gray sky.  Yes, I know it’s Saskatchewan and so on and so forth.  Still.  I give up.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a paragraph concerning the Canadian Senate and the apparent mismanagement of taxpayer dollars by Senators for travel and living expenses.  I said that I had emailed Yorkton-Melville MP Garry Breitkreuz to get his opinion on the matter and an official from his office replied, promptly.  To date, however, I haven’t heard from Garry so maybe that big salary and larger pension plan is warranted, after all.  If you are too busy to get back to an inquiring tax payer on an issue such as this within a period of two weeks, then I would suggest a raise should be in order.  And, he’s not even a Cabinet Minister.  Just think how busy they must be!  I’m no longer interested now anyway.  Too much time has gone by, the issue is no longer in the news, and in typical Canadian fashion we all just roll over and continue to allow our politicians to spend like drunken sailors at our expense.  I wonder if a bunch of us decided to block a highway or something over this matter if more attention would be given to it?

Since I am on the topic of politicians and their salaries, Standing Buffalo First Nation Chief Roger Redman made $314 000 in the calendar year 2011.  The Canadian Taxpayers Federation gave him a ‘Teddy Award’, which goes to individuals for excessive spending.  The money is more than Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s salary and while most of us would agree that is, absolutely, ridiculous; I think we all need to keep quiet about it until more is done at the very, very top.  Let’s clean this nonsense up, starting with the Senators, and work our way down. 

Granted, we are only presented with one side of the story when we read and see news reports; but you would have to convince me, otherwise, that this kind of misspending shouldn’t be a criminal matter.  Hopefully if First Nations people are upset about Redman’s salary, they will find a way to make their voice heard.  The one thing I admire most about Canadian First Nation people is their ability to protest and make an impact with the politicians in Ottawa.

Saskatoon troublemaker Ashu Solo was back in the news last week, taking his anti-Christian message to the human rights commission.  In case you missed it, he didn’t like “Merry Christmas” being displayed on city busses nor does he like a prayer being said at city sponsored events.  I’m not going to bother acknowledging him anymore, I’ll leave that to John Gormley.  However, I will only say I wish I had the kind of time on my hands like he, apparently, does to protest things I find offensive. 

Am I alone in thinking the traffic light on Gladstone and Smith in Yorkton is a little mixed up?  I’m sure I have been stopped at that intersection and seen a red light for all four directions.

Nice person mentions this week to Jeff Sedor (great driving on Saturday), the volunteers associated with the Melville Millionaires Junior ‘A’ Hockey Club, Tracy Cook, Les and Audra Johnson, Chad Morris, and Justice Von Awesome.