Spring Spending Spree

Today’s Op-Ed pages took note of the dramatic role reversal of Saskatchewan’s political parties in the wake of yesterday’s provincial budget.  Months ago, who was predicting the Sask Party would deliver a budget with such significant hikes in program spending with the Opposition NDP knocking the Government for minimal tax cuts?  Does anyone still remember those early ‘dire’ warning by the Sask Partiers about the state of our finances?

In its editorial, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix concludes the Government has opted for the status quo, saying it “covered its political promises without delivering a significant change in direction that one comfortably could believe would prepare this province not only for growth but any economic eventuality.”

The Regina Leader-Post applauded the budget’s  sizeable investment in ‘infrastructure’, saying the Government is off to a solid start.

Columnist Murray Mandryk mused that “the student may have now actually supplanted the master with its capital infrastructure initiative.”  What, asked Mandryk, is there for New Democrats to criticize?  His counterpart at the Star Phoenix, Randy Burton, observed that spending is no longer a dirty word for the Sask Party.  Burton offered the following, “…while the NDP can’t do it, in some ways this is a budget that could be more easily attacked from the right than the left.”

The Prince Albert Herald commented that the Government seems “to have forgotten its pledge to aid staggering education education property taxes.”  But on balance, the paper said the budget seemed to craft a good direction.

The Moose Jaw Times Herald hailed the budget as a “pretty good one” for Saskatchewan. In particular, the paper noted the budget’s reference to a renovation plan at the Moose Jaw Union Hospital. Even though there are few details, the paper said “Brad Wall had kept his word.”

And in a final strange twist, the news aggregator National Newswatch, carried a story headlined “Saskatchewan Party goes on spending spree.”  The source for the story:  The Victoria Times Colonist. Huh?

I drank, I drove, I got caught

This was the startling headline of today’s Leader-Post column by Bob Hughes.  As Hughes disclosed, he was at a reception Friday night, drank, then got in his car.  He didn’t go far as his vehicle got stuck in snow.  He was subsequently charged by police with impaired driving.  In what must have been a humiliating scene, Hughes was taken to the police station.

He speaks forthrightly in his column, making no excuses and taking full responsibility for his behaviour.  Some people in my media class said today that Hughes was simply “covering his ass,” knowing full well that this incident would be widely publicized once in court.   Who knows for certain what his motivation is?  I can only accept what he said at face value. 

Rob Vanstone’s Football

It is a tradition going back to my early career days and perhaps to the Romans, the bestowing of gifts on people who report on sports.  Sponsors and owners of sports organizations offer up a veritable smorgasboard of clothing, equipment, meals, tickets, and other assorted freebies.  The purpose, I presume, is to generate favorable publicity for their club or event. 

Some media organizations have strict guidelines prohibiting the acceptance of gifts by their staff, and many sports journalists are scrupulous about their dealings with gift-givers. One such journalist is Rob Vanstone, the Leader-Post’s Sports Co-ordinator, who shares this amusing personal story about a football.

Online News in Saskatchewan

Both CTV Regina and CTV Saskatoon have long had the top rated supper hour newscasts in the province.  Yet with all their audience success neither newsroom has its own stand alone website for Saskatchewan stories.  You have to travel to Sask Tel’s owned and operated website www.mysask.com for CTV stories, not something I’m inclined to do.

Dueling Words

This editorial in yesterday’s National Post about militant Indians in Ontario was extremely angry in tone.  Warren Kinsella, one of the paper’s regular columnists, had the same reaction, essentially arguing about the inappropriateness of its tone.

It is not uncommon to see columnists of larger newspapers disagree publicly (in this case in the Post’s blogging section.)  It’s healthy to see divergence of opinion from people writing for the same publication. 

It made me question how often columnists for the Leader-Post and Star Phoenix disagree publicly with the collective editorial positions of their papers.  I’m sure it happens but nothing comes to mind immediately.  Do you recall an instance when this has occurred in either Saskatchewan daily?

Taxes, God & Punctuation

My eyes usually glaze over when I tackle dense reports about capital cost allowances, business depreciation, even corporate or personal income taxes, so Saturday’s front-pager in the Leader Post was a pleasant surprise. It is a fascinating account of people who challenge the numbers, the wisdom, even the legitimacy of the Canada Revenue Agency, the Income Tax Act and our courts.

Reporter Barb Pacholik provides an illuminating profile of several Saskatchewan people who have been charged, in some cases convicted, of various tax offenses including failure to file tax returns.  I’m all for the little guy taking on the power of the state.  However, in these cases documented by Pacholik, the defendants’ arguments are incredibly inventive, if downright bizarre. It’s a good read!

Taser Burn

Could this year be worse for the RCMP than 2007?  Let’s hope the Mounties keep their Tasers holstered as recommended by an investigative commission.

In the meantime, many Saskatchewan police forces are rethinking their plans and practices according to news reports from this past week.  Strangely, Regina police have no plans to limit Taser use.  According to the Leader-Post, all Regina city cops will be equipped with Tasers by the end of 2008.  Great, they’ll be able to take them home for backyard barbeques!

Stranger still is an item that appeared in the Leader Post a few weeks ago headlined, “A few facts on Tasers.”  One sentence read: “The impact normally leaves a small puncture in the skin and the pain received is usually equivalent to a bad sunburn.”  Says who?  There was no attribution or source for this claim.  No journalism here but simply free advertising for the manufacturer, Taser International of Arizona.