NDP...DO NOT FIX WHAT ISN'T BROKEN

For 44 years the Progressive Conservatives have ruled Alberta. I believe all that needed to be done were 2 basic things in order for either a Progressive Conservative minority win or a Wildrose minority win. 

For the Progressives to have had Redford prosecuted like the Canadian senators. No IFS, ANDs, or BUTS about it. 

She took the Albertan taxpayers for millions and got away with it and the PCs allowed it. The gluttony of the Progressive Conservatives at its best shined through and allowing Ms. Redford to get away with abusing her title of Premier, that alone threw the voters in Alberta into defiance.

Danielle Smith screwed the Wildrose party so badly crossing the floor AFTER Redford burned the taxpayers. It was her biggest political mistake and she will go down in history as the dumbest leader of the opposition. 

The Wildrose Party would have taken this election BECAUSE of Redford, had the defectors not crossed the floor. They burned their bridges doing so and made it possible for a majority New Democratic Party win.

Albertans have shown that they are fed up with Progressive Conservative gluttony and with the Wildrose untrustworthiness...Liberals will not rule in Alberta and the Alberta Party are too new. 

With the defection of the Wildrose party leader and cohorts, Albertans saw a coalition between the Wildrose and the PCs happening if either had a minority government in this election and too many decided they did not want to see that happen, because of course…NOTHING gets done with a minority government and you end up going back to the polls in a year anyways with a minority government. 

With a minority NDP government the Wildrose and the PCs could have had a coalition to block anything that the New Democrats tried to do, even any good.

Change has to happen. Is this a good change? I have no clue, I have never lived with an NDP government, but that is not to say every NDP provincial leader cannot learn from the mistakes that others have made in other provinces.

All we can do is hope that the government is smart enough to do what only needs to be done and not overstep their bounds.

DO NOT FIX WHAT ISN'T BROKEN.

I know that the New Democrats like crown corporations, but…

Leave the roads and financing for the roads ALONE.

Leave the things that are working ALONE…

They are working and do not need your fingers in the mix.

ONLY FIX WHAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED.

Taxation has to be in degrees. Someone who makes $12/hour should not be paying the same tax rate as someone making $500/hour, but that person making $500/hour should not be paying more in taxes than corporations that are making billions and then laughing with their money as they run away.

Small business owners should not be paying huge amounts of money in taxes, like corporations, where they cannot make ends meet. These are the people who are hiring locals, paying employment benefits and pension plans, they do not deserve that. Keep taxes low for the small business owners.

But it is time for corporations to start paying their due. 

For instance, those heavy equipment operators drive huge trucks carrying huge loads of other equipment up and down highways; those highways take a beating from those trucks. You can see it in Saskatchewan. These companies are making billions off of the resources of our provinces and not putting money back into them. They use our roads to transport their heavy equipment and their oil.

The highways were not prepared for the Oil sands being opened to Oil companies in Saskatchewan and they are taking a thrashing. The Oil trucks were going 24/7 on these highways beating the crap out of them...That is where I stand by my statement of…

DO NOT MESS WITH THE ROADS!

Good luck NDP, you have the chance to make history with a GOOD socialist government example here in Canada. 

Don't screw it up.

When is Change Needed?

I do find my life lucky. 

Some people may think that I am a downer, that I am so negative and many times when I am not on my medication that is true. 

But right now in my life I am happy. Even though there is stress, I am trying very hard to deal with that stress in a positive way. I am trying to help not only myself but others who matter very much. I keep busy with gardening and Keagan is keeping me on the run.

A short time ago I blogged how much money I received of government funding. I want people to know, I do not expect more than what I am getting. I have survived on what I get and I know it is my choice to live where I do.

I don't waste what little I have. I use my funds to feed, cloth and put a roof over my daughters head while still being there for my son who is living with his father. 

I am not responsible for any other person's expenses or hobbies but my own and my daughters which are minimal to begin with (until lately ;) Keagan has gotten into some school activities like badminton and track and field. We also found her a Cello teacher! YAH!) 

I live a very simple life, eating out happens rarely, I do not make expensive purchases for others or for myself without having the cash available in hand, meaning I save for it first. Snacks are a given in all households but there is a limit to how much is spent each month and fruit is always available in the house. I do preserves and freeze in the fall what we cannot store over the winter.

Do I expect others to live the same way? No. 

But there are those that are very much worse off than I and that is who I want to bring attention to...to those people who don't even make the $18,000/year, but are working from morning until night. 

Those who can make the difference are those who make more than I do, they make more than $40,000/year...these are the people who need to decide that cleaning toilets, mopping floors and cleaning grills is worth more than minimum wage and no benefits. 

These are the people who have to look at the numbers...inflation 1975 pay=2015 pay for minimum wagers...but the prices are wacked. These are the people who have to see that a house in 1975 was 10% of what it is now. 

Food cost has skyrocketed since then as well and you complained THEN that it was expensive, if you are not living on minimum wage now...think, if you were complaining about the cost of food in the '70s how do you think someone on minimum wage feels NOW? They cannot afford meat.

Doctors, lawyers, accountants, all those professional politicians, along with the floor scrubbers, hamburger flippers and skyscraper builders need to decide that those people who bathe, feed and dress our grandparents in the homes are worth more than minimum wage and no benefits. 

These are the people who need to say, enough of YOUR taxes going into the pockets of people who are not doing their jobs and into the pockets of people who are working. 

A person who works as a client care attendant/nursing aid in a group home for seniors or for the severely disabled should not have to be on assistance and a person working as a chambermaid should not have to be on assistance. These people should not have to be assisted with health care benefits.

Alberta has an election coming up in a matter of days...while I choose to live in Saskatchewan, I am always watching what happens in my beloved home province. 

Informing ourselves about the choices and allowing those choices to have a chance to prove themselves is how change happens, it is scary...but more often than not it works out for the best when we decide change is needed.

What are royalties for?

When Alberta’s Premier Ed Stelmach chose to up the amount of royalties companies were going to have to pay Alberta for extracting oil and gas the companies were outraged and Saskatchewan took advantage of that by opening its oilsands.

I have become more enlightened about what royalties are used for over the last few years. Only because the area I now live in has become swamped with pump jacks over the last five or six years.

Many people are making a great deal of money off of this venture, land is becoming very expensive and housing even more so. There are those who will and are taking advantage of this situation, oil and gas companies are in the lead.

What is not happening is the care to the system with the extra people coming into the province.

With more people, come more expenses. New housing developments take new sewer, new power and new development while older areas are overlooked. This always happens no matter where you are.

With more people there is more use of infrastructure and services.

http://www.oilandgasinfo.ca/wp-content/uploads/PW_august_2010.pdf

http://www.oilandgasinfo.ca/wp-content/uploads/PW_sept_10.pdf

Several examples of this are easy ones, like roads.

this was shortly after they "fixed" the pothole.

Sask. Transportation warns people of a danger spot with the "red flag"

Oil companies hauling the oil from the rigs take a toll on the surfaces of the roads and reconstruction/maintenance is always needed. This road is far from the worst in Saskatchewan, it is just one of the main roads I use. 

(Please notice the large chunks of asphalt that could be caught in a semi trucks tire and spit up at a vehicle following...that could cause one hell of an accident and who would know what caused it if there was no survivors. My last blog about the roads in Saskatchewan talks about this.)

Another is power.

With the rigs sucking the power out of the grid, I am sure that wouldn’t be the cause to peoples and businesses appliances burning out and break down with the surging and constant cutting in and out? No one is responsible for paying the cost of our refrigerators, freezers, washers and dryers, etc. being replaced or fixed because of this is there?

But adding more power to the grid will not do any good if the older infrastructure is not updated; something a government should have thought about 5 or 10 years before allowing companies to come in and suck the power right out from under their current customers...ahem... 

Updating the power lines and poles before allowing the rigs into the area would have made more sense. 

But sense doesn't always come into play when cents are involved.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/06/20/2187071/federal-government-charges-lower-royalties-than-many-states-for-oil-and-gas-drilling-taxpayers-lose-out/

(It looks like this is not just a Canadian issue…Go figure huh…yes, sarcasm)

Many people forget things like schooling and health care.

The men and women who work for these oil companies are not all single.

Many have families and these young children need schooling. It is no wonder the government cannot afford to pay its teachers more, but maybe had they demanded a better deal from the oil companies when it came to royalties your teachers would be getting paid a better raise over the next four years.

Some think that the teachers are asking for too much. I think those people are crackers!

Our teachers have to deal with 20 to 35 children in one class each day, some teaching more grades then one and teaching more than one subject. Many of those children have learning disabilities or are just downright disrespectful and should be dealt with by parents or police not by teachers.

We ask teachers to teach our children things that we as parents should be teaching our children; “we” do not have time to teach our own children anymore. Teachers, who are accused of not working enough days, getting too many long weekends during the year, having summer holidays and only having to work from 9 am to 3 pm…if only people knew.

Shadow a teacher for one 24 hour period and you will be sorely surprised at what they do in one day for our future!

Back to my original point,

Royalties are to help with the influx of people using the services and infrastructure in your communities. If you do not demand that the companies pay those royalties, they are not going to be generous and give them to you.

They may donate a little here and a little there to make themselves look good to the general population, but it NEVER amounts to what they should be paying to offset the cost of what their companies and their workers are using.

Health care is another biggie.

In the area I live there is a clinic that used to be a hospital. Not anymore. The closest hospital with an emergency is approximately 34 kilometers away and it isn't exactly what you would find in a larger center either. The doctor that comes to our little village once a week comes from that town. Once a week we can see this doctor or once a week we can see a RN.

With more people there is more demand on the doctor’s time.

The doctor out here is the only one, he deals with several small villages and towns in the area. He works his butt off in a very large area, so when I am sitting in his office I tend to bring a book…it could take awhile.

With the influx of people in the area this doctor’s office has a habit of double booking. I can understand many people can be rude enough to either demand to be seen immediately or they just don’t show up so staff get to know who might be a no show.

On one occasion, being as polite as I could, I had to remind a jerk that there were children present as he was complaining to another patient with the F-bomb every other word that the doctor’s office was double booking his appointment time.

Here is my point;

Once again, the overflow of people with jobs from the rigs has caused a massive amount of strain on services like doctors and teachers. It has caused substantial damage to infrastructures like roads and the power grid.  

Without the extra investment of royalties from the oil companies that are bringing in these issues, the issues are going to keep getting worse…not better.

Oil companies love free. They will rape Saskatchewan and move on. It might take years, but it will happen and in the mean time, it is the pee-ons that suffer. 

Land owners that rent to the oil companies don't suffer, they are getting well paid for the pump jacks being on their land. The government isn't suffering, they do not have to deal with cranky children or disrespectful patients. 

The lowly taxpayer who has new neighbors disrespecting his property, the doctor who has to deal with hundreds of patients with very little time off and the teachers who do not receive the respect and pay they deserve are the ones who suffer. 

http://desmog.ca/2013/02/28/if-canada-oil-rich-why-are-we-so-debt

(Our government is doing the taxpayers no favors. They are not working for us, they are working for the wealthy oil companies.)

Making any company pay to use the infrastructure and services that a province has only makes good sense.

Companies are not going to “take their business elsewhere” they have nowhere else to go! They need our resources, the longer the resources are in the ground the more they are worth.

If Norway can get 70 cents of each dollar an oil company makes, then why are we in Canada begging for pennies? 

There are many things that Norway does that Canada could follow examples of. Not having any foreign debt and having a "rainy day" fund sure does go to show they are a country worth watching and learning from, but will we?

Any company that wants to work in our country, take our resources, use our resources and bring workers into our country that use our infrastructure or our services need to start paying royalties.

That is where the royalties come in, they go to help alleviate the extra costs in fixing the roads, upgrading the power grid, hiring more teachers and doctors…

The important things that are needed and used.

Privatizing Road Care in Saskatchewan

A publicly run department like Saskatchewan Transportation has Pros and Cons.

I question how many people want to hear how well Alberta’s roads are since they privatized the work being done on the roads in Alberta.

I already hear Saskatchewanites saying, “Oh dear Lord, here we go again. WE are not Alberta; WE do not WANT to BE Alberta.”

To that I say, “Alberta is one of a kind. No other province or state will ever compare to the beauty of Alberta; they have their ups and downs, but always bounce back.”

I know when someone new comes along and starts criticizing how things are done the hackles go up, defensiveness kicks in and bitterness is the reaction instead of thinking that maybe, just maybe this person has some good ideas that might come in handy.

Saskatchewan’s publicly run transportation department could definitely use some restructuring and positive advice on how to cope with the failing infrastructure.

Several problems I see, being newer to Saskatchewan, is the transportation workers are not willing to work for the taxpayers’ dollars they receive and the work being done is inferior and a waste of the taxes the people of Saskatchewan are paying.

You know that old saying, “Do the job right the first time.”

(One job that you can’t rely on that happening is writing…believe me.)

But road construction is something that the transportation department should be diligent in striving for doing it right the first time.

When you are driving through a construction zone with 1 flag person at each end leaning on vehicles holding a sign out and not paying much attention to anything, 2 construction workers working and 3 young workers in a “lead vehicle” with music blasting, THAT is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

When I worked for South Rock in Alberta, we got breaks…but not sitting in a vehicle blasting music leading cars back and forth through a construction zone in +30 weather. We were in white coveralls with hard hats, no vehicles around to stand against. We were there to do a job, not lean against a vehicle and have another lead cars through the zone.

Winters are a disastrous time to travel in Saskatchewan.

During the winter it is almost impossible on the Saskatchewan side when there is a storm to travel to Alberta and back. The Alberta side is the easy part. It’s in Saskatchewan you are white knuckling it on snow and ice.

My father works for Volker Stevin and I know that they are on call during the winter 24/7 even Christmas Day. He has been called out during the winter to work on the roads right after the storm has dissipated enough to see what he is doing, the storm is still happening during the middle of the night, it has just calmed enough for them to do their job. Unlike here.

Here in Saskatchewan, you could be waiting days for roads to be cleared of snow after a storm in some areas. I don’t mean just after major storms and when they do end up on the roads, some of the workers are not doing their jobs safely. I have seen them driving while on cell phones, is that not against the law or are they like police officers and are allowed to talk on their phones while driving?

The plows only come out after the snow has completely stopped. I understand not throwing salt down before the snow has stopped, but plows are out getting the snow off the road in Alberta in case of emergencies, does that not make sense?

I have seen 4x4s in the ditches, people who thought they could make it to town to their jobs. Some may have been nurses or doctors. Some may have been just stupid idiots, but the point is these people would have been fine if the plows would have been out doing their jobs. The plows could have seen and done their jobs to keep the roads safe for these travelers.

I laughed at a story told to me of one lady who worked for the Saskatchewan Transportation department. She quit her job here and was hired in Alberta at Volker Stevin. After only working there for a short time she quit and came back to work for Saskatchewan Transportation department. Volker Stevin apparently made her work for her pay.

In Alberta when they are working on a section of highway they will tear up one side of the highway for only a portion of the road, the other half will stay paved and there will be flag people at either end directing traffic, before doing the other side of the road. Then they move further down the road.

When the Saskatchewan Transportation department leaves long stretches of a road to dirt, not Grid…dirt, that is irresponsible.

If you are traveling East on the #31 in Saskatchewan you will find that the Transportation department has come along and ripped up an entire section of road. Both sides of the road have been left as dirt now for several weeks; the wet weather has probably slowed the construction down, for about 3 kilometers. The #31 has needed repair, but I hope that it is not one of the roads they are planning on turning into a super grid.

The problem is many vehicles in this area would not make it down this road because of the wet weather but they need to use this road. Had the transportation department used the construction technique I described earlier they may not have gotten all of it accomplished as of yet, but none of it would have been a mud bog for cars to be caught in.

This area is booming of late with oil, the traffic on the #31 is busier than 5 years ago. So the road construction is going to be dealt with, but I feel for those who have the most dangerous roads in Saskatchewan. They are going without the attention they need because the roads that oil companies use have to be up to snuff. That is sad.

Personally, if the oil companies are so bound and determined to get the oil out of the ground, should that not be a part of what royalties are used for? Maintaining the infrastructure that is being used by these companies? I don’t know, I’m just a lowly pee-on…

Many of Saskatchewan’s grid roads are better taken care of by R.M.s, but turning paved roads back into super grids and making them the responsibility of R.Ms is not feasible and would be irresponsible of the Saskatchewan government.

Another issue is the signage.

I will say not one of my cracks or chips were from grid roads. The drivers are respectful on the grids, but when it comes to black top, anything goes.

Without enforcement, meaning RCMP, telling people to “slow down loose stones” is a mute point especially farmers in semis who are trying to get their product to market before their neighbor.

As much respect as I have for truck drivers (having my son, father and other family members in that career), I have very little for the farmers in their semis full of their cargo who think flying down highways with signs saying “loose stones” is okay because they have to get their grain to the train before the next farmer.

Within 5 minutes of my trip down the #51 heading East two grain semis went by me. One heading West the other East.

I have become rigid about following the speed limit here in Saskatchewan and slowing down when it comes to roads that are a disaster, especially when my daughter is traveling with me. 

  

The West bound semi was the first to pass and as I had already slowed down to 80k/h (posting is 90k/h) I started to slow even more since the road is so narrow. However, this farm semi did not slow down at all and because of that my daughter had the crap scared out of her when a rock cracked the windshield right in front of her on the passenger’s side. That rock flew across the road to her side of the car.

The next crack happened because an idiot farmer in his semi decided that because I was not speeding he needed to pass me. His mud flaps were not up to speed, but he was…he was driving way too fast for me to catch any type of license plate and I wasn’t about to put my daughter or myself in danger to try and get the plate number, then again what difference would it have made, farmers have the right-of-way in Saskatchewan, don’t they?...I know, I am ranting...not all farmers are this irresponsible.

Where a sign says “Slow, Loose Stones” does that not mean SLOW DOWN?

It isn't just about the money to replace the windshield of the person you just scared the shit out of people, it is about saving lives.

If that rock had spit up into my line of site at the wrong time and we would have been on the side of a hill, what could have happened?

Even an experienced driver could have had an accident and it would not have been blamed on the driver of the truck. Because how would you have been able to tell a rock cracked my windshield before I went over the hill if I and my daughter did not survive?

You wouldn’t, no one would be alive to say, “That jackass was speeding and spitting up rocks that smashed my windshield which made me lose control of my vehicle and I went over the hill.” 

On top of that, would the truck driver have even bothered to stop?

Lastly, when you fill the pot holes with asphalt and leave it for the local traffic to pack down all you get is another hole and chunks of asphalt that can and will fly up at the wrong time.

When the Saskatchewan Transportation department thinks they are “helping” by throwing some cold asphalt into a hole and allowing the locals to pack it in all they are doing is wasting more of the taxes you, Saskatchewanites, are paying every year.

The cold pack and even the warm asphalt, does not adhere if it is not packed properly. So when you see them drive along throwing black “stuff” into the hole and do not use some sort of packing device, they are wasting your taxes by doing a lazy job.

The Transportation Department still exists in Alberta. They just do not do the “grunt” work.

Companies like Volker Stevin, South Rock Ltd., etc. bid on the work that needs to be done on the roads in Alberta. These companies know that if they do not do the best job, they will not have jobs when the contract comes up for renewal or when another contract comes up, they won’t get the job.

Volker Stevin has the contract to take care of the roads in Alberta as far as up-keep. They make sure that the roads are clear of debris (blown tires, animal carcasses etc) they clear them after snow storms, and they clear the ditches of the garbage inconsiderate idiots throw out their windows or off the backs of their pickups and much, much more. These workers WORK for the wage they are paid.

I am not an expert, but with the little experience I had working for South Rock I cringe driving on your highways when I have to travel on any in Saskatchewan and I know you do too because I hear you complain as well.

Demanding better services from your politicians, from your service providers, for the taxes you pay is not against the law it is your right. Waiting for another 5, 10, 20 years for your transportation department to get control of its workers is unacceptable.

Privatizing the transportation department and allowing private companies to pave and care for your highways would save lives and save your tax dollars, because in the end they end up doing the job the right way the first time, not waste time doing it over and over…and over.