Page 14 - OCtOBer 27, 2016 - martensville messenger
Provincial
Politics
with
Murray Mandryk
Wall’s White Paper
not enough
Let’s accept Premier Brad Wall’s presumption
that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon pricing is not
a solution to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
After all, Wall offers ample reasons for his argument.
As Wall noted in an op-ed piece recently published
in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Trudeau’s climate-change
solution proposal is “both simple and seductive.”
“A carbon tax is applied. Money is collected,
money goes out. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions go
down,” Wall wrote. “The problem is that there is little
evidence this works, and yet it risks jobs and competitiveness
in carbon-intense sectors such as energy, manufacturing,
mining and agriculture. In British Columbia, often touted
as the example of carbon-tax efficacy, emissions have
increased since 2010.”
Wall also rightly noted in the Globe and Mail
piece that Saskatchewan “has a disproportionate share
of Canada’s trade-exposed industrial sectors” plus “a
significant portion of Saskatchewan’s GHG emissions
relate directly to getting our products to the world market.”
But let us accept - as Wall did in his whitepaper on the
economy released last week - that GHGs are a real problem
contributing to global warming. “There is no denying it.
We have a problem; a problem that has to be solved for the
sake of current and future generations,” said the executive develop carbon capture of storage, doesn’t really do much to
summary of Wall’s white paper. “Climate change is real... reduce existing GHG emissions.
In the last decade, global temperatures have been higher
Nor does the paper offer any information on how
75 percent of the time when compared to the last 11,300 much all this will cost and where we will get the money
years.”
from … other than from the federal government. Moreover,
The problem is what Wall is offering seems no Wall’s white paper also calls for the “redeploying its $2.65
more productive than what we now see in Trudeau. Sure, billion, five-year commitment to developing countries to
Wall obviously has to make many considerations that go deal with climate change” and adding it to the existing Low
beyond the environment. Carbon pricing would not only Carbon Economy Trust.
impact Saskatchewan’s oil and mining sectors but also
If we are going to sell or CCS to third-world
our critical farming sector that would likely see their countries like China and India where many of those 2,400inputs. Like those in the mining and oil sector, that would plus coal-fired plants are being built, does it make sense to
put Saskatchewan farmers at a distinct disadvantage in cut off funding to them? Is that the best way to fight a global
competition with those in other countries.
problem?
One of the more positive alternatives Wall
Wall’s white paper will be immensely popular with
proposed in his White Paper on Climate Change is carbon the business community and likely the province as a whole.
sinks that would recognize the many farming
But it just doesn’t seem to be any better a solution than the
practices that actually address greenhouse gas
one Trudeau has come up with.
emissions.
Practical things like zero till do need
to be acknowledged - especially in relation to
a national carbon tax being applied to critical
industries like farming. But if Wall is right in
his white paper’s premise that adaptation and
innovation are far more effective tools to fight
climate change than taxation, one might have
expected to see much more innovation and
adaptation in his plan. It wasn’t there.
His white paper emphasized that there
are more than 2,400 new coal-fired power
plants planned or under construction around the
world that would pump out nearly nine times
Canada’s annual GHG emissions.
But Wall’s solutions that call for a
doubling of the funding for climate change
adaptation research and partnering with the
Justin Trudeau hangs 'cash for access only' sign on Halloween
federal government through SaskPower to
Community newspapers Fill vital need
By: SWNA Executive Editorial Board
Over a hundred years ago the first community newspaper
was published in the province of Saskatchewan. Thus
began a tradition of the recording of news pertaining to a
specific community.
The births and deaths, the social and cultural happenings
in the community, the political rivalries, the sports events,
the good news and the bad news -- it was all covered in
the pages of the newspaper. These pages are still often
referred to by historians and genealogists hoping to gain
an understanding of the past.
In short, community newspapers are archivists. They are
embraced by readers who look forward to having it come
in their mailboxes. Readers get excited when their children,
grandchildren and neighbours appear on the pages. The
community newspaper has a shelf life for a week and
beyond. As one publisher of a community newspaper said,
“. . . newspapers are vital to our way of life. They are more
than a way to get local news. They are also the watchdogs
of society, protectors of democracy, and recorders of
history. Without newspapers are you going to attend every
council meeting to hold our governmen ts accountable?
How will you be able to look back at what happened in our
community years from now? Are you going to scroll back
through your Facebook feed? And where do you think
other news sites, and even Google, gets its information
from? Yup, you guessed it, newspapers.”
Members of the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers
Association (SWNA) have been trying to convince the
provincial government that each community newspaper
does indeed fill a vital need. Advertising is crucial to
the survival of these newspapers that are found in every
constituency which has elected a rural MLA. “I think the
provincial government is missing an important method of
reaching rural taxpayers,” said Steve Nixon, Executive
Director of SWNA. “The newspapers provide an excellent
tool for targeting rural taxpayers and voters.”
The present provincial government has however,
abandoned community newspapers and have turned to
social media to get their message out. “Digital spending is
up. I believe this is a case of ministries wanting to stretch
their advertising dollars further as digital advertising
proves to be an effective way to reach a large segment of
the population in Saskatchewan,” stated the provincial
government's spokesperson Leanne Persicke in an email to
Nixon. However, Nixon says that the provincial government
has not done their homework. According to a Media Usage
Study, commissioned by AdWest Media Inc., only six per
cent of the population can be reached through social media.
“The provincial government needs to do its due diligence,”
says Nixon. “The newspaper industry has invested money on
surveys and has the facts and figures to back up our claims.”
Persicke admitted, “We do not track specific numbers for
social media.”
reach than any other medium. Community newspapers
outperform other forms of media including the daily
newspapers and radio stations. The weekly newspaper also
has a longer shelf life with a good chance that it is saved and
referred to throughout the week until the next issue arrives.
Nixon is fierce in championing this industry that touches
every corner of the province. “The publishers and staff
work hard to bring local news to their communities where
the newspaper is a source of pride. It is unfortunate that the
provincial government fails to recognize their value and
rather than support them, chooses to send money not only out
Market research shows that newspapers still dominate all of the province, but out of the country, spending tax dollars
other media platforms, particularly in Saskatchewan where on a medium that fails to reach and inform the people.”
internet coverage in rural areas is spotty at best. The study
found that over one third of respondents living in rural areas
and communities under 5,000 population have, at best, a
dial-up internet connection at home. Sixteen per cent have no
internet connection at all. Figures which have been confirmed
by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC).
The study also found that where people live has a correlation
on how media is consumed. Rural areas lean toward
more traditional methods such as print, unlike their urban
counterparts. The study found that the single biggest use
of a mobile device outside of making and receiving calls
across all community sizes was checking weather forecasts.
“Instead of spending money on American-based social
media, the provincial government should be supporting
local businesses who can deliver the goods,” adds Nixon.
“Community newspapers target people living in rural
communities who have the right to know when flu shots will
be available in their community or when the provincial parks
open or what changes are being made to the provincial drug
plan.”
Community newspapers in Saskatchewan have an 81 per cent
readership rate (ComBase study) and have a higher average issue
Letter to the Editor
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