The SaskParty leadership race is in full swing and I, originally, felt there wasn鈥檛 anyone within caucus that could succeed Brad Wall and reach the Saskatchewan people the way he did with charisma and the matter-of-fact approach that, for the most part, was received well by all of us. I have changed my mind now that Scott Moe has entered the fray. I didn鈥檛 even know who Scott was until very recently. After spending part of an afternoon with him, I remarked to someone that he had leadership qualities that could resonate with Saskatchewan folks if given an opportunity. He tells it like it is, but does so with respect. His presence is that of a leader. He鈥檚 very up to speed on the environment file, which is going to be a crucial topic for all of us if our economy is going to survive. He seems to have a decent relationship with the federal Liberals, yet still is, vehemently, opposed to the carbon tax. He may be able to bridge the gap with them on the issue. He鈥檇 be my choice. I hope he can get his message out in a way that is understood. Don鈥檛 rely on media as fact. Do your own homework. Go to the individual pages of each leadership hopeful. Ask questions. Don鈥檛 assume a news story is true. 聽
I realize it鈥檚 wrong to say racism doesn鈥檛 exist; but in the case of black people in the United States, I am of the belief more and more that it is way overblown by media.聽 There are a smattering of available examples that come from well educated black people available online if you look hard enough for them and they make a lot of sense. I don鈥檛 know how old the interview is, but Morgan Freeman was on 60 Minutes years ago and he says, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want a Black History month. Stop talking about racism. I am going to stop calling you a White Man and I鈥檓 going to ask you to stop calling me a Black Man.鈥� Mike Wallace, who was interviewing Freeman at the time, admitted he wouldn鈥檛 want a Jewish History month. It鈥檚 almost too easy if you think about it. In a separate interview, Freeman says racism is just an excuse for people. He pointed at the black interviewer and back at himself and said, 鈥淪ee, we are examples of what can be achieved if you really want it.鈥� Freeman says when racism occurs, it鈥檚 important to call it out.聽 But, making a greater issue out of it than what it really is doesn鈥檛 help minorities at all.
Here鈥檚 something to keep in mind as a viewer and reader: media companies are struggling to attract and maintain customers in this day and age of cord cutting and internet reading. They need to keep people interested in their narrative and racism is a big trigger for people everywhere. Smaller centres, like Yorkton, are always going to have a place because they provide an invaluable service as far as keeping people up to date on current local events and issues. On the national scale, it鈥檚 easy to tune out the average, run-of-the-mill news piece.聽 But, a story criticizing Melania Trump鈥檚 shoes as she tours flood ravaged Texas gets people engaged no matter your opinion on it.
You really have to hand it to our federal Liberal government. They decided paying money to fight Omar Khadr in court wasn鈥檛 worth it and they wanted to do us taxpayers a favour by saving us the expense of a legal battle, so they cut the guy a cheque for $10.5m instead. Of course, their plan wasn鈥檛 even to tell us taxpayers what they did. What happened, was a Liberal somewhere in the upper ranks of their hierarchy decided to leak this tidbit to the media. Presumably, the leak was done because someone (rightfully so) felt we needed to know.聽 Now, the Liberal government has confirmed they are upset about the leak so they鈥檝e launched an investigation into finding out the rascal who ratted them out. Not worth spending money to fight Khadr, but they sure don鈥檛 mind spending our money to find out who notified Canadians what government was doing with our taxes. Don鈥檛 we have a right to know anyways? I鈥檓 sure legalese says 鈥榮ettlements are confidential鈥�, but when it鈥檚 my money I think I am entitled to know where it went.
Speaking of our Liberal government, I don鈥檛 usually promote Chamber events in my column but if you are a small business owner and not a fat cat tax cheat like Bill Morneau is suggesting you are, then you really need to make sure you attend the luncheon this Thursday at the Painted Hand Casino.聽 Call the Chamber office for details.
Last week, I admitted I was wrong on the Saskatchewan Roughriders and this week I鈥檒l admit wrong again on Darian Durant.聽 He looks finished. Sad.聽 The degrading comments about him on social media are also very disappointing. Durant was a driving force of success for a franchise that has had precious little of it in the 100+ years of operation and it seems, relatively, unappreciated to me. If the Riders were the Dallas Cowboys and had a whole host of great players lead them to titles, then I鈥檇 be a bit more understanding of it all.
Nice person mentions this week: Debbie Ottenbreit, Tracey Lang, Thelma Raczynski, Leanna Campbell, and Tanner McCall.
