WEYBURN - Squirrel! With both the provincial and federal government focused on the Carbon Tax recently, it has felt like a distraction from other issues that might be a concern. We are so outraged about the fact that the federal government is cutting carbon tax costs for one part of the country, and not Saskatchewan, that we have forgotten all the other issues that outraged us.
There have been several other problems where a majority of people got upset, which seem to have been swept under the rug. It was just a few weeks ago that we had protests around the province over the proposed Parents’ Bill of Rights, but everything settled down after the bill was enshrined in Legislature.
It continues to be a pressing issue for residents in western Canada to feel seen and heard by the federal government. It definitely does not help that Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings’ made a public comment about Western and Prairie provinces electing “more Liberals” to have their voices heard.
Democracy is allowing every voice to be heard at the table, not just the MPs or MLAs from the party who won the most votes. The whole point of an opposition party is to raise awareness about other concerns that are not being addressed.
I really dislike the ‘you are wrong, I am right, and I am going to yell at you’ politics that we are seeing right now. There seems to be little that is agreed upon, and a lot of arguing without getting anything truly accomplished.
Question Period in both the Legislature and Parliament has turned into a show-boating screaming match, instead of a true debate of ideas and concerns.
Democracy only works if we make our voice heard – and get out and vote during an election.
The next provincial election is scheduled for October 28, 2024. There will be new constituency maps used in this election, something that will change a few boundaries. One can check online at www.elections.sk.ca to see if their constituency borders were changed.
The federal election will take place on or before October 20, 2025 (which is dependent on a couple of factors, since the Liberals are not a majority government). It is time to focus our minds on our next governments.
Voter turnout has decreased in the past several years – so let’s turn that around and encourage all eligible voters in the Western and Prairie provinces to get to the polls. That is the best way for us to get our voice heard, folks!
