It would seem that world leaders need to gather together occasionally. Being very public figures there’s obviously going to be lots of pomp, ceremony, photographs. And, oh yes, money spent. The president of the United States had over 850 people come with him. 
Apparently there must also be protests.
The most ironic of all protests are the ones complaining about carbon emissions and carbon footprint. Not sure how all those protestors got there from all over the world without burning jet fuel. Perhaps they magically just appeared on the streets of Toronto. Individually, they could have done more for the environment by staying home.
Much has been made of the cost of the G20 and G8 conference. Reported at a billion dollars, it seems excessive to say the least. Not sure why the summit cost that much money. President Sarkozy of France says his G20 will only cost a tenth of that, that is to say $100 million. But then Sarkozy presides over a country where “demonstrators” burn hundreds of cars a month on average. Guess it depends who you want to cover the cost for the pleasure of having demonstrations, the government, the insurance company or the car owners. Last count was 1,200 burned cars in France in just a few months. In Manitoba, bad little boys learn to go out and steal cars. I guess in France bad little boys learn to go out and burn cars.
As stated, meetings of world leaders are a necessity it seems. It certainly beats a having a world war. World leaders have been having little chats for time immemorial.  And they have always cost money, perhaps just not this much. No one person has the answer to this whole mess. It probably cost too much money. Thankfully we won’t have to pay for it again for a long time. Hopefully, some productive decisions came out of the summit.
The aftermath and the ensuing discussion seems to center around how the police treated demonstrators. Many people are protesting how the police treated the crowds. Let’s not be too quick to criticize the police. A large crowd was conducting a peaceful demonstration. As it proceeded along the street, certain men donned black masks and broke away from the group. They started breaking windows, burning police cars and generally causing all kinds of havoc. Police ended up arresting several people over the course of the weekend, about 600. Perhaps some shouldn’t have been arrested, but it seemed that as soon as someone was arrested, the police were swarmed by people protesting the arrest. It was made worse in one case by a journalist who said he hid his credentials so he “could get in closer and undetected” with the window smashers and car burners. He got arrested. Not much sympathy there.
Certain “prominent” journalists were arrested or roughed up by police. In a crowd of window smashers and car burners, your prominence fades. “Be careful what company you keep” applies to journalists and to protestors alike. In a crowd gone stupid, you will be lumped in with all the rest. Remember the saying “Don’t be surprised when you fly with the turkeys that you get your tail feathers shot off.”  From my computer screen perspective, and as a sometimes photographer, it looked like a great opportunity to stand well back and use the telephoto lens. One journalist was very upset that as he was being arrested he wasn’t allowed to interview the arresting officer in the middle of it all. If that lad’s momma was teaching him anything, he sure wasn’t listening.
Another interesting thing about the protest was the variety of issues. Poverty, housing, pro-Israel, anti-Israel, pro-Palestine, environment, banking issues and dozens more. If the people who were protesting really believed in what they were doing it might be suggested that they stay home and actually do something for other people. Isn’t it strange that protestors at these kinds of events only show up the day before and beat it back home before the leaders even get on the plane for home. Perhaps they all have jobs to go back to on Monday morning. Now that would be a refreshing thought.
If 600 were arrested, how many protestors were actually there? And what did they accomplish? The whole protest thing, in many cases, is a waste of time, money and jet fuel. Shakespeare said something about protesting too much and in this case there was indeed too much protesting.
Festivals and fairs
If you want summer food, parades, music and lots of other fun things to do you are in the right place at the right time. This week is the Minnedosa Fair and Summer Fun Fest and you can read all about it in The Neepawa Banner, The rivers Bane and my Westman.ca.

Same for the Rivers Fair, it’s 100th next Wednesday and the Neepawa Lily Festtival is coning up on July 23-25 and the Harvest Sun Music Festival on August 13 and 14 in Kelwood.

Lots of news this week about high school grads and the Rapid City fair which was very successful.

A special one time event you won’t want to miss out on is the unveiling of a special Canada Post stamp to highlight roadside attractions including Gladstone’s very own Happy Rock. That event happens at 1 p.m. Monday.

For more information on these headlines, visit mywestman.ca. Complete pages with pictures and advertisements can be viewed when you subscribe to Neepawa or Rivers Banners: neepawabanner.com or riversbanner.com. The advantage to a paid subscription is searchable pdf files and access to archives.

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You can read my column below or online at mywestman.ca or kenwaddell.ca

Ken Waddell, publisher of myWestman.ca, The Neepawa Banner and Rivers Banner

G20 protestors perhaps protest too much
It would seem that world leaders need to gather together occasionally. Being very public figures there’s obviously going to be lots of pomp, ceremony, photographs. And, oh yes, money spent. The president of the United States had over 850 people come with him. 
Apparently there must also be protests.
The most ironic of all protests are the ones complaining about carbon emissions and carbon footprint. Not sure how all those protestors got there from all over the world without burning jet fuel. Perhaps they magically just appeared on the streets of Toronto. Individually, they could have done more for the environment by staying home.
Much has been made of the cost of the G20 and G8 conference. Reported at a billion dollars, it seems excessive to say the least. Not sure why the summit cost that much money. President Sarkozy of France says his G20 will only cost a tenth of that, that is to say $100 million. But then Sarkozy presides over a country where “demonstrators” burn hundreds of cars a month on average. Guess it depends who you want to cover the cost for the pleasure of having demonstrations, the government, the insurance company or the car owners. Last count was 1,200 burned cars in France in just a few months. In Manitoba, bad little boys learn to go out and steal cars. I guess in France bad little boys learn to go out and burn cars.
As stated, meetings of world leaders are a necessity it seems. It certainly beats a having a world war. World leaders have been having little chats for time immemorial.  And they have always cost money, perhaps just not this much. No one person has the answer to this whole mess. It probably cost too much money. Thankfully we won’t have to pay for it again for a long time. Hopefully, some productive decisions came out of the summit.
The aftermath and the ensuing discussion seems to center around how the police treated demonstrators. Many people are protesting how the police treated the crowds. Let’s not be too quick to criticize the police. A large crowd was conducting a peaceful demonstration. As it proceeded along the street, certain men donned black masks and broke away from the group. They started breaking windows, burning police cars and generally causing all kinds of havoc. Police ended up arresting several people over the course of the weekend, about 600. Perhaps some shouldn’t have been arrested, but it seemed that as soon as someone was arrested, the police were swarmed by people protesting the arrest. It was made worse in one case by a journalist who said he hid his credentials so he “could get in closer and undetected” with the window smashers and car burners. He got arrested. Not much sympathy there.
Certain “prominent” journalists were arrested or roughed up by police. In a crowd of window smashers and car burners, your prominence fades. “Be careful what company you keep” applies to journalists and to protestors alike. In a crowd gone stupid, you will be lumped in with all the rest. Remember the saying “Don’t be surprised when you fly with the turkeys that you get your tail feathers shot off.”  From my computer screen perspective, and as a sometimes photographer, it looked like a great opportunity to stand well back and use the telephoto lens. One journalist was very upset that as he was being arrested he wasn’t allowed to interview the arresting officer in the middle of it all. If that lad’s momma was teaching him anything, he sure wasn’t listening.
Another interesting thing about the protest was the variety of issues. Poverty, housing, pro-Israel, anti-Israel, pro-Palestine, environment, banking issues and dozens more. If the people who were protesting really believed in what they were doing it might be suggested that they stay home and actually do something for other people. Isn’t it strange that protestors at these kinds of events only show up the day before and beat it back home before the leaders even get on the plane for home. Perhaps they all have jobs to go back to on Monday morning. Now that would be a refreshing thought.
If 600 were arrested, how many protestors were actually there? And what did they accomplish? The whole protest thing, in many cases, is a waste of time, money and jet fuel. Shakespeare said something about protesting too much and in this case there was indeed too much protesting.
G20 protestors perhaps protest too much
It would seem that world leaders need to gather together occasionally. Being very public figures there’s obviously going to be lots of pomp, ceremony, photographs. And, oh yes, money spent. The president of the United States had over 850 people come with him. 
Apparently there must also be protests.
The most ironic of all protests are the ones complaining about carbon emissions and carbon footprint. Not sure how all those protestors got there from all over the world without burning jet fuel. Perhaps they magically just appeared on the streets of Toronto. Individually, they could have done more for the environment by staying home.
Much has been made of the cost of the G20 and G8 conference. Reported at a billion dollars, it seems excessive to say the least. Not sure why the summit cost that much money. President Sarkozy of France says his G20 will only cost a tenth of that, that is to say $100 million. But then Sarkozy presides over a country where “demonstrators” burn hundreds of cars a month on average. Guess it depends who you want to cover the cost for the pleasure of having demonstrations, the government, the insurance company or the car owners. Last count was 1,200 burned cars in France in just a few months. In Manitoba, bad little boys learn to go out and steal cars. I guess in France bad little boys learn to go out and burn cars.
As stated, meetings of world leaders are a necessity it seems. It certainly beats a having a world war. World leaders have been having little chats for time immemorial.  And they have always cost money, perhaps just not this much. No one person has the answer to this whole mess. It probably cost too much money. Thankfully we won’t have to pay for it again for a long time. Hopefully, some productive decisions came out of the summit.
The aftermath and the ensuing discussion seems to center around how the police treated demonstrators. Many people are protesting how the police treated the crowds. Let’s not be too quick to criticize the police. A large crowd was conducting a peaceful demonstration. As it proceeded along the street, certain men donned black masks and broke away from the group. They started breaking windows, burning police cars and generally causing all kinds of havoc. Police ended up arresting several people over the course of the weekend, about 600. Perhaps some shouldn’t have been arrested, but it seemed that as soon as someone was arrested, the police were swarmed by people protesting the arrest. It was made worse in one case by a journalist who said he hid his credentials so he “could get in closer and undetected” with the window smashers and car burners. He got arrested. Not much sympathy there.
Certain “prominent” journalists were arrested or roughed up by police. In a crowd of window smashers and car burners, your prominence fades. “Be careful what company you keep” applies to journalists and to protestors alike. In a crowd gone stupid, you will be lumped in with all the rest. Remember the saying “Don’t be surprised when you fly with the turkeys that you get your tail feathers shot off.”  From my computer screen perspective, and as a sometimes photographer, it looked like a great opportunity to stand well back and use the telephoto lens. One journalist was very upset that as he was being arrested he wasn’t allowed to interview the arresting officer in the middle of it all. If that lad’s momma was teaching him anything, he sure wasn’t listening.
Another interesting thing about the protest was the variety of issues. Poverty, housing, pro-Israel, anti-Israel, pro-Palestine, environment, banking issues and dozens more. If the people who were protesting really believed in what they were doing it might be suggested that they stay home and actually do something for other people. Isn’t it strange that protestors at these kinds of events only show up the day before and beat it back home before the leaders even get on the plane for home. Perhaps they all have jobs to go back to on Monday morning. Now that would be a refreshing thought.
If 600 were arrested, how many protestors were actually there? And what did they accomplish? The whole protest thing, in many cases, is a waste of time, money and jet fuel. Shakespeare said something about protesting too much and in this case there was indeed too much protesting.

Each year at this time I linger a bit longer as I view the pages of the many community papers we receive. It’s grad season and it’s fascinating to view the grad photos, both individual and group shots. Grad is a sad but wonderful time of year for students and for their families. In south-western Manitoba, many of the grad classes are still getting smaller. Some towns only have a handful of grads. Whether the group is large or small, the optimism, the anticipation and the sense of accomplishment can be seen in the young people’s faces.
Over the 20 plus years of publishing and reading grad editions, it’s interesting to note how some things have changed. We sense that the classes of 2010 seem a bit more serious, conservative even. The hair styles seem more traditional, the facial expressions a bit more mature. There’s still lots of fun and spark noted there but there seems to have been a change.
Some things don’t change though. Our brightest and best are graduating. Many are leaving our communities. Families have invested huge amounts of time, love and money into each graduate. The government (taxpayers) has invested about $100,000 into each student. Now they are heading off into an adult world with ambitions and dreams for their future. It could be sports, education, arts or business but all have plans to pursue. Our communities are torn about how to view this process. While we hate to see them leave, we know they must launch out, whether it’s far from home or close by.
As a community, we can only hope that many will return, that some will stay and that we will have enough vibrancy or viability in our community to attract some new people to come to our respective areas. We need skilled employees, dedicated business people, talented artists. We have to hope that our community planning is strong enough  to both retain and attract.
Unfortunately, much of our community planning has been by default and not by design. There are really only two choices, design or default. Over the decades, most communities have assumed that they have resources (land, water and people) so what more could one ask for. That may have been all that was needed to attract settlers but it certainly doesn’t meet the test of 2010. People want services, they want good jobs, very nice housing and cultural events in abundance. The “rural” experience is only satisfactory to a very few. We are becoming more urban in our tastes and consequently, our needs.
In times gone by, Grandpa could go the woods with his axe over one shoulder and a gun over the other and come back later in the day with everything that was necessary to keep hearth and home satisfied. Not so today.
Today we need a broader vision and that vision has to be cast boldly by our leaders. In most cases, that’s not happening and perhaps that’s why some of our grads look so serious. Grads may be asking if our leaders really know what they are doing and where we are being lead. Or are we just waiting for the next government grant, the next handout, so we can struggle on for a few more years? Many of our rural centres are in decline. Some are holding their own and a few are thriving. It could be argued that none are thriving the way the could be or should be and I personally hold that belief.
What is needed is a clear vision and a clear plan. The towns that didn’t have a clear vision and a clear plan are no longer there. In the Banner readership  area there are 20-30 towns or villages that simply no longer exist. Not all the factors of decline were in their own hands, but many were. Just as an example, our major export, grain, was allowed to slip out of local control and into the control of conglomerates. The same holds true for food processing and transport. Only recently is food processing and transport starting to come back to its base.
If we are to survive as communities, and in fact grow as communities, then we must have vision and a plan to carry out that vision. If we do, then our grads will have even more reason to smile as the years roll by. If we don’t we simply won’t have any grads.

CTV News reported on Monday night that, “The Conservative government will table legislation on Tuesday to scrap old-age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments to inmates aged 65 and older. It’s believed the changes would affect 400 inmates in federal prisons and 600 more in provincial institutions.” If the legislation passes, Conservatives say it would save $10 million each year.
To most Canadians it came as a surprise when the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed that the government indeed pays old-age pensions to prisoners. That simply doesn’t make sense. Like where are they going to spend it? As to what they might do when they ever get out of prison, the government isn’t saying, but presumably they can resume their pension benefits upon release. Also, there will likely be a hue and cry about the pension income being cut off will hurt spouses who may need that money to survive. No matter how the legislation looks, (it was scheduled to be introduced June 1, 2010) there will likely be court challenges. In a country like Canada we could never pass common sense legislation without court challenges.
There’s another way the government could save some money in the prisons and that is to stop holding election votes in the penitentiaries. In Canada prisoners have been granted the vote. That’s ridiculous. It didn’t used to be that way and it shouldn’t be that way now. When a person is imprisoned, the right to vote should be taken away. Running an election is expensive enough without having to pay all the extra costs of running a ballot in prisons. The extra security and extra elections staff costs a small fortune.
Aside from the cost and the absurdity of granting prisoners a vote, how do you suppose they will vote? Just imagine the conversations in prison. Prisoner A says, “ Hey Jack, how are you going to vote?” I doubt that Jack will say, “I’m going to vote for the MP that will take a tough stance on crime, keep marijuana illegal and clean up all the gangs.” The scenario is laughable. There’s no way on earth that prisoners should be allowed to vote. Removing their right to vote and saving the election costs is the right thing to do
Another way to save money in prisons would be to segregate the violent criminals from the white collar criminals. I doubt that the commercial fraud and corporate fraud artists are much of threat to the physical well being of the general public. If in fact they should be in prison at all, white collar criminals should be in a separate facility. If there was ever a case that could be made for tracking devices or ankle bracelets for law breakers it could be best made for white collar criminals. Just keep them away from the cash register. Save the high security cells for murderers and pedophiles.
Governments need to be always on the lookout for how to save money. These instances, once stated, are very obvious and the cost-saving measures should be implemented immediately.

Manitoba is lacking in leadership! Manitoba is like just about every community group. A new project or program comes up and most agree that it’s a good idea. Then they all look around the room wondering who is going to take the lead. Eventually someone pipes up with “Well, I’ll help but I sure don’t want to be in charge.” That opens the door for the possibility that someone with wrong motives and lesser abilities can just step in and take over. With our last two premiers, that would appear to be the case. Instead of men with vision and foresight, we got Gary Doer and Greg Selinger. If history ever shows these men in the same light as Campbell, Filmon, Roblin or Schreyer it will be a huge surprise. 
Many people should want to be premier of Manitoba. In a multi-week series of articles I have explained my reasons. Those columns covered health care, education, justice and agriculture. This week I want to take a brief look at environment, recycling and taxation.

Environment
Every environmental challenge needs to be seen as an oportunity. Hog manure isn’t a problem, it’s an asset if used properly. You don’t ban hog barns, you encourage proper construction and placement. Utilization of the manure for energy and fertilizer should be researched and encouraged. Human waste isn’t a problem, it’s a resource that can also be converted to fertilizer or energy. Garbage isn’t a problem, it’s a resource than can be utilized as a source of energy or recycled.

Recycling
We have it mostly wrong in Manitiba. We don’t recycle nearly enough and there’s no incentive to recycle other than guilt. Recycling needs to be set up on an economic basis. If material is truly not recyclable, perhaps small local incineration for energy projects could be set up. There are systems where garbage can be incinerated very cleanly in small to large operations and converted to energy. 
If we truly want to recycle, then the person who bends over to pick up the pop bottle or cardboard or whatever, needs to be compensated for doing so. The rebate for containers and products needs to go to that person directly. It used to work for pop bottles. Private recycling works well in many countries. There’s simply no incentive, except guilt, to recycle in Manitoba. The money goes to the municipalities and nobody ever sees it again. A pro-active program, where the person doing the recycling is directly rewarded, needs to be implemented if we truly believe in recycling. Otherwise, just build larger landfills. But nobody really wants that.

Taxation
We need to set long term taxation goals that will signal individuals and corporations that we are open for fair, clean, sustainable and morally defensible businesses in Manitoba.
These long term (10-15 year) goals need to include:
1. Elimination of the payroll tax
2. Elimination of education taxes on residential, farm and commercial property
3. Reduction and elimination of the PST
4. A flattening of income tax
5. Removal of income tax for people living below stated minimum (poverty) income levels
These and all the other suggestions from the past few weeks require leadership and foresight, instead of politicians cowering in back rooms wondering what people “might” vote for they should come out strong and be leaders. It would be a refreshing and welcome change.