ECA Review 2017-12-07

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6 D e c e m b e r 7 ' 1 7 H A N N A / C o r o N A t i o n / S t e t t l e r , A b . E C A r e v i e w V I E W P O I N T S The opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of this newspaper. Guest Editorial Is celebrity gossip your ‘local news’? Is celebrity gossip your ‘local news’? Ottawa seems to think so. Hockey news, fashion tips, TV and movie listings, retirement strategies, updates on Celine Dion—all of this information now constitutes local media—at least according to federal Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly. Last week marked a black spot in the history of Canadian newspapers with the closure of three dozen papers, taking out of circulation three million copies of printed newspapers each week and eliminating more than 300 jobs. Joly’s response in Ottawa was a refrain that she has been using more and more lately, saying the federal government is already helping news providers. “We value the importance of journalism and that’s why we invest up to $75-million per year in local media,” she said. “ And how on earth does giving a subsidy to a promotional magazine for a TV channel qualify as support for local media? This is true only if you use a definition of “local media” unlike any other ever attempted. The minister was referring to the Aid to Publishers program, through which the federal government provides annual grants to printed publications—magazines and subscription based non-daily newspapers—primarily to help with distribution costs. Many Canadians will be surprised by who is getting this support for “local media.” Figures from the 2014-15 fiscal year show: The Hockey News, which primarily covers the NHL, got $1.3 million. TVHebdo got $1.5 million. It provides TV listings in French and is owned by the same company as the TVA television network in Quebec. TV Week, which provides TV listings in British Columbia, got $1 million. Allo Vedettes, which provides Quebec celebrity news and often features Celine Dion on the cover, got $218,721. Good Times, a magazine aimed at retirees, got $588,531. Flare magazine got $408,236; R R R R R Published by Coronation Review Limited Chatelaine got $1.5 million for its English edition and $848,428 for its French one. Movie Entertainment got $1.5 million. It is produced for subscribers to the paid TV channel The Movie Network, owned by Bell Media. The ECA Review got $000,000. No, that’s not a typo. Because the ECA Review is a total market coverage free newspaper we get zero dollars. This is a snapshot of one year. The same publications get large grants year after year. Publications such as Maclean’s get the maximum $1.5 million annually. Chatelaine, which gets money for both its English and French editions, has received $19.3 million in the past eight years. Movie Entertainment has received $11.3 million in the same period. The list goes on and on to hundreds of magazines that get federal funding. It raises all sorts of questions. Why does a TV book distributed by a broadcaster qualify for funding when a TV guide distributed in a daily newspaper does not? And how on earth does giving a subsidy to a promotional magazine for a TV channel qualify as support for local media? The simple fact is that the Aid to Publishers program mostly supports magazines, an industry that, for the most part, does not have a viable business model without public subsidies. Many community newspapers get money, but relatively little. Those affiliated with NewsMedia Canada got between $3,301 and $124,252 in 2014-15, and averaged $25,831, less than two per cent of what The Hockey News received. Daily and free distribution newspapers are not eligible. Overall these community papers got about $7.8 million of the $68.9 million handed out. Some went to ethnic, farm and religious publications. The Catholic Register got $403,355; The Western Producer got $1.2 million. The bulk—$53.4 million—went to magazines. Some individual magazine companies get more per year than all community newspapers combined. TVA Publications got about $7.5 million this year, as did Transcontinental Media. Rogers Media, publisher of Chatelaine, Maclean’s and other magazines, got $8.9 million in 2016. Reader’s Digest got $3 million this year for its related publications. The Aid to Publishers program is being revamped. It’s unclear what the new qualification criteria will be or whether the program will get any more money. “ Turn to Cynical, Pg 7 72 pt East Central Alberta EVIEW 60 pt 48 pt 36 pt LETTERS POLICY • Letters to the Editor are welcomed • Must be signed and a phone number included so the writer’s identity can be verified. • ECA Review reserves the right to edit letters for legal considerations, taste and brevity. Letters and columns submitted are not necessarily the opinion of this newspaper. Member of: Office Hours Mon. - Fri. 9 am - 5 pm R 30 pt Subscriptions: 4921 - Victoria Avenue $42.00 in Canada; $74.20 in US; Tel. (403) 578-4111 R 24 pt $135.15 Overseas. (All prices include GST) Mail: Box 70, Coronation, AB Canada, T0C 1C0 Website ECAreview.com On The Other Hand It’s just wrong! by B.P. Schimke The demise of Sears Canada was an unnecessary happening and I would argue had little to do with Amazon but everything to do with mismanagement and greed. There was a very big winner in the demise of Sears Canada and that was American billionaire and hedge fund manager, Ed Lambert. If any company should have succeeded eking out a niche in on-line sales, it would have been Sears who, with its catalogue, was truly the forerunner to e-commerce. Sears over the years had a number of ‘stay-the-course’ American CEO’s which put the retail giant behind the eight ball. But in 2011, successful Loblaws’ senior executive, Calvin McDonald, a Canadian, was hired with a new, progressive vision for Sears. Soon after his arrival, sales began to tick upwards. But innovation takes investment and he soon learned that his Board had little interest in innovation or investment. He left in 2014 after overseeing the sale of many valuable assets and yet seeing little re-investment. In reality the final nail in the coffin for Sears came in 2005 when hedge fund manager, Ed Lambert, became the controlling owner. Allowing hedge fund managers to become majority owners in an ongoing business is akin to putting the fox in charge of the hen house. In economic terms, hedge fund managers are “rent seekers” not “value creators”. In the same way the fox is going to watch the chickens closely until they are all eaten, hedge fund managers watch over stripping everything “cashable” out of a going-concern company. The fox has eaten the chickens and the farmer ends up with nothing but feathers. The American hedge fund manager Alberta Press Council Do you have a concern or complaint about a newspaper article or ad? If after bringing your concerns to the attention of this newspaper, you are not satisfied, you may contact the Alberta Press Council at www.albertapresscouncil.ca or toll free in Alberta at 1-888-580-4104 for information. has eaten away Sears’ on-going viability leaving behind employees with nothing and debtors with little. Mr. Lambert, in 10 years, stripped $2.7 billion out of Sears Canada into two funds that he controlled. He and his board of directors, I would argue, knowingly caused 12,000 hardworking Canadians to lose their jobs. In their greed, they didn’t even have the decency to leave enough behind to provide severance pay. Most tragic, those long-term employees who have been paying into a pension plan have nothing for their retirement years. It’s just wrong! What story is going to convince those on the political right about the need for government to play a larger role in this complicated international marketplace? Surely the Sears’ case highlights a problem of “rent seeking” entities hiding behind limited liability and foreign ownership to screw the middle class out of their livelihood and retirement. The private sector, specifically the corporate elite and foreign owners, have no interest in the public good. Why do we continue to trust these corporations more than our elected government? It’s just wrong. In Canada we still have a law that holds directors of corporations personally liable for all statutory deductions (taxes, CPP and EI).Bankruptcy does not free them of this obligation. It is long overdue for a similar provision to be enacted where directors and principal owners are held personally liable for pensions, unpaid wages and severance pay. If it’s fair to protect the government from shysters, surely it is equally fair to protect hardworking employees from billionaire bankruptcy-promoting, “rent seeking” shysters! Joyce Webster Publisher/Editor publisher@ECAreview.com YvoNNe tHulien Manager office@ECAreview.com Gayle Jaraway Marketing 403-578-4111 advertise@ECAreview.com BoNNy Williams Circulation Manager LiSA Myers-sortlAND Graphic Artist LISA Joy Marketing/Reporter 403-307-3398 contact@ECAreview.com R 18 pt
V i e w p o i n t s /A g r i c u l t u r e E C A r e v i e w H A N N A / C o r o N A t i o n / S t e t t l e r , A b D E C E m b e r 7 ' 1 7 7 PrairieView Payette denies the existence of God by Herman Schwenk Last week while reading through “The Catholic Register” I read an article titled “Payette faces backlash over faith remarks”. In the article, Canada’s Governor General Julie Payette appears to set herself above us ordinary Canadians especially if we believe in God. It is obvious to me that both her and Justin Trudeau have an elitist attitude. While our new Governor General is considered to be a very talented and an accomplished scientist, during a behold random process.” Divine intervention is a natural process. These people seem to think that creation and evolution are contrary concepts. They are not. God has been always and will always be. Scientists have determined that our universe has existed for over 13 billion years and our solar system for over four billion years. Evolution is the way that God created everything, through a gradual process. It appears to me that our Prime Minister is a hypocrite as he claims to be Christian and supports Muslims who believe in God. Both he and the Governor General come across as being atheist. They seem to think that believing in God is very unscientific. Perhaps the Governor General should do some scientific research and read the Bible. The Bible is a recorded history book. That history is just as authentic as the recorded history of the Roman Empire speech to the ninth annual Canadian and basically occurred during the Science Policy Convention, she demonstrated a very unscientific bias. Julie Payette’s job is Christ performed miracles that “ same time frame. She dismissed divine intervention modern science has not been able to as a factor in evolution and lumped to represent Her Majesty duplicate. those who believe otherwise into the Jesus was not an ordinary human same category as climate change being. His conception was by the Queen Elizabeth ii, who deniers and horoscope readers. Holy Spirit, not by a man, so in effect If she is a scientist she should know he was the Son of God in the body of that science is based on evidence and sits in a pew every a man. there is no evidence to prove that That is why he was able to perform increased C02 emissions are a contributing Sunday as head of the instant miracles, something no other factor to climate change. person has been able to do. Metrological and geological Church of England. As I have written in previous columns, to understand the story of research scientists can have proven that C02 levels were never the cause of - DENYSE O’LEARY Jesus Christ just read the four gospels the earth warming up after an ice age. C02 concentrations increased after the ice had melted. If she had the courage of her convictions, that convention would have been an ideal place to set the world straight on the real cause of climate change. In that speech she proved that with all her accomplishments she has an elitist mindset and evidently does not believe in divine intervention. She said “And we are still debating and still questioning whether life was a divine intervention or whether it was coming out of a natural process let alone, oh my goodness, lo and Christian Elia, the executive director of the Catholic Civil Rights League said “Her comments were disappointing and insulting”. She also said it is ridiculous for the Governor General to present faith and science as an “either-or proposition”. Her role as the Queen’s representative in Canada is “to be impartial and neutral”. Prime Minister Trudeau defended the Governor General, applauding what he called “the firmness with which she stands in support of science and truth”. in the New Testament. Denyse O’Leary, a Catholic author stated Julie Payette’s job is to represent Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who sits in a pew every Sunday as head of the Church of England. The Queen does not seem to have a problem with divine intervention nor should Julie Payette. ‘Cynical and disappointing’ Cont’d from Pg 6 However, the review is doomed to failure unless the federal government understands that it is not currently supporting local news media in any meaningful way and that the current funding, even if redistributed, will do little to help reporting in local communities across Canada. We have not heard this from Joly. In fact, her Tweeted response to this week’s closures suggested she still does not understand what is happening in local media, where collapsing revenues are forcing cuts in reporting across all traditional news outlets. “We know Canadians care about their local media and we will continue to support it,” Joly Tweeted. “The decision to swap and shut down these community papers on the same day is cynical and disappointing. Our thoughts are with the hundreds of workers and their families affected by these closures.” The closures were not cynical. There were inevitable in a challenged business in which print newspaper revenues have fallen dramatically. We will see more of them. What they mean for many communities is less reporting about what is happening in people’s back yards. It’s unlikely that people in those communities will be comforted by Joly’s claim that her government supports local media. Bob Cox is the chair of the board of News Media Canada and publisher of the Winnipeg Free Press. Lionel’s Trucking Lionel Duncalf, Owner Operator 403-820-1235 • lionelstrucking@gmail.com Dalum, Alberta AGRICULTURE / CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT HAULING Excavating, Basement 3” Digging, wide Demolition, versionWaterlines & Electrical RURAL WATER TREATMENT Iron Filters • Softeners • Reverse Osmosis Never shock chlorinate again!! with Big Iron’s Tell them Danny Hooper sent you Patented 12345 “Kontinuous Shok” Chlorinator Need WATER WELL but short a of cash?? • 10 Year Time Payment Plan O.A.C. • No Down Payment for Wells and Water Treatment Check status of 3 government grants/assistance worth up to $ 5000 or more EACH 1-800-BIG IRON (244-4766) www.1800bigiron.com “ Auvigne Trucking Custom Tub Grinding Serving all of East Central Alberta (403) 872-0221 Land For Sale at Scotfield, AB. 279 acres grazing lease and ¼ of deeded land. Abundant water supply (water well and dugout) and oil and gas revenue! Call Big Sky Real Estate at 403-854-4444 for pricing and further details. Provost Livestock Exchange The Livestock Market Serving Eastern Alberta and Western Saskatchewan • Friday, December 8 - Presort All Breeds Calf Sale/ Regular Sale @ 9:00am • Wednesday, December 13 - Bred Heifer & Stock Cow Sale @ Noon Worobo Farms - Complete Dispersal of 220 Cows Red & RBF Simmental Cross & Black & BBF Simmental Cross. Bred to mostly Black Angus Bulls with one Black Simmental & one Red Simmental Bull June 23rd. Israelson Farms - Complete Dispersal - 32 Black & BBF Heifers -Bred to Low Birth Weight MJT Black Angus Bulls On June 21st - 90 Black & BBF & BWF Cows Consisting of 30 Second Calvers, 23 Third/Fourth Calvers, and 37 Fifth/Sixth Calvers-----Bred to MJT Black Bulls June 21st Bruce Scherr & Lorna Kuntz - Complete Dispersal - 63 Home Raised Tan, Red, RBF & Black Heifers - Bred to Low Birth Weight Red Limousin Bulls June 1st DBS Farms - 50 Red, RBF, & RWF Heifers - Bred to Easy Calving Red & Black Angus Bulls June 20th Ruffneck Welding (Kevin Marten) - 50 Tan/ Red & RBF Heifers. Bred to low Birth Weight Red Angus Bulls starting June 20th for 7 weeks. Neil Scammel - 25 Red & Red Brockle Face Heifers - Red Angus Simmental Cross Heifers (3 Black) -Bred to Red and Black Angus Bulls June 1st Clay Patton - 30 Tan & TBF --- 5 White Charolais Heifers - Bred to Low Birthweight Red Angus Bull June 15th Rick Cromerty - 30 Red & Red Brockle Face Simmental Cross Heifers - Bred to Red Angus Bulls July 1st to Mid October Robert Murray - 45 Black Heifers - Bred Black Angus Z Bar Angus - 8 Young Red Angus Cows - Bred Red Angus June 6th - 4 Young Black Angus Cows - Bred Black Angus June 6th Joe & Doris Gerein - Complete Dispersal of 21 Cows & 10 Heifers - Bred Red Angus to start Calving on April 1 st • Friday, December 15 - Presort All Breeds Calf Sale/ Regular Sale @9:00am • Wednesday, December 20 - Bred Heifer & Stock Cow Sale @ Noon Customer Appreciation Day: Beef on a Bun, Coffee & Donuts X Anchor Bar Ranch (Dennis Simard) - 55 Simmental/ Simmental Cross Heifers - Bred Red Angus June 1 Russell Sword - 8 Second Calvers & 4 Mature Cows - Bred to Black Bulls May 20th Erik Levitt - 20 Black Heifers. 1st Calvers. Bred to Red Shorthorn Bull - 9 Reds 3yrs old. 2nd Calvers. Bred to Peterson Black Angus Bull - 2 Red 4yrs old. 2nd Calvers. Bred to Peterson Black Angus Bull - All Bulls Turned out July 1st and Pulled September 30th. Full herd health every year. Three G Cattle Co. - 250 Blk & BWF Heifers - Bred Black Angus July 8th for 65 Days LPJ Schmidt Farms -15 Charolais Cross Heifers Bred Red Angus June 6th -20 Charolais Cross Heifers Bred Charolais June 7th For more information on the Bred Sales view our website: www.plecattle.com DLMS on Farm Internet Sales Every Thursday @ 10AM Provost Livestock Exchange Ph 780-753-2369 • Fax 780-753-2493 •www.plecattle.com • plec@plecattle.com Jerry Hewson (306)-753-7788 Dean Lawes (780)-753-0803 Darcy Lakevold (780)-753-8669 Casey Lawes (780)-753-1466 Wayne Black (403)-575-0200 Jesse Lawes (780)-753-8590
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ECA Review 2017-12-07

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