LMT June 07 - Vol 114 - issue 27

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6 lmtimes.ca • Last Mountain Times • Monday, June 07, 2021 • /lastmountaintimes • @lmtimes Canada’s debt ranking falls from best in the G7 to 5th worst of 29 advanced countries when total debt is measured VANCOUVER—Canada’s relative debt position is much worse than the federal government suggests when a larger group of advanced countries are included and total debt is measured, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan, Canadian public policy think-tank. “The federal government is very quick to point out that the country’s net debt relative to the size of the economy (GDP) is lowest in the G7, but our rank falls to 11th when the group of comparison countries is expanded to the 29 advanced countries—including many European countries and Australia—for which comparable data exists,” said Jason Clemens, executive vice president of the Fraser Institute and co-author of Caution Required When Comparing Canada’s Debt to that of Other Countries. Moreover, Canada’s relative debt position falls further when total debt is measured instead of debt after adjusting for financial assets. Net debt, which is the measure used by the federal government offsets a part of the country’s total debt by including financial assets. Specifically, Canada ranks 25th of 29 countries for its total (gross) debt as a share of the economy. In other words, Canada’s total debt relative to GDP is the 5th highest amongst the industrialized world. “Even within the narrower G7, Canada falls from first to fourth in its debt ranking when total debt rather than debt after financial assets are measured,” commented Clemens. No other country experiences as pronounced a change in its ranking when moving from a measure of total debt (gross) to debt after financial assets (net debt). Canada drops 14 places in its ranking while Finland, which experiences the second largest decline in its ranking, falls only 6 spots. The reason Canada’s debt position declines so dramatically when gross debt— and not net debt—is measured is because net debt includes the assets of the Canada Pension Plan and the Quebec Pension Plan, which unlike the public pension programs of other developed countries invests in non-government assets such as stocks and bonds. As of March 2020, the combined assets of the CPP and QPP, some $488.1 billion, represented roughly one-third of the difference between Canada’s total debt and net debt. “The idea that the assets of the Canada and Quebec pension plans are available to governments and should be counted against the debt distorts the gravity of Canada’s indebtedness,” Clemens said. - Jason Clemens, Executive Vice President - Fraser Institute rm lumsden continues from page 4 ties. Reeve Farago felt, in his opinion, if an outbuilding would be used, it should be inspected and permitted for public occupation, then the RM would be ok with that. Bryck noted that there is a unique aspect for people who are looking for agricultural tourism accommodations. She said the council could either limit it to people’s residences or open it up to outbuildings, accessory buildings such as garage and garden suites. Councillor Jordison thought that Airbnb had to be limited to homes, but finding out it didn’t, he was ok with opening it up to include other buildings. Bryck said she looked at what the RM of Edenwold does. She said in Edenwold, they are considered a vacation rental and have a definition and policies for where they are allowed, noting that they aren’t designated as a discretionary use in their zoning bylaw. Bryck said she wasn’t sure if Edenwold would use business licensing to regulate them and would reach out to their planning and development manager. Reeve Farago noted that if they are for public use, they should be inspected and approved, saying that was the problem council had with the other units. Councillor Langford noted that it wasn’t long ago that the council was in discussions regarding the differences between 4-foot roof rafters for ag buildings vs 2-foot spacings for residential. He thought that council would be opening the doors, returning to a four-foot rafter on a farm with a converted building, and that council would find themselves in a ‘real dilemma.’ Farago responded, saying there were other things, such as access to fire safety which is why they need to be inspected. Lanford said he wanted to stick with allowing residential Airbnb rather than modified outbuildings. Farago was supportive of the opportunities for development, such as a hobby ranch wanting to convert granaries or a barn as per Bryck’s comments and that sticking with residential only would be limiting those opportunities. Garbutt asked where liability falls around these developments. Farago thought that he would rather err on the side of public safety and that if someone wants to create these buildings, they should do their due diligence to make it safe. Bryck agreed with Farago that there is an onus on the owner that they have to make sure their building is up to code and that an inspection piece would be important. Director Bryck will draft, formalize it and prepare the amendment for first reading, which will kick start the public notification process. Little Church Bridge The RM of Longlaketon and the RM of Lumsden met to discuss the estimates for the bridge replacement, which straddles both RM’s. Public Works Manager Leighton Watts said they agreed to go forward with a single-lane structure. He has forwarded the information to the engineer to start the tendering and final design process. Fire Dept. Delegation Fire Chief Jeff Carey presented as a delegation before the council to answer council’s questions around fire bans. Carey said they pay attention to all of the conditions that can contribute to fire risks. Weather, dryness, humidity, temperature and wind, as well as other factors. He said that in their experience, a fire ban has minimal impact on the type of grass fires they attend. He said the majority of fires are caused by mechanical failures or by trains. He added that it is not the fire pit that gets away or a farmer burning stubble because farmers are usually prepared. He said they rely on farmers a lot to bring them water. Councillor Jordison suggested that Carey submit a fire condition report to let the public know that the situation is being monitored. Carey also suggested providing some education through the website. Carey thought that if they can educate people, they don’t have to stop people from having their backyard fires. Lumsden Sports Association – Financial Support Request The Lumsden Sports Association is separate from the town. The town of Lumsden has contributed $20,000. The RM agreed to match the town’s contribution, which will come from the safe restart money the RM had placed into reserves. South Shore First Responders Board – Medical and Emergency Equipment Grant Councillor Jordison was in support of the request to purchase mannequins. Council carried the motion. Village of Disley – Grading Request for Village Streets Reeve Farago noted that the RM didn’t do custom grading for ratepayers and said this is the problem if they do it for another area. Councillor Garbutt said he had reviewed the request noting that the road is 1 km of gravel roads. He said that if the RM did it twice a year, it would only be two kms. He thought it was justifiable because the RM would be assisting another municipality within the RM of Lumsden. Councillor Jordison agreed with Councillor Garbutt but was concerned that the RM would be taking on the village of Disley’s public works and posed what would happen if something occurred between grades. Jordison was also worried about what would happen with snow removal. Public Works manager Leighton Watts said the commitment would be one hour to grade the roads in Disley. He said they already grade a section of Disley’s road because of its location because it is difficult for the grader to stop for a short distance. He added because the RM’s ratepayers use the section of the road, they grade it. However, they do not do the internal roads of Disley. Watts said he was ok with doing it as long as the council was ok with the optics of the RM doing the work. Council put the discussion on hold until after the council’s closed session. After council came out of the closed session, they decided they would complete a courtesy grade of Disley’s roads once in 2021 and would assist them in looking for a company to help them moving forward. The next meeting of council is on June 17th at 7:00 pm. Jennifer Argue, Local Journalism Initiative reporter Note: These reports are abridged for content
lmtimes.ca • Last Mountain Times • Monday, June 07, 2021 • /lastmountaintimes • @lmtimes 7 responsible for 12 gigatons In our world, very little operates in a vacuum. AG NOTES CALVIN DANIELS The activities of the human race tend to be very inter-connected, with what happens in one sector having a ripple effect into other areas of our lives. For example, there are those who focus a lot of attention on reducing the use of fossil fuels. In part because it is a finite resource, but of more immediate concern - what effect burning coal and using gasoline and diesel has on the atmosphere. But, what is the impact of renewable energy options? Do we need to worry about utilizing a finite farmland base to grow crops for biofuels in a world where we know people still go to bed hungry, and the populations continue to grow, meaning more mouths to feed? What about dealing with storage batteries when they fail? Or the blades and gears and towers of wind farms? Certainly, there is growing awareness of what we do with our garbage having a huge impact on the environment. The problem of plastics, which can take hundreds of years to degrade in nature, polluting world oceans is now a thing of headlines. How we address that issue alone is a huge question we must answer as caretakers of this planet. We tend to look at agriculture as doing things rather well in terms of sustainability, with increased awareness of protecting waterways and wildlife. However, a United Nations’ Food Systems Summit, which will be held in New York this fall, may well show the sector, at least on a worldwide basis, is not doing so well. If that is the case, what will the response be? It is likely going to be a response that impacts how farmers farm. The UN Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting in Paris in 2015 got the ball rolling on the upcoming Food Systems Summit. Delegates attending the COP meeting learned that food production was responsible for 12 gigatons of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. That was about 25 percent of emissions, not from coal-fired factories or grid-locked cars on city freeways or passenger planes and ocean freighters. Now the UN has never been quick in coming to binding agreements. Getting a deal on world agricultural trade tends to be a process that drags on for years and typically ends up so watered down its impact is hard to notice. Still, world climate change has many much more focused on solutions, so what comes out of this process may hit sooner than later. It will impact farming, the energy sector and given their dual importance, it will ripple widely. By Calvin Daniels - Calvin Daniels Comment on this article at lmtimes.ca/calvin Disclaimer: opinions expressed are those of the writer. Official Opposition joins calls to protect rural ambulance services REGINA – Thursday, June 3, 2021, Official Opposition Health Critic Vicki Mowat joined the Mayor of the Village of Glenavon Bill Sluser in calling on the provincial government to commit to providing funding to fill ambulance vacancies resulting in service disruptions to communities in Saskatchewan’s Southeast. “This is another example of how this government has completely sidelined the health and safety of rural residents. Thank God there hasn’t been a fatal accident. It shouldn’t take an avoidable fatality to convince this government to invest in rural healthcare,” said Mowat. “The people of this province expect essential health services like ambulances to be available when they need them the most.” Since the end of January of this year, Kipling and area have been short a paramedic for their ambulance services due to a maternity leave. The region has been left with limited service, with no ambulances available for two-thirds of the month. Should there be an incident when a local ambulance is not available, often one must be sent from surrounding communities, resulting in wait times of over an hour. Despite Mayor Sluser and council reaching out to local MLA Bonk, Minister Hindley, Minister Merriman and Premier Scott Moe, the position has remained vacant since January. “The Saskatchewan Health Authority has told me this position has remained vacant for over 5 months because the Ministry won’t fund a permanent fulltime position,” said Sluser. “How on earth does it make any sense to pinch pennies on paramedics when people’s lives are at stake. The Sask. Party needs to stop taking Saskatchewan’s rural communities for granted and ensure live-saving care is there when we need it.” Saskatchewan has one of the most expensive and dysfunctional ambulance systems in the country. Despite undertaking reviews of the ambulance system in 2008 and 2017 no meaningful changes have been made to improve services provided to Saskatchewan people. The Official Opposition is joining the calls from the Village of Glenavon and other rural residents demanding this government immediately: Commit to funding to fill gaps in rural ambulance coverage due to staffing shortages. Provide current information on what other Saskatchewan communities are also without full-time ambulance coverage. Publicly report on ambulance service disruptions the way Emergency Room, Laboratory and X-ray services are reported through SHA Service Alerts, so Saskatchewan residents can make informed choices about how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. - Media Release, Thomas Linner - NDP Caucus Nokomis Legion Branch #290 celebrates FLAG DAY Saturday, June 19 th , 2021 Please join the members of the Nokomis Legion at the following locations and times to place flags in memory of our veterans. • Flags will be placed at the Lockwood Cemetery at 9:30 a.m • Flags will be placed at the Govan Cemetery at 11:30 a.m. • Flags will be placed at the Nokomis Legion Cenotaph at 2:30 p.m. • Physical distancing per COVID rules followed Anyone wishing to place the flag in the memorial cross of a veteran, please contact Colleen: 306-528-7570
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LMT June 07 - Vol 114 - issue 27

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