The Leader-Post from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada • 11

All The Leader-Post Regina Thursday, November 23, 2000 Prime minister a little bit touchy Letter Liberal policies hurt farmers grants provided to certain individuals whose background Is not so conducive to receiving public funds? Criminal Investigations continue. The Human Resources Development Canada's gen- erosity with bankrupt businessmen is not a secret either. The auditor generals report on mismanagement of public funds speaks for itself and the complaints made by the Information Commissioner clearly reflect the abuse ofpower. So where is the personal attack, or as the CBC branded it, Days speech from the gutter. And if the prime ministers fight for the poor against the rich in typical classwar demagoguery sounds rather ingenuous coming from a person who is a multi-millionaire with a son-in-law from a billionaire family, should we rush to the Chretien's defence? Finally, the PM is trying to scare women with a referendum on abortion supposedly proposed by Day.

True, Day is supporting the principle that certain issues should be taken to the people for final decision. The prime minister has confirmed more than once that he is pro-choice and has no intention of bringing in legislation to restrict abortion. But is it a crime to discuss one of the greatest threats to the future of Canada? And is it not the abuse of power to disregard the will of the citizens? Yes, total disregard for democracy. IVAN KOLLAR Regina Prime Minister Jean Chretien has been a little bit touchy during this election. Last week, he complained that Stockwell Day abandoned his agenda of by referring to the performance of the present Liberal administration.

Before all, let us remember that it was Chretien who joined his members in the House of Commons in making a vulgar joke of the initials of the proposed name of the Canadian Alliance. It was Chretien who accused the leader of the Opposition of falling in love with the separatists and called him Blockwell, And should we think that alluding to the darker side of the human nature is very complimentary? So, where is the personal attack by Day? The leader of the Alliance just repeated the facts reported in the newspapers. Who would argue or deny that the prime minister through the PMO exercises more power than any of his predecessors? Perhaps it is advisable to remind him what Edmund Burke, the great Irish statesman, had to say in 1771, The greater the power the more dangerous the abuse. And the youngest prime minister ever of Great Britain, William Pitt, had a similar observation in 1770, "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds-of those who possess it. Yes, power corrupts and where is the offence or lack of respect? Is it disrespectful to list the loans and But, you say, why isnt ethanol production going ahead any way? Well, it is, but guess where the new plants are located.

If you guessed Ontario and Quebec move to the head of the class! How does this happen? Two reasons for starters: Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) policies dictate that farmers in Western Canada (but not Eastern Canada) must pay all transportation costs. If you were an ethanol producer and you could have the grain brought to your plant in Ontario or Quebec at no charge or locate in Western Canada and then have to pay the freight to get your ethanol to Ontario or Quebec, where do you suppose you would locate? And, the CWB will not allow ethanol plants in Western Canada to buy wheat or barley at market prices. Just as pasta plants will not locate in Western Canada knowing they may have to pay more for durum than their competitors operating in the northern United States, neither will ethanol plants establish here while competing with Ontario and Quebec, and eventually American, producers who can buy at market prices. Heard enough yet? Believe it or not, the story gets worse but that is for another time. In the meanwhile, let us get off our collective hands and get the Liberals kicked out of power Ottawa before it is too late.

If we send any one but Alliance MPs to Ottawa, we are asking to keep grinding our farmers into the dirt and our economy with them. A vote for NDPLiberalPC will assure us that this will not change. The only way we can get a happy ending to this story is to write it 'ourselves when we go to vote! DALE SKELTON Rose town We all feel the human and economic desperation in agriculture. There is an answer. Stop shipping our wheat and barley out of the country.

Process It instead Into fuel (ethanol), food (gluten) and feed (bran, starch and protein). The United States is moving to ethanol-enhanced fuel to clean up auto emissions so fast that ethanol Is now in short supply. Officials know that even-10-per cent ethanol added to gasoline will reduce auto emissions by approximately 35 per cent. Ford and GM are recommending 10-per-cent ethanol fuel in all their new vehicles (check your owners manual) and have announced carburetion technology to burn 75-per-cent to 85-percent ethanol by 2002. If Canada were to mandate pollution reductions (as has been done in California and will be done in other American states when a sufficient ethanol supply becomes available), we would no longer have to rely on export markets and farmers would no longer have to lose $1 or more! per bushel in transportation costs.

When farmers start making money again, we all gain. Why are the Liberals in Ottawa not moving in tandem with the U.S.? It helps agriculture, the environment, renewable energy, energy self-sufficiency and the physical health of all Canadians. But it hurts Liberal interests like elevator companies, railways, port facilities, grain handlers, the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, grain carriers on the Great Lakes, grain transfer facilities along the St. Lawrence, deep sea shipping, service industries, and on and on.

Put yourself in Liberal shoes and then tell me why they want to maintain the status quo! Grain-gathering system insane ways are being ruined. Railways dictate the design of the system without any financial obligation and federal governments, who ultimately forced the changes, put insufficient resources into the system. As well, many producers have become part of a modern feudal system whereby multinationals have increasing control over what to grow and what chemicals to use. Being a land serf is what many of our grandparents came to the Prairies to avoid. The most vocal producers seem to be those who presumably supported removal of the Crow rate and want to limit or eliminate the CWB.

They say they dont want governments in their pockets and they want to pay less tax. They are supposedly free enterprisers and free traders. If that is the case, that economic model means that some get richer, some get poorer and some go broke. Yet it seems to me that these same producers want a taxpayer-supported income safety net when times get tough. Although most Saskatchewan urban dwellers still have links to their farm roots, it is becoming more difficult to understand and support those contradictions.

GARY CARLSON Regina As an urban dweller and former farm organization lobbyist, I attended the recent taping of CBCs Counterspin that featured a discussion of the low incomes of grain producers. The panel was made up of four federal political party candidates. Historically, farm groups have had difficulty speaking with one united voice. It was no different that night During much of the 20th century, governments, farm organizations and farm leaders put in place some producer protection from world-wide adverse market forces the Crow rate, farmer-owned wheat pools and the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). The Crow rate played a huge, positive role in sustaining net farm income.

However, in the last decade or there has been a radical change, so that grain producers are more vulnerable to the global marketplace. The Crow subsidy is gone, the wheat pools have changed radically and the CWB is under immense attack. We now have an insane grain gathering system. Communities are dying with the removal of elevators and their replacement with inland terminals that force producers to haul longer distances using big trucks. Roads and high Hprsiywt) mf-fr flpMS Nl) Tiair IfrartQ 1 -tunm OnjKGinjjJilS Em alfafW5 1 1 a TSUit fFrii Tm is a groovy new way to shop for Christmas toys.

1 S' I i PTV wri 7j At mm Tmrrtftrxrrr, I Common sense Have you ever noticed how much attention the spoiled child gets? The ones who demand everything and refuse to do things for themselves? They shy away from responsibility like a cat from bath water. How would such a childs spirit be described? Selfish? Perhaps, but more accurately, mean. Funny how these children are the first to call their parents mean when they dont get their own way. These same children grow up to be those who would make government into a babysitter for people who refuse to go it alone; who demand continuous handouts like some adolescent-minded adult who declines to take responsibility for their own fhture. They approach government like it was some house on a Halloween run shouting, Shell out, shell out, if you dont shell out, well break your window's inside out! These people have no thought for the prospective financial stability of the greatest civil institution of all government Theirs is the shortsighted vision of immediate rewards from weak-kneed, bone-headed, bleeding-heart policies at the expense of long-term viability for the parent (government).

I speak here from personal experience, having been one of these people myself in my younger days. Oh, yes, I was a passionate New Democrat. Then, as I grew older, I matured into a Liberal one who was not in such a hurry but still insisted on getting my candy bags. As file years have gone by, I have finally grown up and am finding that common sense is the yardstick with which sagacious wisdom responds to the challenges that are before us. Quite frankly, the only party that is offering this approach is the Canadian Alliance.

Isnt it ironic how the other parties have taken to calling us the ones who are mean spirited? JOSIAH RISE Medstead I cZl The new toy store at www.TheShoppingChannel.com 3 easy interest-free payments for online orders over $200 Delivery and satisfaction guaranteed Now doesn't that sound like a better way to shop for toys? Watch Alex ana Zoe on Thursaays on The Shopping Channel Call 1-888-2020-888 any time to oraer Editors note We welcome your letters. However, to accommodate the volume of letters received for publication, tt will be necessary at times to abbreviate material Readers are urged to keep their letters brief, to about 200 words, typewritten if possible. We will continue to confirm the identity of the writer, letters must be signed. Please include your name, with a middle initial verifiable address and telephone number. ROGERS Virtually Everywhere.