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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Oil-rich country addresses needs poorly
THE federal government is about to spend $10 million to bring two Chinese panda bears to Canadian zoos for 10 years.
The community of Howley just had its fire department severely damaged in a windstorm and if insurance doesn't come through, the community may not be able to afford to fix it properly. Not to mention the people of Howley cannot drink the water out of the taps without boiling it.
The 21st century doesn't seem to be treating small-town Canada very well.
Black gold was supposed to "take all our troubles away" according to one Newfoundland singer, circa 1980.
Instead we have a premier telling us fiscal restraint is in order, in spite of the fact that this province has never seen so much in revenues in its history.
However, the federal government is a different animal, one that suffers from confused priorities. Money for a radio station is just fine. Money to fix basic infrastructure in places like Shoal Brook and Trout River? Better ask your premier.
That's because the federal government is too busy leasing pandas from China or providing personal helicopters to department ministers. Or providing pensions to MPs after a ridiculously short term of duty.
We're all supposed to be benefiting from this supposed oil boom they've been throwing our taxes at for the past 30 years. Yet the cost of the ferry service from Nova Scotia increases every year. Cellphone service is spotty at best driving up the Northern Peninsula and our roads are getting worse by the minute.
It's time to start looking around to see where the need truly lies and go from there. A supposedly oil-rich country should not have native peoples living on reservations without clean water or food banks that can't keep up with demand.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 29, 2012 A11
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