Home & Country (Summer 2004)

              Alberta Women's Institutes

Agriculture
Alice Lowis

Canadian Industry
Alice Lowis

W

ith the business of Agriculture so uncertain these days, the experts are getting on the bandwagon. Recent articles say that the independent farmer is disappearing, and they will have to find ways to interrelate with the value added side of the industry. We are moving towards industrial production and farmers will have to find ways to connect to that model. It is hard to admit they are probably right and the idea of the family farm is disappearing. We have only to look at our own communities to see how many small farms have gone by the wayside to make room for huge landholders. The mega-sized equipment is beyond the reach of the smaller farmer so only those who have invested huge sums, perhaps mostly bank money, are able to survive. Good news from the Alberta Government about funds for water projects in Alberta. We re finding more and more communities do not have safe drinking water and these projects may go a long way to alleviating the problems. Water lines will be built from Grande Prairie to Clairmont, a pipeline from Red Deer to Blackfalds, Lacombe and Ponoka, and a pipeline from Lac La Biche to Plamondon. Alberta has also allocated another $9 million to improve Alberta's water monitoring networks. With the continued dry summers, the communities will be anxiously waiting for the completion of these projects. A tongue in cheek article about how the farmer can save money was interesting too. He had bought various items last fall that he had not used. He calculated that all told, his purchases now are giving him 20 % to 100 % return on his money, one positive way of looking at farming! Some items purchased by the farmer were steel posts, cost $2.00 each now worth $3.10, a roll of barbed wire went from $30.00 to $40.00 and plywood bought for $10.00 a sheet now is worth $22.00.wi

F

ollowing up on the last paragraph of Agriculture. A good percentage of plywood is now going to help build Iraq. Scrap metal is going to China as their economy is booming. The satisfaction in knowing that your purchases are now worth more will cause you to keep buying, knowing that the price will probably keep going up. We need only look at the soaring price of gasoline, in some areas now reaching $1.00 per liter to know on the whole, we will simply pay more for everything in the future. My granddaughter suggested maybe we should go back to horses! Those in the oil industry are looking toward Iraq too as the next site for drilling. Venezuela and Mexico are other countries where Canadian companies are moving. The profit from international operations rose 64% for one company. Have you heard about Polar Diamonds? These diamonds are being mined in Canada's north and are in the top 5% in the world. All diamonds are imprinted with the company logo, larger ones with a polar bear and smaller ones with a paw print. They also have a code printed on them. Now if we could all just afford to have one of these Canadian diamonds wouldn't that be wonderful? Put a bug in someone's ear when your birthday comes along; remember how prices keep going up, this might be a worthwhile purchase.wi

Citizenship and Legislation
Phyllis Kosik

B

y the time you read this, we will have a new government, because Election Day will have come and gone. I do hope that you all got out to vote. Many of us feel that we don't have a choice in our constituency, but to be a good citizen we still should have gone out to vote. It is not many years ago when women did not have that right and I am confident in the knowledge that you all know this and got out on Election Day and cast your ballot. For all of the parties, I was disappointed on the issues they chose to make an election issue, but therein lies their right as well. Good citizenship is looking at the issues presented, look back on the history of the parties, listen to the candidate in your constituency and casting your ballot on the judgment you have made. Whether you will be happy with the outcome remains to be seen. Time alone will let us know. In the meantime, we should be writing those letters and making those phone calls to bring the issues that are close to our hearts to the attention of our representatives. By now as well, we will have found out what Ralph Klein had up his sleeve with Medicare here in Alberta. Let us hope that it isn't something else to make our lives more miserable in the area of health care. Keep writing your letters and letting the Premier and the Minister of Health know how you feel, how any new changes affect you and if possible give them some suggestions as to how to fix the problems. Keep writing ladies. That is how we can lobby most effectively!wi

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