Reader Voices Concerns About Irrigation Project - Letter
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It may or may not reflect the views of MJ Independent.
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Dear Editor:
About This Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Project by the SK Government Party.
I don’t believe that we should support that irrigation project from the Saskatchewan Party Government at all.
Investing 1.15 Billion dollars of our taxes money to create a irrigation infrastructure from the Diefenbaker Lake that would bring water close to the property of about 50 farmers where they will have to invest millions to hook up to that infrastructure.
And set up their own irrigation system to water about 90 000 acres of culture where they already grow Wheat, Canola and lentils in the hope that they could with that irrigation harvest a greater quantity of those grains to attract new food processing facilities that could boost our economy and pay for that project.
We already have facilities that process those culture and we sell the rest of our production around the world.
So far our Province has already spent or committed to spend 30 million to this project. Mostly on a study and engineering report done by the KPMG firm that is available in a 31 page package.
The firm calculated that this investment of 1.15 billions dollars of our taxes money over a 50 years period would create a 5.9 Billion on GDP for SK resulting in a 410 million in taxes revenue for that same 50 years period.
Bear in mind that of the 5.9 billions GDP growth projected there is 2.7 billions of it that would come from value added money from food processing plan if that came true.
Presently in our province we are at 13 billions dollars in debts and it’s costing us 5.4 millions a day to deal with that.
I don’t believe that we absolutely need this project and neither need to invest any of our taxes money in this adventure.
Ross Hickey told the CBC in regard to this project that this idea that the SK party has that “ if they build it, those food processing business will eventually come” may work good on movie but may not necessary work in the real world and that this project would not even make it to the Dragon’s Den TV show.
Mr. Peter Phillips who also spoke about this project on the CBC.
From 1983 to 1996 he conducted analysis projects like this for the SK government.
Phillips said that this report from the KPMG firm is vague & base on shaky assumption and it leaves critical questions unanswered.
He said that private investors considering this project would walk away after reading the first few pages of that report.
He also stated that there was not enough information in that report to make him confident about the project.
There are many things that strike him as unusual about that report like there was no name of the author and detailed tables showing how they came to their conclusion.
He said it sure raise red flag when one can’t see their work.
The most surprising omission for him is that the cost benefit analysis report doesn’t offer any answer to the question as to know if the benefit out weight the cost.
They never said that the benefit cost ratio was X which make you think it’s low enough that they don’t want to show any number like that.
I truly don’t think we should be investing at all in this lake Diefenbaker irrigation project not just because we would not make money out of it but because it is not ecologically healthy in my view to use our precious water like that.
There is other way to improve the output of our agriculture industry. I will come back to that but first we need to take a good look at the health of our water system and at the survival of our ecosystem.
We know that the water we are blessed with here come in great part from the Canadian Rocky mountain in BC and from the run off water from prairie and the boreal plain and it is brought into a maze of channel cut across the SK River Delta by the SK River.
This Sk Delta is one of the third biggest delta in the world and it is the biggest one in North America.
It is in the process of dying and truly needs our help to stay alive and save our ecosystem.
Taking water from the Diefenbaker dam who already restrict some sediment from reaching the delta river to irrigate a few farm close by is nor worth it.
This Delta Wetlands is a precious gem that needs to be cared for with our upmost attention and dedication.
Among many things it help clean sediment and toxic materials.
It is home to many plants and animal species.
Millions of birds migrate there in spring and fall.
With the climate change situation that we have created we need to do all that we can to make sure that the most flow of water keep running through those river and that this water need to be as clean as possible.
We need to be very serious in regard to what kind of material we put into our farm land & into our ecosystem.
In regards to caring and improving our agriculture industry and facing climate change I believe it is time that we transform the way we care about our farm land.
Presently in many part of the world some country and some farmer are changing their farming habits.
Many are planting and replanting rows of tree in their agricultural land.
The roots of tree bring up the underground water. The tree leaves collect humidity and disperse it to the crop when it’s dry. They also protect it from the wind and they act as houses for insect that pollinate and for all kinds of birds.
There is also many others way to nourish the soil and care for our plants beside using some pesticide and herbicide that have the power to make us very sick.
There is a great potential of economic development in caring in different way in regard to creating our food and caring for our soil and our animal.
For example we could start by reopening our tree farm that was in Indian Head that the Harper Government have close many years ago.
We absolutely need to plant tree in all the forest where we harvest trees and in our farm land and in many other place.
In my view it is time for all of us to wake up and stop this long pattern of division that our system of political & cultural division create.
It’s time to stop this corporate greed & political corporate influence. It’s time to heal our self from right & left wing political and religious philosophy.
It is time to come together and truly care for each other equally and truly care for our environment.
We are All Human Being living in this one little planet in this big universe and we are sharing life with millions of other animal and plants who also have like us a mind of their own.
It’s not about money, it is about making our experience of being alive as pleasant as possible while we are here.
It’s about making it very welcoming for those who are coming now and will be coming in the future.
That could even be some of us coming back again in perhaps another shape and form ?
The world we live in is the one we imagine, it can be heaven or it can be hell.
We got the choice, What do you want to vote for ???.
Thanks for having taken the time to read all this.
Michel Labonte - Moose Jaw