The Synchrotron and higher taxes, closing court houses and saving fictitious money
Nipawin - April 1, 2000 - By: Mario deSantis
rhetorical number game	The provincial budget has been delivered and my thoughts are that without a governmental
	vision and leadership this budget is just a rhetorical number game made more difficult to
	account for the establishment of the new created 'shock absorber' financial funds(1). That is
	for the budget for me, but what has caught my attention lately has been the pushing up of
	property taxes in Saskatoon because of the building of the Synchrotron(2) and the closure of
	the court houses in Weyburn, Humboldt and Assiniboia(3).
a very unusual project.	In the absence of a vision and leadership to guide us into the 21st century, this government
	continues undeterred with its policy directions on behalf of the few and privileged, and on
	saving fictitious money. In his budget, Honourable Eric Cline has hailed the Canadian Light
	Source Synchrotron being built in Saskatoon as a strong symbol of our growing reputation
	for excellence in research. In the meantime, the City of Saskatoon is increasing its property
	taxes not as a symbol of excellence for its services but as price to pay by all its citizens to
	see our future bottled up in a gigantic mausoleum(4) of 'brick and mortar'. The City of Saskatoon
	promised $2.4 million to help attract the building of the Synchrotron project in the city and
	Bernie Veltkamp, city manager, has stated that over half of the property tax increase "is a
	commitment to a very unusual project."
never mind that rural Saskatchewan	As the City of Saskatoon is increasing its property taxes for the benefit of the few and privileged,
	the government is closing the above mentioned court houses in rural Saskatchewan. Chris
	Axworthy, Minister of Justice, has said that the closing of these court houses will save the
	province half a million dollars a year, never mind that rural Saskatchewan is going to lose
	additional people and services, and never mind that more than half a million dollars will be
	externalized by this government and paid by consumers of these public services.
legal services more expensive	Greg Bobbit, a lawyer in Weyburn, is outraged by the closure of the court houses and has called
	these closures an attack on the judicial system and on rural Saskatchewan. Bobbit has stated "Now
	people will have to go to Estevan or Regina... and a matter that may take five minutes in court will
	require several hours of driving... It's a terrible inconvenience. It's a terrible disservice to the
	members of the public, and it will make... legal services more expensive."
a solid plan	So as Eric Cline, Minister of Finance, praises the budget as a solid plan for the future growth of
	our economy(5), we are experiencing today higher taxes and further actions against the
	economy of rural Saskatchewan.
--------------Endnotes:
	Quote by Donella Meadows "challenging a paradigm is not a part-time job. It is not sufficient to make your point once and then blame the world for not getting it. The world has a vested interest in, a commitment to, not getting it. The point has to be made patiently and repeatedly, day after day after day" ftp://sysdyn.mit.edu/ftp/sdep/Roadmaps/RM1/D-4143-1.pdf   http://iisd1.iisd.ca/pcdf/meadows/default.htm
1. -	Budget confusing, auditor says, by Gord Brock, The Leader-Post, March 30, 2000, Regina, Saskatchewan
2. -	Synchrotron pushes up Saskatoon property tax, CBC Saskatchewan, http://sask.cbc.ca/ Web Posted | Mar 30 2000 4:45 PM
3. +-	Weyburn, Humboldt, Assiniboia losing court houses, CBC Saskatchewan, http://sask.cbc.ca/ Web Posted | Mar 30 2000 8:15 PM
4. -	The U of S Synchrotron: A Mausoleum for a Museum Mentality, by Mario deSantis, November 16, 1999
5. - -	Budget Address: A Plan for Growth and Opportunity, Honourable Eric Cline, Minister of Finance, Government of Saskatchewan, March, 2000 http://www.gov.sk.ca/finance/budget/budget00/2000papers.htm