Bear Flat Dispatch: e stubborn porcupine and other creatures

By Ken Boon

ARIES  MAR 21/APR 20

Requests from friends, associates and family this week can have your nerves on end, Aries. You may have to escape the crowds to recharge. Plan a getaway in the next few days.

TAURUS  APR 21/MAY 21

You are awesome at staying on track when you need to be, Taurus. That is what makes you a potentially ideal tness guide. Try to inspire others to be regimented as well.

GEMINI  MAY 22/JUN 21

There is nothing wrong with putting rose-colored glasses on from time to time and looking at the world in a more positive way. A more positive outlook can be helpful, Gemini.

CANCER  JUN 22/JUL 22

Cancer, be sure that your generous nature does not come at the expense of your own well-being. You tend to put other people’s needs before your own quite often.

LEO  JUL 23/AUG 23

Leo, for some reason you are having problems nding balance in your life right now. You may have to experiment a little bit to see if new strategies might work.

VIRGO  AUG 24/SEPT 22

Let others in on some of your secrets, Virgo. You can’t hold everything in all of the time, and you have been shouldering a lot of responsibility for some time.

LIBRA  SEPT 23/OCT 23

Libra, the personalized touches you put on any project will showcase your personality and passion. Think about embracing a crafty task to really showcase your talents.

SCORPIO  OCT 24/NOV 22

Scorpio, friends are lining up to be quite helpful of late. When you gure out how much you’re getting done with the assistance of others, you may be more welcoming of it in the future.

SAGITTARIUS  NOV 23/DEC 21

Overcome resistance to listening to another person’s side of the story, Sagittarius. Embrace this person’s desire take the lead on something at work or in your home life.

CAPRICORN  DEC 22/JAN 20

A changing environment has you guring out how to adapt your schedule and your skills, Capricorn. With a support team in your corner, you can achieve quite a bit.

AQUARIUS  JAN 21/FEB 18

Spending is a tad out of control this week, Aquarius. Money is ying out of your wallet at a rapid rate. You may need to be a bit more choosy with your spending moving forward.

PISCES  FEB 19/MAR 20

Wait a few more days before making major decisions as your emotions are high right now, Pisces. You want a level head to prevail.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS

MARCH 26 Jonathan Gro , Actor (38)

MARCH 27 Brenda Song, Actress (35)

MARCH 28 Lady Gaga, Singer (37)

MARCH 29 Lucy Lawless, Actress (55)

MARCH 30 Celine Dion, Singer (55)

MARCH 31 Ewan McGregor, Actor (52)

APRIL 1 Randy Orton, Wrestler (43)

Porcupine numbers are way down from what they were many years ago, so we were happy to see one show up here at home the other evening. However, he (she?) somehow had got inside our fenced off garden, and we were concerned about our perennial fruit trees and berry bushes being damaged. We were also concerned about Shiloh the dog getting tangled up with a snout full of quills, so I thought it best to try gently ‘herd’ the porker on his way to a safer domain. As I left the house, I grabbed a plastic scoop shovel from our porch to help guide him on his way.

As it turned out, what I thought was going to be a fairly simple operation turned out to be anything but.

Apparently, he had grown fond of our garden, but eventually, I did manage to get him out the gate. Then he just refused to go further, and if I did gain a little ground, he would try his best to go back. While taking a pause and looking at my shovel, I had my eureka moment and thought perhaps the best way forward was to simply scoop him up and run towards the creek bank with him. That too proved harder than anticipated. As he was standing in some snow, I quickly took a big scoop of snow and porcupine and started running. Well for starters, he was heavier than he looked. I’m not calling him fat, but he was definitely “solid”. He was also hard to balance, especially when he started shifting around looking at the world as it passed by miraculously.

However, it was working, and I ran for all I was worth towards the creek bank while making the required shovel adjustments to keep him onboard. I was almost to the bank when he managed to bail off into the snow. By this time, he seemed to have become a little agitated, so we took a little cooling off period while we both held our ground. Eventually we did get to the edge of the bank and I persuaded him that going down the bank would give the peace and quiet we were both looking for.

Over the years, we have had some strange encounters with wildlife in our yard. One time a mink decided to camp out in our BBQ, and it took a live trap to get him moved down to the creek. Another time we woke up to our dogs (two at that time) desperately trying to get at something by our back deck. I ran out with rubber boots and not much else on to try sort it out. Somehow in my efforts to save him from the dogs, the muskrat decided that I was the problem, and things quickly turned for the worse. I can still clearly remember just barely avoiding his teeth as he took after me while the dogs were stumbling over each other frantically trying to get him. I’m glad to report that I did come out unscathed, but unfortunately that was not the case for the muskrat. When I told Arlene how that muskrat was more ferocious than the Monty Python killer rabbit, she thought I was joking.

One summer we were invaded by chipmunks, and they took to our garden with gusto. Most disturbing to Arlene was their passion for strawberries. They also got into our cherry tree and stole all the pits while leaving the ground covered in ‘de-pitted’ cherries! It was too bad they did not work out a mutually acceptable harvest arrangement with us. So out came the live traps, and we moved 62 chipmunks to new locations.

We can only imagine the assortment of wildlife that will be pushed through our yard when BC Hydro floods the Site C reservoir. We will do what we can to help these hydro impacted refugees.

Ken Boon lives and writes at Bear Flat

Letters...

THANKS FOR THE WARMTH

Last Friday, the Warming Centre closed for the season at 5 p.m. I went for few hours and said hello to the few regular workers there: Rosena Joby, the Warming Centre Director, and workers Albin, Harpreet, Milan, Jean, and Marshall. I got to know these people well. This was their second time at the same building that was previously occupied by H&R Block. Their status is unknown for the next season, but my strong feeling is of them returning in 2023-24 based on needs as well as the frigid climate.

E Goose That Lays The Golden Eggs

By Evan Saugstad

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Canada should be providing the rest of our world with some of our abundant natural resources that are so coveted and desperately needed.

Of course, the prerequisite word is “should,” but sadly that word is not found in the mandates of our Federal or B.C. governments, or their vocabulary. Yes, our Prairie provinces believe and understand the concept, but they’re a bit lonely. And, unfortunately, not a top-of-mind concept in our capitals, especially Ottawa and Victoria, with their lack of understanding on what natural resources means to our prosperity.

Case in point: Did you notice how proud it makes Premier David Eby as he gives away billions of taxpayer dollars that were surplus to last year’s needs? In September, B.C.’s surplus was estimated at $5.7 billion, yet by the end of February, with another month of giveaways to go, Eby has whittled it down to $3.6 billion. Well on his way to get rid of it all by March 31 to stop it from being used to pay down our COVID debts. Eby has no desire to reduce our debt. Maybe he attended the same grade school economics class as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Did you notice the AlaskaHighwayNews.ca headline on March 10, B.C.’s record fossil fuel export revenues in 2022 a ‘fragile’ windfall’? Apparently, yet not unexpectedly, B.C.’s energy industry, in combination with our other natural resource industries, contributed billions to making our surplus a reality.

Much of that surplus came from rural B.C., generated by our natural resource industries, those so aptly referred to as “fragile” and not likely to benefit our economy like that again! Sadly, a future Premier Eby is guaranteeing. He is keeping his focus on spending rather than growing the economy. Notice that as Eby proudly talks of deficits, Premier Danielle Smith next door in Alberta says their natural resources will give them an- other budget surplus in 2023-24?

Why is that? Why can’t B.C., sitting on some of the most resource-rich land in the world, not expect to reap the benefits, yet Alberta can?

Read Aesop’s fable The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg to understand. As a refresher, a married couple has a goose that lays one golden egg every day. Thinking that is not enough, they kill the goose to get all the gold hiding inside. Surprise, surprise — once opened, they find a normal goose’s gizzard and intestinal contents.

Both Alberta and rural B.C. have that same proverbial golden goose, but our B.C. story has a significant variation to Alberta. Premier Eby, and John before him, created plans to ensure the free and independent people of rural B.C. cannot keep benefiting from those golden eggs. Eby’s plan is to stop feeding that goose, a bit at a time, and, as the gold disappears, replace it with government handouts, hoping no one notices before it’s too late and our poor goose is dead. And it’s working, as by the time that goose gasps its last breath, rural B.C. will have become thoroughly beholden on Victoria for providing our every need. While over in Alberta, much to the disdain of the leave-our-naturalresources-in-the-ground crowd, Alberta keeps feeding that goose and producing that egg.

SUPPLIED

Although it sounds like a fairy tale, it isn’t.

Look where our natural resources surplus is going. Billions for community infrastructure, subsidizing fares on BC Ferries and Vancouver Transit, food security plans, cancer research, 911 services, watershed plans, reconciliation, and libraries. Sure, mostly worthy, and good projects, but notice none are about growing our rural and natural resource economies to ensure we can replace deficits with future surpluses?

Then there is the 2022-23 budget. Try to find something that makes our rural natural resource economies hum, and lay a few more golden eggs. Not much support. Even the $49 million for upgrading forest roads is a misnomer, as many of those roads used to be maintained and upgraded with forest dollars, but with the forced demise of the forest industry, that ability wanes. Nothing to allow BC Timber Sales to sell any more timber. Dollars for land use plans that exclude most communities from commenting or questioning the wisdom of more rural parks (30% by 2030), converting once public lands to privately held indigenous lands, and endless old growth set aside.

The energy sector? Crickets. More

Claude Dionne Fort St. John taxes, more processes, more bureaucracy, and more land set-a-sides to limit development. Yes, they did approve Cedar LNG in one breath and, with the other, capped natural gas production, putting in doubt the financial viability of this project.

Coal mines, zip. Don’t approve new ones and stop permitting the ones that do exist. Metal mines, nothing in the budget, but they did approve a new mine in the west Chilcotin (tough to oppose when the two area First Nations fully support the company developing it). Agriculture – some money for more plans and processes to ensure food security. Aquaculture – blame the Feds yet support the closing of one fish farm after another, despite objections from local communities, with no plans and no dollars to replace them.

So, what can rural communities expect in replacing those lost highpaying natural resource jobs? Government handouts, more welfare, more unemployment insurance, and more job training for jobs that don’t exist in our home communities. But there is hope. If Premier Eby sticks to his promise to move jobs out of Victoria and doesn’t cave to local demands to keep them there, every person in B.C. will be able to apply for and receive a government job, no matter who or in which community they live. Think about that. A plum government job for life, a pension without having to leave the comforts of your home, and all achieved without cutting another tree, drilling a well, cleaning a fish, threshing an oat, chasing a cow, or digging for a lump of coal.

Yes, utopia is coming; a “super natural” B.C. where we all work for government and are all happy with government largess in meeting our needs. Need proof of how it works? Just ask our First Nation brothers and sisters how that has worked for them for the past 100 years in replacing poverty and despair with prosperity and joy.

Evan Saugstad lives and writes in Fort St. John

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