THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012
VOL. 90 | NO. 16 | $3.75
POTASH COMES TO TOWN | P28
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
|
WWW.PRODUCER.COM
ALBERTA | ELECTION
NOT THEIR FIRST RODEO
Albertans shift support to Wildrose BY BARB GLEN LETHBRIDGE BUREAU
Recent Alberta election polls suggest rural voters are divorcing their traditional Progressive Conservative political partners and taking up with Wildrose party candidates. It is a shift that likely has its roots in a c c u m u l a t e d P C g ov e r n m e n t actions over the last 40 years, rather than one coherent Wildrose position, said University of Alberta political scientist Roger Epp. He thinks rural Albertans haven’t envisioned a viable alternative until this election’s emergence of another small-c conservative party. “Wildrose has the advantage of somehow capturing some of the public imagination and is still at the stage where people can project different things onto that party,” said Epp. “Somehow, things seem to have reached a tipping point where it’s possible for people in rural Alberta to imagine voting for a candidate other than a candidate of the Progressive Conservatives.” SEE WILDROSE POPULAR, PAGE 2
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT | BUDGET CUTS
Gov’t axes shelterbelt program Ag research centres closing | Federal budget cuts will trim more than 1,000 positions from ag BY BARRY WILSON OTTAWA BUREAU
More than 1,000 federal agriculturerelated public servants will lose their jobs over the next several years because of budget cuts, say affected unions.
The positions include researchers, food inspectors and technical support staff. Community pastures once operated by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration will be turned over to provinces or the private sector as well
as the shelterbelt program at Indian Head, Sask. Agriculture Canada’s agricultural environmental services branch, which swallowed the PFRA in 2010, is being gutted and moved into a new Science and Technology Centre.
Research centres, including the Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg, will be closed within two years along with smaller research stations across the country, including in Delhi, Ont. BUDGET CUTS, PAGE 2
»
ENTER TO WIN YOUR KEYS AT
keystothecombine.ca. The more keys you win, the greater your chances of winning the real key to a real combine.
TM TM
Trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC The Western Producer 11/11-17122-9-1
»
u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv":' APRIL 19, 2012 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4 The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Corp. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240; Registration No. 10676
Shyla Froshaug, 14, tows a roping dummy behind her all-terrain vehicle while her 10-year-old sister, Shana, practises team roping to prepare for the rodeo season. The sisters live on a ranch in the Big Muddy Valley in southern Saskatchewan. Shyla is a member of the Saskatchewan High School Rodeo Association, and Shana will join the organization in August. | CARLA FROSHAUG PHOTO