RiversdaleReporter.ca

RIVERSDALE STILL NEEDS BUS SHELTERS, SASKATCHEWAN NEEDS A BETTER GOVERNMENT

It has been more than five years since the Riversdale Reporter ran its first opinion piece calling for more bus shelters in the Riversdale community. Since that time the Blok and Edge have been completed, the Mayor who made Victoria Park popular again by causing the Riverlanding walkway and promenade to be created was defeated by Charlie Clark, some great businesses have come to or come to and left 20th Street, and the economy has slowed-- the Blok and Edge both have commercial space available. What hasn't happened is that Saskatoon Transit has improved to the point that my 20 somethings are able to see it as a feasible way to get to university. Nor has Saskatoon Transit put up any additional bus shelters on 19th or 20th or 22nd Street within Riversdale's boundaries that would protect transit users from the cold, snow, rain and dirt laden winds that happen here.

International students who come to Saskatoon from second or third world countries think our transit service is ridiculously bad. Maybe things will change with a new transit boss in charge and with Clark as mayor. Probably not.

Nor has the government of Saskatchewan, friend to big oil and gas, proven capable of displaying any techspertise or willingness to assist Saskatchewan based tech companies to grow and develop. Until a recent tech investment tax credit was introduced -- something the author has asked the provincial government to do for years -- the provincial government hasn't demonstrated even a dim awareness of the potential importance of tech to the future prosperity of this province. It's profound lack of vision and foresight has been matched only by the lack of foresight of the province's crown corporations, Canada's federal government, and Canada's foreign owned main stream media and state funded CBC.

The backwardness of this province and its political leaders -- and I use the term loosely indeed -- is exemplified by the self-congratulatory back slapping the provincial government and state funded CBC have been doing because the provincial government passed some legislation and persuaded the US based ride-hailing service Uber to come to Saskatchewan. It will offer an alternative transportation service that may reduce the number of impaired drivers in Saskatchewan.

The responsible -- and again I use the term lightly -- minister was so proud he participated in a photo-op the media happily disseminated to the masses.

Uber, it should be noted, has already been operating in many countries of the globe, including Ecuador, and the Philippines, which despite their relative poverty, have country wide bus systems and public transportation systems that puts Saskatchewan to shame. Thanks again for killing STC.

For years, the author tried to get Saskatchewan Government Insurance and the provincial government interested in a tech project that would change the way people drive, the way drivers interact with each other on the highways and roadways, end road rage incidents, and make motoring fun. The author was unable to get any where with the buffoons at SGI -- who wouldn't even sign Non-Disclosure Agreements so they could be given a proposal to consider and evaluate, with a view to deciding whether they wished to invest a pittance compared to what they spend for a photo-radar camera unit -- in order to make the concept a working reality. Ditto the Saskatchewan government.

Had the author managed to get investment money from SGI when he first approached them about his intellectual property idea/concept, or even on one of his earlier subsequent approaches, Uber, Lyft and other ride hailing services would likely never have gotten off the ground, a tech company with world wide reach head-quartered in Saskatchewan would exist, and billions in revenue would be flowing into this province as a result of this company's operations. What would have been done was completely scalable and capable of being implemented in licencing jurisdictions around the planet.

Instead the tech dollars flow out of the province in the same way financial dollars flow out of the province and automotive dollars flow out of the province, and the Saskatchewan government thinks it deserves kudos for bringing the US techopoly into the province in an even bigger way, being a mouth piece for big oil, and begging the federal government to bail out multi-millionaire canola growers.

Hewer of wood, drawer of water, economic and social back-water. The people of province deserve so much better. Or do they? They keep electing and supporting politicians that seem to be profoundly lacking in intelligence, insight and foresight.

The governments of China, the USA, Sweden, Switzerland, France, South Korea, Japan, India and even Latvia, Russia, Brazil, and Chile, recognized the important role tech would play to the future wealth and prosperity of their countries and the citizenry in their countries years ago. Saskatchewan governments and the executives they have appointed to Saskatchewan's crown corporations have missed this more or less completely.

More's the pity.