1. HOPE YOU LIKE SNOW Up to 10 centimetres and lots of wind coming our way.
2. THERE WAS A FEDERAL BUDGET YESTERDAY Read all about it in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail and at CBC.
3. BUT THE FINANCE MINISTER BACKTRACKS ON INCOME SPLITTING He says it would only benefit select families. Go figure.
4. LET’S CLOSE ANOTHER REGINA SCHOOL! The Regina Board of Education prepares to close Connaught. General consensus and an engineering report suggest that yes, this beloved 100-year-old school is in structural trouble and needs, at minimum, urgent repairs. My opinion? I do not believe that this board is acting in good faith. The board seems to me, with a couple of heroic exceptions, arrogant, imperious and committed to abandoning Connaught without adequate debate, public consultation, community input or any real discussion of options. The board, collectively, acts like its working for the province rather than Reginans and frankly seems unreasonably biased against community schools, preferring mega-schools and sending students by bus all over the place — and what Reginans want can go jump in the lake.
Prairie Dog is not happy. Somehow I suspect we’ll have more to say in next week’s paper.
Emma Graney has a story here. The last paragraph needs an edit, because it leaves out the fact that Connaught supporters said they would cover the cost of the “second opinion”. That the board rejected their offer raises the question of the board having an agenda — and should lower public confidence in the board’s opinions.
5. UNIONIZED CASINO WORKERS AREN’T HAPPY THEY WERE LEFT OUT OF THE LOOP Since Saskatchewan is all about jobs these days I expect there will be some sympathy for the union’s quite reasonable concerns. Right? We do support jobs here in Saskatchewan, right? I mean, even Prairie Dog thinks this is an interesting idea, but the workers have a stake and need to be in the conversation, right?
6. CANADA DEFEATS THE U.S. Canada’s women’s hockey team beat the Americans 3-2 to win the preliminary round. Now shit will get real.
7. IN RUSSIA, WE JAIL ENVIRONMENTALISTS Just evil. Have no doubt that the Stephen Harper Fan Club wishes Canada could get away with stuff like this.
8. U.S. FLUNKS PRESS FREEDOMS The French organization Reporters Without Borders has released the World Press Index 2014, which ranks countries according to press freedoms. Canada is 18 out of 180, up two from last year but down from top-10 spots in the early 2000’s. The U.S. fell from 33 to 46, thanks to government witch hunts against whistle-blowers Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, and the U.S. Justice Dept.’s seizure of Associated Press phone records. More on the U.S. score here, and a story on the dropping United Kingdom ranking here. Best in the world? Finland, the Netherlands and Norway.
9. NOT “CHOOSE LIFE” LICENSE PLATES IN NORTH CAROLINA What kind of asshole pushes for anti-abortion licence plates? Oh yeah, a Republican governor.
10. MEANWHILE IN SPAIN The Catholic Church backs a law to take away women’s rights. Who died and made them boss?
11. TODAY’S MEDAL COUNT Right here. Still number two.
12. THIS VIDEO DEDICATED TO MY POOR FRIEND ERIN Sorry about the photos of certain scary you-know-what’s on certain people’s Facebook pages.
