Farmers may be the first to get the true meaning of these three words. When they work their fields they will come to low spots that are too wet to work. There will be hilltops that don’t grow as well as the valleys. Farmers respect the places in the fields that grow the best crops. They quickly learn to comply and drive around the wet spots so that they don’t get stuck. They also drive around that big rock that is hidden, just below the ground, that if hit will break plow points or disc blades.
They also learn that if they tile drain the low spot, the water will drain away and they can work it, and save time driving around it with every piece of equipment. It turns out that the low spot grows the best because, through the ages of rain falling, lots of good organic matter has washed down into that low place in the field.
He also realizes that the top of the hills don’t grow as well because that organic matter that makes the low spots grow so well, washed down by the same rain from the hill tops to the lowest part of the farm. Just as he drained the low spot to make it better to crop, now when there is that extra load of manure left over when the field is already covered he will spread it on that hill top that doesn’t grow very well.
The farmer also remembers the part of the field where the crops are best and the place where the crop is the poorest. When it’s time to take soil tests to help learn what manure, fertilizer or lime is needed, there will be one soil sample taken in the best part of the field and another sample taken where the crops are always the poorest. Then the farmer can choose the specific soil amendments for each place in the field and change it for the better.
When I was young, I was told by my parents to trust the police because they were all honest, helpful people. I also learned at an early age to respect the laws like stop signs, speed limit signs, dotted and solid lines on the road, etc.
Once, when a neighbour died in a horrendous farm accident in a huge machine, I contacted the police to offer my assistance in the dismantling and inspection of that machine because I owned a similar one. I had all the service manuals for the machine and after working on it for several years was very familiar with it. I also knew that the police department worked mostly in French and most of the manufacturers of those machines never translated either the sales brochure or service manual into French because there was not enough market for sales in Quebec to make it profitable to even offer the machines in Quebec.
After that, I lost respect for police, in general, and in my mind, each police officer would be responsible to regain my respect. After the death of George Floyd, most police would be held accountable for their own respect. The involvement of the RCMP in the recent discovery of their part in the residential school atrocity further puts the respect of Canada’s most highly respected police force in question.
Popular demand has influenced political decisions for generations. In the past couple of centuries, religion has played a huge part in how Ireland was governed and even divided as a county. When a man and woman of different religions were married, they often were shunned by both families. Many of these young couples immigrated to Canada which, to this day, is one of the most receptive countries in the world to hard working people seeking an accepting country to be a part of and a place to raise their family.
A financial dependence on the oil industry has pitted Alberta against a world realization that climate change must be reversed quickly if our planet is to survive for our grandchildren.
In our own province of Quebec, preservation of the French language seems to have taken power over the prosperity of its people. Many company head offices have left Quebec and taken with them the high paying white collar executives who paid the highest taxes.
Head offices want to work in a language that is accepted all over the world. Even China now has more English speaking people than any other country in the world.
The lower paying labour jobs remained in Quebec because of lower wages, better health care, and other social programs. Because of better wages, many of our young, bilingual health care workers have easily found jobs outside Quebec, leaving Quebec hospitals short-staffed and scrambling for workers. The brain drain of bilingual, well educated young people to other provinces in Canada has left Quebec on a slippery slope.
In an attempt to increase the French speaking population in Quebec, they have placed French language proficiency on top of any other reason to immigrate to Quebec. French schools in Quebec now have the highest dropout rate, the lowest graduation rate and the lowest grades of any province in Canada. At the same time, the English schools in Quebec now have the best numbers in these categories. Sometimes politicians make decisions to gain votes instead of taking decisions that will be good for their people in the future.
It has taken almost 400 years to get Canada to be the most respected place to live in the world. Let’s not let our politicians tear it apart.
“Sometimes we thank God for unanswered prayers.” More debate and research needed before a vote be taken.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
