Readers offer opinions on how the growth in farm size affects rural Saskatchewan and how teaching a yoga class to Saskatoon inmates broadened perspective.
So what’s caused this escalation? It is the increase in farm size. Farm size has grown in almost unbelievable jumps in the last 10 years or so.
Young men and women who may have grown up on small and moderate farms are deciding not to return to the rural areas to educate their child or shop in local communities.
Read the government’s throne speech of the last couple sessions or check out the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities annual convention. Restocking Saskatchewan with a new generation of families isn’t even mentioned.
Instead, Saskatchewan opened its doors to sell off farmland to outside interests or corporations. The Farm Credit Corporation (FCC) and the chartered banks love this scenario. It’s the 1970s all over again.
Higher land prices and borrowing costs eventually convince even the most sincere of retiring farmers that by selling or renting to a corporation — as opposed to a young couple starting out who may have grown up down the road — is probably the direction they have to go.
Micheal Halyk, Yorkton
(The letter above was originally published in the Regina Leader-Post.)
Rehabilitation most vital point of jail
My apprehensions the first day vanished as soon as I met the men. I felt a particular bond with one, who responded well to the class and set an example for the others. We shared a farewell hug when he was released. (I learned a rule of yoga in prison: do not touch students.)
Another man being released thanked the social convener for her excellent work and promised to collect some books for the prison library and to help her any way he could. His well-spoken politeness impressed me.
Learning that one of my students had started teaching yoga himself to his fellows, I invited him to teach the class one day, thinking I could give him some pointers. He showed such tenderness to the men and encouraged them so effectively I was in awe. There was no way I could improve his teaching.
Inmates are people, with the same variety as the general population. The point of incarceration is not simply detention, as that conservative politician and many others believe; it is above all rehabilitation.
Almost all inmates will be returning to society; we want them to be better than when they went into jail. Alternatives to incarceration are now being explored; it is important to support this movement. The treatment of offenders must be humane; we all benefit.
David Edney, Saskatoon
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