Spring time in Saskatchewan brings fresh leaves, new calves in pastures and a fresh sense of optimism. It also brings back the crushing reality of our provinces rotten road network.

A lot of areas across Canada claim to have the worst roads in the country, but it's doubtful they could hold a candle to some of the goat paths in Saskatchewan. And we're not talking side streets and alleys - we're talking about some of our major arteries. Heck, Highway 35 leads to a major border crossing in to North Dakota, and it's hard to recommend driving on it unless you have a solid 4 x 4.

What all this comes down to is money. It costs money to upgrade highways and roads, and everyone knows there isn't enough of that going around, right

Nothing could be further from the truth. This year Ottawa will collect $6 billion in gas taxes. Of that, a paltry 7.4 per cent of that will be transferred to the provinces for highway spending.

As for the street or crescent in your community that has you dodging potholes, don't expect any relief coming your way either. Paul Martin's over-hyped "new deal" for municipalities promises great things for cities, towns and villages, but don't expect any of this "new" money to fill any potholes in your neighbourhood. The feds forbid this money from going in to road maintenance, and require that it goes into "sustainable" initiatives like "green spaces" and mass transit under the auspices of the Kyoto Protocol.

Every time you put 50 litres in your tank, you hand over $7.50 to the Saskatchewan government and $8.06 to Ottawa. 37 per cent of the price of gasoline is tax. Call your mayor, your MLA and your MP and demand more gas tax accountability.

World Wide Pork. One of Moose Jaw's largest employers has laid off all of its 300 employees. World Wide Pork is a pork packing plant that sends its product to Japan. The market for pork in Japan has softened and the company has not paid its suppliers. Now the suppliers are refusing to sell them any more hogs, causing the plant to shut down.

Did you know that you own a piece of this money-loser That's right. Saskatchewan taxpayers are in for at least $1 million.

So we have a serious economic set back in Moose Jaw, which is represented by the governing New Democrats. The government already has money at stake in this. How long will it be before taxpayers are the proud owners of a money-losing pork outfit

All signs point toward a government bail-out. If the province goes down that road $1 million will just be the tip of the ice berg.

SaskPower. Saskpower is looking for another 5 per cent rate hike this winter, hot on the heals of last year's 6.3 per cent increase. Actually, SaskPower was looking for a 9 per cent increase last year but the government refused to allow it, and then provided a rebate on our phone bills to keep the government's 2003 election promise to provide the cheapest utility rates in Canada.

This is precisely what happens when the government strips a crown utility of a record high $169 million dividend (2003) to try to fill holes in a disastrous budget deficit.

The latest rate hike announcement comes just days after SaskPower announced they were borrowing $150 million for "undetermined" capital expenditures.

Politics and economics don't mix. All the available literature says crown corporations are less efficient, less flexible, and under capitalized. It's time we stood up against political interference and manipulation in our crowns.