Right in the centre - Assorted topics from a rural perspective

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Monday morning came early with the blockbuster news that HyLife was being sold. HyLife is perhaps best known locally for its hog processing plant at Neepawa, which employs over 1,300 people. A bit lesser known is that the company has barns, feed mills and other hog-related enterprises across Manitoba, as well as interests in the U.S., China, Japan and Mexico. What is even less well known is that the founding families, the Janzens and Vielefaures, started out from very humble hog farmer beginnings.

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My perspective - It’s better to give

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

Neepawa Banner & Press

What would our communities be like without volunteers? It’s a timely question to ask, especially since last week was National Volunteer Week. How would our lives be worse off without the 12.7 million Canadians who give their time?

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Right in the centre - Excessive and useless taxes solve nothing

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Due to the Easter and Good Friday long weekend, this column is being written a day ahead of the Alberta election. It is bit dangerous to assume a day ahead of an election who will win, but polls show that the United Conservative Party (UCP) will win. If the UCP is victorious, it will mean that there will be conservative style governments in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. It would be nice to think that the Liberal/NDP grip on provincial parties will slip even further. Hopefully, the conservative governments across the country will unite to try and lower deficits and eliminate the very ill-thought-out carbon tax.

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My perspective - Too much power?

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

Neepawa Banner & Press

Every four years or so, Canadians go to the polls to pick the representative they’ll send to Ottawa. Once there, voters expect their MPs will represent the constituency as part of either government or opposition. We’re usually happiest when our representative is part of government, hoping they’ll be even more effective at taking care of our needs. The problem is that’s not entirely how it works in practice.

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Right in the centre - Looking to the south

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

I know that things are done differently in the United States. The level of intensity for sports, even at the high school level is way beyond what we Canadians experience. Sports at all levels take on a whole new perspective when even high school football and hockey games can have thousands of fans in attendance.

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