One of the drawbacks of writing a monthly column is that there’s really no way for me to know what the world is going to be like by the time you read this. Something tells me, though, that it’s not going to be much of a nicer place than it is today, and Saskatchewan will be no exception.
I write this after watching a video of protesters and counter-protesters screaming in each other’s faces, a downtown Saskatoon railway track serving as both the figurative and literal line drawn between them. Dozens of police officers were taken away from potentially far more important matters of public safety in order to referee the two groups, never mind clear the way for the train threatening to bear down on
all of them.
Meanwhile in Regina, things have settled down a bit after weeks of community unrest, confrontations and general tension created by the Federated Co-op oil refinery lockout of its employees. This is a relief, as hostilities had been ramping up daily with arrests, illegal blockades and even unlawfully confining each other’s opponents. Dozens of Regina Police Service members have been forced to intervene time and again, with Regina police chief Evan Bray bearing the brunt of public vitriol for his generally passive stance handling blockades deemed illegal by a Regina judge.
All these police resources tied up separating grownups acting like children, as a rampaging drug epidemic ravages our province. This is not our Saskatchewan. While none of the current conflicts plaguing our province and country can be solved by one politician or level of government, we can and should be able to look to our elected leaders to set the tone for the discourse. When that tone is always combative, when it’s constantly promoting this idea of us versus them, when every second word is “fight” or some derivative thereof, it trickles down.
When we’re constantly promoted as victims, we begin to believe that narrative — that Saskatchewan and its people are weak, isolated . . . lesser-than. Our emotions are manipulated and weaponized. Anger begets more anger. Under strong, empathetic leadership, Saskatchewan people aren’t perfect, but they are more resilient. Our province has always faced challenges to our unity, especially along racial lines. But today something feels different.
I want to be proud again, not frustrated, to be from this province and I know I’m not alone. I want to feel hope for our province’s future, instead of like a victim of its demise. Leadership means coming down off the mountain and actually showing people the way out of turmoil. Instead, all we’re hearing is the constant drone of blame and excuses as to why it’s everyone else’s fault that we are where we are.
If we wouldn’t put up with that kind of negativity and learned helplessness from our kids, why would we tolerate it from the people we elected to work with and for us? I don’t have any solutions to offer, because for the first time in a long time I feel resigned to our fate. I’m tired of fighting too. But I know Saskatchewan is still that place it was in the archives, even if we’ve done our best to bury it whole.
My hope is that by revisiting the values that got this province through so many challenges in the last century, we can get through the next, intact and as proud Saskatchewanians and proud Canadians.
-Tammy Robert