Merrill Dunes
This E-mail was sent to 'supportforbusiness@gov.sk.ca shortly after I was informed by a representative from the Saskatchewan Health Authority that Merrill Dunes Action Tag would have to close shop until an undetermined time. I was advised by a rep at Sask Business, via a phone number provided by the Sask Health Authority lady, to generate some feedback."Likely won't do you any good but each voice that expresses thoughts provides something for the politicians to think about", was his advice. Easy guy to deal with! Doing his job and not being a jerk! Merrill Dunes is not being singled out for a hard time - EVERYONE is taking a kicking. And it won't stop without the victims getting their backs up! I just spoke to a hockey manager lady who had just written the Minister of Education and blown off at the government's impact on children. Another hockey team that wanted to come had a king pin parent who was a child lung specialist and was all for a rejuvenating outing. Are we a bunch of mentally dead boot lickers? If you look around and think - do you get the feeling you are being organized by individuals who are failing to do either? Everyone has a bit of heller in them and there is a time, like these times, to let it rip!
I was just informed by Saskatchewan Health Authority that our Merrill Dunes Action Tag business must close until Stage 4 takes effect. I was read the act and it seems that there is no question that we are operating illegally – at least by the standards laid down by the powers that be.
We have been doing small private groups of 10 since May 10 and have prepayments from about 50 individuals for upcoming gatherings that we, informed only by the “30 individual groups” outdoors policy plus common sense, were quite confident advanced public health. The players who come out seem to agree - like puppies who find the kennel door unlocked! Given the bizarre gyrations of the world over the last few months, one tends to ignore bureaucratic detail! I still feel, very strongly, that our efforts have done, and were doing, dramatically more good than harm with regard to public health! LIFE is NOT a single dimension dot!
So, needless-to-say, I am not happy. But the issue is far deeper than my narrow niche. Everyone – and “EVERYONE” is a totally accurate description, is impacted by a thinking format that has swept the world in a far more viral way than any physical disease. Some few governments, notably in Sweden, were able to appreciate that they were dealing with a complex system and not a “one trick pony” scenario. How many think and see like a Swede but say nothing?
My blather only adds din to the obvious chaos that is unfolding all around us, not because of a virus that is simply another wave in the pattern that has gone on for eternity, but because of the truly “novel” reaction.
In my specific case, it irritates me that Merrill Dunes is clumped in with the generic “paintball field” stereotype while it is significantly different and we could defend its health related virtues if the lockdown mentality had a degree of logic and flexibility connected to it.
But given that the system is rolling and the tiny cogs are doing their job, I feel there is only one angle to dwell on. And that is that the hard logic of experience is going to prevail. Once the hush money that politicians are slipping out of the back pockets of the electorate runs dry, and the broad implications of the decisions that have been made in the last few months bite in, there are going to be a lot of elected decision makers who are going to be called on the carpet and will be feeling very uneasy about their jobs. And those who have been advising them and have been appointed by them will legitimately share the unease.
My personal slap is a plus in that it gives me a reason to storm against the overall approach that EVERY citizen is being beaten up by. It is my hope that the little fire that will be ignited by the Merrill Dunes shutdown will spread and that more and more citizens will standup and demand sanity from public officials. The kick I have taken is no greater than the kicks that are being delivered to every citizen on a daily basis! And it is obvious that the kicking, due to totally predictable side effects, is going to become far more frequent and much harder.
George Manning / gcm457@yourlink.ca / 306-382-2728 / 306-280-4100 / Merrill Dunes / Saskatoon, SK
Below are a string of high level email addresses. Interestingly, in the early stages of the covid disruption, I sent emails to two politicians, one local and one national, (supposedly opposition politicians!) expressing dismay at the way the national, minority government leader was standing outside his "tent", like the Prophet Moses, and spreading flowery words and public dollars that were linked to what "This Government" is doing for this group and that group and the world and seemingly on and on. All this without any visibility of, nor static from the opposition! As a simple farmer and Action Tag field operator, I didn't expect any effect other than personally feeling better, but I was amazed to get a note back from the local agent, likely written by a helper who obviously was aware that I was associated with Merrill Dunes. There was absolutely no reaction to the points I made in my letter but sympathy was expressed for my business plight (which I had not mentioned) and I was pointed to where I could tap into some of the public money that was being scattered far and wide. The lesson; Everyone in power, it seems, has bought into the same mindset. The Canadian government supposedly is composed of several parties but the man outside his tent is speaking for the whole parliament with barely a peep of disagreement. The virus is powerful!
For the individual - keep in mind that this is a democracy and not a cult. Being a Canadian doesn't mean you need to check your brain nor your ability for thoughtful self expression at the border. Public servants are not slaves, they are well paid, but when they become their own boss and the masses become brain dead robots, trouble is brewing. There is a screaming vacuum of thinking minds in this current turmoil. Why not activate your weapon. Galileo apparently stated a line that has some current relevance; "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use". Individual thoughts are a type of virus - they are inert until they get into a living mind. But in that living cell, they multiply and spread to other living minds. Why not trigger a Truth Virus Pandemic - just like our bodies are battlegrounds between swarms of bacteria and viruses so is society. Probiotics have an effect. Positive microbes keep the bad boys in check. Do your part to restore a healthful balance! Thoughts convert to words - words impact minds.
