By Mario deSantis, February 22, 2000

Saskatchewan is going through a nightmare, not only we are faced with an economic crisis(1)(2), but we are now experiencing a social unrest in the farming community(3) and a corrupted justice system(4). Janice MacKinnon felt offended by recent articles of the National Post reporting that Saskatchewan has a poorly educated workforce(5), one of the highest infant death rates(6), and a multi-year distinction in being first in both drunk driving(7) and crime(8) rates.

MacKinnon has defended the leadership of her government by writing the letter "Saskatchewan, distorted(9)" dated February 17, 2000 to the National Post, two days after two Saskatoon policemen had been suspended in connection to a homicide investigation of two Native men discovered frozen to death(10). In this letter, MacKinnon puts her sociological understanding(11) in one corner of her Big Brain(12), and becomes a superior professorial mind able to spin-doctor any statistics and affirm that her government has fought Child Poverty better than any other province, that our population has increased, that Saskatchewan led the western provinces in percentage job growth in January 2000 compared to January 1999, that Saskatchewan is a worldwide leader in agricultural biotechnology, that Saskatchewan was awarded the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron, that Saskatoon's Innovation Place is the largest university-based research and development park in Canada, that the United Nations ranked Saskatchewan as the best place to live.

Dear Honourable MacKinnon, your numbers don't add up any more, and you cannot fool anymore anybody who is simple, who has clarity, and who has common sense(13). The spin-doctoring of your government, Honourable MacKinnon, has created a social environment of distrust and division among all the people of Saskatchewan(14). Honourable MacKinnon, your government put in jail former MLA conservatives who stole thousands of dollars, but what did your government do differently? I have the answer Honourable MacKinnon, your government has bankrupted the most important resource, the children of Saskatchewan(15), and your government has contributed to the escalation of racism(16) and to the corruption of our police forces(17) and justice system.

Your government is a shame Honourable MacKinnon, and I advise you that to run this province your government needs more than the skills of spin-doctoring the truth. Your government needs a leadership that "rests more in the heart and hands than in the authority(18)" of your Tin Pot Dictators(19).

Endnotes

General reference: Articles by Mario deSantis published by North Central Internet News http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/authors/desantis.html

1. A World for the Few and Privileged in Saskatchewan, by Mario deSantis, February 18, 2000

2. Don't trust statistics, don't trust Honourable MacKinnon, trust yourself, by Mario deSantis, February 10, 2000

3. Honourable Dwain Lingenfelter has been caught lying, by Mario deSantis, January 29, 2000

4. Our Saskatchewan Justice System is Rotten to the Core, by Mario deSantis, February 19, 2000

5. Mississippi of the North? A poorly educated workforce is making the end of farming painful: economists, by Adam Killick, National Post, February 05, 2000 http://www.nationalpost.com

6. Infant death rate highest of all provinces, by Adam Killick, National Post, February 11, 2000 http://www.nationalpost.com

7. Drunk driving rate out of step with nation, National Post, February 12, 2000 http://www.nationalpost.com

8. Police worry at rise of urban youth crime, by Adam Killick, National Post, February 12, 2000 http://www.nationalpost.com

9. Saskatchewan, distorted, letter by Honourable Janice MacKinnon, National Post, February 17, 2000 http://www.nationalpost.com

10. - City cops suspended, by Dan Zakreski, The StarPhoenix, February 16, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

11. Prior to entering politics, Honourable Janice MacKinnon was a university professor, teaching Canadian-American Relations and Women's History at the University of Saskatchewan. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario and earned a Master of Arts Degree and Doctorate from Queen's University. http://www.gov.sk.ca/bios/mackinn.htm

12. The U of S Synchrotron: A Mausoleum for a Museum Mentality, by Mario deSantis, November 16, 1999

13. Simplicity and Clarity: A way Out of Confusion, by Mario deSantis, February 16, 2000

14. The Political Mission of Premier Romanow: Divide and Conquer, by Mario deSantis, April 18, 1999

15. Another magic of Premier Romanow: balancing the books, downsizing people and increasing the GNP, by Mario deSantis, February 14,

16. NEED OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN SASKATCHEWAN: Fight Against Racism and a New Worldview, by Mario deSantis, October 7, 1998

17. Task force to probe more deaths: RCMP now looking into four suspicious cases of dead Native men, SP Staff, The StarPhoenix, February 21, 2000

18. Leadership: not the same any more... Time For New "!eadership"! By Louis Patler, MANAGEMENT GENERAL http://www.mgeneral.com/3-now/99-now/040799lp.htm

19. Saskatchewan Tin Pot Dictatorships: Lack of Integrity is Lack of Leadership, by Mario deSantis, February 7, 1999