The saddest days in Saskatchewan are when we see people divided, especially when that division is caused by a lack of understanding.
Such days have been all too common in this province this year.
And what’s even sadder is when the misunderstanding relates to issues of safety, which is definitely not something that should divide us.
Sadly, though, city people seeing the issue from the outside may not fully appreciate how unsafe some rural people feel.
One of the flashpoints in the debate on rural crime has clearly been the racially charged incident near Biggar in which Colten Boushie of the Pheasant Rump First Nation died from a gunshot wound in the farmyard of Gerald Stanley. Stanley has been charged with second degree murder and has received bail that confines him to the vicinity of his farm until his trial date.
The issue has created a firestorm of controversy and protests… and more than a few highly inappropriate racist social media postings.
Let us be clear that the court will deal with the facts of the matter in Stanley’s trial process.
But what can be said about the murder is that it was just one of many incidents throughout rural Saskatchewan that illustrates the fear out there.
An even more recent incident driving rural Saskatchewan’s fear over public safety was an incident near Fiske, in which police responded to a complaint of three masked men carrying handguns trying to hold up a farmhand. No one was hurt, but no arrests have been made… even after the RCMP commissioned an aerial search for a black SUV said to be involved in the incident.
Admittedly, this is an very isolated incident. Less isolated, however, are the stories throughout rural Saskatchewan of vandalism, break-ins, vehicle, farm machinery and gas thefts; and even occasional home-invasion robberies with violence.
The Fiske incident and other incidents have prompted some farmers to carry firearms in the cabs of their combines and elsewhere.
Again, perspective is needed here. Stories of how often this has been occurring are likely both exaggerated and overblown.
After all, it’s not uncommon for farmers to keep guns on hand to deal with predators. And most of us who built gun racks in high school shop as a kid know that they were designed to go in the house or in the back of a pickup.
But it is a different era and the RCMP were right to issue a warning about proper use and storage of firearms. The last thing anyone needs is an unintended tragedy.
And the very different era that we are now in touches on another issue pertinent to what’s been going on in rural Saskatchewan.
As farms have grown larger, farmers have grown farther apart.
That has created policing challenges in two ways. There is sometimes no easily accessible neighbour to watch properties and it’s tougher to get law enforcement to remote locations to deal with an incident. Also, with fewer people in rural Saskatchewan, it is harder for those who remain to afford the policing costs.
Municipalities of fewer than 5,000 people with RCMP detachments pay $77.06 per capita while those communities without a detachment pay $47.68 per person for policing. Any additional positions at a detachment would cost an additional $130,000 per year, so simply paying for police is getting harder.
And maybe rural Saskatchewan isn’t as peaceful as it once was.
A 2005 Statistics Canada study showed 43 per cent more crime - break-ins, assaults, etc. - in smaller urban communities than in larger cities. Perhaps to the surprise of some, there is also a higher homicide rate in rural settings.
One other big problem may be related to the declining oil economy and the problems that have accompanied it.
Rural people are all too aware of the rare cases of drug addiction that sometimes follow rig workers. Well, the addictions to fentanyl and other drugs don’t stop when oil wages stop.
It is a different rural Saskatchewan.
Maybe it’s high time those in the cities passing judgment better understood what is going on.
