Lowering Gas Tax

The continuing war has led to the new majority government of Mark Carney to lower the excise tax on gas 10 cents. For diesel and aviation fuel the drop is 4 cents In the next days and week, summer fuel comes on the market and it costs an additional fivc cents a litre.  And there is no telling how long the war continues. Even if oil begins to flow, resumption of pre-war prices is forecast not to happen this year and maybe never.

There is a lot of cynicism. Some are saying that the money should be used for other things to make life affordable. It is about $2.5 billion that is out of government coffers. The suggestion is that the money could be used to pay for 10,000 nurse for an entire year. If only that would end the nurse shortages. As with most things, it is very complicated.

With gas 40 cents higher than a year ago, some people asked to comment on media were begging government to somehow get it lowered back to that. Covid, global recessions and market manipulations have dropped gas prices way low from time to time. But what have we learned? Not much. It is when people buy the biggest vehicles. However, they can run into sticker shock if gas goes high which happens fairly often. Unlike the housing market, there are no guardrails against gas shooting through the roof. 

The war in the Middle East is outside Canada's control. What Canada can control is access to some critical supplies like helium where 30% is supplied by Qatar. Even before this there has been a shortage of this element that is central in things like MRI machines. Perhaps the private sector will take up the cause and invest here. There is a role for government in this.

As for reserves that other countries have such as the U.S., Canada has never needed since we are a net exporter. The price though is set worldwide. It doesn't matter if we have enough supply for ourselves. And we are not Venezuela or Saudi Arabia that subsidize fuel prices for locals. And where countries have subsidized, it hasn't helped their economies.

Reducing tax as a inflation relief strategy has to be measured against how much government revenue is lost versus how much costs of living. And once you reduce tax, the very act of doing show can in itself cause inflation. It is a balancing act. Most industries will all beg for tax relief while as the same time say the roads are terrible. Well, government revenue is required for infrastructure. 

The war has been a shock to the system so a temporary measure to help is understandable. The excise tax of 10 cents has been frozen since 1995. Adjusted for inflation, it should be 17 cents now. An argument for tax reform can be made, especially transparency and fairness. But some people, often richer, think taxes are only for the poor. No one likes taxes but they are a dense collection of fees that are confusing even to accountants.

The ceasefires in the Middle East usually have the same result every time. Civilians rush back to the smashed homes and re-build as do belligerents for the next wave of attacks. The incentive to actually resolve the problems is never really there. It seems for some, the war is a chance to shore up political support every few months. In some places like Lebanon, the state seems paralyzed to do anything as a nation.

For many Canadians, they will take the relief for now. They will wait till Monday to fill their cars. Some provinces might follow suit. Canada does not control the war. It might be involved somehow in a peace agreement but we seem far off from that scenario yet. The now majority government of Mark Carney will have to move fast to juice the economy and bring affordability to the market. If the world will stop fighting.

Starfleet Academy Cancelled After One More Season

In the many decades after the original series, I heard numerous times that they were musing about a Star Fleet Academy based show. It was all for naught though. Until 2026, when they 12th series based of Gene Roddenberry's concept was launched. For quite some time the idea was this to be a movie where Kirk and Spock meet. The re-launch of the Kelvin timeline in 2009 had an origin story for Kirk that had him go to the Academy but it was all sped along to where he was acting Captain of the Enterprise. Quite a bit for one movie but it was exciting.

The truth is that there are so many producers, writers and actors proposing stuff in the Star Trek universe that it just dies in development. The best chance anyone ever gets to see a Star Trek TV series or movie is when someone has a development deal and they let them run with the ball. It can still end up being tanked by new executives at CBS Studios or Paramount. Even today that studio has more problems than the average bear.

As a rule, I watch all Star Trek series and movies. I don't love all the series. And I don't love every season of the series I do love. And I don't love every character of every series. I often find series that incorporate kids in a drama series do terrible jobs of it. For Next Generation, I think Wesley was a weak a character and annoying. This is a reflection of the writing as Will Wheaton and Levar Burton were the best knows in the case when the show came on the air. Likewise DS9 had two young actor and I felt their storylines were weak. 

Shows that run as long as Star Trek have different versions and timelines. The animated series is not considered canon. It was darn entertaining through. The reboot movie in 2009 led to a different timeline. It shared enough Trek lore as to win fans. The TV series changes often makes it difficult when creative choices are abandoned along the way. Ask Star Wars about that.

The problem with trying to to keep decades long running franchises going is that you have to satisfy old fan while building a base with new fans who have never seen the series before. The original series had a diverse cast with women in senior positions on the crew. However, the network pushed back and did not want a women as second in command. They also pushed back on Spock's ears which they called demonic. The battle on Spock's ears was won, senior officer as a woman lost.

Science Fiction was an allegory of real world issues in the 1960s. And while the FCC and network censors might not allow certain drama in a police or medical show, they let things slide in Star Trek. Hence, the Klingons were Russians, the Romulans were Chinese, issues on black and white American discourse were raised in an alien species in dispute because one side of their face was while and one side of their face was black. And let's not forget the first back and white kiss on TV with Kirk and Uhura.

Gene Roddenberry was trying to push a positive outlook on the future even if was one where war, slavery, political interference and violence happened fairly regularly. Beware if you have to wear a red shirt on Star Trek. You're toast! The criticism on some of the later Star Trek iterations is that they were too to negative. However, if all was well after, it struck many as overly optimistic. For example, Voyager was always back to a clean, well run ship after every awful encounter. Many called it "the re-set" because there were never any long lasting effects from the battle to get home. It was the introduction of Seven of Nine that helped define the series in later years.

Starfleet Academy had quite a backlash from MAGA conservatives for too many characters and storylines they thought were woke. Some of these conservatives professed to be fans of the old Star Trek. It seems some forget how the show has always been progressive. William Shatner, Captain Kirk, dismissed those criticisms even though he wasn't part of this iteration of the series. Just another example of him defending the show's long history. If anyone knows the fans of the series, it is him.

The corporate takeover of Paramount/CBS Studios by Skydance and subsequent purchase of Warner Brothers has meant and will probably mean lots of layoffs. Old deals with the studio are not necessarily being renewed. And television and cable are thought to be dead mediums. The focus is on streaming. And now just by Paramount. By all of them. Star Trek is just another asset purchased. However, for now, debt has to be paid and producer deals will change or end. By 2027, there will be no Star Trek anywhere in film or TV unless the studio orders something soon. Even hot producer Taylor Sheridan of Yellowstone fame didn't get a new deal.

As for what I thought of Starfleet Academy? I liked the idea of a ship and earth-based school. However, I thought the idea of it landing and taking off excessive and a logistical nightmare. Gene Roddenberry invented the transporters because the cost of landing and taking off a ship as a physical effect was a lot. I'm assuming the producers got a budget for various sets and wanted to make sure they had a ship that could function like this. This was a cost issue for the show. Visual effects seem to have a huge budget.

To be sure the series is as glossy as you are going to see. Bursting with colour and graced with designs that are as posh as you can imagine. Costuming and make-up are amazing. They still struggle to provide pockets for anything. This is something Babylon 5 managed to do. Garibaldi shrugging his shoulders with hands in his pockets was a thing. Star Trek has never been exactly practical on these things. Of course, I did notice pockets on the Artemins crew so maybe they still have a function in space?

I have no problems with the characters per se. However, there is a lot to go through and speeding along as they do, it is too superficial. Teleporting aboard a ship and it puts you in a uniform and cuts your hair seems over the top again. It is jarring. You would think writers and producers would think these things over. A teleport device that could undress you and cuts your hair without consent is not funny. It also raises questions of consistency in technology. Even the Star Trek movies have had to address some of their outrageous tech plot points. The 2009 movie has Scottie and Kirk teleport aboard the Enterprise halfway across the galaxy. The next movie explained that Section 31, took the tech away from Scottie. Still, why travel by starship at all if the teleporter could place you anywhere in the world?

Star Trek has at least tried to keep technical aspects consistent but it would appear that some of those people who are historians and tech writers on the show, are not present. Or perhaps the producers think we'll fall into the technobabble and not see that it can wreck the show just as any continuity error in film and TV does. Nothing more obvious that characters who go from wet to dry in by next scene. This would be the original Star Wars and the garbage chute scene. In terms of tech questions on Star Wars, the Han Solo Kessel Run measured in parsecs as if it was a speed drove some people nuts.

For some, this inside baseball knowledge is not important. What is more important is story and character. Old Star Trek has fewer characters and more episodes. It must seem shocking now but series in the 1960s could have as many as 30 or more episodes a season. And with fewer characters, you would get to see a lot of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. New Star Trek is lucky if they get 10 episodes and you have more that a dozen regulars in the cast. The budgets are insane for new TV which means Starfleet Academy, like previous recent Treks, is filmed in Canada. The tax credits and just better costs has made it necessary. And the skill level of the crews is amazing. This isn't early Degrassi level of TV crews.

The result is a that all the new Treks, Starfleet Academy included, look absolutely slick and have some of the best effects seen on TV. Picture, sound, editing, costuming are top notch. Casting attracting top flight performers like Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti drew everyone's attention. A suitably diverse young cast made up the cadets. There were also some familiar faces of Trek series such as The Doctor in the cast. But with ten episodes how does any actor get enough to work with? And add action, I had a hard time telling who was who in the show and why I should care.

Paramount+ put in so much money (estimated between $10 to $15 million) and looked to the series to be a reason to subscribe to the streamer. In Canada, Starflect is first broadcast on CTV Sci-Fi Network. With so much riding on the series, it not difficult to imagine the pressure. It is a soup where everyone is putting something in which is sometimes just too much. And without, the show was trying to attract teenagers and young people in general. A lot of series often get cut even when ratings are solid but corporate is not happy with the demographic. 

So, how did they do? It appears the ratings were around 2 million per episode. And the demographic was all wrong. Too many older audience members and not enough Gen Z and Alpha. Which raises the question? Can any TV show attract teenagers. The answer is yes and the show would surprise you. It is ABC's The Rookie. It is getting great TV ratings and streaming ratings for episodes after. Many kids watch Hulu when they want to watch a show. The ratings are younger and higher than they have ever been. The show is also far more affordable for ABC than Starfleet Academy.

How is this possible? It would appear that The Rookie has one of the most watched social media platforms out there bar none. Other shows have tried to copy a bit but have paled in comparison. If you haven't seen any of their stuff, do look. It isn't promotional stuff of The Rookie. It is mostly of them on set, in costume goofing around, dancing and enjoying themselves. And the teens are there for it. As a result, they are watching the show in big numbers. Recurring characters, guest stars from shows the kids love and a general mission to just put it out there is winning fans. I'm talking about your Rookie Zombie episode.

Now there was some social media from Starfleet Academy but you have a young cast, they should have been there every day letting people get to know them. The media push in general was flat. Meanwhile, you have Nathan Fillion, a middle aged guy with a podcast find a show that hits with the kids. Do better Paramount.

As for the cost of the show, both The Rookie and Starfleet Academy get production tax credits. The Rookie gets them from Los Angeles and California. Starfleet uses Canadian tax credits. The Canadian tax credits are more but how a show does it's budgets really matters. Special effects really can take up a lot of money. But it is possible to do sci-fi that is good and not break the bank? The Canadian movie Cube is an example. A small set with character development can go a long way. The original Star Trek kept getting their budgets trashed and still managed to stay entertaining

I personally enjoyed the show but I figured it needed far more than ten episodes to hit its stride. So I don't judge too harshly. It took ER at least ten episodes to become the show it eventually grew to be. Strange New Worlds needed some time before they could do a musical show and hit it out of the ballpark. That series was able to find their way and it shows.

Paramount has brought to an end both Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy. I will watch both as as I always do and hope that both have great final seasons. As for Paramount and producers for their shows, they will have to figure how to appeal to the demographic they want without being asses about it. The Rookie has figured it out. And they still do an entertaining show. I expect Strange New Worlds will leave people wanting more. The question is whether Starfleet Academy does that as well.

Lastly, beware of toxic fan bases. Or as a producer cater to fanbases overly so. Let some of the humour, tension and character development grow even if it is only a limited ten episodes. And for gosh sakes, leave a little bit of mystery there.

Artemis Moon Mission

Going to space changes how astronauts think about the earth. They advocate for the well being of the planet and the people on it. It is hard not to feel the awesomeness of seeing everyone and every thing from space. The picture above is from the Artemis mission.

The Artemis rocket is transporting three Americans and one Canadian to the farthest point behind the moon that any human has gone before. The figure eight trip around the Earth and the Moon is a test run. If all goes well, the same astronauts will be in line to be the first humans on the moon since 1972. The twelve Americans from the Apollo missions 1969 to 1972 are the only astronauts to walk on the moon surface. Since that time, all human activity in space has been confined to low earth orbit.

Canada and the U.S. have been long time friends and allies in space. Even the Apollo mission relied on landing gear and communications as well as numerous engineers for its success. Canada was the third country in the world to put satellites in orbit.

To get our seat on Artemis, Canada was to build Canadarm3 for the station that was to orbit the moon. The cost was about $1 billion. However, the Lunar Gateway Mission has now been cancelled so Canada gets the seats to the moon and no Canadarm3 will be built. The adaptation to moon use is already being contemplated and certainly the future Mars mission is expected to include a robotic arm. Trudeau was able to get the agreement back in Trump's first term and Carney has committed to the space program in Trump's second term.

As with all things on a spaceflight, you sometimes have a "Houston, we have a problem moment." In this case, it is the toilet. Hope they figure this one out. It wasn't built in Canada.

Some say the excitement of the mission is blunted by the U.S. fighting in Iran. The criticism is not wrong. Thankfully, the joy and enthusiasm of the astronauts is infectious. As they approach home, the excitement will grow but for those on board, it will be to get down safely and then to go over all the knowledge they've gotten on how to make trips to the moon a regular and safer activity.

We are getting closer to the completion of the moon trip. However, it has captured the imaginations of so many with the amazing pictures of earth and the moon that will be treasured. Saving landing, crew of Artemis!

Conrad Black Sings Trump's Praises

As the founder of the National Post, Conrad Black gets to prattle on about the man who gave the convicted felon a pardon for crimes committed in the United States. Black would probably laugh at the charges were it not for the prison time he did as a result. Surprising to some, Black was the son of a prominent Winnipeg family and had connections to some of the families associated with the city. The family moved to Montreal where Black was born. Most of his education was in Ontario and Quebec where, when he was not being ejected for things he had done, was either a failure or an exceptional academic. Money was always available to him thorough his family and he bought small newspapers as early as 1966 as investment vehicles. In 1976, everything changed when he and his brother inherited the family fortune upon the death of their father. By 1978, Black was stripping the wealth out of various shareholdings, pension funds and the like to create his media company. On occasion, there was pushback by the courts but companies like Dominion Stores were pillaged.

As the industrial assets were dismantled, Black invested more and more in newspapers in Canada and beyond and eventually his company Hollinger because the third largest in the world with assets such as The Telegraph, Jerusalem Post and the Chicago Sun-Times. It was the U.S. paper that caused him later trouble as it was listed on the stock exchange and that brought scrutiny that he rarely faced before. During this period of growth, Black started up the National Post as news counterpart to his purchase of the Financial Post in 1998.

There was a time that my family subscribed to Free Press, The Sun, the Globe and Mail and yes, the National Post. No Internet meant a lot more reading. And a lot more viewpoints. Back then the National Post was full of columnists and it wasn't the full on political paper it is now with light reporting on news. While the Post may have had lots of resources, it came at the expense of other papers owned by Black. Large cuts at the Calgary Herald left it reeling.

As mentioned, the purchase of the Chicago Sun-Times brought scrutiny from Securities Exchange Commission because outside investors didn't like the non-compete fees Black and his partners took on newspapers sales. This led to civil and criminal charges that eventually led to Hollinger and the entire newspaper empire being dismantled and Black serving time. While some of the charges were dropped, some remained. After serving time, he was to be deported to Canada but had to re-claim his citizenship from the Canadian government after denouncing it to take a Lordship in Britain from Queen Elizabeth for owning the Telegraph.

Black was particularly bitter about Chretien who denied his peerage in Britain as Canadian. He had to take British citizenship and renounce Canadian citizenship to become a lord. This was the path that Roy Thomson had to take when he became a Lord through his ownership of the Times and Sunday Times. His grandson David Thomson is one of the Winnipeg Jets owners and a Canadian citizenship but retains the lordship which is hereditary.

Chretien was not prepared to give Black a pass on being a Canadian Lord when Thomson was not allowed to in the past. Canada was trying to create and support and honours system itself with the Order of Canada. It wasn't a good look for Canada and Jean Chretien was despised by Black for it. None of his court challenges on the subject worked. 

Black has sought out a pardon ever since Trump was elected. He must have thought his time was passed when Biden was elected. However, when Trump got back in, he ingratiated himself, wrote a book about Trump and continues to write favourably. The pardon in 2023 finally allows Black to travel back to the U.S. again.

The regular columns in the National Post have pretty much been all about Trump. He has called Canadian reactions to the man as overwrought. He routinely downplays the incoherence of Trump on policy and ignores unintended consequences. The tariff harm on U.S. farmers is of particular note on both exports and imports. Farmers need Canada's potash and they need China's purchase of soybeans. If the policy is to gain something from Canada and China, it doesn't seem obvious.

In his most recent column on April 3, Black suggests Trump has Iran right when he wants them and this will also bring China and Russia to heel. To do this he has suggested that Trump will destroy Iran's power grid. 

"This can only mean that he will, if necessary use amphibious or airborne forces to take over the distribution of Iran’s oil, while destroying its power grid and closing its ports as tightly as its airspace."

Destroying civilian infrastructure is a war crime in case Black has forgotten. It isn't a weapons site. 

"A reduced number of tankers is still moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and there are clearly back-channel communications between the Americans..."

There have been ships moving that have been approved by Iran and supposedly paying a fee to travel inside an island close to the country. This is likely to bring quite a lot of cash to Iran. The communications that Black says must be going on are not self evident.

"Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, are all being detached from their Russo-Chinese sponsors. The United States is about to take over as much as half of Chinese sources for oil and will be substantially replaced by Russia while Western Europe becomes predominantly dependent upon America and its clients for oil and gas and ceases to finance the Russian aggression in Ukraine with oil and gas purchases from Russia while beseeching America to do the heavy lifting in preventing the Russian takeover of Ukraine."

I'm not sure what information Black has to make this conclusion. If he tried to publish this comment in the Wall Street Journal or the Telegraph, the editors would tell him he was speculating to the point of wish fulfilment. 

"With the return of President Trump, the U.S. led discussions that produced a delicate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages, and Israel eliminated approximately 80 per cent of the Hamas trigger pullers. It remains to disarm Hamas and to reconstruct Gaza."

Black seems to forget that Trump has supported removing all Palestinians from Gaza, presumably to Somaliland. Black also doesn't take into account how October 7 was a catastrophic failure of Netanyahu on military preparedness and an intelligence failure in protecting Israelis. Their policy of "mowing the grass" was one of just periodically attacking Gaza while expanding settlements in the West Bank. In Netanyahu's cabinet, expansionist cabinet ministers look to Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq for their next targets. Netanyahu has been talking nuclear weapons are two weeks away from completion in Iran since 1996.

"In one long lifetime, the remarkable American presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Nixon, Reagan, and Trump will have transformed the war-ravaged world of Hitler and Stalin into comparative peace and prosperity."

Black would have a hard time getting his opinion published in any American, British or Australian paper with this conclusion. The National Post, American owned, seems to be a cheerleader paper too much of the time, full of grievance and as delusional as some of the so-called leftist media they criticize.

The American public never wanted this war and their reactions reflect that. Congress has given Trump the rope to go forward but the time to conclude this so that the economic impact doesn't hit right when the mid-terms are in November is being overly hopeful. It could be that in January Trump himself might be in retreat and seeking a pardon.

Conrad Black has always been a observer of history but increasingly, he is becoming yesterday's man. It is unlikely young conservatives are looking to him for direction for the future.

Garwood Grill for Sale (Update...not for sale)

Update, talking to Anna. No sale, no agent and no offers per se. They are still around to serve the community.

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It came up in a Facebook post on real estate agent Brad Gross's page that the Garwood Grill on Pembina Highway was for sale. It was also posted on Reddit as well. It has been decades that it has been run by a Greek family but it looks like they've reached a time where there is no one left to run it in the future. And so it is with Greek family owned places. They have a first and often a second generation to run and operate things. There is often not a third. In many cases, the third generation is established in very different industries...at the encouragement of their parents. If there are children at all. In many cases, Greek families have gotten smaller and smaller to the point that no one left in the family is there to take over.

It is unknown what circumstances are there for Garwood Grill. Anna and her parents ran it successfully all these years. It was in the 1980s that my family first went to the restaurant. At first it was just occasional weekends or birthdays or general celebrations. My parents then went for breakfast every weekend and had a warm relationship with Anna and the serving staff. When I left for Japan, it was part of their routine to go to breakfast and write letters to me while there.

For working people for the city especially, Garwood was the place for a hearty breakfast or lunch. The variety of the menu items meant you could find something for everyone from pizza to steak and from breakfast to dinner. Prices and portions are what you might expect from a Greek family restaurant. They're great.

Winnipeg owes a lot to our Greek community. And Winnipeg Greeks gave a lot back to the world from Nia Vardalas with My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Family restaurants are absolutely needed to counterbalance franchises. Nothing wrong with franchises but many don't do all day menus or variety or have servers who have been doing the jobs for years.

Garwood Grill has been known to rent their facility too to groups that often get overlooked. This is not something you might get from a chain restaurant. I don't think any community lasts without gathering places. The more personal connection, the better.

Garwood Grill included all the kitchen and items for operations. However, it also included the property, an additional property as well as a four bedroom apartment above. It can be sure there will be a high level of interest in owning this. With luck, it will retain much of what made it a treasured Greek restaurant. On at least a few occasions new owners didn't get that aspect and the restaurant failed. 

As for Anna and your family, you have been the best.

Fargo Forum Fires Three Columnists

I have commented on the Fargo Forum which is the largest newspaper in North Dakota and paper of of record in Fargo-Moorhead. It is a Pulitzer Prize winning paper with a sister prize winner in the Grand Fork Herald. WDAY in Fargo is part of the same company. Together, they are part of the Marcil family's media group in the state. The private company is its fifth generation. How much money does the family have? Hard to say but it would be within the realm that they are among the richest in the state. It is a Conservative newspaper but back in 2016, they did not endorse Trump. Like a lot of newspapers across North America, they began a withdrawal from endorsing in general. The Winnipeg Free Press also stopped political endorsements a few decades ago.

The Marcil family are associated with old school Republicans. At the moment the MAGA movement is trying to strip other Republicans of party status. It is as ugly as it comes. There are national and state level reverberations. The Forum columnists didn't shrink from them. They called out the cowardice of the North Dakota representatives on issues like trade that deeply hurt agriculture in the state. Senators, cabinet and the lone House of Representative were called out on this. The response in March was to tell columnists to stay away from national issues and politics and only comment on state stuff, There was even a call to do more people related stories that had less politics.

The columnists largely continued as they have and this week was the response: Three of them were fired and the paper is limiting opinion page material to two days a week instead of every day of publication. They will also limit national editorials. The reason that is given is that it will help curate a better balance. The changes will affect the whole of the operation of print publication for the Forum news including the Grand Forks Herald. 

The reaction in Fargo has been one of surprise, mostly negative. Some Republicans are happy that a thorn in the side of the party is gone. However, as mentioned, there is a battle going on among MAGA and the party. The most recent convention was poorly attended because MAGA is trying to kick out non Trump loyalists. Even the Republican governor is incredulous. These battles are happening among Republicans in every state. However, the reaction in the editorial offices is to back into the bushes like Home Simpson. Has this been an owner dictate or something the editorial department has decided after countless letters and digital feedback fighting tooth and claw over left and right, but mostly left?

Now, don't get me wrong. I have credited Forum Communications with having amazing local news and sports coverage. Together, with their ABC affiliate WDAY in Fargo, they have fabulous coverage of local news, weather and top tier sports coverage. The WDAY station has six meteorologists! We don't have any based on TV or radio networks in Winnipeg. Both Fargo Forum and WDAY have healthy sized newsrooms. Their sports reporting on local school and university sports is better than the entire province of Manitoba. Hockey, football, basketball in both girls and boys sports is off the charts. In Winnipeg, we are an utter failure at it. I have noticed more school and junior sports coverage from Shaw/Rogers on their public access. It doesn't come close to North Dakota.

The Free Press in Winnipeg has been excellent in photo journalists working. The pro sports coverage for Jets and Bombers is well done. Business has dedicated writers. As far as arts coverage goes, the Free Press is superior and perhaps on CBC radio competes in that area. However, the Free Press is by far the most extensive for opinion coverage locally. The Sun, by contrast, has relied to heavily on Postmedia opinion although they have invested locally in recent years.

The Fargo Forum has had continuous and diverse opinion till now. They are limited it now to a few days a week. Their reasoning is not known. The result is though that Jim Shaw, Joan Bricker and Jack Zaleski all wrote their final opinion columns on Sunday. Some columnist remain but their platform has been shortened and their ability to write about national politicians even in their own state clipped. This shocking result has led to about 60 people of Fargo protesting outside the doors. I'd be surprised if that has ever happened in the paper's history.

The letters have been mostly negative with some saying that conservative columnists kept their jobs. Since there is only one newspaper in Fargo, the opinion pages tried, in the past, to have a variety of coverage. The amount of protests shows that not everyone will go gently into the night. The High Plains Reader is a monthly progressive publication but a publication that size can't possibly make up for the loss of weekly columns.

I hope we never see this happen in Winnipeg. Still, it is AI and search engines that is not paying for content that is the biggest issue that all content providers worry about more. Fargo is at a turning point for their new and opinion content. Winnipeg, by contrast, as two local owned news papers with s much opinin to chse from.

 

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