Opinion
In a (not very) surprising twist, RealAgriculture editor Lyndsey Smith has decided to do away with a weekly written column and instead cajole her coworkers into an audio wrap up of the week.
In this first audio version of This Week on RealAg, Lyndsey is joined by none other than field editor Debra Murphy. Hilarity ensues, there’s a random cellphone ring, and then a very serious discussion about Alberta premier Alison Redford’s resignation, CHS buying into Western Canada in a big way and public money flowing to private industry. Oh, yes, and they have a wee bit of fun too.
Note: Click here for the RealLeaders episode featuring CHS CEO Carl Casale.
If you cannot see the embedded player, click here.
Good discussion on the merits of government partnerships with business. There may be a time and a place for such investments, but in my opinion, it should be a very small place, and a very exceptional time. Governments are notoriously bad when it comes to making business decisions. A decade ago or more, Ralph Klein declared that the Alberta government would no longer be in the business of doing business. He made that statement after millions of taxpayer’s dollars had been lost in failed businesses. Lyndsey makes the argument that perhaps this investment in corn research wouldn’t have been made without government help, because it is a small market. How small of a market is it? What is the expected return on investment for taxpayers on this million dollars? Could we achieve greater return on investment in investing in barley research? I would certainly hope this analysis was made before the decision was taken. This is also precedent setting in my mind. Will other multinationals now use this to argument to extract concessions before investing in Alberta? Perhaps this announcement caught me on a day when I was already upset by other bad decisions taken by the Alberta government, but I couldn’t help but think that this same Alberta government had cut post-secondary funding dramatically a year ago. Personally, I would rather invest in graduate students and in developing local expertise, rather than assisting companies that are more than adequately funded. It may take a little longer before we see the results, but in the long-term, I believe the public good will be better served. A million dollars is a drop in the bucket for the Alberta government and Dupont, but for a struggling university program, it could be a godsend.