I am a fair weather person and had it been our typical Fall-type Saskatchewan weather, I probably wouldn't have ventured down to the Broadway Street Fair. But, because it was sunny and warm, we (me, my wife, 4 1/2 year old daughter and 14 month old son and the neighbor and her 3 year old daughter) walked down and spent a couple of hours wandering the streets. We initially went to see the belly-dancers--should have checked the schedule as we got to their venue just as they were finishing...next year!!!
Our first stop was at a vendor who makes and sells hanging puppet stages. As she was a friend and because I love Twitter, I took a photo and posted it. Then (oh social media what would I do without you?), heard back on Facebook that a buddy was about to start playing with
Stephen Maguire across from 7-11. I suspect that the Stephen Maguire fan demographic is typically not 4 1/2 year old girls...but, my daughter has been a fan of his ever since he coached her soccer team last summer. So, I had more than one reason to venture over to hear some of his set.
While there I noticed the signage on the back of the stage "PotashCorp" and I began to think of the frequency with which I've heard that name these past few months...and these past few days. Frequently, there are notices of the donations made by PotashCorp. They also sponsored a Fireworks Festival a couple of weeks ago and, here again, they were involved with the Broadway Street Festival.
Now, if it were up to some political factions in this province, they would see the taxation rate of PotashCorp increase. Potash, they say, belongs to the people of this province and if any company wants to mine OUR resource, then they had better be prepared to compensate US--dammit. And that may be true...but, let's think about the difference in values.
If you tax more to "give to the people" then you believe that government knows best and that money goes to the people the government decide need it. Would it be given to everyone equally? Or would it be given to those who are deemed to have less? Good questions.
If you believe that we should leave profits with the companies then you have what we've seen this summer. Fireworks Festival and Broadway Street Fair--now, in the case of the Broadway Street Fair, it may have happened without corporate sponsorship or not due to the involvement of the
Broadway Business Improvement District...I don't know...but with the Fireworks Festival...well, if there was higher taxation, would PotashCorp have spent that money? How much better is the Broadway Street Fair when corporations have money to kick in to attract top notch entertainment?
To be fair, when I first heard the booming fireworks I thought, well looks like someone is making a bunch of cash...must be nice to frivolously spend like that. But, upon further reflection, in addition to the civic pride that it gives I began to think--how many folks were out that evening spending money? And, in the case of the Broadway Street Fair--how many self-employed folks had the opportunity to showcase their wares: art, crafts, music, food?
For the record, no one in our party ended up buying the puppet stage, but we did get a couple of hand-made bracelets, a headband, some popcorn and a couple of Smokies from the Bulk Cheese Warehouse. I believe there are folks who generally need a helping hand, but I applaud every person out making a living this past weekend. I am happy to spend money locally in this manner and I am happy to see corporations spend their money sponsoring these events. I hope the next years in Saskatoon see many more summers full of fireworks.
The economic benefits of lower taxation affords the opportunity to self-starters--to those who are already trying to make a go of it--artisans, musicians, restauranteers, entrepreneurs. Higher taxation ensures that "the poor" will receive funding for being "poor" which continues the cycle of government dependency. Don't we want to foster independence, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit? What does that better--government handouts, or additional business sponsored events that give venues and opportunities to additional "spin-off" businesses?
This post is up for discussion.