So our normally happy-go-lucky community here in the west central part of the province proved to be ridiculously popular on social media recently.
No, it wasn't because the Veterans Memorial Park project located on the corner of McKenzie and Sask Avenue was open to the public. We've still got a bit of a waiting period on that one, although I'm highly anticipating it. They're saying September, people, so stay tuned on that one!
Sadly, it also wasn't because some random, out of the woodwork multi-millionaire who used to call Outlook home years ago stepped forward and claimed he would front the costs to bring the Skytrail walking bridge back up to code for people to enjoy now that we've turned the corner weather-wise and entered the summer months. I'm continuing to hold out hope on that front. Sigh...
No, it was because of the message posted on the outdoor sign located at Outlook Elementary School. It read, "Farming Affects Oceans. Chemicals Hurt Habitats & Species. They Also Decr Oxygen Levels." (I can only assume 'Decr' is short for 'Decrease') A photo of the sign was posted to Facebook, and it was only mere minutes before the backlash against the message, the sign, and the whole damn school exploded.
The image of the sign spread like wildfire, comments multiplied by the hundreds, and it lit a fire under the behinds of almost everyone in the local area who puts food on their table courtesy of agriculture and everyone else who simply enjoy the benefits of it.
This happened on Wednesday, May 26 after the message was put up in the morning on Tuesday, May 25.
The shock and anger that was produced because of the sign was so quick and so white-hot that by early that afternoon on Wednesday, the message was changed to the following:Â "Agriculture - The Most Healthful The Most Useful & Most Noble Employment of Man. Washington".
In addition, the Sun West School Division issued a public statement apologizing for the message.
These measures were done while it seemed as if the entire school was under a microscope by the entire community, as well as those watching from outside, such as agriculture interest groups on Facebook. Even the Conservative MP Andrew Scheer gave his two cents on the matter, noting that he'd talked with the principal of OES and how glad he was to see that the sign had been changed. I do however have to roll my eyes and grimace at the last sentence of his statement: "Radical activists should not be indoctrinating our kids like this." Okay, let's dial back the extremist narrative on that one. It's an elementary school, people. Let's try not to forget that.
I saw the comments made online. I saw the backlash. I saw the anger and the hurt. I get where many are coming from with such emotions. But then there are the ones who take things too far in my book, like commenting on the school's Facebook page under other irrelevant posts, or the four 1-star reviews I'm currently looking at for OES on Google, made by people whose last names I don't recognize and who I have to question whether or not they have a kid who goes to OES, or if they're even from the local area. Gee, that'll leave a nice little online impact on the school's reputation. It's not like anyone reads Google or anything...
Listen, let's break it evenly down the middle here. On one side of things, it's next to impossible not to see things from that perspective. We're talking about a part of the province that includes a town such as Outlook, where "Ag is King" first and foremost. Heck, the welcome signs as you enter the town highlight the fact that it's the Irrigation Capital of Saskatchewan. Even across the road from the elementary school lays the Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre, known across the country for the compelling work they do with new crops and production methods.
To put it short, the predominant reason why Outlook exists and operates as a well-functioning community is because of agriculture. There, I put it as easy and simple as one can understand. That's because it's the truth. You remove agriculture from Outlook's identity, it loses all manner of relevancy.
On the other side of things, I just see a list of unanswered questions surrounding this message. To my knowledge, the Grade 5 class has been learning about oceans and the sustainability of life surrounding them. That sounds fair to me. We want to teach our youngest citizens about all manner of life around the world so that they grow up with the knowledge of not only what comes from home, but what comes from a thousand miles away. Yes, the original message on the sign was eyebrow-raising and it came off as a low blow out of nowhere in a farming community, but should we go about spreading flames of anger and engaging in the ever-famous spirit of "cancel culture" because of some misguided comment on a freaking school sign? I say no. I don't, nor have I ever believed in cancel culture. The practice of it is more toxic than the behavior it attempts to "correct".
Instead, I think the opportunity being presented here kind of speaks for itself. How many ag industry professionals could be asked to go to the school and give a talk on the points brought up by the sign? In this community, I'd say that's a list about a mile long.
What happened here may have been misguided and there was a failure to see the bigger picture, and the result was some very hurt feelings in an ag-deep community. What has happened since then has instead provided an opportunity for deeper learning to see both sides of the fence. I think those kids would appreciate learning about what makes the place they call home so vital and so interesting.
Put away the pitchforks and torches and put on your best clothes to go and teach some kids the value of what makes this area tick.
For this week, that's been the Ruttle Report.
