Saskatchewan Survival Guide: Ep 128

We talked the Westside Diefenbaker Irrigation project with special guest and agriculture economist wunderkind Ty Thiessen.

Throughout the episode we reference a KPMG report, which can be found here.

This monolithic boondoggle is worthy of its own show, as is the extraordinary detail to which Ty has researched this project to date.

So, we’re going to do one.

Watch for a spinoff of this podcast coming in the next few weeks featuring Ty, hosted by myself. It doesn’t have a name yet; we’re letting Ty lead on all fronts so we’ll see what comes together. You’ll know the first episode when you get it, don’t worry.

That’s what has impressed me most about this kid (at 19, he’s very much a kid): his ability to communicate his knowledge is already vastly superior to the majority of the talking heads and politicians we’re forced to hear every day. We’re not the only ones who’ve taken notice; Ty has written multiple op-eds in the Star Phoenix and Leader Post over the last year (though strangely, only one seems to be featured on his writer’s page 🧐.)

We’re going to go in-depth, combining Ty’s extraordinary knowledge of the industry, the economy and the project with my understanding of the history and politics behind Saskatchewan megaprojects like this one.

It’ll be a limited series, in that we’ll go until the we’ve run out of information to share or the project is cancelled, whichever comes first. Further, Mama Tammy (this all makes me feel real old lol) says Ty’s university education is what really comes first and foremost, so we’ll be recording around his workload and school schedule.

I truly see no sane world where the Westside Diefenbaker Irrigation project can go ahead. I’m looking forward to hopefully making any of it make sense.

That said, after just a few hours of President Donald Trump 2: Bigger Better Dumber, I don’t see much of a sane world anywhere.

Enjoy and talk soon, T

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