Till Makes Headlines in Saskatoon & Regina

Radio News from Saskatchewan

Postby radiofan » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:01 am

The joke is on Saskatchewan in B.C. Juno tickets contest
Radio station offers tickets for best Sask. joke
Darren Bernhardt, of The StarPhoenix
Published: Friday, February 09, 2007


A Vancouver radio station is offering a Juno prize package for the best joke about Saskatchewan.

The online contest, launched by CKNW News Talk 980 host Philip Till, asks listeners to complete the following sentence: "You know you're in Saskatchewan when . . ."

The responses to the station's website -- ww.cknw.com -- have largely been insulting, reinforcing a redneck Prairie stereotype.

Ironically, the prize package -- return airfare for two people, two tickets to the Juno Awards night and accommodation for two nights at a Saskatoon hotel -- was provided by Saskatchewan Industry and Resources Minister Eric Cline, who is touring the West Coast to promote the virtues of the province.

Rather than put the province on a pedestal, the plan has backfired. It has instead opened the door for demeaning comments that perpetuate stereotypes, says the Saskatchewan Party.

"There's a humorous side to it, but it's also demeaning to Saskatchewan people," said MLA Don Morgan. "And tickets to the Junos are scarce as hen's teeth, so what is the NDP doing giving them away to an out-of-province radio station that's going to make fun of us?"

The Saskatchewan government is spending millions of dollars on advertising campaigns to convince young people to stay here and entice people living in other provinces to move here. With one fell swoop of a radio station contest, that has been wiped out, said Morgan.

"It's just going to reinforce those perceptions that we're a bunch of hayseed hillbillies in pickup trucks -- old pickup trucks," he said.

A few responses were posted by Saskatchewan boosters, one of whom took a swipe at Till.

"You know you're in Saskatchewan when you can no longer pick up CKNW's Philip Till on the radio (thank goodness!)," wrote Gavin Bamber.

"You know you're in Saskatchewan when the smiles that welcome you are as wide as the prairie sky and the hand we offer you is as honest as in days gone by," wrote someone only identified as Frances.

Bob Ellis, a spokesperson for Cline's office, confirmed the prize pack was provided by the Department of Industry and Resources. Department officials approved the contest after trying to convince the radio station to do something less controversial.

"They (Till and station personnel) were adamant about the question they wanted to use. They pushed for it," said Ellis, noting a number of staff at the station are originally from Saskatchewan and thought it would be fun.

"We were prepared for it to pick on some of those traditional stereotypes, but some responses spoke to the affection people have with the province," Ellis added. "We also used it to identify the myths we needed to bust during the program."

Cline had plenty of opportunity to do a "serious pitch" of Saskatchewan and its high quality of life and booming, diverse economy, Ellis said. Cline touched on the province's research and development, synchrotron, oil and gas reserves, availability of jobs, affordability of homes and short commutes, Ellis said.

"It was a chance to show we're more than wheat fields and agriculture. It was good exposure on one of the top stations in the Vancouver market."

Premier Lorne Calvert gave the same prize pack to a Calgary TV station during a similar promotion last week. In that case, however, the station held a benign trivia contest to test people's knowledge of their neighbouring province.

Cline was aware, going in, what to expect from Till, who was described to the minister as "cheeky," Ellis said. The minister's on-air appearance occurred on Thursday morning, but Till's intent was clear a day earlier.

On a Wednesday posting on the website, Till facetiously referred to his Saskatchewan guest as "a highlight of my 35-year career in broadcasting! So brace yourself for tomorrow's show -- a Saskatchewan special: It'll be a (ahem) barnburner."

As for the contest, Till jokingly said first prize is a trip for two and second prize is a trip for four. As entries started pouring in, Till remarked, "Who knew that many people would voluntarily go to Saskatchewan?"

Cline took some ribbing during the show, but "he gave as good as he got" and proved Saskatchewan people have a sense of humour as healthy as the province's economy, said Ellis.

dbernhardt@sp.canwest.com

- - -

YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN SASKATCHEWAN WHEN:

- You can reason with a barnyard animal.

- You fill your pickup with gas and it doubles in value!

- Your monthly heating bill costs more than your mortgage.

- You can buy a house on your credit card and not go over your $10,000 limit . . . it's true!

- The birds start migrating south in July because they know that winter snows start in August.

- Every year at the local fair Mabel wins the blue ribbon for her "gopher pie."

- The local air show means the first crop of mosquitoes has hatched.

- The community bring their chairs to the local town hall for the premiere of Corner Gas.

- "Double/double/strung/no foam" means two bales of hay, two bales of oats, twine around both and no manure on the bottom.

? The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007

Saskatoon StarPhoenix

My response to Till's question would have been ... "You know you're in Saskatchewan when . . .you tune to 980 and pick up CJME rather than CKNW" :P
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Postby radiofan » Sun Feb 11, 2007 2:26 pm

Radio contest gets locals all fired up
Jordan Jackle, The StarPhoenix
Published: Saturday, February 10, 2007


Saskatchewan residents are debating a Vancouver radio station's controversial contest, which some people say promotes Prairie stereotypes.

The online contest, launched by CKNW News Talk 980 host Philip Till, asks listeners to complete the following sentence: "You know you're from Saskatchewan when. . ."

Responses have included cracks about gopher pie, barnyard animals and Saskatchewan residents' lack of knowledge about cappuccino. The winner receives two tickets to the Junos and return airfare for two.

The response from Saskatchewan residents has been varied.

Some people are indifferent, some are offended and others have attempted to rain on the station's fun, as evidenced by posts on Till's blog.

Some Saskatchewan residents completed the sentence "You know you're in Vancouver when . . ." Here are some of the comments seen on Till's blog Friday:

- Stanley Park is being logged by Saskatchewan forestry workers; * After buying a house all your groceries come from the food bank; and

- You place an emergency order for snow shovels from Saskatchewan.

"Not every resident of Saskatchewan is looking for a way out. I'm not sure why everyone in B.C. and Alberta believes that," said one posting.

At a press conference on Friday, Industry Minister Eric Cline -- who provided the prizes for the contest -- mentioned his favourite comment about Vancouver.

"I liked the one about you can throw a stone (in Vancouver) and hit three Starbucks," he said.

Cline has taken some heat from members of the Saskatchewan Party, who say going on Till's show on Thursday and supporting the contest opened the door for demeaning comments.

"We have to be big enough to roll with the punches and let people have a joke at our expense," said Cline.

But some people aren't as cheerful.

"It's a put-down," said a worker at a barbershop on Central Avenue. The topic came up quite a bit on Friday morning, he said.

The remarks were annoying, but not offensive, said Jo Speed, who was working at the Broadway Roastery on Eighth Street on Friday.

"It's pretty ridiculous how there's so much controversy about this, because people in Saskatchewan make fun of themselves all the time," she said.

Speed said it was just a joke and everyone should get over it.

Cline agrees, saying the publicity wasn't bad at all. Cline said it gave him a chance to tell B.C. residents about Saskatchewan's cost of living, availability of jobs and economic growth.

"I'm not concerned with the fact that people may want to have a little bit of fun with it," he said. "I think any discussion about Saskatchewan is a good thing."

jjackle@sp.canwest.com

? The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007

Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Postby radiofan » Sun Feb 11, 2007 2:30 pm

British Columbia started it, so there
Ron Petrie, The Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, February 10, 2007


Big har-dee-har-har was all over the airwaves of Vancouver this week as a local radio station held a razz-Saskatchewan contest, putting up as the grand prize a trip for two to the Juno Awards in Saskatoon, sponsored by -- cruelest joke of all, on us -- the government of Saskatchewan.

Deejays of the local radio station asked listeners to complete the sentence: "You know you're in Saskatchewan when ..."

Well, needless to say, that zany Vancouver sense of humour responded with dozens of outrageous bon mots along the lines of "... you're, like, a farmer, or something, and you have bales of wheat everywhere" and "... it's really, really flat where you live ..." and "... there's wheat everywhere, on account of it being, you know, flat where you live, you bunch of farmers."

When will they learn?

You can't make fun of Saskatchewan. Quebec, sure. Toronto, definitely. But Saskatchewan is like the Maritimes. We have too many laughs at our own expense. All the good material has been used. Amateur out-of-province types can't possibly compete.

Although, in its defence, the Vancouver local radio station, which has a name, wouldn't have known.

Anyway, just for the record, they started it.

So ...

You know you're in British Columbia when ...

Your province's No. 1 agricultural export is sold not by the bushel, but by the quarter-ounce.

Rumoured for decades, but still unproven, are the existence of Ogopogo, Sasquatch and the Stanley Cup.

The bride wears something old, something new, something borrowed, a mackinaw and hiking boots.

Humidity, precipitation. Precipitation, humidity. There's a difference?

Twice a day you floss. For moss.

You moved out west for work -- too far.

The only two locals ever to serve as prime minister, John Turner and Kim Campbell, were never properly elected and clung to power for a grand total of 71/2 months, combined.

Your driving directions to any point in the city include, as landmarks, at least five Starbucks, three hookers and two heroin aficionados.

You constantly remind each other about how you live in the mildest climate anywhere in Canada, yet your professional football team is the only one that plays every game indoors.

The curtains on your neighbour's basement windows are aluminum foil. The dials on his power meter spin like a blender set on puree.

After all that talk two centuries back about the need for a transcontinental railway to unite the country and bring British Columbia into Confederation, the work on your end of the rails working east never made it outside the province.

Before a big date, you cup your hand over your mouth and nose and you sniff, checking for salmon breath.

Your teenage son and daughter freely help themselves to each other's earrings and lumberjack socks.

You commiserate about your $1,500-a-month mortgages over $6.50 cups of coffee. Then again, it's a lot like pizza, isn't it? You can't possibly make that speciality coffee for the same price at home, not after buying all the ingredients: Cool Whip, all-spice, Nestle's Quick and Folgers.

The provincial floral emblem is mildew.

Your namesake university is known worldwide for attracting the best and brightest advanced students of the computer sciences who never in their lives would otherwise get to see a real live naked lady, like the ones out on the beach.

Your only hope for one day getting ahead of the interest payments and securing some equity in your retirement cottage is brought to you by the letters B and B.

Occupational health and safety regulations require that construction workers wear only steel-toed sandals.

Olympic history is about to be made. The 2010 winter games in British Columbia will be the first in which competitors won't be able to buy their drug-free urine samples locally.

You're only sticking around until you've saved up enough money for the tolls and gasoline and radiator coolant to drive back up the Coquihalla.

Just one more traffic bridge and your largest city will trail Saskatoon by only three.

You walk four blocks to a corner store during the sixth consecutive day of rain for a bottle of imported water.

- Ron Petrie writes Thursdays and Saturdays. You can reach him at rpetrie@leaderpost.canwest.com.

? The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

Regina Leader-Post
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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