quote " Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) was created in 1945 and is a provincial Crown corporation that has been developed over the years into two linked operations.[1]
The Saskatchewan Auto Fund is the province's compulsory public auto insurance program, operating the driver's licensing and vehicle registration system. The Auto Fund is financially self-sustaining, operating on a break-even basis over time. The Saskatchewan Auto Fund claims that it does not receive money from or pay dividends to the government.
SGI CANADA sells property and casualty insurance on properties such as homes, farms, businesses and automobile insurance in seven Canadian provinces. It operates as SGI CANADA in Saskatchewan, SGI CANADA Insurance Services Ltd. in Manitoba and Alberta, the Coachman Insurance Company in Ontario and as a major partner in the The Insurance Company of Prince Edward Island in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Corporate governance
3 Board of directors
4 Structure and functions
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
History[edit]
C.M. Fines Building - SGI Head Office in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
SGI was created by the first avowedly socialist government in North America elected in 1944, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (later renamed New Democratic Party). Under Premier Tommy Douglas, the government began to involve itself in many sectors of the economy, including insurance. The rationale was put forth that Saskatchewan residents were being taken advantage of by companies owned outside the province who set rates too high. Also, at least 90 per cent of the insurance in the province was written by companies established in Eastern Canada.[2] Thus the institution of a publicly owned insurance company was justified by the government on both philosophical and economic grounds.
Working out of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, Michael Allore, the first president, sold the first policy – Fire Policy Number 1 – to Minister O. W. Valleau on May 1, 1945 and appointed its first broker, Oscar Sawby of Maple Creek, on May 17. By the end of 1945, SGI had 60 employees and a small network of private, independent insurance brokers located across the province selling insurance on behalf of the corporation.
The introduction of a state-run automobile insurance was controversial. For the first few years of its existence, other provinces refused to recognize SGI policies as legitimate. One result of such non-recognition was that SGI-insured drivers involved in an accident in Manitoba were either detained or required to post a bond because Manitoban authorities essentially considered them to be "uninsured" drivers.[3]
History of SGI Presidents
# President Took position Left position
1 Michael Allore 1945 1953
2 Herbert Hammond 1953 1965
3 Jim Dutton 1965 1972
4 John Green 1973 1980
5 Murray Wallace 1981 1982
6 Don Black 1983 1985
7 Alex Wilde 1985 1991
8 Bill Heidt 1992 1994
9 John Wright 1995 1997
10 Larry Fogg 1997 2004
11 Jon Schubert 2004 2008
12 Earl Cameron 2008 2009
13 Andrew Cartmell 2009 Present
Corporate governance[edit]
SGI and SGI CANADA are governed by The Saskatchewan Government Insurance Act, 1980, and The Automobile Accident Insurance Act, and are subject to the provisions of The Crown Corporations Act, 1993, which gives the Crown Investments Corporation, the holding company for Saskatchewan's commercial Crown corporations, the broad authority to set the direction of the Corporation.
Where required by legislation or policy directive, SGI submits performance management and investment decisions for review and approval by CIC and the provincial cabinet (government). Through its Chair, who is an outside director, the SGI Board of Directors is accountable to the Minister Responsible for SGI. The Minister functions as a link between the Corporation and CIC and cabinet, as well as the provincial legislature.
Board of directors[edit]
The Board of Directors is responsible for setting direction, monitoring and reporting achievement, and analyzing, evaluating and taking corrective action for the corporation. The Board is responsible for the stewardship of the corporation in general terms. In meeting this responsibility, the Board works with management to develop and approve the corporation's strategic plan, operating goals, annual budget and business plans. It participates in identifying business risk and overseeing the implementation of appropriate systems to achieve a balance between the risks incurred and potential returns.
The Board of Directors is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The Board consists of ten external directors. Both the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board are external directors." end quote quote"The Saskatchewan Party is a conservative liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was established in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative and Liberal party members and supporters who sought to remove the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) from power.
The Saskatchewan Party served as the province's Official Opposition until the provincial election on November 7, 2007. The Saskatchewan Party won 38 seats in the Legislative Assembly, and leader Brad Wall was sworn in as the province's 14th Premier on November 21, 2007. During the November 7, 2011 general election, the party won a landslide victory, winning 49 of 58 seats and re-electing all 18 cabinet ministers.
Contents [hide]
1 The party's origins and political basis
2 The party under Elwin Hermanson
3 The party under Brad Wall
4 Clashes with the Calvert government
5 Federal political affiliations
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
The party's origins and political basis[edit]
Historically, Saskatchewan politics has tended towards a two-party system, with third parties enjoying limited political success. For the first 25 years of the province's existence, political power was split between the Saskatchewan Liberal Party in government, and the Conservatives (initially the Provincial Rights Party) in opposition. The emergence of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), forerunner of the NDP – a left-of-centre political party formed by the coming together of various socialist, farm and labour groups under a united front – forced the Liberals to the right. As a result of vote-splitting with the Liberals, the less popular Conservative party was no longer able to win seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Between 1944 and 2007 the CCF–NDP won 12 out of 17 provincial elections in Saskatchewan, and formed government for 47 of those 63 years.
In the late 1970s, the provincial Conservatives (now the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan) re-emerged as a political force, forming government under Grant Devine for most of the 1980s. However, dissatisfaction with the Conservative government towards the end of the decade resulted in it being soundly defeated by the NDP in 1991. The Conservatives lost almost half of their popular vote and retained only 10 of the 66 seats in the Legislature. A subsequent corruption scandal further weakened the Tories, and a poor showing in the 1995 general election by both the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives resulted in a desire by many members of those parties for a united centre-right alternative to the governing NDP.
In 1997, the Saskatchewan Party was formed by a coalition of eight MLAs: four former Progressive Conservatives (Dan D'Autremont, Ben Heppner, Don Toth, and PC leader Bill Boyd) and four former Liberals (Bob Bjornerud, June Draude, Rod Gantefoer, and Liberal caucus leader Ken Krawetz). However, it did not result in a formal merger between the two parties. While most Tory supporters and members joined the new party, the Progressive Conservative Party itself was not disbanded. Under Saskatchewan law, the party would have to forfeit its assets to the government if it ever lost its registration. Instead, the Tories essentially went dormant for the next two election cycles; its assets were held in trust while a select group of party members ran the minimum number of candidates to keep the party alive. The Saskatchewan Party attracted fewer party members of the provincial Liberals, which continued to contest elections. Despite this, former Liberal Krawetz, who was already serving as Leader of the Opposition, was named as interim leader of the newly created party.
Since the new Saskatchewan Party consisted largely of former Progressive Conservatives, it was initially derided by opponents as merely a re-branding of the Progressive Conservatives in an attempt to distance the party from the still-fresh corruption scandal; then-Premier Roy Romanow often referred to the new party as the "Saska-Tories". This view has continued to follow the party up to the present.[1]
The party under Elwin Hermanson[edit]
In 1998, former Reform Party federal house leader Elwin Hermanson was elected the party's first leader. Since Hermanson didn't have a seat in the legislature, Krawetz remained as interim parliamentary leader.
Shortly after taking the leadership, Hermanson led the party into the 1999 provincial election. The party had a strong showing, retaking many rural ridings from the NDP. In the process, they won 25 seats and reduced the NDP to a minority government.
During the 2003 provincial election, the Saskatchewan Party campaigned on a platform of tax reduction and decreased government involvement in the private sector. The party won 28 seats, while the NDP won 30 seats. The party was accused of having undisclosed plans to privatize all of the province's crown corporations.[2] Hermanson stated he would not sell the four major crown corporations, but would consider any offers received. The NDP used the ambiguity in the Saskatchewan Party's position to turn the election into a referendum on crown corporation ownership for many voters, and managed to narrowly win a majority government. Hermanson resigned as leader shortly afterward. He stated that he had taken the party as far as he could, and that it was time for the party to elect a new leader who could take it further.
The party under Brad Wall[edit]
Brad Wall was acclaimed as the new party leader on March 15, 2004, after being the only declared candidate for the leadership. Other caucus members who had expressed interest in running included Jason Dearborn, Allan Kerpan (a former Reform MP), and Ken Cheveldayoff, the MLA for Saskatoon Silver Springs who at one time was the President of the Young Progressive Conservatives of Saskatchewan.
Following his appointment as leader, Wall undertook a full review of party policies. He soon unveiled a more moderate policy platform that included, among other things, plans for more treatment beds for crystal meth addicts, democratic workplaces, and a new model for economic development in Saskatchewan. With significantly revised core policies and increased emphasis on social issues, the party began to moderate its image and attract centre-right voters. In response to the results of the 2003 election, the entire Saskatchewan Party caucus voted in favour of the NDP's Crown Corporations Public Ownership Act, which provided legislative entrenchment for the ownership of the major crown utilities and services.
In February 2006, the party released a code of ethics document for its members. It set out guidelines for conduct and outlined how to deal with violators. Actions that are prohibited in this document include disseminating false information, pressuring prospective contributors and offering bribes to other political parties, candidates or voters. Penalties included having the offender's party membership revoked.[3]
In a by-election held on March 5, 2007, the Saskatchewan Party recaptured the seat in the Legislative Assembly left vacant by the death of Ben Heppner. In a first for Saskatchewan politics, Heppner's daughter – Nancy Heppner – won the seat in both the by-election and the 2007 general election.
In November 2007, the party was sued by the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan over a trust fund. The PC party alleges that the trustees of the fund, which contains $2.9 million, conspired with the Saskatchewan Party to deny the PC party access to their funds, and thus not be able to run candidates in the next election.[4] The Saskatchewan Party denies any involvement, even though 3 of the 5 trustees are active in the Saskatchewan Party.[5]
In the November 7, 2007 general election, the Saskatchewan Party won 38 of the 58 seats in the legislature, allowing it to form government for the first time. In its first term, the Saskatchewan Party government undertook the largest single-year income tax reduction in Saskatchewan history, the largest amount of debt reduction in Saskatchewan history, the largest investment in infrastructure in Saskatchewan history, while still maintaining a $1.9 billion cash balance in the Growth and Financial Security Fund.[6]
The Saskatchewan Party government also was successful in lobbying the federal government to block the takeover bid of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan from Australian mining giant BHP Billiton.[7]
On November 7, 2011 general election, it won a landslide victory, winning 49 of 58 seats. All 18 cabinet ministers were re-elected, and the Saskatchewan Party captured a historic 64.2% of the popular vote. This resulted in the worst election showing for the NDP since 1982.
Clashes with the Calvert government[edit]
In 2004, the Saskatchewan Party's aggressive questioning of the provincial NDP government over a bad investment of public funds – SPUDCO – forced cabinet minister Eldon Lautermilch to apologize for misleading the legislature, a fact that only became apparent once sworn evidence was acquired from a civil lawsuit against the province. The party's MLAs requested a public inquiry.
In March 2006, the Saskatchewan Party introduced a motion calling on the NDP government to apologize for the highly unfavourable and inaccurate portrayal of Jimmy Gardiner in Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story. The government has argued it was not responsible for production of the film, and thus rebuked the motion for an apology.[8]
In 2006, in preparation for the Weyburn-Big Muddy by-election, the Saskatchewan Party was accused of using push polling[9] by attempting to link Liberal leader David Karwacki with the Canadian gun registry. The same poll asked respondents if they linked the Saskatchewan Party with the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan. On May 16, 2006, in an effort to gain political support, Saskatchewan Party MLAs tried to associate the provincial NDP – which had vocally opposed the gun registry – with their federal party counterparts – which support it.[10]
In 2006 the party released a taxpayer-funded advertisement for the Saskatchewan Party critical of the then-NDP administration. This ad became known for the misspelling of Saskatchewan – as "Saskatchwan". The ad was also criticized for having false information – for example claiming rising tuition costs, despite the government policy of a 3 year freeze in the price of tuition.[11]
On November 23, 2006, the Saskatchewan Party tried to make a political issue about the provincial government trying to reclaim money from tobacco companies for the additional strain smokers placed on the health care system. The NDP government pointed out in response that the Saskatchewan Party had accepted a $10,000 donation from Imperial Tobacco in 2003.[12]"end quote, qiiote"Dan D'Autremont
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel H. D'Autremont
MLA for Cannington
Incumbent
Assumed office
1991
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 5, 2011
Preceded by Don Toth
Personal details
Born December 28, 1950 (age 62)
Redvers, Saskatchewan
Political party Progressive Conservative → Saskatchewan Party
Residence Alida, Saskatchewan
Daniel H. D'Autremont (born December 28, 1950) is a Canadian provincial politician. He is the Saskatchewan Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan for the constituency of Cannington.
He was born in Redvers, Saskatchewan, the son of Hugh and Violet D'Autremont, and grew up on the family farm about two miles east of Alida.[1] D'Autremont studied engineering at the University of Calgary. He worked in the oil industry for a number of years before taking up farming in the Redvers area in 1977.[1]
D'Autremont was first elected in 1991, and was one of the founding members of the Saskatchewan Party.[1] D'Autremont was elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan on December 5, 2011. This marked the opening of the government's new throne speech and was the first sitting since the November 7, 2011 election. He was candidate for Speaker along with Don Toth, who served during the government's first term. In a private ballot, D'Autremont defeated Toth and so was elected as Speaker by the elected members of the Saskatchewan Legislature.[2]
Election results[edit]
Saskatchewan general election, 2007: Cannington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Saskatchewan Dan D'Autremont 5,614 77.75% +6.87
NDP Henry Friesen 1,198 16.59% -4.98
Liberal Karen Spelay 409 5.66% -1.89
Total 7,221 100.00%
Saskatchewan general election, 2003: Cannington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Saskatchewan Dan D'Autremont 5,156 70.88% -4.00
NDP Henry Friesen 1,569 21.57% +6.99
Liberal John Atwell 549 7.55% -2.99
Total 7,274 100.00%
Saskatchewan general election, 1999: Cannington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Saskatchewan Dan D'Autremont 5,671 74.88%
NDP Glen Lawson 1,104 14.58% -9.40
Liberal Joanne Johnston 798 10.54% -19.85
Total 7,573 100.00%
Saskatchewan general election, 1995: Cannington
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Dan D'Autremont 3,542 45.63% +1.20
Liberal Don Lees 2,359 30.39% +3.33
NDP Gary Lake 1,861 23.98% -4.53
Total 7,762 100.00%
"endquote
quote"Brad Wall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Honourable
Brad Wall
MLA
Brad Wall - Saskatchewan Party leader.jpg
Wall at the Leaders' Debate, October 25, 2011
14th Premier of Saskatchewan
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 21, 2007
Preceded by Lorne Calvert
MLA for Swift Current
Incumbent
Assumed office
1999
Preceded by John Wall
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
In office
2004 – November 20, 2007
Preceded by Elwin Hermanson
Succeeded by Lorne Calvert
Personal details
Born Bradley John Wall
November 24, 1965 (age 47)
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
Political party Saskatchewan Party
Religion Christian - Mennonite Brethren[1]
Signature
Bradley John "Brad" Wall, MLA (born November 24, 1965) is a Canadian politician who has been the 14th Premier of Saskatchewan since November 21, 2007.
Wall was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Swift Current in 1999, and re-elected in 2003. He became leader of the Official Opposition Saskatchewan Party on March 15, 2004. He replaced Elwin Hermanson, who resigned after leading the party to defeat in the 2003 provincial election.
In the 2011 election, Wall led the Saskatchewan Party to a majority government in Saskatchewan with more than 64% of the popular vote and 49 of the 58 seats in the legislature.
Contents [hide]
1 Life and political career
2 Controversies
3 References
4 External links
Life and political career[edit]
Wall is a lifelong resident of Swift Current, Saskatchewan and he completed his post-secondary education with a degree in public administration from the University of Saskatchewan.
His political roots are in the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan, working as a ministerial assistant to Graham Taylor, Minister of Public Participation, Tourism, Small Business, Co-operatives and Health, and John Gerich, Associate Minister of Economic Development. Wall ran unsuccessfully for the Progressive Conservative nomination for Swift Current in April 1991.
Prior to his election, Wall was the director of business development for the City of Swift Current. In 1999, the Saskatchewan Economic Developers Association (SEDA) had presented him with the 1998 Economic Developer of the Year Award. In the early 1990s, Wall also managed a country music museum that was relocated to Swift Current from Kitchener, ON, following a significant grant from the Grant Devine government.[2] The facility went bankrupt in 1995.[3] Wall has also sat on a number of boards including being a founding member of the Southwest Centre for Entrepreneurial Development. Wall also started his own business, The Last Stand Adventure Company.
Wall won the Saskatchewan Party nomination for Swift Current in the 1999 election and won handily, defeating NDP incumbent John Wall (no relation) by 24 points as part of a wave of rural victories that saw the NDP cut down to a minority government. He was immediately appointed to the Saskatchewan Party's front bench as Justice Critic, and later became critic for the Crown Investments Corporation as well.
When original leader Elwin Hermanson resigned after narrowly losing the 2003 provincial election, Wall announced his candidacy for the leadership. No other candidates stepped forward, and Wall was acclaimed the party's new leader on March 15, 2004.
After becoming leader of the Saskatchewan Party, Wall committed to a review of Saskatchewan Party policies. This policy review process reached its culmination at the Saskatchewan Party's annual convention in February 2005 and resulted in a considerably more moderate policy platform. Among the old resolutions that were replaced was one that called for "boot camps" for young offenders. New policy resolutions included calling for treatment for crystal methamphetamine addicts, a patient-first review of the health care system, the development of a comprehensive plan to recruit and retain health care professionals, the development an integrated addictions strategy for young offenders who are incarcerated, a comprehensive review of the justice system to restore trust and confidence in the system, the establishment of a provincial youth justice board to address youth crime, rehabilitation and restitution measures, support for victims of crime, the establishment of a university research chair in occupational health and safety, and a review of the Workers' Compensation Board.
In September 2004, Brad Wall released The Promise of Saskatchewan: A New Vision for Saskatchewan's Economy,[4] a plan to grow the province's economy. In the fall of 2006, Wall released a policy paper on behalf of the Saskatchewan Party caucus, "Getting Saskatchewan Back on Track: Addressing Saskatchewan's Labour Shortage."[5]
On November 7, 2011 Premier Brad Wall led the Saskatchewan Party to a historic landslide victory in the provincial election. The Saskatchewan Party garnered 49 of 58 seats in the Saskatchewan Legislature, gaining 9 seats over what they held previous to the election and leaving the NDP with a mere 9 seats, the smallest number of seats held by them since 1982.
In June of 2013, Wall attended the Bilderberg Conference, an annual private conference of approximately 120 to 140 invited influential guests from North America and Europe.[6]
Controversies[edit]
Wall's leadership style has generally been received as popular throughout Saskatchewan and within the Saskatchewan Party caucus. However, his leadership was called into question at the end of January 2006 when MLA Brenda Bakken-Lackey resigned from the party. Bakken-Lackey cited unspecified frustrations within the Saskatchewan Party caucus as being among her reasons for resigning.[7] This led to a by-election in Weyburn-Big Muddy, which was won by the Saskatchewan Party's former caucus researcher, Dustin Duncan. At the party's 2007 annual convention, Wall received the support of 98 per cent of convention delegates for his leadership.[5]
In recent times, he has been more willing to discuss his employment under the Grant Devine government. In the Saskatchewan Legislature's spring 2006 session, NDP MLAs revealed that Wall had worked in Gerich's office at the time when $15,000 worth of alcohol[8] was allocated to the Minister's office. Wall admitted to the media of his partaking in the alcohol and knowing it was "wrong"[9] and stated he considered it "an asset" to have learned from the government's activities.
On April 3, 2008, the provincial NDP released a video tape filmed during the 1991 Saskatchewan general election on the day of the leaders debate.[10] The video showed Conservative MP and former Saskatchewan Party staffer Tom Lukiwski making homophobic remarks.[11] Wall was also on the video using an exaggerated Ukrainian accent, making derogatory statements about former NDP Premier Roy Romanow.[11][12][13] There were also comments made about then Liberal Party leader and future Lieutenant Governor Lynda Haverstock, which centred on her gender.[11] Wall apologized later that day for his comments.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ http://www.mennoweekly.org/2007/11/19/mb-elected-provincial-premier/
Jump up ^ "Hall of Fame is Lured West," Calgary Herald: September 26, 1991.
Jump up ^ "Country Music Center at a Low Note," Regina Leader-Post: December 27, 1995.
Jump up ^ Brad Wall (September 2004). "The Promise of Saskatchewan: A New Vision for Saskatchewan's Economy" (pdf). Retrieved 2007-08-07.
^ Jump up to: a b "Current issues & news from the legislature". Saskatchewan Party. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
Jump up ^ Matthew Holehouse (2013-06-03). "Bilderberg Group 2013 guest list and agenda". The Daily Telegraph retrieved July 6 ,2013.
Jump up ^ "Byelection to be called in Weyburn-Big Muddy". CBC News. January 31, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
Jump up ^ Saskatoon Star Phoenix, January 17, 1992
Jump up ^ Brad Wall on CBC, March 23, 2006
Jump up ^ John Gormley (April 4, 2008). "Tasteless Tape Sparks Tacky Outrage". Saskatoon Star Phoenix. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Tory MP apologizes for anti-gay comments". CTV News. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
Jump up ^ Saskatchewan MP apologizes over anti-gay slur from CBC News
Jump up ^ Labour livid over comments on controversial tape" end quote quote" Stephen Harper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Stephen harper)
For other people named Stephen Harper, see Stephen Harper (disambiguation).
Page semi-protected
See also: Premiership of Stephen Harper
The Right Honourable
Stephen Harper
PC MP
Stephen Harper by Remy Steinegger.jpg
22nd Prime Minister of Canada
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 6, 2006
Monarch Elizabeth II
Governor General Michaëlle Jean
David Johnston
Preceded by Paul Martin
Leader of the Opposition
In office
May 21, 2002 – February 6, 2006
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
Paul Martin
Preceded by John Reynolds
Succeeded by Bill Graham
Member of the
House of Commons of Canada
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 28, 2002
Preceded by Preston Manning
Constituency Calgary Southwest
In office
October 25, 1993 – June 2, 1997
Preceded by James Hawkes
Succeeded by Rob Anders
Constituency Calgary West
Personal details
Born Stephen Joseph Harper
April 30, 1959 (age 54)
Toronto, Ontario
Political party Conservative Party (2003–present)
Other political
affiliations Liberal Party (Before 1985)
Progressive Conservative Party (1985–1986)
Reform Party (1987–1997)
Canadian Alliance (2002–2003)
Spouse(s) Laureen Teskey
(m. 1993–present)
Children Benjamin, Rachel
Residence 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario (Official)
Calgary, Alberta (Private)
Alma mater University of Calgary
Profession Economist[1]
Religion Christian and Missionary Alliance
Language English, French
Signature
Website Official website
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and the Leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister in 2006, forming a minority government after the 2006 election. He is the first prime minister to come from the newly reconstituted Conservative Party, which formed after a merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance.
Harper has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Calgary Southwest in Alberta since 2002. Earlier, from 1993 to 1997, he was the MP for Calgary West. He was one of the founding members of the Reform Party, but did not seek re-election, and instead joined, and shortly thereafter led, the National Citizens Coalition.[2] In 2002, he succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance (the successor to the Reform Party) and returned to parliament as Leader of the Opposition. In 2003, he reached an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay for the merger of their two parties to form the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected as the party's first non-interim leader in March 2004.
Harper's Conservative Party won a stronger minority in the October 2008 federal election, showing a small increase in the percentage of the popular vote and increased representation in the Canadian House of Commons, with 143 of 308 seats. The 40th Canadian Parliament was dissolved in March 2011, after his government failed a no-confidence vote on the issue of the Cabinet being in contempt of parliament.[3]
In the May 2011 federal election, Harper's Conservative Party won a majority government, the first since the 2000 federal election. His party won 166 seats, an increase of 23 seats from the October 2008 election.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life and education
2 Political beginnings
3 Reform MP
4 Out of Parliament
4.1 1997–2000
4.2 2000–01
5 Canadian Alliance leadership
6 Conservative Party leadership
6.1 2004 federal election
6.1.1 Agreement with the BQ and the NDP
6.2 Harper as Conservative leader and Leader of the Opposition
6.3 2006 federal election
7 Prime minister
7.1 2008 federal election
7.2 2008 Parliamentary dispute and prorogation
7.3 2010 prorogation
7.4 2010 Senate appointments
7.5 2011 vote of non-confidence
7.6 2011 election
8 World view
8.1 Domestic policy
8.2 Economic management
8.3 Senate
8.4 2011 Census
9 Foreign policy
9.1 Afghanistan
9.2 Israeli and Jewish affairs
9.3 Free Trade with EFTA
9.4 United States
10 Media relations and information
11 Supreme Court appointments
11.1 Justice Rothstein
11.2 Justice Cromwell
12 Honours
13 Personal life
14 Electoral record
15 See also
16 References
17 Further reading
18 External links
Early life and education
Born and raised in Toronto, Harper was the first of three sons of Margaret (née Johnston) and Joseph Harris Harper, an accountant at Imperial Oil.[5] He attended Northlea Public School and, later, John G. Althouse Middle School and Richview Collegiate Institute, both in Central Etobicoke. He graduated in 1978, and was a member of Richview Collegiate's team on Reach for the Top, a television quiz show for Canadian high school students.[6] Harper then enrolled at the University of Toronto but dropped out after two months.[7] He then moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he found work in the mail room at Imperial Oil.[7] Later, he advanced to work on the company's computer systems. He took up post-secondary studies again at the University of Calgary, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics. He later returned there to earn a master's degree in economics, completed in 1993. Harper has kept strong links to the University of Calgary, where he often lectured students. Harper is the first prime minister since Joe Clark without a law degree.
Political beginnings
Harper became involved in politics as a member of his high school's Young Liberals Club.[8] He later changed his political allegiance because he disagreed with the National Energy Program (NEP) of Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government.[9] He became chief aide to Progressive Conservative MP Jim Hawkes in 1985, but later became disillusioned with both the party and the government of Brian Mulroney, especially the administration's fiscal policy[8] and its inability to fully revoke the NEP until 1986. He left the PC Party that same year.[10]
He was then recommended by the University of Calgary's economist Bob Mansell to Preston Manning, the founder and leader of the Reform Party of Canada. Manning invited him to participate in the party, and Harper gave a speech at Reform's 1987 founding convention in Winnipeg. He became the Reform Party's Chief Policy Officer, and he played a major role in drafting the 1988 election platform. He is credited with creating Reform's campaign slogan, "The West wants in!"[11]
Harper ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1988 federal election, appearing on the ballot as Steve Harper in Calgary West. He lost by a wide margin to Hawkes, his former employer. The Reform Party did not win any seats in this election, although party candidate Deborah Grey was elected as the party's first MP in a by-election shortly thereafter. Harper became Grey's executive assistant, and was her chief adviser and speechwriter until 1993.[12] He remained prominent in the Reform Party's national organization in his role as policy chief, encouraging the party to expand beyond its Western base, and arguing that strictly regional parties were at risk of being taken over by radical elements.[13] He delivered a speech at the Reform Party's 1991 national convention, in which he condemned extremist views.[14]
Harper's relationship with Manning became strained in 1992, due to conflicting strategies over the Charlottetown Accord. Harper opposed the Accord on principle for ideological reasons, while Manning was initially more open to compromise. Harper also criticized Manning's decision to hire Rick Anderson as an adviser, believing that Anderson was not sufficiently committed to the Reform Party's principles.[15] He resigned as policy chief in October 1992.
Harper stood for office again in the 1993 federal election, and defeated Jim Hawkes amid a significant Reform breakthrough in Western Canada. His campaign likely benefited from a $50,000 print and television campaign organized by the National Citizens Coalition against Hawkes, although the NCC did not endorse Harper directly.[16]
Reform MP
Harper emerged a prominent member of the Reform Party of Canada caucus. He was active on constitutional issues during his first term in Parliament, and played a prominent role in drafting the Reform Party's strategy for the 1995 Quebec referendum. A long-standing opponent of centralized federalism, he stood with Preston Manning in Montreal to introduce a twenty-point plan to "decentralize and modernize" Canada in the event of a "no" victory.[17] Harper later argued that the "no" side's narrow plurality was a worst-case scenario, in that no-one had won a mandate for change.[18]
Harper has expressed socially conservative views on some issues.[19] In 1994, he opposed plans by federal Justice Minister Allan Rock to introduce spousal benefits for same-sex couples. Citing the recent failure of a similar initiative in Ontario, he was quoted as saying, "What I hope they learn is not to get into it. There are more important social and economic issues, not to mention the unity question."[20] Harper also spoke against the possibility of the Canadian Human Rights Commission or the Supreme Court changing federal policy in these and other matters.[21]
At the Reform Party's 1994 policy convention, Harper was part of a small minority of delegates who voted against restricting the definition of marriage to "the union of one man and one woman".[22] He actually opposed both same-sex marriage and mandated benefits for same-sex couples, but argued that political parties should refrain from taking official positions on these and other "issues of conscience".[23]
Harper was the only Reform MP to support the creation of the Canadian Firearms Registry at second reading in 1995, although he later voted against it at third reading stage. He said at the time that he initially voted for the registry because of a poll showing that most of his constituents supported it, and added that he changed his vote when a second poll showed the opposite result. Some accused him of manipulating the second poll to achieve the result he wanted.[24] It was reported in April 1995 that some Progressive Conservatives opposed to Jean Charest's leadership wanted to remove both Charest and Manning, and unite the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties under Harper's leadership.[25]
Despite his prominent position in the party, Harper's relationship with the Reform Party leadership was frequently strained. In early 1994, he criticized a party decision to establish a personal expense account for Manning at a time when other Reform MPs had been asked to forego parliamentary perquisites.[26] He was formally rebuked by the Reform executive council despite winning support from some MPs. His relationship with Manning grew increasingly fractious in the mid-1990s, and he pointedly declined to express any opinion on Manning's leadership during a 1996 interview.[27] This friction was indicative of a fundamental divide between the two men: Harper was strongly committed to conservative principles and opposed Manning's inclinations toward populism, which Harper saw as leading to compromise on core ideological matters.[28][not in citation given]
These tensions culminated in late 1996 when Harper announced that he would not be a candidate in the next federal election. He resigned his parliamentary seat on January 14, 1997, the same day that he was appointed as a vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), a conservative think-tank and advocacy group.[29] He was promoted to NCC president later in the year.
In April 1997, Harper suggested that the Reform Party was drifting toward social conservatism and ignoring the principles of economic conservatism.[30] The Liberal Party lost seats but managed to retain a narrow majority government in the 1997 federal election, while Reform made only modest gains.
Out of Parliament
1997–2000
Soon after leaving Parliament, Harper and Tom Flanagan co-authored an opinion piece entitled "Our Benign Dictatorship", which argued that the Liberal Party only retained power through a dysfunctional political system and a divided opposition. Harper and Flanagan argued that national conservative governments between 1917 and 1993 were founded on temporary alliances between Western populists and Quebec nationalists, and were unable to govern because of their fundamental contradictions. The authors called for an alliance of Canada's conservative parties, and suggested that meaningful political change might require electoral reforms such as proportional representation. "Our Benign Dictatorship" also commended Conrad Black's purchase of the Southam newspaper chain, arguing that his stewardship would provide for a "pluralistic" editorial view to counter the "monolithically liberal and feminist" approach of the previous management.[31]
Harper remained active in constitutional issues. He was a prominent opponent of the Calgary Declaration on national unity in late 1997, describing it as an "appeasement strategy" against Quebec nationalism. He called for federalist politicians to reject this strategy, and approach future constitutional talks from the position that "Quebec separatists are the problem and they need to be fixed".[32] In late 1999, Harper called for the federal government to establish clear rules for any future Quebec referendum on sovereignty.[33] Some have identified Harper's views as an influence on the Chrétien government's Clarity Act.[34]
As National Citizens Coalition (NCC) leader, Harper launched an ultimately unsuccessful legal battle against federal election laws restricting third-party advertising.[35] He led the NCC in several campaigns against the Canadian Wheat Board,[36] and supported Finance Minister Paul Martin's 2000 tax cuts as a positive first step toward tax reform.[37]
In 1997, Harper delivered a controversial speech on Canadian identity to the Council for National Policy, a conservative American think tank. He made comments such as "Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it", "if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country. Which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians", and "the NDP [New Democratic Party] is kind of proof that the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men."[38] These statements were made public and criticized during the 2006 election. Harper argued that the speech was intended as humour, and not as serious analysis.[39]
Harper considered campaigning for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership in 1998, after Jean Charest left federal politics. Among those encouraging his candidacy were senior aides to Ontario Premier Mike Harris, including Tony Clement and Tom Long.[40] He eventually decided against running, arguing that it would "burn bridges to those Reformers with whom I worked for many years" and prevent an alliance of right-wing parties from taking shape.[41] Harper was skeptical about the Reform Party's United Alternative initiative in 1999, arguing that it would serve to consolidate Manning's hold on the party leadership.[42] He also expressed concern that the UA would dilute Reform's ideological focus.[43]
2000–01
When the United Alternative created the Canadian Alliance in 2000 as a successor party to Reform, Harper predicted that Stockwell Day would defeat Preston Manning for the new party's leadership. He expressed reservations about Day's abilities, however, and accused Day of "[making] adherence to his social views a litmus test to determine whether you're in the party or not".[44] Harper endorsed Tom Long for the leadership, arguing that Long was best suited to take support from the Progressive Conservative Party.[45] When Day placed first on the first ballot, Harper said that the Canadian Alliance was shifting "more towards being a party of the religious right".[46]
After the death of Pierre Trudeau in 2000, Harper wrote an editorial criticizing Trudeau's policies as they affected Western Canada. He wrote that Trudeau "embraced the fashionable causes of his time, with variable enthusiasm and differing results", but "took a pass" on the issues that "truly defined his century".[47] Harper subsequently accused Trudeau of promoting "unabashed socialism", and argued that Canadian governments between 1972 and 2002 had restricted economic growth through "state corporatism".[48]
After the Canadian Alliance's poor showing in the 2000 election, Harper joined with other Western conservatives in co-authoring a document called the "Alberta Agenda". The letter called on Alberta to reform publicly funded health care, replace the Canada Pension Plan with a provincial plan and replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with a provincial police force. It became known as the "firewall letter", because it called on the provincial government to "build firewalls around Alberta" in order to stop the federal government from redistributing its wealth to less affluent regions.[49] Alberta Premier Ralph Klein agreed with some of the letter's recommendations, but distanced himself from the "firewall" comments.[50]
Harper also wrote an editorial in late 2000 arguing that Alberta and the rest of Canada were "embark[ing] on divergent and potentially hostile paths to defining their country". He said that Alberta had chosen the "best of Canada's heritage—a combination of American enterprise and individualism with the British traditions of order and co-operation" while Canada "appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country [...] led by a second-world strongman appropriately suited for the task". He also called for a "stronger and much more autonomous Alberta", while rejecting calls for separatism.[51] In the 2001 Alberta provincial election, Harper led the NCC in a "Vote Anything but Liberal" campaign.[52] Some articles from this period described him as a possible successor to Klein.[53]
Harper and the NCC endorsed a private school tax credit proposed by Ontario's Progressive Conservative government in 2001, arguing that it would "save about $7,000 for each student who does not attend a union-run public school". Education Minister Janet Ecker criticized this, saying that her government's intent was not to save money at the expense of public education.[54]
Day's leadership of the Canadian Alliance became increasingly troubled throughout the summer of 2001, as several party MPs called for his resignation. In June, the National Post newspaper reported that former Reform MP Ian McClelland was organizing a possible leadership challenge on Harper's behalf.[55] Harper announced his resignation from the NCC presidency in August 2001, to prepare a campaign.[56]
Canadian Alliance leadership
Stockwell Day called a new Canadian Alliance leadership race for 2002, and soon declared himself a candidate. Harper emerged as Day's main rival, and declared his own candidacy on December 3, 2001. He eventually won the support of at least 28 Alliance MPs,[57] including Scott Reid, James Rajotte[58] and Keith Martin.[59] During the campaign, Harper reprised his earlier warnings against an alliance with Quebec nationalists, and called for his party to become the federalist option in Quebec.[60] He argued that "the French language is not imperilled in Quebec", and opposed "special status" for the province in the Canadian Constitution accordingly.[61] He also endorsed greater provincial autonomy on Medicare, and said that he would not co-operate with the Progressive Conservatives as long as they were led by Joe Clark.[62] On social issues, Harper argued for "parental rights" to use corporal punishment against their children and supported raising the age of sexual consent.[63] He described his potential support base as "similar to what George Bush tapped".[64]
The tone of the leadership contest turned hostile in February 2002. Harper described Day's governance of the party as "amateurish",[65] while his campaign team argued that Day was attempting to win re-election by building a narrow support base among different groups in the religious right.[66] The Day campaign accused Harper of "attacking ethnic and religious minorities".[67] In early March, the two candidates had an especially fractious debate on CBC Newsworld.[68] The leadership vote was held on March 20, 2002. Harper was elected on the first ballot with 55% support, against 37% for Day. Two other candidates split the remainder.
After winning the party leadership, Harper announced his intention to run for Parliament in a by-election in Calgary Southwest, recently vacated by Preston Manning. Ezra Levant had already been chosen as the riding's Alliance candidate and initially declared that he would not stand aside for Harper; he subsequently reconsidered.[69] The Liberals did not field a candidate, following a parliamentary tradition of allowing opposition leaders to enter the House of Commons unopposed. The Progressive Conservative candidate, Jim Prentice, also chose to withdraw.[70] Harper was elected without difficulty over New Democrat Bill Phipps, a former United Church of Canada moderator. Harper told a reporter during the campaign that he "despise[d]" Phipps, and declined to debate him.[71]
Harper officially became Leader of the Opposition in May 2002. Later in the same month, he said that the Atlantic Provinces were trapped in "a culture of defeat" which had to be overcome, the result of policies designed by Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments. Many Atlantic politicians condemned the remark as patronizing and insensitive. The Legislature of Nova Scotia unanimously approved a motion condemning Harper's comments,[72] which were also criticized by New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord, federal Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark and others. Harper refused to apologize, and said that much of Canada was trapped by the same "can't-do" attitude.[73]
In March 2003, their speeches in favour gaining no traction in Parliament, Harper and Stockwell Day co-wrote a letter to The Wall Street Journal in which they condemned the Canadian government's unwillingness to participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[74][75]
Conservative Party leadership
See also: Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2004
On January 12, 2004, Harper announced his resignation as Leader of the Opposition, in order to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper was elected the first leader of the Conservative Party, with a first ballot majority against Belinda Stronach and Tony Clement on March 20, 2004. Harper's victory included strong showings in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.
2004 federal election
Main article: Canadian federal election, 2004
Harper led the Conservatives into the 2004 federal election. Initially, new Prime Minister Paul Martin held a large lead in polls, but this eroded due to infighting, Adscam and other scandals surrounding his government. The Liberals attempted to counter this with an early election call, as this would give the Conservatives less time to consolidate their merger.[citation needed]
Martin's weak performance in the leader's debate, along with an unpopular provincial budget by Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty in Ontario, moved the Conservatives into a lead for a time. However, comments by Conservative MPs, leaked press releases slandering the then prime minister, as well as controversial TV attack ads suggesting that the Conservatives would make Canada more like the United States, caused Harper's party to lose some momentum.[citation needed]
Harper made an effort to appeal to voters in Quebec, a province where the Reform/Alliance side of the merged party had not done well. He was featured in several of the Tories' French-language campaign ads.[citation needed]
The Liberals were re-elected to power with a minority government, with the Conservatives coming in second place. The Conservatives managed to make inroads into the Liberals' Ontario stronghold, primarily in the province's socially conservative central region. However, they were shut out of Quebec, marking the first time that a centre-right party did not win any seats in that province. Harper, after some personal deliberation, decided to stay on as the party leader. Many credited him with bringing the Progressive Conservative Party and Canadian Alliance together in a short time to fight a close election.[citation needed]
Agreement with the BQ and the NDP
Two months after the federal election, Stephen Harper privately met with Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton in a Montreal hotel.[76] On September 9, 2004, the three signed a letter addressed to then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, stating,
We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.[77][78]
On the same day the letter was written, the three party leaders held a joint press conference at which they expressed their intent to co-operate on changing parliamentary rules, and to request that the Governor General consult with them before deciding to call an election.[79] At the news conference, Harper said "It is the Parliament that's supposed to run the country, not just the largest party and the single leader of that party. That's a criticism I've had and that we've had and that most Canadians have had for a long, long time now so this is an opportunity to start to change that." However, at the time, Harper and the two other opposition leaders denied trying to form a coalition government.[76] Harper said, "This is not a coalition, but this is a co-operative effort."[79]
One month later, on October 4, Mike Duffy, who was later appointed as a Conservative senator by Harper, said "It is possible that you could change prime minister without having an election," and that some Conservatives wanted Harper to temporarily become prime minister without holding an election. The next day Layton walked out on talks with Harper and Duceppe, accusing them of trying to replace Paul Martin with Harper as prime minister. Both Bloc and Conservative officials denied Layton's accusations.[76]
On March 26, 2011, Duceppe stated that Harper had tried to form a coalition government with the Bloc and NDP in response to Harper's allegations that the Liberals may form a coalition with the Bloc and the NDP.[80]
Harper as Conservative leader and Leader of the Opposition
The Conservative Party's first policy convention was held from March 17–19, 2005, in Montreal. Harper had been rumoured to be shifting his ideology closer to that of a Blue Tory, and many thought he'd wanted to move the party's policies closer to the centre. Any opposition to abortion or bilingualism was dropped from the Conservative platform. Harper received an 84% endorsement from delegates in the leadership review.
Despite the party's move to the centre, the party began a concerted drive against same-sex marriage. Harper was criticized by a group of law professors for arguing that the government could override the provincial court rulings on same-sex marriage without using the "notwithstanding clause", a provision of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It also argued, in general, for lower taxes, an elected Senate, a tougher stance on crime, and closer relations with the United States.[citation needed]
Following the April 2005 release of Jean Brault's damaging testimony at the Gomery Commission, implicating the Liberals in the scandal, opinion polls placed the Conservatives ahead of Liberals. The Conservatives had earlier abstained from the vote on the 2005 budget to avoid forcing an election. With the collapse in Liberal support and a controversial NDP amendment to the budget, the party exerted significant pressure on Harper to bring down the government. In May, Harper announced that the government had lost the "moral authority to govern". Shortly thereafter, the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois united to defeat the government on a vote that some considered to be either a confidence motion or else a motion requiring an immediate test of the confidence of the House. The Martin government did not accept this interpretation and argued that vote had been on a procedural motion, although they also indicated that they would bring forward their revised budget for a confidence vote the following week. Ultimately, the effort to bring down the Government failed following the decision of Conservative MP Belinda Stronach to cross the floor to the Liberal Party. The vote on the NDP amendment to the budget tied, and with the Speaker of the House voting to continue debate, the Liberals stayed in power. At the time, some considered the matter to be a constitutional crisis.[81][82]
Harper was also criticized for supporting his caucus colleague MP Gurmant Grewal.[83] Grewal had produced tapes of conversations with Tim Murphy, Paul Martin's chief of staff, in which Grewal claimed he had been offered a cabinet position in exchange for his defection.
Stephen Harper gives a victory speech to party faithful in Calgary after his Conservatives won the 2006 federal election.
The Liberals' support dropped after the first report from the Gomery Commission was issued. On November 24, 2005, Harper introduced a motion of non-confidence on the Liberal government, telling the House of Commons "that this government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons and needs to be removed." As the Liberals had lost NDP support in the house by refusing to accept an NDP plan to prevent health care privatization, the no-confidence motion was passed by a vote of 171–133. It was the first time that a Canadian government had been toppled by a straight motion of non-confidence proposed by the opposition. As a result, Parliament was dissolved and a general election was scheduled for January 23, 2006.
On February 27, 2008, allegations surfaced that two Conservative Party officials offered terminally ill, Independent MP Chuck Cadman a million-dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his vote to bring down the Liberal government in a May 2005 budget vote.[84] If the story had been proved true, the actions may have been grounds for charges as a criminal offence since, under the Criminal Code of Canada, it is illegal to bribe an MP.[85]
When asked by Vancouver journalist Tom Zytaruk about the alleged life insurance offer then-opposition leader Stephen Harper states on an audio tape "I don't know the details. I know there were discussions"[86] and goes on to say "The offer to Chuck was that it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election".[86] Harper also stated that he had told the Conservative party representatives that they were unlikely to succeed. "I told them they were wasting their time. I said Chuck had made up his mind."[86][87] In February 2008 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigated the allegations that Section 119's provisions on bribery and corruption in the Criminal Code had been violated.[88][89] The RCMP concluded their investigation stating that there is no evidence for pressing charges.[90]
Harper denied any wrongdoing and subsequently filed a civil libel suit against the Liberal Party of Canada. Since libel laws do not apply for statements made in the House of Commons, the basis of the lawsuit was that statements made by Liberal party members outside the House and in articles which appeared on the Liberal party web site made accusations that Harper had committed a criminal act.[87][91]
The audio expert hired by Harper to prove that the tape containing the evidence was doctored reported that the latter part of the tape was recorded over, but the tape was unaltered where Harper's voice said "I don't know the details, I know that, um, there were discussions, um, but this is not for publication?" and goes on to say he "didn't know the details" when asked if he knew anything about the alleged offer to Cadman.[92]
2006 federal election
Main article: Canadian federal election, 2006
The Conservatives began the campaign period with a policy-per-day strategy, contrary to the Liberal plan of holding off major announcements until after the Christmas holidays, so Harper dominated media coverage for the first weeks of the election. Though his party showed only modest movement in the polls, Harper's personal numbers, which had always significantly trailed those of his party, began to rise. In response, the Liberals launched negative ads targeting Harper, similar to their attacks in the 2004 election. However, their tactics were not sufficient to erode the Conservative's advantage, although they did manage to close what had been a ten-point advantage in public opinion. As Harper's personal numbers rose, polls found he was now considered not only more trustworthy, but a better choice for prime minister than Martin.[93]
Immediately prior to the Christmas break, in a faxed letter to NDP candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis, the Commissioner of the RCMP, Giuliano Zaccardelli announced the RCMP had opened a criminal investigation into her complaint that it appeared Liberal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's office had leaked information leading to insider trading before making an important announcement on the taxation of income trusts. On December 27, 2005, the RCMP confirmed that information in a press release. At the conclusion of the investigation, Serge Nadeau, a top Finance Department bureaucrat, was charged with criminal breach of trust. No charges were laid against then Finance Minister Ralph Goodale.[94]
The election gave Harper's Conservatives the largest number of seats in the House, although not enough for a majority government, and shortly after midnight on January 24, Martin conceded defeat. Later that day, Martin informed Governor General Michaëlle Jean that he would resign as prime minister, and at 6:45 p.m. Jean asked Harper to form a government. Harper was sworn in as Canada's 22nd prime minister on February 6, 2006. In his first address to Parliament as head of government, Harper opened by paying tribute to the Queen and her "lifelong dedication to duty and self-sacrifice," referring to her specifically as Canada's head of state.[95] He also said before the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce that Canada and the United Kingdom were joined by "the golden circle of the Crown, which links us all together with the majestic past that takes us back to the Tudors, the Plantagenets, the Magna Carta, habeas corpus, petition of rights, and English common law."[96] Journalist Graham Fraser said in the Toronto Star that Harper's speech was "one of the most monarchist speeches a Canadian prime minister has given since John Diefenbaker."[97] An analysis by Michael D. Behiels suggests a political realignment may be underway based on the continuance of Harper's government.[98]
Prime minister
Main article: Premiership of Stephen Harper
2008 federal election
Main article: Canadian federal election, 2008
On October 14, 2008, after a 5-week-long campaign, the Conservative Party won a federal election and increased its number of seats in Parliament to 143, up from 127 at the dissolution of the previous Parliament; however, the actual popular vote among Canadians dropped slightly by 167,494 votes. As a result of the lowest voter turnout in Canadian electoral history, this represented only 22% of eligible Canadian voters, the lowest level of support of any winning party in Canadian history.[99] Meanwhile, the number of opposition Liberal MPs fell from 95 to 77 seats. It takes 155 MPs to form a majority government in Canada's 308 seat Parliament.
2008 Parliamentary dispute and prorogation
Main article: 2008-2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute
On December 4, 2008, Harper asked Governor General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament in order to avoid a vote of confidence scheduled for the following Monday, becoming the first Canadian PM ever to do so.[100] The request was granted by Jean, and the prorogation lasted until January 26, 2009. The opposition coalition dissolved shortly after, with the Conservatives winning a Liberal supported confidence vote on January 29, 2009.
2010 prorogation
See also: 2010 Canada anti-prorogation protests and Prorogation in Canada
On December 30, 2009, Harper announced that he would request the governor general prorogue Parliament again, effective immediately on December 30, 2009, during the 2010 Winter Olympics and lasting until March 3, 2010. Harper stated that this was necessary for Canada's economic plan. Jean would grant the request. In an interview with CBC News, Prince Edward Island Liberal member of Parliament Wayne Easter accused the Prime Minister of "shutting democracy down".[101][102] Tom Flanagan, Harper's University of Calgary mentor and former Chief of Staff, also questioned Harper's reasoning for prorogation, stating that "I think the government's talking points haven't been entirely credible" and that the government's explanation of proroguing was "skirting the real issue—which is the harm the opposition parties are trying to do to the Canadian Forces" regarding the Canadian Afghan detainee issue.[103] Small demonstrations took place on January 23 in 64 Canadian cities and towns, and five cities in other countries.[104] A Facebook protest group attracted over 20,000 members.[105]
A poll released by Angus Reid on January 7, found that 53% of Canadians were opposed to the prorogation, while 19% supported it. 38% of Canadians believed that Harper used the prorogation to curtail the Afghan detainee inquiry, while 23% agreed with Harper's explanation that the prorogation was necessary economically.[106]
2010 Senate appointments
Harper filled five vacancies in the Senate of Canada with appointments of new Conservative senators, on January 29, 2010. The Senators filled vacancies in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick, as well as two vacancies in Ontario. The new senators were Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, of Quebec, Bob Runciman, of Ontario, Vim Kochhar, of Ontario, Elizabeth Marshall of Newfoundland and Labrador and Rose-May Poirier, of New Brunswick. This changed the party standings in the Senate, which had been dominated by Liberals, to 51 Conservatives, 49 Liberals, and five others.[107]
2011 vote of non-confidence
Harper's Cabinet was defeated in a no-confidence vote on March 25, 2011, after being found in contempt of Parliament, thus triggering a general election.[108] This was the first occurrence in Commonwealth history of a government in the Westminster parliamentary tradition losing the confidence of the House of Commons on the grounds of contempt of Parliament. The no-confidence motion was carried with a vote of 156 in favor of the motion, and 145 against.[109]
2011 election
Main article: Canadian federal election, 2011
On May 2, 2011, after a 5-week campaign, Harper led the Conservatives to their third consecutive election victory—the first time a right wing party has accomplished this in half a century. The Conservatives increased their standing in Parliament to 166, up from 143 at the dissolution of the previous Parliament. This resulted in the first centre-right majority government since the Progressive Conservatives won what would be their last majority in 1988. The Conservative Party also received a greater number of total votes than in 2008. Aside from ending five years of minority governments, this election was notable for a number of firsts: bringing the New Democratic Party to official opposition status, the relegation of the Liberals to third place, the election of Canada's first Green Party Member of Parliament, and the decline of the Bloc Québécois (from 47 to 4 seats).
World view
Domestic policy
Main article: Domestic policy of the Harper government
Stephen Harper (left) seated with Ahmadiyya leader Mirza Masroor Ahmad (right) at the grand opening of Baitun Nur, the largest mosque in Canada. (July 5, 2008)
Unlike his recent predecessors, Harper did not name one of his colleagues to the largely honorific post of deputy prime minister. Various observers had expected him to name MacKay, the former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and his deputy party leader, or Lawrence Cannon, as a Quebec lieutenant, to the post. Harper did, however, name an order of succession to act on his behalf in certain circumstances, starting with Cannon, then Jim Prentice, then the balance of his cabinet in order of precedence.[citation needed]
Wikinews has related news:
Harper to recognize Quebec as nation within Canada
Canadian House of Commons passes Québécois nation motion
After sidestepping the political landmine for most of the first year of his time as prime minister, much as all the post-Charlottetown Accord prime ministers had done, Harper's hand was forced to reopen the Quebec sovereignty debate after the opposition Bloc Québécois were to introduce a motion in the House that called for recognition of Quebec as a "nation". On November 22, 2006, Harper introduced his own motion to recognize that "the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada."[110] Five days later, Harper's motion passed, with a margin of 266–16; all federalist parties, as well as the Bloc Québécois, were formally behind it.[111]
Economic management
As of January 2010, the ruling Conservatives had raised the federal deficit back to $36 billion. It is claimed by certain pundits that the Conservatives raised Canada's deficit to the largest in the country's history.[112][113] At the same time, Canada had the lowest Debt-to-GDP in the G7 economies.[114] The Economist magazine stated that Canada had come out the recession stronger than any other rich country in the G7.[115][116]
Senate
In 2004, Harper said "the Upper House remains a dumping ground for the favoured cronies of the prime minister."[117] During his term as prime minister from 2006 to 2008, Harper let Senate retirements go unfilled, resulting in 16 Senate vacancies by the October 2008 election.[118] The one exception to this policy was Michael Fortier. When Harper first took office, he directed the Governor General to appoint Michael Fortier to both the Senate and the Cabinet, arguing the government needed representation from the city of Montreal.[119] Although there is a precedent for this action in Canadian history, the appointment led to criticism from opponents who claimed Harper was reneging on his push for an elected Senate. In 2008 Fortier gave up his Senate seat and sought election as a Member of Parliament (MP), but was defeated by a large margin by the incumbent Bloc Québécois MP.[120]
After the October 2008 election, Harper again named Senate reform as a priority.[118] By December 2008, he recommended the appointment of 18 senators and in 2009 directed the Governor General to appoint an additional 9 senators. Many of those appointed had close ties with the Conservative Party, including the campaign manager of the Conservative Party, Doug Finley. Critics accused Harper of hypocrisy (the Liberals coined the term "Harpocrisy"). Conservative Senator Bert Brown defended Harper's appointments and said "the only way [the Senate]'s ever been filled is by having people that are loyal to the prime minister who's appointing them."[117]
2011 Census
See also: 2011 Census
Ahead of the Canada 2011 Census, the government announced that the long-form questionnaire (which collects detailed demographic information) will no longer be mandatory. According to Minister of Industry Tony Clement, the change was made because of privacy-related complaints and after consulting with Statistics Canada.[121] However, Canada's privacy commissioner reported only receiving three complaints between 1995 and 2010, according to a report in the Toronto Sun.[122]
Munir Sheikh, Canada's Chief Statistician appointed on Harper's advice,[123] resigned on July 21, 2010, in protest of the government's change in policy.[124] Ivan Fellegi, the former Chief Statistician of Canada, criticized the government's decision, saying that those who are most vulnerable (such as the poor, new immigrants, and aboriginals) are least likely to respond to a voluntary form, which weakens information about their demographic.[125]
The move was opposed by some governmental and non-governmental organizations.[126] Federation of Canadian Municipalities; City of Toronto;[127] Canadian Jewish Congress; Evangelical Fellowship of Canada;[128] Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops;[129] Canadian Medical Association;[130] Statistical Society of Canada; the American Statistical Association;[131] and Registered Nurses Association of Ontario all opposed the change. However, the Fraser Institute supported the change.[132] The provincial governments of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba, also opposed the change.[133]
Foreign policy
Main article: Foreign policy of the Harper government
During his term, Harper has dealt with many foreign policy issues relating to the United States, War on Terror, Arab-Israeli conflict, free trade, China and Africa.
In 2009, Harper visited China. During the visit Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao publicly scolded Harper for not visiting earlier, pointing out that "this is the first meeting between the Chinese premier and a Canadian prime minister in almost five years";[134] Harper in response said that, "it's almost been five years since we had yourself or President Hu in our country.”[134] In 2008, former prime minister Jean Chrétien had criticized Harper for missing opening ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing;[135] in response, Dmitri Soudas, a spokesperson for Harper, called the remarks hypocritical, pointing out that Chrétien "attended one of six Olympic opening ceremonies during his 13 years as prime minister.[135]
On September 11, 2007, Harper visited Australia and addressed its Parliament.[136]
Michael Ignatieff criticized Harper for cutting foreign aid to Africa by $700 million, falling short of the UN Millennium Development Goals, and cutting eight African countries from the list of priority aid recipients.[137]
Afghanistan
On March 11 and March 12, 2006, Harper made a surprise trip to Afghanistan, where Canadian Forces personnel have been deployed as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force since late 2001, to visit troops in theatre as a show of support for their efforts, and as a demonstration of the government's commitment to reconstruction and stability in the region. Harper's choice of a first foreign visit was closely guarded from the press until his arrival in Afghanistan (citing security concerns), and is seen as marking a significant change in relationship between the government and the military. Harper returned to Afghanistan on May 22, 2007, in a surprise two-day visit which included visiting Canadian troops at the forward operating base at Ma'Sum Ghar, located 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Kandahar, making Harper the first prime minister to have visited the front lines of a combat operation.[138]
Israeli and Jewish affairs
President of Argentina Cristina Kirchner and Harper
See also: International reactions to the 2006 Lebanon War
At the outset of the 2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict, Harper defended Israel's "right to defend itself" and described its military campaign in Lebanon as a "measured" response, arguing that Hezbollah's release of kidnapped IDF soldiers would be the key to ending the conflict.[139] Speaking of the situation in both Lebanon and Gaza on July 18, Harper said he wanted "not just a ceasefire, but a resolution" but such a thing would not happen until Hezbollah and Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist. Harper blamed Hezbollah for all the civilian deaths. He asserted that Hezbollah's objective is to destroy Israel through violence.[140]
The media noted that Harper didn't allow reporters opportunities to ask him questions on his position. Some Canadians, including many Arab and Lebanese Canadians, criticized Harper's description of Israel's response.[141]
In December 2008, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations recognized Harper's support for Israel with its inaugural International Leadership Award, pointing out Harper's decision to boycott the Durban II anti-racism conference, and his government's "support for Israel and [its] efforts at the U.N. against incitement and ... the delegitimization [of Israel]".[142]
In March 2009, Harper spoke at a Parliament Hill ceremony organized by Chabad-Lubavitch to honor the Jewish victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which included an attack on the Nariman House. He expressed condolences over the murder at Chabad's Mumbai center of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka. Harper described the killings as "affronts to the values that unite all civilized people". Harper added that the quick installment of a new rabbi at the Chabad center in Mumbai as a signal that the Jewish people will "never bow to violence and hatred".[143]
In 2010, Canada lost a bid for a seat on the UN Security Council. While initially blaming the loss on his rival Ignatieff, Harper later said that it was due to his pro-Israeli stance. Harper then said that he would take a pro-Israeli stance, no matter what the political cost to Canada.[144][145][146] Ignatieff criticized Harper's stance as a "mistake", saying Canada would be better able to defend Israel through the Security Council than from the sidelines and pointed out that it is the Security Council that will determine if sanctions are imposed on Iran.[145] Ignatieff also accused Harper of steering the discussion away from implementing the two-state solution, and instead rendering all discussion into a competition "about who is Israel's best friend".[137]
Free Trade with EFTA
On June 7, 2007, the Conservative government announced it had finalized free trade negotiations with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Under this agreement, Canada increased its trade ties with Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In 2006, the value of trade between these partners was $10.7 billion. Canada had originally begun negotiations with the EFTA on October 9, 1998, but talks broke down due to a disagreement over subsidies to shipyards in Atlantic Canada.[147]
Former U.S. President George W. Bush, former Mexican President Vicente Fox and Stephen Harper, right, at the Chichen-Itza archaeological ruins in 2006
United States
See also: Canada–United States relations
Shortly after being congratulated by George W. Bush for his victory, Harper rebuked U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins for criticizing the Conservatives' plans to assert Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic Ocean waters with armed forces.[148] Harper's first meeting as prime minister with the U.S. president occurred at the end of March 2006.
The government received American news coverage during the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential primaries after the details of a conversation between Barack Obama's economic advisor Austan Goolsbee, and Canadian diplomat Georges Rioux were revealed. Reportedly Goolsbee was reassuring the Canadians that Obama's comments on potentially renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were more political rhetoric than actual policy. The accuracy of these reports has been debated by both the Obama campaign and the Canadian Government. The news came at a key time nearing the Ohio and Texas primaries, where perceptions among Democratic voters was (and is) that the benefits of the NAFTA agreement are dubious. Thus the appearance that Obama was not being completely forthright was attacked by his opponent Hillary Clinton.[149] ABC News reported that Harper's Chief of Staff, Ian Brodie was responsible for the details reaching the hands of the media.[150] Harper has denied that Brodie was responsible for the leak, and launched an investigation to find the source. The Opposition, as well as Democratic strategist Bob Shrum,[151] criticized the Government on the issue, stating they were trying to help the Republicans by helping Hillary Clinton win the Democratic nomination instead of Obama. They also alleged the leak would hurt relations with the United States if Obama ever were to become President.[152] Obama was elected President in November. In February, Obama made his first foreign visit, as president, to Ottawa, in which he affirmed support for free trade with Canada, as well as complimenting Canada on its involvement in Afghanistan.[153]
United States President Barack Obama meets with Stephen Harper in Ottawa.
Media relations and information
Harper has insisted on his right to choose who asks questions at press conferences,[154] which has caused the national media to lodge complaints.[155] In 2007, Harper was awarded the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) "Code of Silence Award" for his "white-knuckled death grip on public information". "If journalists can't get basic information from the federal government, Canadians can't hold the government accountable. The prime minister's office has repeatedly demonstrated contempt for the public's right to know," [CAJ President] Welch said. "Harper pledged to run a government that was open, transparent and accountable, but his track record to-date has been abysmal."[156] Some have alleged that the prime minister's office also "often informs the media about Harper's trips at such short notice that it's impossible for Ottawa journalists to attend the events".[157] Harper's director of communications has denied this, saying that "this prime minister has been more accessible, gives greater media scrums and provides deeper content than any prime minister has in the last 10 to 12 years". Some suggest that the Conservatives' then recent electoral success could be credited to their control of the campaign message, a practice that they continued when they became the government.[158]
The CAJ again criticized Harper's control over the media in an open letter in June 2010. The CAJ wrote "Politicians should not get to decide what information is released. This information belongs to Canadians, the taxpayers who paid for its production. Its release should be based on public interest, not political expediency. This breeds contempt and suspicion of government. How can people know the maternal-health initiative has been well thought out or that the monitoring of aboriginal bands has been done properly if all Canadians hear is: 'Trust us'?"[159]
Supreme Court appointments
Harper chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by the governor general:
Marshall Rothstein (March 1, 2006 – present)
Thomas Cromwell (September 5, 2008 – present)
Andromache Karakatsanis (2011–present)[160]
Michael Moldaver (2011–present)[160]
Richard Wagner (2012–present)
Justice Rothstein
In keeping with Harper's election promise to change the appointment process, Rothstein's appointment involved a review by a parliamentary committee, following his nomination by the Prime Minister. Rothstein had already been short-listed, with two other candidates, by a committee convened by Paul Martin's previous Liberal government, and he was Harper's choice. Harper then had Rothstein appear before an 'ad hoc', non-partisan committee of 12 Members of Parliament. This committee was not empowered to block the appointment, though, as had been called for by some members of Harper's Conservative Party.[161]
Justice Cromwell
On September 5, 2008, Harper nominated Justice Cromwell of Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the departure of Justice Michel Bastarache. By and large Cromwell's nomination has been well received, with many lauding the selection,[162][163] however dissent has been noted surrounding the nomination. First, Harper bypassed Parliament's Supreme Court selection panel, which was supposed to produce a list of three candidates for him to choose from.[162] Second, Newfoundland Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy criticized the appointment, citing the Newfoundland government's belief that constitutional convention stipulates that a Newfoundlander should have been named to the Court in the rotation of Atlantic Canadian Supreme Court representation.[164]
Honours
Harper received the Woodrow Wilson Award on October 6, 2006, for his public service in Calgary. The awards ceremony was held at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary, the same place where he made his victory speech.[165]
Time magazine also named him as Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in 2006. Stephen Handelman wrote "that the prime minister who was once dismissed as a doctrinaire backroom tactician with no experience in government has emerged as a warrior in power".[166]
On June 27, 2008, Harper was awarded the Presidential Gold Medallion for Humanitarianism by B'nai B'rith International. He is the first Canadian to be awarded this medal.[167]
On July 11, 2011, Harper was honoured by Alberta's Blood tribe. He was made honorary chief of the Kainai Nation during a ceremony, in which they recognized him for making an official apology on behalf of the Government of Canada for the residential schools abuse. Harper issued this apology in the year 2008. The chief of the tribe explained that he believes the apology officially started the healing and rebuilding of relations between the federal and native councils. Lester B. Pearson, John Diefenbaker, and Jean Chrétien are the only other prime ministers of Canada to have been awarded the same honorary title.[168]
On September 27, 2012, Harper received the World Statesman of the Year award. This award was offered through a U.S. group of various faith representatives. This occurred at a black tie banquet in New York. Jean Chrétien was one of the previous recipients from Canada.[169]
Personal life
Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaking at 2009 Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Harper married Laureen Teskey on December 11, 1993.[170] Laureen was formerly married to New Zealander Neil Fenton from 1985 to 1988.[171] They have two children: Benjamin and Rachel. He is the third prime minister, after Pierre Trudeau and John Turner, to send his children to Rockcliffe Park Public School, in Ottawa. He is a member of the evangelical Christian and Missionary Alliance and attends church at the East Gate Alliance Church in Ottawa.[172] According to party literature, he is learning Spanish.[173]
An avid follower of ice hockey, he has been a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs since his childhood in the Leaside and Etobicoke communities in Toronto.[174] He published a book, A Great Game (2013), which chronicles the growth of professional hockey, particularly in Toronto,[175] and writes articles occasionally on the subject.[176] Harper appeared on The Sports Network (TSN) during the broadcast of the Canada–Russia final of the 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He was interviewed and expressed his views on the state of hockey, and his preference for an overtime period in lieu of a shoot-out.[177] In February 2010, Harper interviewed former National Hockey League greats Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe for a Saskatoon Kinsmen Club charity event.[178]
Harper taped a cameo appearance in an episode of the television show Corner Gas which aired March 12, 2007.[179] He reportedly owns a large vinyl record collection and is a fan of The Beatles and AC/DC.[180] In October 2009, he joined Yo-Yo Ma on stage in a National Arts Centre gala and performed "With a Little Help from My Friends". He was also accompanied by Herringbone, an Ottawa band with whom he regularly practises.[181] He received a standing ovation after providing the piano accompaniment and lead vocals for the song.[182]
In October 2010, Harper taped a cameo appearance in an epi"end quote sode of the television show Murdoch Mysteries, which aired July 20, 2011, during the show's fourth season.[183][184]
Harper is 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall.[185] He is the first prime minister to employ a personal stylist, Michelle Muntean, whose duties range from co-ordinating his clothing to preparing his hair and makeup for speeches and television appearances. While formerly on public payroll, she has been paid for by the Conservative Party since "some time [in] 2007".[186]
The Harper family has two cats, Stanley and Gypsy.[187]
References all quotes and copyright to wikipedia drawn 11/9/2013
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quote"Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) was created in 1945 and is a provincial Crown corporation that has been developed over the years into two linked operations.[1]
The Saskatchewan Auto Fund is the province's compulsory public auto insurance program, operating the driver's licensing and vehicle registration system. The Auto Fund is financially self-sustaining, operating on a break-even basis over time. The Saskatchewan Auto Fund claims that it does not receive money from or pay dividends to the government.
SGI CANADA sells property and casualty insurance on properties such as homes, farms, businesses and automobile insurance in seven Canadian provinces. It operates as SGI CANADA in Saskatchewan, SGI CANADA Insurance Services Ltd. in Manitoba and Alberta, the Coachman Insurance Company in Ontario and as a major partner in the The Insurance Company of Prince Edward Island in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Corporate governance
3 Board of directors
4 Structure and functions
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
History[edit]
C.M. Fines Building - SGI Head Office in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
SGI was created by the first avowedly socialist government in North America elected in 1944, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (later renamed New Democratic Party). Under Premier Tommy Douglas, the government began to involve itself in many sectors of the economy, including insurance. The rationale was put forth that Saskatchewan residents were being taken advantage of by companies owned outside the province who set rates too high. Also, at least 90 per cent of the insurance in the province was written by companies established in Eastern Canada.[2] Thus the institution of a publicly owned insurance company was justified by the government on both philosophical and economic grounds.
Working out of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, Michael Allore, the first president, sold the first policy – Fire Policy Number 1 – to Minister O. W. Valleau on May 1, 1945 and appointed its first broker, Oscar Sawby of Maple Creek, on May 17. By the end of 1945, SGI had 60 employees and a small network of private, independent insurance brokers located across the province selling insurance on behalf of the corporation.
The introduction of a state-run automobile insurance was controversial. For the first few years of its existence, other provinces refused to recognize SGI policies as legitimate. One result of such non-recognition was that SGI-insured drivers involved in an accident in Manitoba were either detained or required to post a bond because Manitoban authorities essentially considered them to be "uninsured" drivers.[3]
History of SGI Presidents
# President Took position Left position
1 Michael Allore 1945 1953
2 Herbert Hammond 1953 1965
3 Jim Dutton 1965 1972
4 John Green 1973 1980
5 Murray Wallace 1981 1982
6 Don Black 1983 1985
7 Alex Wilde 1985 1991
8 Bill Heidt 1992 1994
9 John Wright 1995 1997
10 Larry Fogg 1997 2004
11 Jon Schubert 2004 2008
12 Earl Cameron 2008 2009
13 Andrew Cartmell 2009 Present
Corporate governance[edit]
SGI and SGI CANADA are governed by The Saskatchewan Government Insurance Act, 1980, and The Automobile Accident Insurance Act, and are subject to the provisions of The Crown Corporations Act, 1993, which gives the Crown Investments Corporation, the holding company for Saskatchewan's commercial Crown corporations, the broad authority to set the direction of the Corporation.
Where required by legislation or policy directive, SGI submits performance management and investment decisions for review and approval by CIC and the provincial cabinet (government). Through its Chair, who is an outside director, the SGI Board of Directors is accountable to the Minister Responsible for SGI. The Minister functions as a link between the Corporation and CIC and cabinet, as well as the provincial legislature.
Board of directors[edit]
The Board of Directors is responsible for setting direction, monitoring and reporting achievement, and analyzing, evaluating and taking corrective action for the corporation. The Board is responsible for the stewardship of the corporation in general terms. In meeting this responsibility, the Board works with management to develop and approve the corporation's strategic plan, operating goals, annual budget and business plans. It participates in identifying business risk and overseeing the implementation of appropriate systems to achieve a balance between the risks incurred and potential returns.
The Board of Directors is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The Board consists of ten external directors. Both the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board are external directors.
Structure and functions[edit]
SGI employs approximately 1,700 people and works with a network of almost 300 independent insurance brokers and about 450 motor licence issuers in Saskatchewan, as well as numerous brokers in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.[citation needed]
In October 2008, SGI was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, SGI was named one of Saskatchewan's Top Employers, which was announced by the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post newspapers.[4]
SGI's head office is in downtown Regina, Saskatchewan. It also operates 20 claims centres in 13 Saskatchewan communities, has a branch office in Winnipeg, and five salvage offices (auto wrecker, used parts).
See also[edit]
Vehicle registration plates of Saskatchewan
Insurance Corporation of British Columbia
Manitoba Public Insurance
Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party Logo.svg
Active provincial party
Leader Cam Broten
President Cory Oxelgren
Founded 1932 as the Farmer-Labour Group, became the Saskatchewan CCF in 1934, renamed Saskatchewan NDP in 1967
Headquarters 1122 Saskatchewan Dr.
Regina, Saskatchewan
S4P 0C4
Ideology Social democracy
Third Way
Political position Centre-left
National affiliation New Democratic Party
Colours Orange, green
Seats in Legislature
9 / 58
Website
Official website
Politics of Saskatchewan
Political parties
Elections
The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) is a social-democratic[1][2] political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It forms the official opposition, but has been a dominant force in Saskatchewan politics since the 1940s. The party is the successor to the Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and affiliated to the federal New Democratic Party.
Contents [hide]
1 Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Saskatchewan Section)
1.1 Origins
1.2 Founding of the CCF
1.3 In government
2 Recent history
3 Party leaders
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Saskatchewan Section)[edit]
Origins[edit]
"Towards the Dawn!" – 1930s promotional image for Saskatchewan's Cooperative Commonwealth Federation
The origins of the party began as early as 1902. In that year a group of farmers created the Territorial Grain Growers' Association. The objective of this group was to lobby for farmer's rights with the grain trade and the railways. The name was changed to the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association (SGGA) when Saskatchewan became a province in 1905.[3]
In 1921 a left-wing splinter group left the SGGA to form the Farmer's Union. However, the two groups reconciled in 1926 and reformed as the United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section) (UFC). The first leader of the UFC was George Williams.[4]
The Progressive Party of Saskatchewan, a farmers movement, elected six MLAs in the 1921 provincial election as well as in the 1925 election and five in 1929 but were never able to field candidates in more than half a dozen of the province's 63 ridings. After the 1929 provincial election returned a Liberal minority government, the Progressives joined with the Conservatives to defeat the Liberals and form a coalition government dominated by the Tories. The Progressives disappeared over the course of the next four years and were largely absorbed by the Tories.
The rightward drift of the Progressives prompted the UFC-SS to decide, in 1930, to run its own candidates in the following election. In 1931, the UFC participated in the March on Regina to protest against government indifference to the farmer's plight during the depression. During that event the UFC met with the Independent Labour Party, led by M.J. Coldwell, to discuss their options. From that meeting they agreed to form the Farmer-Labour Group (FLG) with Coldwell as the leader.[5] The new party acquired its first member in the Saskatchewan legislature when Jacob Benson, elected as a Progressive in 1929, joined to become a Farmer-Labour MLA.[6]
The FLG participated in the 1934 provincial election and won five seats and became the official opposition to the Liberals. Coldwell failed to win a seat but remained as leader.
Founding of the CCF[edit]
Following the election, the Farmer-Labour Group officially became the Saskatchewan section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), although it had been known unofficially as the CCF's Saskatchewan wing before that.[5]
In 1935, Coldwell ran for federal office in the federal election and was elected. Williams took over as party leader.[5] Williams' radicalism caused moderates in the party to believe that the CCF could not form government with him as leader. Tommy Douglas, a charismatic federal CCF MP was persuaded to challenge Williams for the leadership and succeeded in defeating him for the party presidency in 1941 and for the party leadership in 1942.[7][8]
In government[edit]
In the 1944 election, the Saskatchewan CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, swept to power. They took 47 out of 52 seats.[9] In the process, they handed the Liberals the worst defeat that a sitting government has ever suffered in Saskatchewan. Since that election, the CCF/NDP has won 12 out of 17 elections and held power for 47 of 63 years (as of 2007).
Arguably, the party's greatest accomplishment was the introduction of North America's first comprehensive system of public medical insurance or Medicare. The fight to introduce Medicare in the province was intense, due to the opposition of the province's doctors who were backed by the American Medical Association. The AMA feared that public health care would spread to other parts of the continent if introduced in one part. In July 1962 the doctors staged the 23-day Saskatchewan Doctors' Strike. But despite a concerted attempt to defeat the controversial Medical Care Insurance Act, the strike eventually collapsed and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan agreed to the alterations and terms of the "Saskatoon Agreement". The program was introduced and became so popular it was soon adopted across Canada.
After doing much of the preliminary work on Medicare, Douglas resigned as party leader and Premier of Saskatchewan in 1961 to become the founding leader of the New Democratic Party (Canada) (NDP). The NDP had been formed by a coalition of the CCF and the Canadian Labour Congress. The Saskatchewan CCF followed suit, and adopted its current name in 1967 after a transitional period when the party was awkwardly named the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, Saskatchewan Section of the New Democratic Party (Canada).
The turmoil of the Medicare fight took its toll, however, and the NDP-CCF government of Douglas's successor Woodrow S. Lloyd was defeated by Ross Thatcher's Saskatchewan Liberal Party in the 1964 election. The party dropped the "CCF" name after the 1967 election.
Recent history[edit]
Dwain Lingenfelter, announcing his candidacy for the NDP leadership
The NDP rebuilt itself and went through a painful confrontation between a left-wing movement dubbed "The Waffle" (a name derived from Toronto leftist economist Gordon Laxer's quip that if he was perceived to be "waffling" on a policy question, then he'd "rather waffle to the left than waffle to the right") and the more centrist-oriented party establishment. The party returned to power in the 1971 election, under Allan Blakeney, embarking on a programme of nationalizing the province's natural resources. This saw the creation of parastatal or Crown corporations that drilled for oil (Saskatchewan Oil & Gas Corporation or SaskOil), mined potash (the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan) and sought hard-rock minerals (the Saskatchewan Mining Development Corp.).[10] Blakeney's government was heavily defeated in the 1982 election by the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan, led by Grant Devine. The NDP was cut down to only nine seats, the second-worst defeat a sitting government had ever suffered in Saskatchewan.
Despite the size of the defeat, Blakeney continued to lead the NDP in opposition. In the 1986 election, the NDP not only regained much of what it had lost four years earlier, but actually won the popular vote. However, much of the NDP's margin was wasted on large margins in Regina and Saskatoon; while the party won eight seats each in the province's two largest cities, it only won nine seats in the rest of the province. This left the NDP eight seats short of making Blakeney premier again. In a sense, this marked a turning point for a party that had begun as a voice for rural discontent.
Blakeney resigned in early 1987 and was succeeded by Roy Romanow, who led the party back to power in 1991. The Romanow government was more fiscally conservative than previous CCF/NDP governments, and instituted a program of hospital closures, program cuts, and privatization to eliminate the budget deficit and reduce debt inherited from previous governments. Romanow later quipped that he was a supporter of Tony Blair's Third Way concept before it even existed, and there were many who doubted the party's continued commitment to social democracy. The NDP's Third Way alienated some of its left-wing members, who left the party and merged with the Green Party supporters to form the New Green Alliance.
In the 1999 provincial election, Romanow's NDP received slightly less popular support as a share of the vote than the conservative opposition Saskatchewan Party led by Elwin Hermanson, a former Reform MP. Romanow and his government formed a coalition government with the three elected Liberal MLAs; one, Jack Hillson, subsequently left cabinet to sit as an independent Liberal in opposition. Jim Melenchuk and Ron Osika remained in the coalition and ran under the NDP banner in the 2003 provincial election, where both were defeated.
Romanow retired in 2001 and was succeeded by Lorne Calvert, who led the party into the 2003 general election. In an upset, the NDP not only retained power, but was able to form a government on its own with a majority in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan of two seats (30–28).[11] The party's tenure in office ended with the 2007 general election, when the Saskatchewan Party under leader Brad Wall won 38 of the 58 seats.[12] Reduced to official opposition leader, Calvert said he had no immediate plans to step down as NDP leader, but would likely not lead the party into the next election.[13]
In 2008, alvert announced his intention to leave the leadership of the Sask NDP and a leadership race commenced with declared candidates including Moose Jaw MLA Deb Higgins, former Deputy Premier and farmer, Dwain Lingenfelter, doctor and community activist Ryan Meili and former party President and Regina lawyer, Yens Pedersen. Lingenfelter was elected party leader June 6, 2009.
The 2011 election proved a heavy blow for the party; both Lingenfelter and deputy leader Deb Higgins lost their seats as the Saskatchewan Party consolidated its majority. The NDP was reduced to nine seats, its worst showing in 30 years. Lingenfelter resigned as leader, and John Nilson was named acting leader.[14] A permanent leader was chosen on March 9, 2013; with Nilson bowing out of the race;[15] second-term MLA Cam Broten was elected the party's new leader.[16]
Party leaders[edit]
Question book-new.svg
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)
Leaders whose names are in bold served as Premier of Saskatchewan during their terms as party leader.
M.J. Coldwell (July 27, 1932 – July 17, 1936)
George Williams (July 17, 1936 – February 12, 1941)
John Brockelbank (February 12, 1941 – July 17, 1942) (leader in the legislature)
Tommy Douglas (July 17, 1942 – November 3, 1961)
Woodrow Lloyd (November 3, 1961 – July 4, 1970)
Allan Blakeney (July 4, 1970 – November 7, 1987)
Roy Romanow (November 7, 1987 – January 27, 2001)
Lorne Calvert (January 27, 2001 – June 6, 2009)
Dwain Lingenfelter (June 6, 2009 – November 19, 2011)
John Nilson (acting) (November 19, 2011 – March 9, 2013)
Cam Broten (March 9, 2013 – present)
See also[edit]
List of articles about Saskatchewan CCF/NDP members
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party/Co-operative Commonwealth Federation leadership conventions
List of political parties in Saskatchewan
Politics of Saskatchewan
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Jeff Keshen; Raymond Benjamin Blake (2006). Social Fabric Or Patchwork Quilt: The Development of Social Policy in Canada. University of Toronto Press. pp. 396–. ISBN 978-1-55111-544-3.
Jump up ^ Howard A. Leeson (2001). Saskatchewan Politics: Into the Twenty-first Century. University of Regina Press. pp. 166–. ISBN 978-0-88977-131-4.
Jump up ^ Taylor, Georgina. 1991. Saskatchewan. Page 117 in Heaps, Leo, editor. Our Canada. James Lorimer & Company. Toronto.
Jump up ^ Taylor, Georgina. 1991. Saskatchewan. Page 118 in Heaps, Leo, editor. Our Canada. James Lorimer & Company. Toronto.
^ Jump up to: a b c Taylor, Georgina. 1991. Saskatchewan. Page 119 in Heaps, Leo, editor. Our Canada. James Lorimer & Company. Toronto.
Jump up ^ http://ca.geocities.com/geheimsaskatoon/1933nr.html[dead link] Northern resettlement in 1933][dead link]
Jump up ^ Quiring, Brett, "Douglas, Thomas Clement (1904–86)", Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, accessed February 12, 2008
Jump up ^ Taylor, Georgina. 1991. Saskatchewan. Page 121 in Heaps, Leo, editor. Our Canada. James Lorimer & Company. Toronto.
Jump up ^ Elections Saskatchewan. Provincial Vote Summaries
Jump up ^ Jim Harding. Social Policy and Social Justice: The NDP Government in Saskatchewan During the Blakeney Years. 1995. p. 341.
Jump up ^ Smith, Graeme. 'Stay tuned,' Saskatchewan Premier says. The Globe and Mail. November 7, 2003. p. A5.
Jump up ^ "Saskatchewan Party wins majority government". CBC News. November 7, 2007.
Jump up ^ Hall, Angela (November 8, 2007). "Victory and defeat". The Leader-Post.
Jump up ^ "John Nilson, veteran MLA, chosen interim Sask. NDP leader". CBC News. 19 November 2011.
Jump up ^ "NDP sets date to elect new provincial leader". Global Sasktatoon. May 4, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Cam Broten elected as new leader of Saskatchewan NDP". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, March 9, 2013.
Lorne Calvert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reverend
Lorne Calvert
BA
Lorne Calvert - Andrew Spearin.jpg
Calvert addressing media in 2007.
13th Premier of Saskatchewan
In office
February 8, 2001 – November 21, 2007
Preceded by Roy Romanow
Succeeded by Brad Wall
Leader of the Opposition
In office
November 21, 2007 – June 6, 2009
Preceded by Brad Wall
Succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter
MLA for Saskatoon Riversdale
In office
2001–2009
Preceded by Roy Romanow
Succeeded by Danielle Chartier
Personal details
Born Lorne Albert Calvert
December 24, 1952 (age 60)
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
Political party NDP
Spouse(s) Betty Sluzalo
Religion United Church of Canada
Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) was the 13th Premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert, was the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter.
Life and career[edit]
Calvert was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In 1975, Calvert married Betty Sluzalo of Perdue, Saskatchewan. After attending the then-Regina Campus and the St. Andrew's College seminary in Saskatoon, he was ordained as minister of the United Church of Canada in 1976 and served as minister of several rural congregations. From 1979 to 1986, Calvert was the minister of the substantial pastoral charge of Zion United Church in Moose Jaw.
He entered provincial politics in the 1986 provincial election, running as a New Democrat on a platform of prohibiting the construction of a proposed casino in Moose Jaw. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the constituency of Moose Jaw South.
He was re-elected in the 1991 and 1995 elections in the riding of Moose Jaw Wakamow. He did not run in the 1999 election, and was succeeded by Deb Higgins.
Following the resignation of NDP leader and Premier Roy Romanow, Calvert won the NDP leadership, and became premier on February 8, 2001. He was re-elected to the legislature in a by-election in Romanow's riding of Saskatoon Riversdale.
Calvert and the NDP narrowly defeated the centre-right opposition Saskatchewan Party in the 2003 provincial election. The NDP won 30 seats of the 58 seats in the election. During the campaign, Calvert apologized for an internal cartoon that had been leaked to the media. It depicted Saskatchewan Party leader Elwin Hermanson loading NDP sympathizers onto rail cars. The cartoon referred to speculation that, if elected, Hermanson would replace civil servants who were NDP supporters with Saskatchewan Party supporters. B'nai Brith Canada stated that the cartoon "trivializes the crimes of the Holocaust and causes undeserved anguish to those who survived that evil regime".[1][2]
He has been featured in one of the episodes of Corner Gas, a comedy series set in Saskatchewan.
Calvert was also engaged in a war of words with federal Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott over how the clawback of non-renewable resource revenues from the equalization formula as implemented in the 2007 federal budget. Calvert argued that the province would get less under the new federal formula.[3]
Calvert and his government were defeated in the 2007 provincial election, dropping to 20 seats while the Saskatchewan Party under Brad Wall won a majority government with 38.
Lorne Calvert
Federal New Democratic Party spokesman Brad Lavigne later told reporters that the party had asked Calvert to consider standing as a candidate in the 2008 federal election.[4] Calvert declined the offer, although he stated that he would work hard to assist the party's federal candidates.[5]
Calvert announced his retirement as party leader on October 16, 2008. Dwain Lingenfelter was chosen to be his successor on June 6, 2009.
Currently, Calvert is the principal at St. Andrew's College in Saskatoon.[6
Cam Broten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2012)
Cam Broten
Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 9, 2013
Preceded by John Nilson
MLA for Saskatoon Massey Place
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 7, 2007
Preceded by Eric Cline
Personal details
Born April 29, 1978 (age 35)
Regina, Saskatchewan
Political party NDP
Residence Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Cameron "Cam" Broten (born April 29, 1978) is a Canadian politician, representing the constituency of Saskatoon Massey Place in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. He was selected as the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party in the 2013 leadership election on March 9, 2013.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Life and career
2 Temporary foreign worker debate
3 References
4 External links
Life and career[edit]
Broten was born in Regina and spent his early years in La Loche, Green Lake, Meadow Lake and La Ronge before his family settled in Saskatoon. His grandfather, Hans Broten, served in the Legislative Assembly in the 1960s under Tommy Douglas and Woodrow Lloyd.
He holds a bachelor's degree in international studies from the University of Saskatchewan and a master’s degree in political science from Simon Fraser University. During his time at Simon Fraser University, he served as a facilitator with the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform.
He worked as a policy analyst with the provincial government, in the Department of Culture, Youth and Recreation, and later as a health policy manager with the Saskatchewan Medical Association. He was also an elected board member with the Saskatoon Co-op.
Broten was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2007 provincial election, and was re-elected in the 2011 provincial election.
On September 5, 2012, Broten announced his intention to run for the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party.[2] He was one of four candidates, alongside doctor Ryan Meili, MLA Trent Wotherspoon and economist Erin Weir, although Weir withdrew before the vote.[3] Broten won the leadership on the second ballot.[1]
Broten and his wife, Ruth, live in the Saskatoon Massey Place constituency with their two daughters.
Temporary foreign worker debate[edit]
On May 15, 2013 CKOM reported that Broten had joined the national debate on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program(TFWP) started by the CBC in April 2013. Broten was reacting to research released by the Canadian Labour Congress that claimed that 65% of new jobs go to foreign workers. He said that there was a labour shortage in Saskatchewan and that solutions lie with increased immigration and better integration of First Nations and Métis people in the province.[4]
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b "Cam Broten elected as new leader of Saskatchewan NDP". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, March 9, 2013.
Jump up ^ Warick, Jason (September 5, 2012). "Broten declares bid for NDP leadership". The StarPhoenix (Postmedia Network). Retrieved 2012-10-12.
Jump up ^ "Erin Weir drops out of Saskatchewan NDP race". CBC News. 2013-02-20. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
Jump up ^ http://ckom.com/story/temporary-foreign-workers-take-65-cent-new-jobs-sask/110392
University of Saskatchewan College of Law
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 52°7′47.37″N 106°37′58.08″W
University of Saskatchewan College of Law
Uofsask logo.svg
Motto Deo et Patriae (For God and Country)
Established 1912
Type Public
Chancellor Vera Pezer
President R. Peter MacKinnon
Dean Sanjeev Anand
Students 347
Undergraduates 347
Location Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Campus Urban
Colours
Green and
white
Sports Saskatchewan Huskies
Nickname Saskatchewan Huskies
Mascot Huskie
Affiliations UArctic, AUCC, IAU, CIS, ACU, CUSID, CWUAA
Website http://www.usask.ca/law/
College of Law Building
Atrium
The College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan is the university's law school. Located in Saskatoon in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the College of Law was established in 1912 and is the oldest law school in Western Canada, a distinction it shares with the University of Alberta.
Approximately 126 students are admitted to the College of Law each year.[1] In the fall term of 2011/2012, the college had 375 students. Previously, it has 373 students (2010/2011); 362 students (2009/2010); and 370 students (2008/2009).[2] The dean of the College of Law is Sanjeev Anand.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Academics
3 Facilities
4 Admissions
5 Notable alumni
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
History[edit]
At the beginning of the 20th century, there was no structured course of legal training in Saskatchewan. Completion of high school was the only prerequisite for admission to a five-year apprenticeship (3 years for those with a university degree).
In the spring of 1913, the University of Saskatchewan appointed its first law professor, Arthur Moxon, previously a professor of classics in the University’s College of Arts and Sciences. At around the same time, the Law Society of Saskatchewan began offering lectures to articling students in Regina at a school of its own making, later called Wetmore Hall. The following decade would be marked by conflict between the Law Society and the fledging University law faculty regarding responsibility for legal training in the Province.
Ultimately, Wetmore Hall was closed by resolution of the Law Society in 1922 and the University of Saskatchewan inherited full responsibility for the training of aspiring lawyers in Saskatchewan.[4]
The College celebrated its centenary in 2012.
Academics[edit]
The College offers both the Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Laws degrees. Of the 16 common law schools in Canada, the College placed 10th in the 2011 Maclean’s Magazine law school rankings [1].
Facilities[edit]
The college's Law Building reopened in March 2008 following renovations and expansions.[5] The new building is 3,300 m2; and took just over two years and $16.5 million to complete.[6] The Law Foundation of Saskatchewan contributed $1 million to the project.[7]
The new building has additional classrooms with multimedia capability, additional administrative offices, a new student lounge, student organization offices, and space for the college's Native Law Centre.[8] The new building has a "living roof" which is the largest of its kind in Saskatchewan,[9] and the building is LEED Gold-certified.[10][11]
The law building is connected to the Edwards School of Business and, indirectly, the Arts Building. The law building is located opposite Campus Drive from the Saskatoon Cancer Centre and Royal University Hospital.[12]
The law library contains numerous artifacts, including one of the most unusual holographic wills ever written – the tractor fender of Cecil George Harris, who was trapped when his tractor overturned. On the fender he wrote, "In case I die in this mess I leave all to the wife. Cecil Geo. Harris." The fender was probated and accepted as a valid last will.[13]
Admissions[edit]
Tuition for September 2010 was $8070.00 and mandatory student fees will be $696.82, for a total of $8766.82. The cost of books is estimated at $1600.00. The 2010 entering class averaged a 3.40 GPA and 159 LSAT.[14]
Notable alumni[edit]
Edward Bayda - Chief Justice of Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Ted Culliton - Chief Justice of Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
John Diefenbaker - Prime Minister of Canada.
Willard Zebedee Estey - Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Ralph Goodale - Member of Parliament and former Minister of Finance for Canada.
John Gormley - Talk radio host and former Member of Parliament.
Emmett Matthew Hall - Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Jeremy Harrison - Member of Parliament.
Ray Hnatyshyn - Governor General for Canada.
Constance Hunt - Justice of the Alberta Court of Appeal.
John Klebuc - Chief Justice of Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Otto Lang - Dean, former Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister.
Peter MacKinnon - President of the University of Saskatchewan.
William McIntyre - Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Garrison Oak - Justice of the British Columbia Court of Appeal.
Shirley Tucker Parks - one of the early female lawyers in Canada, called to the Bar in 1955.
Alison Redford - Premier of Alberta.
Roy Romanow - Premier of Saskatchewan.
Willard Estey - Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan
Established 1918
Country Saskatchewan, Canada
Location Regina
Authorized by The Court of Appeal Act, 2000
Number of positions 7
Website Court of Appeal
Chief Justice
Currently Robert G. Richards
Since June 30, 2013
The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan (SKCA) is a Canadian appellate court.
Contents [hide]
1 Jurisdiction and Structure
1.1 Original Jurisdiction
1.2 Reference Jurisdiction
2 History of the Court
3 Appeals to the Supreme Court
4 Justices of the Court
4.1 Current Justices
4.2 Former Justices
4.2.1 Former Chief Justices of Saskatchewan
4.2.2 Former Justices of the Court of Appeal
5 Courts of Saskatchewan
6 Notes
7 External links
Jurisdiction and Structure[edit]
Regina Court House
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal is the highest court in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. The Court is governed by The Court of Appeal Act, 2000,[1] which sets out the composition and jurisdiction of the Court. It hears appeals from the Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan, the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan and a number of administrative tribunals.
The Court is based in Regina, Saskatchewan and consists of the Chief Justice - styled the "Chief Justice of Saskatchewan" - six other full-time justices and a varying number of supernumerary justices. Justices of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal are appointed and paid by the federal government.[2]
Most cases are heard by a panel of three justices, however, the Court sits with panels of five or seven from time to time, depending on the appeal.[3] A single justice will preside over matters heard in ”chambers”, usually interlocutory matters or applications for leave to appeal.
Original Jurisdiction[edit]
The Court has a limited original jurisdiction, giving it the discretion to grant relief by way of a prerogative writ.[4] The Court has held that since it is primarily a court of appeal, it will only entertain original applications for prerogative relief in extraordinary circumstances.[5] It also has any original jurisdiction that is necessary or incidental to the hearing and determination of an appeal.[6]
Reference Jurisdiction[edit]
Under The Constitutional Questions Act,[7] the Government of Saskatchewan has the authority to refer questions of law to the Court of Appeal for the Court's advisory opinion.
History of the Court[edit]
The Court of Appeal was created on March 1, 1918, upon the coming into force of The Court of Appeal Act of 1915.[8] Prior to that date, there was a single superior court for Saskatchewan, known as the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan, which had both appellate and trial jurisdiction. Individual members of the Supreme Court sat as trial judges, while the full Supreme Court ourt (also known at the Supreme Court en banc) heard appeals. The 1915 legislation split the appellate functions and the trial functions. The new Court of Appeal was established to take over the appellate function of the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan, and the new Court of King's Bench was created to take over the trial functions of the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan.[9] The Supreme Court of Saskatchewan was abolished effective March 1, 1918.[10]
Appeals to the Supreme Court[edit]
Appeals may be taken from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada either by right, by leave of the Supreme Court of Canada, or by leave of the Court of Appeal itself, depending on the nature of the case. Until 1949 appeals could further be taken from the Supreme Court of Canada to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. Appeals could also be taken directly from the Court of Appeal to the Privy Council.[11]
Justices of the Court[edit]
Current Justices[edit]
The current justices of the Court [12] are:
Position Name Appointed Nominated By Position Prior to Appointment
Justice Robert G. Richards 2013
2004 Harper
Martin Puisne Justice, Saskatchewan Court of Appeal
Lawyer at MacPherson Leslie and Tyerman
Justice Stuart J. Cameron* 1981 Trudeau Court of Queen's Bench
Justice John Gary Lane* 1991 Mulroney Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Saskatchewan
Justice Georgina R. Jackson 1991 Mulroney Lawyer at MacPherson Leslie and Tyerman
Justice John Klebuc* 2006 Harper Court of Queen's Bench
Justice Ralph K. Ottenbreit 2009 Harper Court of Queen's Bench
Justice Neal W. Caldwell 2010 Harper Lawyer at McDougall, Gauley LLP.[13]
Justice Maurice J. Herauf 2011 Harper Court of Queen's Bench
Justice Peter A. Whitmore 2013 Harper Court of Queen's Bench
Justice Jacelyn A. Ryan-Froslie 2013 Harper Court of Queen's Bench
The Law Society of Upper Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Law Society of Upper Canada
LSUClogo.png
Abbreviation LSUC
Motto "Let right prevail."
Formation 1797
Type Law Society
Legal status active
Purpose/focus advocate and public voice, educator and network
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario
Region served Canada
Official languages English
French
Website Law Society of Upper Canada
The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) is responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1797, it is known in French as "Le Barreau du Haut-Canada". The motto of the Society is "Let Right Prevail". On its website, the Law Society states it "has a duty to protect the public interest, to maintain and advance the cause of justice and the rule of law, to facilitate access to justice for the people of Ontario, and to act in a timely, open and efficient manner."
Contents [hide]
1 History and function
2 References
3 See also
4 External links
History and function[edit]
Receipt dated February 5, 1836 for application to the Law Society of Upper Canada issued to John A. Macdonald, the future first Prime Minister of Canada
Osgoode Hall stained glass window
The Law Society was created in 1797 to regulate the legal profession in the British colony of Upper Canada. The Law Society has continued to retain its original name, even though Upper Canada ceased to exist as a political entity in 1841. The Society governed the legal profession in the coterminous Canada West from 1841 to 1867, and in Ontario since confederation in 1867.
The Law Society of Upper Canada's creation by an act of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada came some 20 years before the earliest such self-governing association in any other Canadian province or territory. Its creation was an innovation in the English-speaking world and it became the model for law societies across Canada and the United States. It is one of the oldest Law Societies in the English speaking world.
In 1994, the Law Society affirmed its role by adopting this Role Statement: "The Law Society of Upper Canada exists to govern the legal profession in the public interest by ensuring that the people of Ontario are served by lawyers who meet high standards of learning, competence and professional conduct, and upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession, for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law."
The Law Society regulates more than 44,000 lawyers (barristers and solicitors) in Ontario. It is responsible for ensuring that lawyers are both ethical and competent. The Society has the power to set standards for admission into the profession. It is empowered to discipline lawyers who violate those standards. Available sanctions range from admonitions to disbarment. It is based in Toronto, at Osgoode Hall.
Effective May 1, 2007, as a result of amendments to Ontario's Law Society Act, the Law Society regulates more than 4,200 paralegal licensees in Ontario. Paralegals are licensed to provide limited legal services, such as providing representation before provincial tribunals.
Effective March 8, 2008, the benchers of Convocation, who also serve as adjudicators at discipline hearings and corporate directors at Convocation, voted to begin publishing tribunal decisions wherein impugned members successfully defended themselves at hearings in a going-forward basis. The following year, the society voted to add past decisions as well, but confusion has remained. As of 2011, whenever any past decisions were added to legal databases, the addition date was not included, so lawyers previously unaware of the past hiding of decisions remain disadvantaged. Some decisions favouring members made prior to those dates remain private and unpublished, such as the discipline hearing of a current bencher, Clayton Ruby, who is said to have successfully defended against a complaint. In such cases where decisions are hidden, complaints are hidden.
Further, a database of procedural motions has not been made available, again frustrating the efforts of any counsel wishing to properly prepare for hearings or procedural motions. No complete registry of matters heard is made available to the bench, bar or public.
International legal rights bodies have universally condemned justice system actors who fail to make their decisions available, as being corrupt, because no party may predict the outcome of any legal proceeding unless it can perform comprehensive legal research.
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that corporate directors may not hold any other duties in an organization. Several Canadian court decisions prevent adjudicators from holding any other positions with a regulator. Under Rule 2 of the Rules of Professional Conduct which pertains to all Ontario lawyers, including the benchers, conflicts of interest and other unethical behaviour are prohibited. The Bencher Code of Conduct also prohibits conflicts of interest.
Under law society policy, bencher misconduct is not investigated and no complaints concerning law society conduct are received until the end of all appeals with regard to any proceeding against a lawyer, even though some matters have run for more than a decade. Nevertheless, many benchers, conflicts-of-interest counsel hired by the law society, its own executives and even staff counsel have been promoted to the benches of the Superior Court of Ontario by the federal Minister of Justice/Attorney General and to the benches of Ontario provincial courts by Ontario's Attorney General. All judges must declare any past indiscretions on their applications to sit on the bench. However no such declarations have ever been made public, strongly suggesting that none were every declared by judicial applicants.
The society is headed by a Treasurer. He or she is selected by, and from among, the Benchers, who comprise "Convocation" - in effect, the Society's board of directors as the Society is an Ontario Corporation without share capital. All lawyer-benchers are elected by the Society's members, and eight lay Benchers are appointed by the provincial government. Section 12(2) of the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, provides that Ontario's Attorney General is a Bencher of convocation while Section 13(1) provides that the Attorney General is "Guardian of the Public Interest" and, as such, may require the production of any document or thing possessed by the regulator. The regulator falls under the supervision of the Ministry of the Attorney General, according to the ministry's web site.
The current Treasurer is Thomas G. Conway. The current CEO of the Society is Robert G.W. Lapper. In 2013, the Law Society had more than 500 staff.
The Law Society is frequently named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., most recently in 2013. The announcement was made by the Toronto Star newspaper.[1]
Benchers will next be elected in 2015.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Reasons for Selection, 2013 Greater Toronto's Top Employers Competition".
23rd Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 23rd Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan was elected in the 1995 Saskatchewan election. It was controlled by the New Democratic Party under Premier Roy Romanow.
The Liberal Party began this Legislative Assembly as the Official Opposition led by Lynda Haverstock. However, when the Saskatchewan Party was formed in 1997, it became the Official Opposition led by Ken Krawetz.
In the spring of 1999 Jack Goohsen was forced to resign as Cypress Hills MLA due to a criminal conviction on corruption charges. He was succeeded by Wayne Elhard of the Saskatchewan Party for the remaining year of the 23rd Assembly.
Contents [hide]
1 Members elected
1.1 1995–1997
1.2 1997–1999
2 References
Members elected[edit]
1995–1997[edit]
Names in bold represent party leaders and the Speaker.
23rd Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly (1995–1997)
District Member Party
Arm River Harvey McLane Liberal
Athabasca Buckley Belanger Liberal
Battleford-Cut Knife Sharon Murrell New Democrat
Cannington Dan D'Autremont Progressive Conservative
Canora-Pelly Ken Krawetz Liberal
Carrot River Valley Andy Renaud New Democrat
Cumberland Keith Goulet New Democrat
Cypress Hills Jack Goohsen Progressive Conservative
Estevan Larry Ward New Democrat
Humboldt Arlene Julé Liberal
Indian Head-Milestone Lorne Scott New Democrat
Kelvington-Wadena June Draude Liberal
Kindersley Bill Boyd Progressive Conservative
Last Mountain-Touchwood Dale Flavel New Democrat
Lloydminster Violet Stanger New Democrat
Meadow Lake Maynard Sonntag New Democrat
Melfort-Tisdale Rod Gantefoer Liberal
Melville Ron Osika Liberal
Moose Jaw North Glenn Hagel New Democrat
Moose Jaw Wakamow Lorne Calvert New Democrat
Moosomin Don Toth Progressive Conservative
North Battleford Douglas Anguish New Democrat
Prince Albert Carlton Myron Kowalsky New Democrat
Prince Albert Northcote Eldon Lautermilch New Democrat
Redberry Lake Walter Jess New Democrat
Regina Centre Joanne Crofford New Democrat
Regina Coronation Park Kim Trew New Democrat
Regina Dewdney Edwin Tchorzewski New Democrat
Regina Elphinstone Dwain Lingenfelter New Democrat
Regina Lakeview John Nilson New Democrat
Regina Northeast Edward Shillington New Democrat
Regina Qu'Appelle Valley Suzanne Murray New Democrat
Regina Sherwood Lindy Kasperski New Democrat
Regina South Andrew Thomson New Democrat
Regina Victoria Harry Van Mulligen New Democrat
Regina Wascana Plains Doreen Hamilton New Democrat
Rosetown-Biggar Berny Wiens New Democrat
Rosthern Ben Heppner Progressive Conservative
Saltcoats Bob Bjornerud Liberal
Saskatchewan Rivers Jack Langford New Democrat
Saskatoon Eastview Bob Pringle New Democrat
Saskatoon Fairview Robert Mitchell New Democrat
Saskatoon Greystone Lynda Haverstock Liberal
Saskatoon Idylwyld Janice MacKinnon New Democrat
Saskatoon Meewasin Carol Teichrob New Democrat
Saskatoon Mount Royal Eric Cline New Democrat
Saskatoon Northwest Grant Whitmore New Democrat
Saskatoon Nutana Pat Atkinson New Democrat
Saskatoon Riversdale Roy Romanow New Democrat
Saskatoon Southeast Pat Lorje New Democrat
Saskatoon Sutherland Mark Koenker New Democrat
Shellbrook-Spiritwood Lloyd Johnson New Democrat
Swift Current John Wall New Democrat
Thunder Creek Gerard Aldridge Liberal
Watrous Eric Upshall New Democrat
Weyburn-Big Muddy Judy Bradley New Democrat
Wood River Glen McPherson Liberal
Yorkton Clay Serby New Democrat
1997–1999[edit]
Names in bold represent party leaders and the Speaker.
23rd Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly (1997–1999)
District Member Party
Arm River Harvey McLane Liberal
Athabasca Buckley Belanger Liberal
Battleford-Cut Knife Sharon Murrell New Democrat
Cannington Dan D'Autremont Saskatchewan Party
Canora-Pelly Ken Krawetz Saskatchewan Party
Carrot River Valley Andy Renaud New Democrat
Cumberland Keith Goulet New Democrat
Cypress Hills Jack Goohsen Progressive Conservative
Estevan Larry Ward New Democrat
Humboldt Arlene Julé Saskatchewan Party
Indian Head-Milestone Lorne Scott New Democrat
Kelvington-Wadena June Draude Saskatchewan Party
Kindersley Bill Boyd Saskatchewan Party
Last Mountain-Touchwood Dale Flavel New Democrat
Lloydminster Violet Stanger New Democrat
Meadow Lake Maynard Sonntag New Democrat
Melfort-Tisdale Rod Gantefoer Saskatchewan Party
Melville Ron Osika Liberal
Moose Jaw North Glenn Hagel New Democrat
Moose Jaw Wakamow Lorne Calvert New Democrat
Moosomin Don Toth Saskatchewan Party
North Battleford Douglas Anguish New Democrat
Prince Albert Carlton Myron Kowalsky New Democrat
Prince Albert Northcote Eldon Lautermilch New Democrat
Redberry Lake Walter Jess New Democrat
Regina Centre Joanne Crofford New Democrat
Regina Coronation Park Kim Trew New Democrat
Regina Dewdney Edwin Tchorzewski New Democrat
Regina Elphinstone Dwain Lingenfelter New Democrat
Regina Lakeview John Nilson New Democrat
Regina Northeast Edward Shillington New Democrat
Regina Qu'Appelle Valley Suzanne Murray New Democrat
Regina Sherwood Lindy Kasperski New Democrat
Regina South Andrew Thomson New Democrat
Regina Victoria Harry Van Mulligen New Democrat
Regina Wascana Plains Doreen Hamilton New Democrat
Rosetown-Biggar Berny Wiens New Democrat
Rosthern Ben Heppner Saskatchewan Party
Saltcoats Bob Bjornerud Saskatchewan Party
Saskatchewan Rivers Jack Langford New Democrat
Saskatoon Eastview Bob Pringle New Democrat
Saskatoon Fairview Robert Mitchell New Democrat
Saskatoon Greystone Lynda Haverstock Liberal
Saskatoon Idylwyld Janice MacKinnon New Democrat
Saskatoon Meewasin Carol Teichrob New Democrat
Saskatoon Mount Royal Eric Cline New Democrat
Saskatoon Northwest Grant Whitmore New Democrat
Saskatoon Nutana Pat Atkinson New Democrat
Saskatoon Riversdale Roy Romanow New Democrat
Saskatoon Southeast Pat Lorje New Democrat
Saskatoon Sutherland Mark Koenker New Democrat
Shellbrook-Spiritwood Lloyd Johnson New Democrat
Swift Current John Wall New Democrat
Thunder Creek Gerard Aldridge Liberal
Watrous Eric Upshall New Democrat
Weyburn-Big Muddy Judy Bradley New Democrat
Wood River Glen McPherson Liberal
Yorkton Clay Serby New Democrat
References[edit]
Saskatchewan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Saskatchewan (disambiguation).
Saskatchewan
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Latin: Multis e Gentibus Vires
("Strength from Many Peoples")
Capital Regina
Largest city Saskatoon
Largest metro Saskatoon
Official languages English and French (English predominates)
Demonym Saskatchewanian, Saskatchewanese, Saskatchewaner[1]
Government
Type Constitutional monarchy
Lieutenant Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield
Premier Brad Wall (Saskatchewan Party)
Legislature Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Federal representation (in Canadian Parliament)
House seats 14 of 308 (4.5%)
Senate seats 6 of 105 (5.7%)
Confederation September 1, 1905 (Split from NWT) (10th)
Area Ranked 7th
Total 651,900 km2 (251,700 sq mi)
Land 591,670 km2 (228,450 sq mi)
Water (%) 59,366 km2 (22,921 sq mi) (9.1%)
Proportion of Canada 6.5% of 9,984,670 km2
Population Ranked 6th
Total (2011) 1,033,381 [2]
Density (2011) 1.75 /km2 (4.5 /sq mi)
GDP Ranked 5th
Total (2011) C$74.738 billion[3]
Per capita C$70,654 (4th)
Abbreviations
Postal SK
ISO 3166-2 CA-SK
Time zone UTC−6, year-round in most areas
Postal code prefix S
Flower Western Red Lily
Tree Paper Birch
Bird Sharp-tailed Grouse
Website www.gov.sk.ca
Rankings include all provinces and territories
Saskatchewan (Listeni/səˈskætʃəwən/ or /səˈskætʃəˌwɑːn/) is a prairie province in Canada, which has a total area of 651,900 square kilometres (251,700 sq mi) and a land area of 592,534 square kilometres (228,800 sq mi), the remainder being water area (covered by lakes/ponds, reservoirs and rivers). Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by the Province of Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota. As of July 2012, the population of Saskatchewan was estimated at 1,079,958.[4] Residents primarily live in the southern half of the province. Of the total population, 257,300 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 210,000 live in the provincial capital, Regina. Other major cities include Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Swift Current and North Battleford.[5]
Saskatchewan was first explored by Europeans in 1690 and settled in 1774, having also been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups. It became a province in 1905, its name derived from the Saskatchewan River. The river was known as kisiskāciwani-sīpiy ("swift flowing river") in the Cree language.[6] The province's economy is based on agriculture, mining, and energy. Saskatchewan's current premier is Brad Wall and its lieutenant-governor is Vaughn Solomon Schofield.
"In 1992, the federal and provincial governments signed a historic land claim agreement with Saskatchewan First Nations."[7] The First Nations received compensation and were permitted to buy land on the open market for the tribes; they have acquired about 761,000 acres (3079 kilometres squared), now reserve lands. Some First Nations have used their settlement to invest in urban areas, including Saskatoon.[7]
Contents [hide]
1 Geography
1.1 Climate
2 History
2.1 20th century
3 Demographics
3.1 Municipalities
4 Economy
4.1 Provincial finances
5 Government and politics
5.1 Law enforcement
6 Education
7 Healthcare
8 Transportation
9 Arts and culture
10 Provincial symbols
10.1 Centennial celebrations
10.2 Climate change
10.3 See also
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Geography[edit]
Main article: Geography of Saskatchewan
As Saskatchewan's borders largely follow the geographic coordinates of longitude and latitude, the province is a quadrilateral, or a shape with four sides. However, because of its size, the 49th parallel boundary and the 60th northern border appear curved. Additionally, the eastern boundary of the province is partially crooked rather than following a line of longitude, as correction lines were devised by surveyors prior to the homestead program (1880–1928).
Map of the province
Saskatchewan is part of the Western Provinces and is bounded on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the north-east by Nunavut, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the American states of Montana and North Dakota. Saskatchewan has the distinction of being the only Canadian province for which no borders correspond to physical geographic features (i.e. they are all parallels and meridians). Along with Alberta, Saskatchewan is one of only two provinces that are land-locked.
The overwhelming majority of Saskatchewan's population is located in the southern third of the province, south of the 53rd parallel.
Saskatchewan contains two major natural regions: the Canadian Shield in the north and the Interior Plains in the south. Northern Saskatchewan is mostly covered by boreal forest except for the Lake Athabasca Sand Dunes, the largest active sand dunes in the world north of 58°, and adjacent to the southern shore of Lake Athabasca. Southern Saskatchewan contains another area with sand dunes known as the "Great Sand Hills" covering over 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi). The Cypress Hills, located in the southwestern corner of Saskatchewan and Killdeer Badlands (Grasslands National Park), are areas of the province that remained unglaciated during the last glaciation period.
The province's highest point, at 1,392 metres (4,567 ft), is located in the Cypress Hills less than 2km from the provincial boundary with Alberta.[8] The lowest point is the shore of Lake Athabasca, at 213 metres (699 ft). The province has 14 major drainage basins made up of various rivers and watersheds draining into the Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.[9]
Climate[edit]
Saskatchewan receives more hours of sunshine than any other Canadian province.[10] The province lies far from any significant body of water. This fact, combined with its northerly latitude, gives it a warm (but not really hot) summer, corresponding to its humid continental climate (Köppen type Dfb) in the central and most of the eastern parts of the province, as well as the Cypress Hills; drying off to a semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen type BSk) in the southwestern part of the province. Drought can affect agricultural areas during long periods with little or no precipitation at all. The northern parts of Saskatchewan – from about La Ronge northward – have a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with a shorter summer season. Summers can get very hot, sometimes above 38 °C (100 °F) during the day, and with humidity decreasing from northeast to southwest. Warm southern winds blow from the plains and intermontane regions of the Western United States during much of July and August, very cool or hot but changeable air masses often occur during spring and in September. Winters are usually bitterly cold, with frequent Arctic air descending from the north.[11] with high temperatures not breaking −17 °C (1 °F) for weeks at a time. Warm chinook winds often blow from the west, bringing periods of mild weather. Annual precipitation averages 30 to 45 centimetres (12 to 18 inches) across the province, with the bulk of rain falling in June, July, and August.[12]
Saskatchewan is one of the most tornado active parts of Canada, averaging approx. 12 to 18 tornadoes per year, some violent. In 2012, 33 tornadoes were reported in the province. The Regina Cyclone, took place in June 1912 when 28 people died in a F4 Fujita scale tornado. Severe and non-severe thunderstorm events occur in Saskatchewan, usually from early spring to late summer. Hail, strong winds and isolated tornadoes are a temporary occurrence.
The hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere in Canada happened in Saskatchewan. The temperature rose to 45 degrees Celsius in Midale and Yellow Grass. The coldest ever recorded in the province was −56.7 degrees Celsius in Prince Albert, which is north of Saskatoon.
Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in Saskatchewan[13]
City July (°C) July (°F) January (°C) January (°F)
Maple Creek 27/11 81/52 -5/-16 23/4
Estevan 27/13 81/55 -9/-20 16/-4
Weyburn 26/12 79/54 -10/-21 14/-6
Moose Jaw 26/12 79/54 -8/-19 18/-2
Regina 26/11 79/52 -10/-22 14/-8
Saskatoon 25/11 77/52 -12/-22 10/-8
Melville 25/11 77/52 -12/-23 10/-9
Swift Current 25/11 77/52 -7/-17 19/1
Humboldt 24/11 75/52 -12/-23 10/-9
Melfort 24/11 75/52 -14/-23 7/-9
North Battleford 24/11 75/52 -12/-22 10/-8
Yorkton 24/11 75/52 -13/-23 9/-9
Lloydminster 23/11 73/52 -10/-19 14/-2
Prince Albert 23.9/11.1 75/52 -13/-25.2 9/-13
History[edit]
Main article: History of Saskatchewan
Henry Kelsey sees the buffalo on the western plains.
Saskatchewan has been populated by various indigenous peoples of North America, including members of the Sarcee, Blackfeet, Atsina, Cree, Saulteaux, Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Lakota Sioux. The first known European to enter Saskatchewan was Henry Kelsey in 1690, who travelled up the Saskatchewan River in hopes of trading fur with the province's indigenous peoples. The first permanent European settlement was a Hudson's Bay Company post at Cumberland House, founded in 1774 by Samuel Hearne.[14]
Cree Pipe Stem Carrier, a painting of a Plains Cree warrior by Paul Kane.
In 1803 the Louisiana Purchase transferred from France to the United States part of what is now Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1818 it was ceded to the United Kingdom. Most of what is now Saskatchewan, though, was part of Rupert's Land and controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company, which claimed rights to all watersheds flowing into Hudson Bay, including the Saskatchewan, Churchill, Assiniboine, Souris, and Qu'Appelle River systems.
In the late 1850s and early 1860s, scientific expeditions led by John Palliser and Henry Youle Hind explored the prairie region of the province.
In 1870, Canada acquired the Hudson's Bay Company's territories and formed the North-West Territories to administer the vast territory between British Columbia and Manitoba. The Crown also entered into a series of numbered treaties with the indigenous peoples of the area, which serve as the basis of the relationship between First Nations, as they are called today, and the Crown. Since the late twentieth century, land losses and inequities as a result of those treaties have been subject to negotiation for settlement between the First Nations in Saskatchewan and the federal government, in collaboration with provincial governments.
Part of Alberta and Saskatchewan were traded from the United States, which in return received part of Rupert's Land, today part of North Dakota and Minnesota.
In 1885, post-Confederation Canada's first "naval battle" was fought in Saskatchewan, when a steamship engaged the Métis at Batoche in the North-West Rebellion.[15]
A seminal event in the history of what was to become Western Canada was the 1874 "March West" of the federal government's new North-West Mounted Police. Despite poor equipment and lack of provisions, the men on the march persevered and established a federal presence in the new territory. Historians[who?] have argued that had this expedition been unsuccessful, the expansionist United States would have been tempted to expand into the political vacuum.[citation needed] The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway would likely have been delayed or taken a different, more northerly route, stunting the early growth of towns like Brandon, Regina, Medicine Hat and Calgary – had these existed at all. Failure to construct the railway could also have forced British Columbia to join the United States.
In 1876, following their defeat of United States Army forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory in the United States, the Lakota Chief Sitting Bull led several thousand of his people to Wood Mountain. Survivors and descendants founded Wood Mountain Reserve in 1914.
European-Canadian settlement of the province started to take off as the Canadian Pacific Railway was built in the early 1880s, and the Canadian government divided up the land by the Dominion Land Survey and gave free land to any willing settlers.
The Battle of Fish Creek, 1885
The North-West Mounted Police set up several posts and forts across Saskatchewan, including Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills, and Wood Mountain Post in south-central Saskatchewan near the United States border.
Many Métis people, who had not been signatories to a treaty, had moved to the Southbranch Settlement and Prince Albert district north of present-day Saskatoon following the Red River Rebellion in Manitoba in 1870. In the early 1880s, the Canadian government refused to hear the Métis' grievances, which stemmed from land-use issues. Finally, in 1885, the Métis, led by Louis Riel, staged the North-West Rebellion and declared a provisional government. They were defeated by a Canadian militia brought to the Canadian prairies by the new Canadian Pacific Railway. Riel, who surrendered and was convicted of treason in a packed Regina courtroom, was hanged on November 16, 1885. Since then, the government has recognized the Métis as an aboriginal people with status rights, and provided them with various benefits related to that status.
20th century[edit]
As more settlers came to the prairies on the railway, the population grew. On September 1, 1905, Saskatchewan became a province, with inauguration day held September 4. The Dominion Lands Act permitted settlers to acquire one quarter of a square mile of land to homestead and offered an additional quarter upon establishing a homestead. Immigration peaked in 1910, and in spite of the initial difficulties of frontier life – distance from towns, sod homes, and backbreaking labour – new settlers established a European-Canadian style of prosperous agrarian society.
Bennett buggies, automobiles pulled by horses, were used during the Great Depression by farmers too impoverished to purchase gasoline.
In 1913, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association was established as Saskatchewan's first ranchers' organization. At its the founding convention in 1913, the members established three goals: to watch over legislation; to forward the interests of the stock growers in every honourable and legitimate way; and to suggest to parliament legislation to meet changing conditions and requirements.[16] Its farming equivalent, the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association, was the dominant political force in the province until the 1920s; it had close ties with the governing Liberal party.
In the late 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan, imported from the United States and Ontario, gained brief popularity in nativist circles in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Klan, briefly allied with the provincial Conservative party because of their mutual dislike for Premier James G. "Jimmy" Gardiner and his Liberals (who ferociously fought the Klan), enjoyed about two years of prominence. It declined and disappeared, subject to widespread political and media opposition, plus internal scandals involving the use of the organization's funds.
In 1970, the first annual Canadian Western Agribition was held in Regina. This farm-industry trade show, with its strong emphasis on livestock, is rated as one of the five top livestock shows in North America, along with those in Houston, Denver, Louisville and Toronto.
The province celebrated the 75th anniversary of its establishment in 1980, with Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, presiding over the official ceremonies.[17][18] In 2005, 25 years later, her sister, Queen Elizabeth II, attended the events held to mark Saskatchewan's centennial.[19]
Since the late 20th century, First Nations have become more politically active in seeking justice for past inequities, especially related to government taking of indigenous lands. The federal and provincial governments have negotiated on numerous land claims, and developed a program of "Treaty Land Entitlement", enabling First Nations to buy land to be taken into reserves with money from settlements of claims.
"In 1992, the federal and provincial governments signed an historic land claim agreement with Saskatchewan First Nations. Under the Agreement, the First Nations received money to buy land on the open market. As a result, about 761,000 acres have been turned into reserve land and many First Nations continue to invest their settlement dollars in urban areas", including Saskatoon. The money from such settlements has enabled First Nations to invest in businesses and other economic infrastructure.[7]
Demographics[edit]
Main article: Demographics of Saskatchewan
According to the 2006 Canadian census,[20] the largest ethnic group in Saskatchewan is German (30.0%), followed by English (26.5%), Scottish (19.2%), Irish (15.3%), Ukrainian (13.6%), French (Fransaskois) (12.4%), First Nations (12.1%), Norwegian (7.2%), Polish (6.0%), Métis (4.4%), Dutch (3.7%), Russian (3.7%) and Swedish (3.5%) .
Saskatchewan's population since 1901
Year Population Five-year
% change Ten-year
% change Rank among
provinces
1901 91,279 n/a n/a 8
1911 492,432 n/a 439.5 3
1921 757,510 n/a 53.8 3
1931 921,785 n/a 21.7 3
1941 895,992 n/a -2.8 3
1951 831,728 n/a -7.2 5
1956 880,665 5.9 n/a 5
1961 925,181 5.1 11.2 5
1966 955,344 3.3 8.5 6
1971 926,242 -3.0 0.1 6
1976 921,325 -0.5 3.6 6
1981 968,313 5.1 4.5 6
1986 1,009,613 4.3 9.6 6
1991 988,928 -2.0 2.1 6
1996 976,615 -1.2 -3.3 6
2001 978,933 0.2 -1.0 6
2006 985,386 0.7 0.9 6
2011 1,053,960 7.0 7.6 6
[21][22]
The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Roman Catholic Church with 286,815 (30%); the United Church of Canada with 187,450 (20%); and the Lutherans with 78,520 (8%). 148,535 (15.4%) responded "no religion".[23]
Municipalities[edit]
Main article: List of communities in Saskatchewan
Ten largest municipalities by population
Saskatoon skyline and the South Saskatchewan River
Municipality 1996 2001 2006 2011
Saskatoon 193,653 196,861 202,340 222,189
Regina 180,404 178,225 179,246 193,100
Prince Albert 34,777 34,291 34,138 35,129
Moose Jaw 32,973 32,131 32,132 33,274
Yorkton 15,154 15,107 15,038 15,669
Swift Current 14,890 14,821 14,946 15,503
North Battleford 14,051 13,692 13,190 13,888
Estevan 10,752 10,242 10,084 11,054
Weyburn 9,723 9,534 9,433 10,484
Corman Park 7,142 8,043 8,349 8,354
This list does not include Lloydminster, which has a total population of 27,804 but straddles the Alberta–Saskatchewan border. As of 2011, 9,772 people lived on the Saskatchewan side, which would make it Saskatchewan's 10th largest municipality. All of the listed communities are considered cities by the province, with the exception of Corman Park, which is a rural municipality. Municipalities in the province with a population of 5,000 or more can receive official city status.
Economy[edit]
Fields of canola and flax on the Saskatchewan Prairie.
Historically, Saskatchewan's economy was primarily associated with agriculture. However, increasing diversification has resulted in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting only making up 6.8% of the province's GDP. Saskatchewan grows a large portion of Canada's grain.[24] Wheat is the most familiar crop and the one most often associated with the province (there are sheafs of wheat depicted on the coat of arms of Saskatchewan), but other grains like canola, flax, rye, oats, peas, lentils, canary seed, and barley are also produced. Beef cattle production in the province is only exceeded by Alberta. Mining is also a major industry in the province, with Saskatchewan being the world's largest exporter of potash and uranium.[25] In the northern part of the province, forestry is also a significant industry.
Oil and natural gas production is also a very important part of Saskatchewan's economy, although the oil industry is larger. Among Canadian provinces, only Alberta exceeds Saskatchewan in overall oil production.[26] Heavy crude is extracted in the Lloydminster-Kerrobert-Kindersley areas. Light crude is found in the Kindersley-Swift Current areas as well as the Weyburn-Estevan fields. Natural gas is found almost entirely in the western part of Saskatchewan, from the Primrose Lake area through Lloydminster, Unity, Kindersley, Leader, and around Maple Creek areas.[27]
Saskatchewan's GDP in 2006 was approximately C$45.922 billion,[28] with economic sectors breaking down in the following way:
% Sector
17.1 finance, insurance, real estate, leasing
13.0 mining, petroleum
11.9 education, health, social services
11.7 wholesale and retail trade
9.1 transportation, communications, utilities
7.7 manufacturing
6.8 agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting
6.5 business services
5.8 government services
5.1 construction
5.3 other
A list of the top 100[dead link] companies includes The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Federated Cooperatives Ltd. and IPSCO.
Major Saskatchewan-based Crown corporations are Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI), SaskTel, SaskEnergy (the province's main supplier of natural gas), and SaskPower. Bombardier runs the NATO Flying Training Centre at 15 Wing, near Moose Jaw. Bombardier was awarded a long-term contract in the late 1990s for $2.8 billion from the federal government for the purchase of military aircraft and the running of the training facility. SaskPower since 1929 has been the principal supplier of electricity in Saskatchewan, serving more than 451,000 customers and managing $4.5 billion in assets. SaskPower is a major employer in the province with almost 2,500 permanent full-time staff located in 71 communities.
Provincial finances[edit]
Fiscal Year Population1 Gov't Debt2 Crown Debt3 Budget Surplus GFSF Balance Pers. Inc. Tax Revenue Corp. Inc. Tax Revenue4 PST Revenue5 Resource Revenue Health Expense Credit Rating6
2012–2013 1,073,107 3,804,817 5,374,362 16,000 666,000 2,406,254 838,275 1,284,893 2,515,869 4,575,589 AAA
2011–2012 1,053,960 3,807,590 4,462,159 55,000 708,000 1,897,409 793,790 1,322,161 2,821,957 4,400,159 AAA
2010–2011 1,041,729 4,135,226 3,982,386 96,000 1,006,000 1,795,788 1,155,273 1,186,922 2,527,799 4,202,106 AA+
2009–2010 1,025,638 4,140,482 3,852,168 167,705 958,000 1,890,848 881,424 1,084,001 1,910,624 3,934,231 AA+
2008–2009 1,010,218 4,145,286 3,556,270 1,969,933 1,215,000 1,844,226 591,930 1,108,628 4,612,408 3,976,241 AA+
2007–2008 996,130 6,824,323 3,394,328 1,282,869 1,528,934 1,938,258 673,641 995,995 2,325,116 3,504,333 AA
2006–2007 991,260 7,244,938 3,449,356 397,794 887,500 1,668,538 1,067,459 1,079,794 1,694,252 3,202,965 AA
2005–2006 994,996 7,197,223 3,490,817 539,466 887,500 1,447,905 918,279 1,112,350 1,721,100 2,990,625 AA
2004–2005 997,263 7,545,574 3,360,474 765,117 748,500 1,329,081 638,968 985,079 1,474,191 2,773,961 AA-
2003–2004 995,848 8,031,637 3,216,602 -210,017 366,000 1,245,763 682,052 854,480 1,140,962 2,515,823 AA-
2002–2003 997,805 7,821,426 3,205,043 82,860 577,000 1,429,757 557,360 813,932 1,243,649 2,342,835 A+
2001–2002 1,001,643 7,561,899 3,261,468 -278,902 495,000 1,196,410 507,542 770,984 903,044 2,199,723 A+
The Tabulated Data covers each fiscal year (e.g. 2012–2013 covers April 1, 2012 – March 31, 2013). All data is in $1,000s.
1 These values reflect the estimated population at the beginning of the fiscal year.
2 These values reflect the debt of the General Revenue Fund alone at the end of the fiscal year. They do not reflect the debt of Government Service Organizations (Health Authorities, Crop Insurance Corporation, etc.).
3 These values reflect the combined debt of the Government Service Enterprises (Crown Corporations) at the end of the fiscal year. SaskPower, SaskEnergy, and SaskTel account for 62.3%, 18.2%, and 12.1% of Crown Debt, respectively (as of March 31, 2013).
4 The highest rate of provincial corporate income tax was reduced from 17% to 14% on July 1, 2006. It was further reduced to 13% on July 1, 2007, and finally to 12% on July 1, 2008. The tax on paid-up capital was reduced from 0.6% to 0.3% on July 1, 2006, to 0.15% on July 1, 2007, and abolished altogether on July 1, 2008. These displayed values were obtained by adding the corporate income tax for each year with the corporate capital tax.
5 The Provincial Sales Tax (PST) rate was reduced from 7% to 5% on October 28, 2006.
6 These values are the credit ratings from Standard and Poor's as of the end of the Fiscal Year.
Source: Government of Saskatchewan.[29]
Government and politics[edit]
Main articles: Politics of Saskatchewan and Monarchy in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan has the same form of government[30] as the other Canadian provinces with a lieutenant-governor (who is the representative of the Crown in Right of Saskatchewan), premier, and a unicameral legislature.
For many years, Saskatchewan was one of Canada's more progressive provinces, reflecting many of its citizens' feelings of alienation from the interests of large capital. In 1944 Tommy Douglas became premier of the first avowedly socialist regional government in North America. Most of his Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) represented rural and small-town ridings. Under his Cooperative Commonwealth Federation government, Saskatchewan became the first province to have Medicare. In 1961, Douglas left provincial politics to become the first leader of the federal New Democratic Party.
Provincial politics in Saskatchewan is dominated by the social-democratic New Democrats and the centre-right Saskatchewan Party, with the latter holding the majority in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as of 2012. Numerous smaller political parties also run candidates in provincial elections, including the Green Party, Liberal Party, and the Progressive Conservative Party, but none is currently represented in the Legislative Assembly (Liberals and Conservatives generally caucus under the Saskatchewan Party banner in provincial affairs). After 16 years of New Democratic governments under premiers Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert, the 2007 provincial election was won by the Saskatchewan Party under Brad Wall. In the 2011 election, Premier Wall and the Saskatchewan Party were returned with an increased majority.
Recent federal elections have been dominated by the Conservative Party since the party currently represents 13 of 14 federal ridings in Saskatchewan, while the Liberal Party of Canada represents one federal riding.
While both Saskatoon and Regina (Saskatchewan's largest cities) are roughly twice the population of an urban riding in Canada, both are (as of the 2011 federal election) split into multiple ridings that blend them with rural communities.
Law enforcement[edit]
Police agencies
Caronport Police Service
Cormon Park Police Service
Dalmeny Police Service
Estevan Police Service
File Hills First Nation Police Service
Highway Transport Patrol (Special Constables)
Luseland Police Service
Moose Jaw Police Service
Prince Albert Police Service
Regina Police Service
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Saskatchewan Conservation Officer (Special Constables)
Saskatoon Police Service
University of Saskatchewan Department of Campus Safety (Special Constables)
Vanscoy Police Service
Wascana Centre Police (Special Constables)
Weyburn Police Service
Wilton Police Service
Correctional facilities
Pine Grove Correctional Centre
Prince Albert Correctional Centre
Regina Correctional Centre
Regina Paul Dojack Youth Centre
Saskatchewan Penitentiary
Saskatoon correctional centre
Regional Psychiatric Centre
Saskatoon Kilburn Hall
Education[edit]
Main articles: Education in Saskatchewan and List of Saskatchewan school divisions
The first education on the prairies took place within the family groups of the First Nation and early fur trading settlers. There were only a few missionary or trading post schools established in Rupert's Land – later known as the North West Territories.
The first 76 North-West Territories school districts and the first Board of Education meeting formed in 1886. The pioneering boom formed ethnic bloc settlements. Communities were seeking education for their children similar to the schools of their home land. Log cabins, and dwellings were constructed for the assembly of the community, school, church, dances and meetings.
The prosperity of the Roaring Twenties and the success of farmers in proving up on their homesteads helped provide funding to standardize education.[citation needed] Text books, normal schools for educating teachers, formal school curricula and state of the art school house architectural plans provided continuity throughout the province. English as the school language helped to provide economic stability, because one community could communicate with another and goods could be traded and sold in a common language. The number of one-room school house districts across Saskatchewan totalled approximately 5,000 at the height of this system of education in the late 1940s.[citation needed]
Following World War II, the transition from many one-room school houses to fewer and larger consolidated modern technological town and city schools occurred as a means of ensuring technical education. School buses, highways, and family vehicles create ease and accessibility of a population shift to larger towns and cities. Combines and tractors mean that the farmer could successfully manage more than a quarter section of land, so there was a shift from family farms and subsistence crops to cash crops grown on many sections of land.
School vouchers have been newly proposed as a means of allowing competition between rural schools and making the operation of co-operative schools practicable in rural areas.
Healthcare[edit]
Wikinews has related news: Canada pursues new nuclear research reactor to produce medical isotopes
Saskatchewan's medical health system is widely and inaccurately characterized as "socialized medicine": medical practitioners in Saskatchewan, as in other Canadian provinces, are not civil servants but remit their accounts to the publicly funded Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Plan rather than to patients (i.e. a single-payer system).[31] Unlike in Medicare in Australia and private medicine in the UK, Saskatchewan sets a statutory tariff for medical services which may not be exceeded.
Saskatchewan medical health system has faced criticism due a lack of accessibility to the midwifery program. According to Leanne Smith, the director for maternal services in the Saskatoon Health Region declared that half of the women who apply for the midwifery program are turned away.[32] Ministry of Health data shows that midwives saw 1,233 clients in the 2012-13 fiscal year (which runs April to March). But in that fourth quarter, 359 women were still on waiting lists for immediate or future care.[32] The provincial Health Ministry received 47 letters about midwifery services in 2012, most of which asked for more midwives.[32] As a continuing problem in the Saskatchewan health care system, more pressure has been placed to recruit more midwives for the province.
Transportation[edit]
Main article: Transportation in Saskatchewan
Trans Canada 1
Eatonia Railway Station
Transportation in Saskatchewan includes an infrastructure system of roads, highways, freeways, airports, ferries, pipelines, trails, waterways and railway systems serving a population of approximately 1,003,299 (according to 2007 estimates) inhabitants year-round. It is funded primarily with local and federal government funds. The Saskatchewan Department of Highways and Transportation estimates that 80% of traffic is carried on the 5,031-kilometre principal system of highways.[33]
The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure operates over 26,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) of highways and divided highways. There are also municipal roads which comprise different surfaces. Asphalt concrete pavements comprise almost 9,000 kilometres (5,600 mi), granular pavement almost 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi), non structural or thin membrane surface TMS are close to 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) and finally gravel highways make up over 5,600 kilometres (3,500 mi) through the province. In the northern sector, ice roads which can only be navigated in the winter months comprise another approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) of travel.[34]
Saskatchewan has over 250,000 kilometres (150,000 mi) of roads and highways, the highest amount of road surface of any Canadian province.[35] The major highways in Saskatchewan are the Trans Canada expressway, Yellowhead Highway northern Trans Canada route, Louis Riel Trail, CanAm Highway, Red Coat Trail, Northern Woods and Water route, and Saskota travel route.
The first Canadian transcontinental railway was constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1881 and 1885.[36] After the great east-west transcontinental railway was built, north-south connector branch lines were established. The 1920s saw the largest rise in rail line track as the CPR and CNR fell into competition to provide rail service within ten kilometres. In the 1960s there were applications for abandonment of branch lines.[37] Today the only two passenger rail services in the province are The Canadian and Winnipeg – Churchill train, both operated by Via Rail. The Canadian is a transcontinental service linking Toronto with Vancouver.
The main Saskatchewan waterways are the North Saskatchewan River or South Saskatchewan River routes. In total, there are 3,050 bridges maintained by the Department of Highways in Saskatchewan.[38] There are currently twelve ferry services operating in the province, all under the jurisdiction of the Department of Highways.
Ferries of Saskatchewan
Ferry Location Waterway Reference
Estuary connecting Estuary and Laporte South Saskatchewan River [39]
Lemsford North of Lemsford connecting 32 and 30 South Saskatchewan River [39]
Lancer North of Lancer connecting 32 and 30 South Saskatchewan River [39]
Riverhurst Highway 42 and Highway 373 Lake Diefenbaker [39]
Clarkboro Between Warman and Aberdeen on 784 South Saskatchewan River [39]
Hague Between Hague and Aberdeen South Saskatchewan River [39]
St. Laurent East of Duck Lake, 11 and Batoche 225 South Saskatchewan River [39]
Fenton Between 25 and 3 on Grid Road South Saskatchewan River [39]
Weldon Between 3, Weldon via 682 and 302, Prince Albert South Saskatchewan River [39]
Paynton Between 16 and 26 via 764 North Saskatchewan River [39]
Wingard East of Marcelin, 40 connecting to 11 Wingard North Saskatchewan River [39]
Cecil Between 302 and 55 east of Prince Albert North Saskatchewan River [39]
The Saskatoon Airport (YXE) was initially established as part of the Royal Canadian Air Force training program during World War II. It was renamed the John G. Diefenbaker Airport in the official ceremony, June 23, 1993.[40] Roland J. Groome Airfield is the official designation for the Regina International Airport (YQR) as of August 3, 2005; the airport was established in 1930. Under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP),[41] twenty Service Flying Training Schools (RAF) were established at various Saskatchewan locations in World War II.[42] 15 Wing Moose Jaw is home to the Canadian Forces formation aerobatics team, the Snowbirds.[41]
Airlines offering service to Saskatchewan are Air Canada, WestJet Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Transwest Air, Norcanair Airlines, La Ronge Aviation Services Ltd, La Loche Airways, Osprey Wings Ltd, Buffalo Narrows Airways Ltd, Skyservice Airlines, Île-à-la-Crosse Airways Ltd, Voyage Air, Pronto Airways, Venture Air Ltd, Pelican Narrows Air Service, Jackson Air Services Ltd, and Northern Dene Airways Ltd.[43]
The Government of Canada has agreed to contribute $20 million for two new interchanges in Saskatoon. One of them being at the Sk Hwy 219 / Lorne Ave intersection with Circle Drive, the other at the Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge (Idylwyld Freeway) and Circle Drive. This is part of the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative to improve access to the Canadian National Railway's intermodal freight terminal thereby increasing Asia-Pacific trade. Also, the Government of Canada will contribute $27 million to Regina to construct a Canadian Pacific Railway CPR intermodal facility and improve infrastructure transportation to the facility from both national highway networks, Sk Hwy 1, the TransCanada Highway and Sk Hwy 11, Louis Riel Trail. This also is part of the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative to improve access to the CPR terminal and increase Asia-Pacific trade.[44]
Arts and culture[edit]
Main article: Culture of Saskatchewan
See also: Tourism in Saskatchewan
Museums and galleries
Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery
Mendel Art Gallery
RCMP Heritage Centre
Saskatchewan Western Development Museum
Artist-run centres
PAVED Arts
Artists
Joe Fafard, sculptor
Canadian television sitcoms Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie are both set in small Saskatchewan towns. The novels of W. O. Mitchell, Sinclair Ross, Frederick Philip Grove, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Michael Helm and Gail Bowen are also frequently set in Saskatchewan, as are children's novels of Farley Mowatt. The English naturalist "Grey Owl" spent much of his life living and studying in what is now Prince Albert National Park.
The Arrogant Worms' song "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate" about a disgruntled farmer who takes up piracy on the namesake river mentions various parts of the province such as Saskatoon, Regina and Moose Jaw. Popular Québécois band Les Trois Accords recorded a song in French called "Saskatchewan" on its first album, Gros Mammouth Album. It was the third single of that album and met moderate success in French Canada. The region is also referenced in the titular Buffy Sainte-Marie cover "Saskatchewan", by British Band Red Box; it was released as a single in 1984 and a reworked version appeared on their 1986 début album The Circle & the Square.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the province's only major professional sports franchise, and are extremely popular across Saskatchewan. The team's fans are also found to congregate on game days throughout Canada, and collectively they are known as "Rider Nation".
Hockey is the most popular sport in the province. More than 490 NHL players[45] have been born in Saskatchewan, the highest per capita output of any Canadian province, U.S. state, or European country.[46] Notable NHL players born in Saskatchewan include Gordie Howe, Bryan Trottier, Bernie Federko, Clark Gillies, Fern Flaman, Bert Olmstead, Harry Watson, Elmer Lach, Max Bentley, Sid Abel, Doug Bentley, Eddie Shore, Clint Smith, Bryan Hextall, Johnny Bower, Emile Francis, Glenn Hall, Chuck Rayner, Brad McCrimmon, Patrick Marleau, Dave Manson, Theo Fleury, Terry Harper, Wade Redden, Brian Propp, and Scott Hartnell.
In 2006, the founder of One Red Paperclip, Kyle MacDonald, ended his trading-game after swapping a movie role in the film Donna on Demand for a two-story farmhouse in Kipling, Saskatchewan.
Provincial symbols[edit]
Thread count: black 1 green 6 brown 11 gold 26 red 2 yellow 1 red 2 gold 26 brown 11 green 6 black 1 white 2
The official tartan of Saskatchewan, created in 1961.
The flag of Saskatchewan was officially adopted on September 22, 1969. The flag features the provincial shield in the upper quarter nearest the staff, with the floral emblem, the Prairie Lily, in the fly. The upper green (in forest green) half of the flag represents the northern Saskatchewan forest lands, while the golden lower half of the flag symbolizes the southern wheat fields and prairies. A province-wide competition was held to design the flag, and drew over 4,000 entries. The winning design was by Anthony Drake, then living in Hodgeville.[47]
In 2005, Saskatchewan Environment held a province-wide vote to recognize Saskatchewan's centennial year, receiving more than 10,000 on-line and mail-in votes from the public. The walleye was the overwhelming favourite of the six native fish species nominated for the designation, receiving more than half the votes cast.[48] Other species in the running were the lake sturgeon, lake trout, lake whitefish, northern pike and yellow perch.
Saskatchewan's other symbols include the tartan, the license plate, and the provincial flower. Saskatchewan's official tartan was registered with the Court of Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland in 1961. It has seven colours: gold, brown, green, red, yellow, white and black. The provincial licence plates display the slogan "Land of Living Skies". The provincial flower of Saskatchewan is the Western Red Lily.
Centennial celebrations[edit]
In 2005, Saskatchewan celebrated its centennial. To honour it, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a commemorative five-dollar coin depicting Canada's wheat fields as well as a circulation 25-cent coin of a similar design. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Regina, Saskatoon and Lumsden, and the Saskatchewan-reared Joni Mitchell issued an album in Saskatchewan's honour.
Climate change[edit]
Main article: Climate change in Saskatchewan
The effects of climate change in Saskatchewan are now being observed in parts of the province. There is evidence of reduction of biomass in Saskatchewan's boreal forests[citation needed] (as with those of other Canadian prairie provinces) that is linked by researchers to drought-related water stress, stemming from global warming, most likely caused by greenhouse gas emissions. While studies, as early as 1988 (Williams, et al., 1988) have shown that climate change will affect agriculture,[49] whether the effects can be mitigated through adaptations of cultivars, or crops, is less clear. Resiliency of ecosystems may decline with large changes in temperature.[50] The provincial government has responded to the threat of climate change by introducing a plan to reduce carbon emissions, "The Saskatchewan Energy and Climate Change Plan," in June, 2007.
See also[edit]
Book icon
Book: Canada
Portal icon Saskatchewan portal
Outline of Saskatchewan
Index of Saskatchewan-related articles
45561 Saskatchewan British LMS Jubilee Class locomotive named after the province.
Assiniboia
Saskatchewan Act
Saskatchewan Film and Video Classification Board
Scouting and Guiding in Saskatchewan
Lists:
List of airports in Saskatchewan
List of cities in Canada
List of lieutenant governors of Saskatchewan
List of premiers of Saskatchewan
List of rivers of Saskatchewan
List of rural municipalities in Saskatchewan
List of Saskatchewan general elections
List of Saskatchewan Leaders of the Opposition
List of towns in Saskatchewan
Symbols of Saskatchewan
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Saskatchewanian is the prevalent demonym, and is used by the Government of Saskatchewan. According to the Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage (ISBN 0-19-541619-8; p. 335), Saskatchewaner is also in use.
Jump up ^ "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, 2011 and 2006 censuses". Statcan.gc.ca. February 8, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, by province and territory (2011)". Statistics Canada. November 19, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
Jump up ^ "Estimates of population, Canada, provinces and territories". Statistics Canada. September 27, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Statistics Canada, Quarterly demographic estimates, 2009". Statcan.gc.ca. December 23, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Government of Canada". Geonames.nrcan.gc.ca. September 18, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Treaty Land Entitlement – The English River Story, Saskatchewan", Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, accessed November 25, 2011
Jump up ^ http://peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=6140
Jump up ^ Hydrology from The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
Jump up ^ "National Climate Data". Environment Canada. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
Jump up ^ Bray, Tim (December 23, 2008). "2008/12/23, Four PM". Retrieved February 28, 2008. "English just doesn’t have words to describe cold of that intensity. I was appropriately dressed but am still a mild-climate West Coast Wimp, and the cold hurt me wherever it touched me; and it tried really hard to find chinks in my clothing's armor to penetrate and hurt."
Jump up ^ "Average Weather for Saskatoon, SK – Temperature and Precipitation". Weather.com. July 29, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
Jump up ^ "National Climate Data and Information Archive". Environment Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
Jump up ^ The first smallpox epidemic on the Canadian Plains: In the fur-traders' words. The Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Jump up ^ Dave Yanko, "Batoche in the North-West Rebellion", Virtualsk.com
Jump up ^ "Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association", Official Website
Jump up ^ Archer, John H. (1996). "Regina: A Royal City". Monarchy Canada Magazine (Toronto: Monarchist League of Canada). Spring 1996. Archived from the original on February 9, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Government of Saskatchewan > About Government > News Releases > February 2002 > Province Honours Princess Margaret". Queen's Printer for Saskatchewan. February 11, 2002. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Royal couple touches down in Saskatchewan". CTV. May 18, 2005. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
Jump up ^ Ethnic origins, 2006 counts, for Canada, provinces and territories – 20% sample data[dead link]
Jump up ^ The history of Saskatchewan's population from Statistics Canada
Jump up ^ Canada's population[dead link]. Statistics Canada. Retrieved September 28, 2006.
Jump up ^ "Religions in Canada". 2.statcan.ca. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Canadian Food-Processing Sector". Invest in Canada. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
Jump up ^ Fact Sheet from the Saskatchewan Mining Association
Jump up ^ Government of Saskatchewan. Oil and Gas Industry. Retrieved on: April 26, 2008.
Jump up ^ Government of Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan Oil and Gas InfoMap. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
Jump up ^ Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, by province and territory from Statistics Canada
Jump up ^ Public Accounts of Saskatchewan. Government of Saskatchewan. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
Jump up ^ Government of Saskatchewan. "official page". Retrieved February 15, 2007.
Jump up ^ "How Saskatchewan Health Pays Your Bill – Health – Government of Saskatchewan". Health.gov.sk.ca. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b c French, Janet. (2013-06-15) Half of women who want midwife turned away. Thestarphoenix.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
Jump up ^ "Saskatchewan Department of Highways and Transportation". Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Jump up ^ Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation. "Performance Plan – Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation". Retrieved September 4, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Saskatchewan". World Travel Guide – Nexus Business Media. 2007. Retrieved September 4, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Canadian Pacific Railway". Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Jump up ^ Fung, K.I. (1969). Atlas of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon: Modern Press.
Jump up ^ Ivanochko, Bob (2006). "Bridges". CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA. Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l "Saskatchewan City & Town Maps – Directory". Becquet's Custom Programming. Retrieved January 18, 2008.[dead link]
Jump up ^ "Airport History". Saskatoon Airport Authority. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b Chabun, Will (2006). "Aviation". CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA. Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Jump up ^ Kraushaar, Clint (May 1998). "The RAF comes to Estevan". The Estevan Airport: A History to 1988. Estevan Community Access Project & Estevan Public Library. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Saskatchewan Airlines: Airlines in Saskatchewan, Canada". 1994–2008. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
Jump up ^ Hon. Lawrence Cannon, M.P., P.C. Minister of transport, infrastructure and communities (2005–2008). "Statement by Hon. Lawrence Cannon, M.P., P.C. Minister of transport, infrastructure and communities at a news conference of Council of ministers responsible for transportation and highway safety". Newswire. CNW Group. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
Jump up ^ "NHL Players Born in Saskatchewan, Canada". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
Jump up ^ Chaput, John. "Hockey". The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
Jump up ^ "Saskatchewan, flag of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Retrieved July 9, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Walleye Wins Vote For Saskatchewan's Fish Emblem". Gov.sk.ca. September 30, 2005. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
Jump up ^ Williams, G.D.V., R.A. Fautley, K.H. Jones, R.B. Stewart, and E.E. Wheaton. 1988. "Estimating Effects of Climatic Change on Agriculture in Saskatchewan, Canada." p. 219-379. In M.L. Parry et al. (ed.) The Impact of Climatic Variations on Agriculture. Vol. 1 Assessment in Cool Temperate and Cold Regions. Reidel Publ. Co. Dordrecht.
Jump up ^ Riebsame. W.E. (1991). "Sustainability of the Great Plains in an Uncertain Climate." Great Plains Research Vol.1 No.1, University of Nebraska
" end quote copyright to wikipedia drawn on 11/30/2013
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