The provincial government is starting the new year with a new look.
The government of Saskatchewan has replaced the classic wheat sheaf with a new logo on its news releases and the government website.
Saskatchewan New Democrats were quick to jump on the move, calling it one that is partisan and lacking common sense.
“The new logo is a Sask. Party brand in party colours,” Buckley Belanger, NDP deputy leader, said Friday. “It’s not appropriate, and the fact that the Sask. Party tried to quietly sneak this change through makes it obvious that the Sask. Party knows it’s doing something wrong.”
The light brown wheat sheaf logo has been used in official correspondence, news releases and other government documents since 1975. The sheaf is symbolic of the province’s agrarian heritage. In 2007, shortly after it was elected, the Saskatchewan Party attempted to replace the sheaf logo with a new one, but had to quickly drop it due to public backlash.
Sask. Party MLAs such as Arm River-Watrous’s Greg Brkich are mindful of that public outcry.
The province is still retaining the wheat sheaf as its official emblem on signs and such, Brkich said.
Although it is a recent addition to news releases and the website, Brkich said the government has been using the new logo for some time on material that is seen out-of-province.
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Sask. Party proposes new labour act
The Saskatchewan Government introduced a comprehensive new labour act in the legislature Dec. 4, claiming it as an attempt to create greater transparency among unions, develop a formula for setting the rate of minimum wage and help employers and employees find the needed information they may be looking for.
Don Morgan, Saskatchewan Minister of Labour, said the new Saskatchewan Employment Act, which is expected to be passed by the May long-weekend when the provincial house rises for the summer months, would combine 12 present pieces of labour legislation into one bill. He said the act was devised through recommendations from government officials and 3,800 written submissions from the public over 90 days last summer after the government first proposed the new act last March.
Morgan said the new act succeeds in making the laws more readable for anyone looking to find information on labour laws, plus it allows the government to streamline remedies and appeals processes under various parts of the legislation. He said the public now has another 90 days to respond with concerns or recommendations on specific bills that are to be affected and the government will respond in kind.
“We posted everything on our website and in addition to the bill itself there is a (side note) that indicates what the significant changes would be, so the information is available now,” said Morgan. “We’ve also asked the public to give us their comments on it and if there are things that we have missed or could have some unintended consequences we would make whatever house amendments that are necessary before the bill passes in the spring session.”
A few of the main proposals of the new act would include regulations permitting, with consent from employer and employee, four ten-hour work days instead of the normal five eight-hour days, an ability for employers to pay wages by other means such as prepaid cards, higher fines and degree of accountability on employers to ensure that their workers are safe at all times and an indexing of the minimum wage to the annual change in average wage and the Consumer Price Index.
“I can’t imagine ever lowering (minimum wage),” said Morgan. “We could have lowered it before if there was a good reason and never did. I think that would be one of the worst things you could do to low-income people. The reason we have the process that’s there (in the new act) is it will be a blend of Consumer Price Index and average hourly wage. If they went down then it would come to cabinet before there was automatically a reduction, but I can’t see cabinet ever wanting to do that.
“We’ve raised it significantly since we’ve been in government. We’ve raised it well over 25 per cent and want to continue to make sure we’re midway or in the top half of the rest of the provinces and want to make sure we’re able to attract workers into the province.”
To read more please see the December 17 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Massive new wholesale outlet planned for Dundurn to change “scope” of town
The Rural Municipality and Town of Dundurn has agreed with plans from real estate company Brightenview Development International Inc. for building a massive wholesale outlet just north of the town.
Fred Wilson, Reeve of the RM of Dundurn, said the 155-acre centre that would house 350 Chinese businesses is “not for sure yet,” but the town and RM are helping the company facilitate the process of getting the project underway. He said the project, called the “Dundurn International Exhibition Centre,” would vastly change the “scope” of the community once construction is completed sometime in late 2014.
“It is (massive) and that is the part that is going to change Dundurn the most if we’re looking at upwards to 1,000 jobs being employed at the site,” said Wilson. “The development of housing and just the extra traffic within the community is going to make quite a difference.”
The centre would be located half a mile north of Highway 211 and Highway 11 intersection at Dundurn on the east side of the highway. The developer has already purchased the land from a private owner and construction is slated to begin in spring 2013 lasting for 18 months.
“The developer viewed different sites and Dundurn has a fairly good water and sewer system that they just spent $30 million revamping and constructing, so it was available,” said Wilson about why Dundurn with a population of 650 was picked for the project. “The four-lane highway was definitely an asset and it’s still fairly close to the City of Saskatoon for air travel and transportation.
“We’ve got a lot of residential properties in the municipality that are available for occupancy and as far as financial obligations we haven’t been asked for anything.”
To read more please see the December 17 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Farmers propose new wheat and barley commissions
A new Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (SWDC) and Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission (SBDC) have been proposed in order to give the province’s wheat and barley producers a greater voice in their industry.
The SWDC and SBDC will be a producer elected and directed organization with a mandate to ensure farmers have resources, leadership as well as provincial, national and international representation to protect Saskatchewan wheat and barley producers’ interests.
A steering committee has been formed for each proposed commission under the direction of the provincial government to survey producers to determine their acceptance of the proposed commission’s views on market access, railroads, varieties research and agronomic practices.
Gerrid Gust, Davidson farmer and wheat steering committee member, said the commission is a response to the ending of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) monopoly last August. He said the end of the CWB provided “greater access to markets” for farmers and gave them a chance to make decisions based on their own cash flow and farms without having a centrally managed economy demanded by the board.
“A lot of this stuff farmers have been paying for for years,” said Gust. “We think as an industry that farmers would be interested to fill some of those gaps left over from the wheat board, roles that this had filled, and have a voice for Saskatchewan producers and farmers.”
Gust said the idea of the commissions was proposed at a June 22 meeting in Regina where the industry, including major commodity farm groups, as well as APAS (Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan) and SARM (Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities), sat down to decide the best future direction of wheat and barley producers.
The steering committees are now completing establishment plans for the proposed commissions and if approved by the provincial government will begin operating on Aug. 1, 2013, with an interim board of directors.
To read more please see the December 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Grants add $13,000 to Davidson’s coffers
The Town of Davidson is over $13,000 richer thanks to a couple provincial grants that have recently come into its coffers.
Trevor Ouellette, Davidson recreation director, said the first grant for $10,000 would be put towards the costs associated with upgrading the electrical system at Town Hall as well as installing a rooftop heating and cooling unit for the town community centre. He said the second grant for $3,450 would be split between helping purchase uniforms for the Davidson School Raiders junior and senior football teams and also for the implementation of an after-school grassroots youth soccer program to begin play next fall.
Ouellette said the first grant, received last week through the CIF (Community Initiatives Fund-community vitality program), is “great” because it can be stacked on top of another grant. The $10,000 will be added to the recent $29,875 in funding the town was approved for last month by the CIIF (Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund) for the installation of the air-conditioning unit.
“Originally planning to be a $60,000 project that was basically taxpayers’ money, we now have taken it down to $20,000, so we have raised $40,000 through grants,” said Ouellette. “It is now a more feasible project to do instead of a wish list project. It is now a third of the dollars. The town is really excited about moving forward on the project.”
The $60,000 project is broken down into two phases. The first phase, to be completed between July 30, 2012, and March 31, 2013, will involve wiring improvements to the Town Hall. The second phase will see the installation of an air-conditioner for the community centre, to be completed between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014.
Ouellette said the second grant for $3,450, delivered through the Saskatchewan In Motion community subsidy program, is geared towards making programs more accessible that promote an active lifestyle. He said the money received could be used for new programming or for minor equipment purchases.
“What I’ve been able to do is fully fund a program that will be implemented next fall and it is geared towards young children aged five to 11 as a target group,” he said. “It’ll be youth soccer. I have a grassroots program that I’ve used in other towns and it’s just designed to get the kids active in a non-competitive environment. There will be no scoreboards and no score sheets. It is to get out there and have fun.”
To read more please see the December 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.
Kodiaks to play on hardwood
The Kenaston Kodiaks senior girls basketball team are tentatively scheduled to take on the Middle Lake Avengers Dec. 14 in what will be the grand unveiling of the new hardwood floor and glass backboards in the Dan O’Handley Gymnasium at Kenaston School.
Darren Gasper, principal of Kenaston School, said the basketball tournament will serve as a “kickoff” for the refurbished gym and the school is looking to bring in all the major donors for the game who helped in getting the funding secured for the school to build the floor and install the basketball backboards. He said the school is also inviting members of the community to come to the afternoon game to take a look at the improved gymnasium that also serves as a community hub for sports activities.
“We’re aiming for about a 2 p.m. start, but we’re still waiting to hear from Middle Lake if they’re able to come at that same time,” said Gasper. “It’s coincidental, but Middle Lake is the school we based the fund-raising floor project around because they did the exact same thing last year. Their basketball coach was actually a big help with suggestions about how we could go about doing it. They’re going to be here to kick it off, so it’ll be nice to see.”
Gasper said the floor, which last received an upgrade 28 years ago, was supposed to be replaced by the Sun West School Division next year with a rubberized gym floor, but after consulting with members of the community the school decided to approach the division about putting in a more expensive hardwood floor this year. He said the school division agreed to the project if the school could come up with the cost difference of installing a hardwood floor versus a rubberized one.
“While we were doing that we decided to do the glass backboards at the same time, so the gym is going to get a whole refinished look.”
Gasper said the school had to come up with $40,000 on top of the $55,000 Sun West was putting towards the renovation for the floor, while the school was responsible for the full $8,000 cost of the new backboards. He said members of the community including individuals, families, organizations and businesses were extremely helpful and willing to donate funds to make up the extra costs.
“We’re building a big donor board made up with the same floor material to go on the wall outside the gymnasium to recognize all our donors with some family names or memorials in memory of particular people or company logos if it’s a business that donated just to recognize them,” he said, noting the major donors to the gym floor project were Dakota Dunes and the Kenaston Lions Club through their Super Draft hockey lottery.
Gene Zdunich, head coach of the senior girls basketball team, said everyone is extremely happy a new floor has been put in as the old one was “compacted” and provided no give in it. He said the new hardwood floor is going to make it easier on the players’ knees during game time and practice.
Gasper said the school also has plans to build a running track behind the school in the spring and renovate the school and community playground in the early summer. He said building the track would come at a cost of around $20,000, while the new playground will cost at about $64,000.
To read more please see the Dec. 3 print edition of The Davidson Leader.