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Saskatchewan, Canada
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Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588,276.09 square kilometres (227,134.67 sq mi) and a population of 1,003,299 (according to 2007 estimates), mostly living in the southern half of the province. Of these, 202,340 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 179,246 live in the provincial capital, Regina. Other major cities, in order of size, are Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Swift Current, and North Battleford. The province's name comes from the Saskatchewan River, whose name comes from its Cree designation: kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, meaning "swift flowing river".
GeographyFrom a great scale, Saskatchewan appears to be a quadrilateral. However, due to 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). Saskatchewan is bounded on the west by 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. Saskatchewan has the distinction of being the only Canadian province for which no borders correspond to physical geographic features. It is also one of only two provinces that are land-locked, the other being Alberta.
GeographyFrom a great scale, Saskatchewan appears to be a quadrilateral. However, due to 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). Saskatchewan is bounded on the west by 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. Saskatchewan has the distinction of being the only Canadian province for which no borders correspond to physical geographic features. It is also one of only two provinces that are land-locked, the other being Alberta.
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°, adjacent to the southern shore of Lake Athabasca. Southern Saskatchewan contains another area with sand dunes known as the "Great Sand Hills" covering over . 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, 1,468 metres (4,816 ft) is located in the Cypress Hills. The lowest point, 213 metres (700 ft) is the shore of Lake Athabasca in the far north. The province has nine distinct drainage basins made up of various rivers and watersheds draining into the Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay, and Gulf of Mexico.
ClimateSaskatchewan lies far from any significant body of water. This, combined with its northerly latitude gives it a cold summer version of humid continental climate (Köppen type Dfb) in the central and most of the eastern part, drying off to a semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen type BSk) in the southern and southwestern part of the province. The northern parts of Saskatchewan - from about La Ronge northward - have a subarctic climate (Koppen Dfc). Summers can be very hot, with temperatures sometimes above 32 °C (90 °F) during the day, and humidity decreasing from northeast to southwest. Warm southern winds blow from the United States during much of July and August. While winters can be bitterly cold, with high temperatures not breaking −17 °C (0 °F) for weeks at a time, warm chinook winds often blow from the west, bringing periods of mild weather. Annual precipitation averages from 12 to annually across the province, with the bulk of rain falling in June, July, and August.
MunicipalitiesTen largest municipalities by population
Note that the list does not include Lloydminster, which has a total population of 24,028 but straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. As of 2006, only 8,118 people lived on the Saskatchewan side, which would make it Saskatchewan's 11th 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 receive official city status.
HistoryPrior to European settlement, Saskatchewan was populated by various indigenous peoples of North America including members of the Athabaskan, Algonquian, Atsina, Cree, Saulteaux and Sioux tribes. The first 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 by Samuel Hearne in 1774.
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 the 1870s, the Government of Canada formed the Northwest Territories to administer the vast territory between British Columbia and Manitoba. The government 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.
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 have argued that had this expedition been unsuccessful, then the expansionist U.S. would have been sorely tempted to expand into the political vacuum. And even had it not, then the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway would 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.
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 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 American border.
In 1876, following the Battle of Little Bighorn Lakota chief Sitting Bull led several thousand of his people to Wood Mountain. Wood Mountain Reserve was founded in 1914.
Many Métis people, who had not been signatories to a treaty, had moved to the Saskatchewan Rivers district north of present-day Saskatoon following the Red River Resistance 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 prairies by the new Canadian Pacific Railway. Riel surrendered and was convicted of treason in a packed Regina courtroom. He was hanged on November 16, 1885.
As more settlers came to the prairies on the railway, the population grew, and Saskatchewan became a province on September 1, 1905; inauguration day was held September 4.
The Homestead Act permitted settlers to acquire ¼ mi² 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, a prosperous agrarian society was established.
In 1913, the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association was established as Saskatchewan's first ranchers' organization. (See Logo Here) Three objectives were laid out at the founding convention in 1913 have served as a guide: 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.
Its farming equivalent, the Saskatchewan Grain Growers Association, was the dominant political force in the province until the 1920s and had close ties with the governing Liberal party.
In the late 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan imported from the U.S. and Ontario, gained brief popularity in WASP nativist circles in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The province had the dubious distinction of having the largest per-capita membership in the KKK of any political jurisdiction in North America. 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, then disappeared, the victim of widespread political and media opposition, plus scandals involving their own funds.
In 1970, the first annual Canadian Western Agribition was held in Regina. This farm industry trade show, with a heavy 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.
PoliticsSaskatchewan has the same form of government 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 has been one of Canada's more left-leaning 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 MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) represented rural and small-town ridings. Under his Cooperative Commonwealth Federation government, Saskatchewan became the first province to have Medicare, billed at the time as government-funded mandatory universal medical insurance. 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 centre-left New Democrats and the centre-right Saskatchewan Party. Numerous smaller political parties also run candidates in provincial elections, including the Liberal Party, the Green Party and the Progressive Conservative Party, but none are currently represented in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. After 16 years of New Democratic governments under premiers Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert, the recent 2007 provincial election was won by the Saskatchewan Party under Brad Wall.
Federally, the province has been a stronghold of the New Democratic Party, although recent elections have been dominated by the Conservative Party. Of the 14 federal constituencies in Saskatchewan, 12 were won by members of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2006, and 13 of 14 were won by Conservatives in 2004, while the federal NDP has been shut out of the province for two consecutive elections. Since the resignation of Gary Merasty from the House of Commons, the only Liberal MP in the province is former Finance Minister Ralph Goodale.
Politically, the province is characterized by a dramatic urban-rural split — the federal and provincial NDP dominate in the cities, while the Saskatchewan Party and the federal Conservatives are stronger in the rural parts of the province. While both Saskatoon and Regina (Saskatchewan's largest cities) are roughly twice the population of an urban riding in Canada, both are split into multiple ridings that blend them with rural communities.
Provincial flagSaskatchewan's flag was officially dedicated on September 22, 1969. The flag features the Armorial Bearing (Coat-of-Arms) in the upper quarter nearest the staff, with the floral emblem, the Prairie Lily, in the fly. The upper green half of the flag represents the northern Saskatchewan forest lands, while the gold lower half symbolizes the southern prairie wheat fields. A province-wide competition was held to design the flag, and drew over 4,000 entries. The winning design was by by Anthony Drake, then living in Hodgeville.
Centennial celebrationsIn 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 Saskatchewan native Joni Mitchell issued an album in Saskatchewan's honour.
Provincial financesThe Tabulated Data covers the previous fiscal year (e.g. 2007 covers April 1, 2006 - March 31, 2007).
All data is in $1,000s.
This value reflects the estimated population at the beginning of the Fiscal Year.
This value reflects the debt of all Government Service Organizations as well as Crown Corporations.
The Provincial Sales Tax was reduced from 7% to 5% effective October 28, 2006.
Source: Government of Saskatchewan.
EducationThe first education on the prairies was learned within the family group of the first nation or early fur trading family settlers. There were only a few missionary or trading post schools established in Rupert's Land later known as the North West Territories.
1886 sees the formation of the first 76 North West Territories school districts and the first Board of Education meeting. The immigration boom forms ethnic bloc settlements. Communities are seeking education for their children similar to the schools of their home land. Log cabins, and dwellings are constructed for the assembly of the community, school, church, dances and meetings.
The roaring twenties and established farmers who have successfully proved up on their homesteads helps provide funding to standardize education. Text books, normal schools for formally educated teachers, school curricula, state of the art school house architectural plans, provide continuity throughout the province. English as the school language helps to provide economic stability as now one community can communicate with another, and goods can 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 the one-room school house educational system in the late 1940s.
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 can successfully manage more than a quarter section of land, so there is a shift from family farms and subsistence crops to cash crops grown on many sections of land. There is no more need for communities every 10 to 16 kilometres (6-10 mi) apart or within a horse and buggy ride. This evolution is still continuing and under analysis in the spring of 2007 with another 50 rural consolidated schools now facing imminent closing.
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.
HealthAlthough Saskatchewan's medical health system is widely characterised as "socialised medicine," in fact it is entirely private, with medical practitioners in Saskatchewan, as in other Canadian provinces, remitting their accounts to the publicly funded Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Plan rather than directly to patients; unlike in Australia and the UK, which also have universal health care schemes, they are not permitted directly to supercharge patients over and above the statutory tariff for their services and supplementary private health insurance is therefore superfluous and indeed banned.
MiscellanySaskatchewan's licence plate depicts three stalks of wheat and bears the slogan "Land of Living Skies."Saskatchewan's heraldic shield contains a red lion on a yellow field, reversing the conventional heraldic colours, indicating the prairie fires of this region during the pre-settlement North-West Territories. 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.Journalist Peter Gzowski, who got his start in Moose Jaw, called it "the most Canadian of provinces."Popular cultureThe most famous representations of Saskatchewan in modern popular culture come from the popular Canadian television sitcoms Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie, both of which are set in small towns. The novels of W. O. Mitchell, Sinclair Ross, Frederick Philip Grove, Guy Vanderhaege, Michael Helm and Gail Bowen are also frequently set in Saskatchewan. The English naturalist "Grey Owl" spent much of his life living and studying in what is now Prince Albert National Park.
Arts and culture- Museums and galleries
Mendel Art Gallery Museums Association of Saskatchewan Shurniak Art Gallery MacKenzie Art Gallery Royal Saskatchewan Museum RCMP Academy, Depot Division which includes the RCMP Centennial Museum. This museum is moving to the new RCMP Heritage Centre, with the grand opening on 23 May 2007. Duck Lake Regional Interpretive Centre Saskatchewan Western Development Museum Ukrainian Museum of Canada- Artist-Run centres
AKA Gallery PAVED Arts Neutral Ground Artist-Run Centre and Soil Digital Media Suite, ReginaThe Gallery on Sherbrooke, Wolseley- Artists
Dr William Hobbs Prairie and Railways Painter. Glen Scrimshaw Joe FafardLaw and order- Police agencies
Estevan Police Service File Hills First Nation Police Service Moose Jaw Police Service Prince Albert Police Service Regina Police Service RM of Corman Park Police Service Royal Canadian Mounted Police Saskatoon Police Service Weyburn Police Service- Correctional facilities
Saskatoon correctional centre Regina Correctional Centre Prince Albert Correctional Centre Pine Grove Correctional Centre Saskatchewan Penitentiary Regina Paul Dojack Youth Centre Saskatoon Kilburn HallBibliography Archer, John H. Saskatchewan: A History. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1980. 422 pp. Bennett, John W. and Kohl, Seena B. Settling the Canadian-American West, 1890-1915: Pioneer Adaptation and Community Building. An Anthropological History. U. of Nebraska Pr., 1995. 311 pp. Bocking, D. H., ed. Pages from the Past: Essays on Saskatchewan History. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1979. 299 pp. LaPointe, Richard and Tessier, Lucille. The Francophones of Saskatchewan: A History. Regina: U. of Regina, Campion Coll., 1988. 329 pp. Lipset, Seymour M. Agrarian Socialism: The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in Saskatchewan: A Study in Political Sociology, University of California Press, 1950 Martin, Robin Shades of Right: Nativist and Fascist Politics in Canada, 1920-1940, University of Toronto Press, 1992 Smith, Dennis. Rogue Tory: The Life and Legend of John G. Diefenbaker. Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 1995. 702 pp. Smith, David E., ed. Building a Province: A History of Saskatchewan in Documents. Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1993. 443 pp. Bill Waiser. Saskatchewan: A New History (2006)External linksGovernment of SaskatchewanSaskatchewan!SaskTourismCBC Digital Archives - Saskatchewan @ 100
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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By seekthestars
7 days
Heading back to Canada from Ft Lauderdale to Saskatchewan. Any tips?
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By jcwarren
14 days
Alberta & Saskatchewan
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2 people reviewed Saskatchewan
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at 2:10PM October 3, 2009
Hi Nicole Hill, it is very apparent that you have not travelled a lot nor truly explored the beauty of Saskatchewan. Geographical the province is diverse with not only open spaces, but amamzing valleys, lakes, and might I add...the most beautiful sunsets that the world has to offer. As well, the province is steeped history. It possess everything from the amazing tunnels of Moose Jaw to the awe inspiring cultures of the German, Ukraine, Metis and more. It is important to note that Saskatchewan also caters to the tourist with some of the best boutiques and spas the world has to offer. In fact, the Sahara Spa was listed within the top 5 spas in the entire world in Flare. To top it off, we are the home of the Roughriders a team the presents the true nature of comradery and pride. This basic summary just lightly covers our province and from someone who does travel...I find God in the beauty of this land and one must be educated about it before making a basic generalization. Perchance, your interest is too materialistic.
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at 4:33AM May 28, 2008
Look, if you must go somewhere, do not stop here. Sorry, other than the incredible big open sky, and golden fields(if you are there at peak growing season) there is not much else that held my interest.
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