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Saskatchewan

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Saskatchewan
CountryCanada
ConfederationSeptember 1, 1905 (Split off from NWT) (9th (province))
Government
 • Lieutenant-GovernorLynda M. Haverstock
 • PremierLorne Calvert
Federal representationParliament of Canada
House seats14 of 338 (4.1%)
Senate seats6 of 105 (5.7%)
Population
 • Total1,132,505
Canadian postal abbr.
SK
Postal code prefix
S
Rankings include all provinces and territories
This article is about the Canadian province. For the river, see Saskatchewan River.

Saskatchewan is the middle province of Canada's three prairie provinces. It has an area of 651,900 km² (251,700 mi²) and a population of 992,995 (Saskatchewanians) (October 1, 2005). Most of its population lives in the southern part of the province. The largest city is Saskatoon with a metropolitan population of 235,800 (July 1, 2005), followed by the province's capital, Regina (metro population: 199,000, July 1, 2005). Other major cities (in order of size) include Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Swift Current, and North Battleford. See also List of communities in Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan is (approximately) a quadrilateral bounded on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, 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 all borders are man made.

The province's name, pronounced locally as "sus-KATCH-uh-wun" (wun as in one) (IPA: [səsˈkætʃəwən]) (a common alternate pronunciation, "sa-SKA-tchu-wahn" (IPA: [səˈskæʧəwɒn]) indicates that the speaker is little acquainted with the province), comes from the Saskatchewan River, whose name comes from its Cree designation: kisiskāciwani-sīpiy (Cree syllabics: ᑭᓯᐢᑳᒋᐘᓂ ᓯᐱᐩ), meaning "swift flowing river".[1]

Municipalities

10 Largest Municipalities by population

Municipality 2001 1996
Saskatoon 206,500 193,653
Regina 178,225 180,404
Prince Albert 34,291 34,777
Moose Jaw 32,131 32,973
Yorkton 15,107 15,154
Swift Current 14,821 14,890
North Battleford 13,692 14,051
Estevan 10,242 10,752
Weyburn 9,534 9,723
Corman Park 8,093 7,142

Economy

Saskatchewan's economy is traditionally associated with agriculture; however, increasing diversification has meant that now agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting together make up only 6.8% of the province's GDP. Wheat is the most familiar crop, and perhaps the one stereotypically associated with the province, but other grains like canola, flax, rye, oats, peas, lentils, canary seed, and barley are also produced. Mining is also a major industry in the province, with Saskatchewan being the world leader in potash exports. In the northern part of the province, forestry is significant.

Saskatchewan is also the world's most important supplier of uranium, and supplies much of the western world's supplies. The uranium industry is closely regulated by the provincial government which allows the government of Saskatchewan great latitude in setting world uranium prices.

Saskatchewan's GDP in 2003 was approximately $32 billion (Canadian), with economic sectors breaking down in the following way:

  • Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Leasing - 17.1%
  • Mining and Petroleum - 13.0%
  • Education, Health, and Social Services - 11.9%
  • Wholesale and Retail Trade - 11.7%
  • Transportation, Communication, and Utility - 9.1%
  • Manufacturing - 7.7%
  • Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - 6.8%
  • Business Services - 6.5%
  • Government Services - 5.8%
  • Construction - 5.0%
  • Other - 5.3%

Important private-sector firms headquartered in Saskatchewan include the Hill family's Harvard Developments, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Concentra Financial Services, the steelmaker Ipsco (though its operational headquarters is in Lisle, a suburb of Chicago), farm implement manufacturer Brandt Industries, PotashCorp, and Cameco.

Crown corporations include major Saskatchewan-based entities are 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.

History

Prior to European settlement, Saskatchewan was settled by Athabaskan, Algonquian, 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. Soon after, the First Nations were forced onto reserves.

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.

Many Métis people, who had not taken treaty, had moved to the Saskatchewan Rivers 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 Metis' grievances, which stemmed from land-use issues. Finally, in 1885, the Metis, 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.

Politics

Saskatchewan has the same form of government as the other Canadian provinces with a premier, legislature, and lieutenant-governor, who is the representative of the Crown.

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 CCF 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.

During most of the postwar period, the CCF and its successor, the Saskatchewan New Democrats have dominated provincial politics with Douglas, Allan Blakeney, and Roy Romanow all serving long periods as premier and becoming national figures. Urbanization since the Second World War has altered the provincial economy away from its agricultural basis, and there has been a steady migration from farms to cities and towns. There was a corresponding shift in the NDP's focus from rural to urban concerns, so that the NDP gradually became the voice of cities and towns.

The Saskatchewan Liberal Party was the province's main centrist party for several decades early in Saskatchewan's existence, ruling from 1905–29 and from 1934–44. It regained power in 1964, but became insignificant following the defeat of Ross Thatcher's Liberal government in 1971. The Progressive Conservatives led by Grant Devine gradually replaced the Liberals as the NDP's main rival and soundly defeated the New Democrats in 1982's "Monday Night Massacre". But the Conservatives' popularity plummeted after running up large deficits and being closely aligned with the Mulroney-led federal PC government in 1991. Many PC MLAs, including some cabinet ministers, were convicted for misappropriation of public funds, and the PC Party itself went into suspension, though it showed signs of stirring in late 2005.

Today, the official opposition in the province is the Saskatchewan Party, a new party built since 1997 out of the remains of the Tories and former Liberals and even a few New Democrats frustrated by the NDP's inability to "grow" the economy and population. The current premier of Saskatchewan is New Democrat Lorne Calvert, whose government was re-elected in the 2003 election with a slim majority -- the NDP won 30 seats in the 58-seat Legislative Assembly, while the Saskatchewan Party won the remaining 28 seats. Most NDP MLAs represent cities and towns while most SP MLAs represent rural ridings. First Nations and Metis people are politically involved through band councils and other organizations, but their representation in the legislature is very small. An ongoing debate in Canadian academic circles revolves around whether the extension of the franchise to First Nations (as Indians are now called) inadvertently "regularized" their status from member of nations that had signed nation-to-nation treaties with the Crown into merely another Canadian ethnic group.

Interestingly, despite the NDP's three long stretches as the provincial government, the province leans more to the right in federal politics. Of the 14 federal constituencies in Saskatchewan, 12 are currently occupied by Conservative Members of Parliament. While the province has a majority NDP provincial government, the federal NDP has been shut out of the province for two consecutive elections. The only Liberal MPs are former Finance Minister Ralph Goodale and Gary Merasty, former Grand Chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council, whose election win brought controversy over possible election fraud.

Centennial celebrations

File:Sask.jpg
The Saskatchewan Centennial Coin

In 2005, Saskatchewan celebrated its centennial. To honour it the Royal Canadian Mint issued a coin which depicts Canada's wheat fields.

Demographics

While Europeans are the largest number, Aboriginal peoples in Saskatchewan constitute a significant proportion of the population. Ethnicities that are neither of these two groups constitute an extremely small number.

Population of Saskatchewan since 1901

Saskatchewan's population since 1901
Year Population Five Year
 % change 		Ten Year
 % change
1901 91,279 n/a n/a
1911 492,432 n/a 439.5
1921 757,510 n/a 53.8
1931 921,785 n/a 21.7
1941 895,992 n/a -2.8
1951 831,728 n/a -7.2
1961 925,181 n/a 11.2
1971 926,242 n/a 0.1
1981 968,313 n/a 4.5
1986 1,009,613 4.3 n/a
1991 988,928 -2.0 2.1
1996 976,615 -1.2 -3.3
2001 978,933 0.2 -1.0

Ethnic origins [2]

Trivia

  • Saskatchewan sends more players per capita to the NHL than any other province or state.
  • Saskatchewan long maintained a motor vehicle licence plate consisting of green numbers on a cream background with a three golden wheat stalks between the separate sets of three numbers. Eventually pressure to conform with other provinces and American States prevailed and the Motor Vehicle Department solicited suggestions for a booster slogan to post on Saskatchewan's licence plates. "Land of Living Skies" was ultimately chosen.

Police agencies

  • Estevan 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

File:Saskmap2.PNG

See also

 Canada

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