Scott Boulton

In a recent announcement, the federal government and B.C. provincial government announced that the province would have an exemption from the current Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to remove criminal penalties from those carrying a small amount of certain illicit substances.

The decriminalization will last from Jan. 1 2023 to Jan.1, 2026, and is set up to see the effects the policy will have.

In a recent announcement, the federal government and B.C. provincial government announced that the province would have an exemption from the current Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to remove criminal penalties from those carrying a small amount of certain illicit substances.

The decriminalization will last from Jan. 1 2023 to Jan.1, 2026, and is set up to see the effects the policy will have.

PST amendment changes were announced last week for multiple items in the agriculture sector, which the province is hoping will make the tax more equitable for the industry.

Some of the items included in the exemption were windbreaker panels, insulators for electrified livestock fences, and certain farm equipment attached to a registered vehicle.

Others were also made exempt retroactively back to 2016 and that included items like water and other liquid storage tanks, adjuvants, portable seed cleaners, and farm tractors.

Farmers will be looking for a better year as the growing season is slowly losing days, so they'll need to keep an eye on any potential pests.

That includes insects who thrived last year thanks to the dry and hot weather. They had a large impact on crops last year and may still have an impact this year as they left a good amount of eggs.

Provincial Insect Specialist James Tansey says that grasshoppers, one of the best-known pests, were a large beneficiary of that climate.

People may want to head to the great outdoors as conditions improve, but caution should be a priority as wild animals might have the same idea.

At this time of year, bears are coming out of hibernation, not to mention the many other wild animals like cougars and coyotes that could be around.

Because of that, it's imperative that people know how to keep their camping trips bear-free.

Matthew Tokaruk, a provincial black bear biologist, says that one of the best practices is to make sure you're not leaving out snacks for wildlife.

In the province's recently released COVID-19 weekly update, test positivity rates and new COVID case numbers have both fallen compared to last week.

The new test positivity rate is 6.5%, compared to 7.6% the previous week. The number of tests also went down, from 7,099 last week to 6,908.

465 new cases were confirmed, which is also a decrease from the reported 710 last week.

22 new COVID deaths were reported, compared to 19 last week. There were 11 confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care and care home settings.

Farmers will be looking to start their seeding season right away, even though there is a lot of moisture on the ground. That's likely to include long hours in the fields, which could be a safety risk.

As fields get darker and fatigue starts to set in, one collision with a power pole or other infrastructure could carry consequences for farmers.

As such, Saskpower is reminding them to stay vigilant as the seeding season begins and farmers are rushing to get everything in the ground as quickly as possible.

A labour group here in Saskatchewan has come out with their criticisms of the scheduled minimum wage increase.

That's set to go up to $13 on October 1, followed by $14 on the same date next year, and $15 one year after that.

With the wage going up by more than a quarter it'll amount to a good chunk of change more for those working minimum wage.

But Lori Johb, the President of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, argues that the increase is still not enough for those workers.