Humboldt

The long weekend is the traditional wrap up for summer, but the weather showed no sign of ushering in fall on Sunday for the finale of this year’s Manitou Music Fest. The show ran for two days on the grounds of the Little Manitou Art Gallery to a packed house.  

SaskCrops sent in their annual submission last week for Finance Canada’s federal pre-budget consultations. 

SaskCrops represents the vast majority of grain and oilseed producers in Saskatchewan through the participating growers' associations - SaskBarley, SaskCanola, SaskFlax, SaskOats, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, and Sask Wheat. 

The groups note that research funding remains a key advocacy priority for SaskCrops and want to see significant, predictable, and sustained investment in research from the government.

Western Crop Innovations continues to grow. 

The Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission has joined Western Crop Innovations (WCI) as a voting member.

Sask Barley has committed $50,000 in core funding as a transitional grant for the current fiscal year.

Western Crop Innovations (WCI) work focuses on developing feed and forage barley, malting barley, and triticale varieties specifically tailored for the Western Prairies.

The newly formed organization - formerly known as the Field Crop Development Centre - was founded earlier this year. 

A tourist visiting Canada is questioning the safety of Via Rail after he says his phone was snatched from him by an employee when he was documenting a train delay that left passengers stranded as they ran out of food, water and working toilets.

Chip Malt was in Quebec over the long weekend to celebrate his father's 70th birthday in the province's capital, and said he boarded a Via Rail train from Montreal to Quebec City on Saturday.

If elected Premier, Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck is proposing a ‘no tax hike’ guarantee.

Beck says for the first term, the NDP will not increase provincial income tax, provincial sales tax, or corporate tax. On top of that, she promises to suspend the 15-cents-per-litre gas tax for six months and freeze the small business tax that she claims current Premier Scott Moe plans to double next July.

She expects axing the gas tax will save the average Saskatchewan family up to $350.

When August rolled around, April Hicke realized the $100 she typically gives her 13-year-old son to update his wardrobe in time for school to start was no longer enough.

"Even on the sale racks, a pair of sweatpants at SportChek, they're still $25 a pair. You used to be able to go and buy a pair of sweatpants for $10," said the Calgary-based mother of two. "I am shocked at the (price) increase of kids' clothes."

Despite castigation from provincial premiers over lagging federal contributions to health spending, an analysis of 20 years of health funding data shows that federal transfers have mostly outpaced increases to provincial health budgets. 

In 2023, federal health transfers amounted to $47.1 billion, a 212 per cent increase over 2005, when the transfers were $15.1 billion. Total spending by all 10 provinces grew in that time to $221.9 billion up from $86.2 billion, an increase of 158 per cent.

According to the latest data released by Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan's average weekly earnings were up in June compared to May. The numbers, which came out Thursday morning, show the average weekly earnings in the province were $1220.82, an increase of 5.17 percent from June 2023 and up by $12.30 from May.  

With an end goal of creating an ‘Innovation Corridor’, site-preparation has begun for the new Saskatchewan Polytechnic campus located near Innovation Place, and just a few steps away from the University of Saskatchewan.

President of Sask. Polytech Larry Rosia says once complete, it will be the only campus in Canada that features a university, a polytechnic, and a research park. He says this will attract professors, students, and researchers to the city.

He says it will also allow for more efficient collaborations between those at all three institutions.