Saskatchewan
) (a common alternate pronunciation, "sa-ska-tchu-WAHN" (
IPA: ), heard for example in
The Muppet Movie, indicates that the speaker is not from the province. Local pronunciation, therefore, represents a
shibboleth for residents. The name comes from the
Saskatchewan River, whose name comes from its
Cree designation:
kisiskāciwani-sīpiy (
Cree syllabics: ᑭ"ᐢᑳ'ᐘ" "ᐱᐩ), meaning "swift flowing river".[
1] It is interesting to note that speakers from the western part of the province and Alberta, acquainted with the actual Saskatchewan river systems, pronounce the river, province, and city [
2] names locally as "sa-SKATCH-when".
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 |
Note that the list does not include
Lloydminster, which has a total population of 23,632 but straddles the
Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
As of 2001, only 7,840 people lived on the Saskatchewan side, which would make it Saskatchewan's 11th largest municipality.
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.
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.
In 1876, following the
Battle of Little Bighorn Lakota chief Sitting Bull led several thousnad 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 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.
The Homestead Act permited settlers to acquire ¼mi² 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 agricultual 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 honorable and legitimate way; and to suggest to parliament legislation to meet changing conditions and requirements.
In
1970 the first annual Canadian Western Agribition was held in Regina.
Saskatchewan has the same form of government as the other Canadian provinces with a
Lieutenant-Governor (who is the representative of the
Crown),
premier, and
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 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 has recently announced its intention to run a full slate in the next provincial election.
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 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 allegations over possible election fraud.
|
The Saskatchewan Centennial Coin |
In 2005, Saskatchewan celebrated its centennial. To honour it the
Royal Canadian Mint issued a commemorative 5-dollar coin depicting
Canada's wheat fields as well as a circulation
25-cent coin of a similar design. The
Queen visited and
Joni Mitchell issued an album in Saskatchewan's honour.
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!Rank Among
Provinces | | 1901 | 91,279 | n/a | n/a | 8 |
| 1911 | 492,432 | n/a | 439.5 | 3 |
| 1921 | 757,510 | n/a | 53.8 | 3 |
| 1931 | 921,785 | n/a | 21.7 | 3 |
| 1941 | 895,992 | n/a | -2.8 | 3 |
| 1951 | 831,728 | n/a | -7.2 | 5 |
| 1956 | 880,665 | 5.9 | n/a | 5 |
| 1961 | 925,181 | 5.1 | 11.2 | 5 |
| 1966 | 955,344 | 3.3 | 8.5 | 6 |
| 1971 | 926,242 | -3.0 | 0.1 | 6 |
| 1976 | 921,325 | -0.5 | 3.6 | 6 |
| 1981 | 968,313 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 6 |
| 1986 | 1,009,613 | 4.3 | 9.6 | 6 |
| 1991 | 988,928 | -2.0 | 2.1 | 6 |
| 1996 | 976,615 | -1.2 | -3.3 | 6 |
| 2001 | 978,933 | 0.2 | -1.0 | 6 |
Source: Statistics Canada [
3]
Ethnic origins [
4]
Note: The following statistics include a combination of individual and multiple responses from the 2001 Census, and therefore do not add up to 100%.*
German 28.6%
*
Canadian 25.0%
*
English 24.5%
*
Scottish 17.9%
*
Irish 14.5%
*
Ukrainian 12.6%
*
French 11.4%
* "North American Indian"
First Nations 10.6%
*
Norwegian 6.3%
*
Polish 5.3%
*
Métis 4.2%
*
Dutch (Netherlands) 3.4%
*
Swedish 3.1%
*
Russian 2.9%
*
Hungarian (Magyar) 2.5%
*
Austrian 1.5%
*
Welsh 1.4%
*
American (USA) 1.2%
*
Romanian 1.1%
*
Danish 1.0%
*
Chinese 1.0%
*Saskatchewan sends more players per capita to the
NHL than any other province or state.
*Saskatchewan's licence plates bear the slogan "Land of Living Skies", and depict three stalks of wheat.
*
John le Carre's novel
The Constant Gardener features Saskatchewan prominently in a number of its chapters.
*With aproximately 250 golf courses Saskatchewan has more courses per capita than anywhere else in the world.
Museums and galleries
*
Mendel Art Gallery*
MacKenzie Art Gallery*
Royal Saskatchewan Museum*
RCMP Training Academy which includes a museum
Artist-Run centres
*
AKA GalleryIndividual artists
*
Dr William Hobbs Prairie and Railways Painter.
*
Glen Scrimshaw* 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
*
Saskatoon correctional centre*
Regina Correctional Centre*
Prince Albert Correctional Centre*
Pine Grove Correctional Centre*
Saskatchewan Penitentiary* Regina
Paul Dojack Youth Center*
The Saskatchewan Act*
District of Assiniboia*
List of cities in Canada*
List of Saskatchewan general elections*
List of Saskatchewan lieutenant-governors*
List of Saskatchewan premiers*
List of Leaders of the Opposition in Saskatchewan*
List of communities in Saskatchewan*
List of Canadian provincial and territorial symbols*
List of Saskatchewan rivers*
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan*
List of rural municipalities in Saskatchewan*
Saskatchewan Film and Video Classification Board*
Scouting in Saskatchewan*
SaskTourism*
Saskatchewan Centennial 2005*
SaskFilm*
Directory of Saskatchewan Churches*
CBC Digital Archives - Showdown on the Prairies: A History of Saskatchewan Elections*
CBC Digital Archives - Saskatchewan @ 100
