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March is inventory time
Tisdale - Friday, March 2, 2012

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With the temperature close to or just above freezing each day we all recognize that the mild winter of 2011/2012 is definitely fading into history and everyone is looking forward to spring.

Last week Saskatchewan schools were closed for their February break and with this being leap year Wednesday was that once in every four years February 29th. It is remarkable how time just keeps whistling by in a most relentless manner. In a little more than four weeks it will be Easter with Good Friday on April 6th and our unique Canadian recognition of Easter Monday on April 9th.

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On the north side of Tisdale’s hospital the construction project that will develop into a long term care facility is a maze of forms as the extent of the project is becoming more and more clear. There is a small work force on the site but day by day the base of a very large building is taking shape.

Westeel continues to produce the tanks that have been rolling out of the Northern Steel plants for decades.

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The finished products are being shipped from Tisdale each week.

Though we here in this small town are aware of this manufacturing sector in Saskatchewan’s economy it is often overlooked when Canadians think about Saskatchewan. Certainly, mining and taping into Saskatchewan’s natural resources is most often in the spot light.

Potash mines are a not only well developed but more are being developed and even more planned. For the first part of the twentieth century mining in Saskatchewan was the extraction of coal which today seems almost unimportant. Then in the post war years and to the present day Saskatchewan’s production of Uranium was one of the leading suppliers in the world. Oil production was a minor thing until several technological developments increased the amount of recoverable product so that Saskatchewan’s oil production is about two-thirds of what come out of Alberta.

Until the dispute with our Southern neighbours almost entirely crushed the industry a lot of Saskatchewan people made their living harvesting the forests of Saskatchewan which is a renewable resource.

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It is very important to realize that Saskatchewan is far less than half inhabited with vast portions of the province without people. Even the southern inhabited part of Saskatchewan is remarkably sparsely populated. When europeans first arrived in what is now Saskatchewan the aboriginal population was very small and few lived on the open prairie. The land was surveyed and from a line from Yorkton to Saskatoon south most of the land was parcelled out in 160 acre farms. That gave the province two million people. The dirty thirties and mechanized modern agriculture cut that population to less than half by 1960.

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Even though those people engaged in agriculture are only a fraction of Saskatchewan’s million people today the sector remains one of the pillars which holds up the country. A successful country must be able to feed itself. In Canada’s case we can not only feed ourselves but many many more times our population as Saskatchewan farms are among the most productive operations in the world. Technology is only a part of this success story as Saskatchewan farmers must be well educated in the science of agriculture but also in entrepreneurial business ventures.

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What is so important to understand is that there are cycles and developments that dramatically influence what happens here. Demand for potash on a hungry planet with seven billion people is a growth industry just as petroleum commands economic importance provided the world’s economy does not collapse and the demand for both of these things falls flat. Though Saskatchewan’s agricultural sector is productive and profitable it is dependent on favourable weather and the mercurial nature of the marketplace since world demand and production is interconnected.

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What we need to face is that even though things are going well for us here in Saskatchewan with very low unemployment rates and the need for increased immigration to fuel the expanding economy we must be ready to adapt to the unforeseen and dramatic forces that can changes things very rapidly.

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From our short history we know how much change can occur and should expect similar developments in the future. As a province we must not only increase our population through immigration but we must facilitate the development of the aborigine people who are already here. We must forge forward with advancing the education system at all levels so that we can intellectually meet the challenge and at the same time begin the push to develop the northern half of this vast province.

Yesterday, the process of moving into the newly constructed Caleb Village (below) got underway. With the approach of spring Tisdale’s housing market is also showing a lot of activity. Tisdale has a good range of houses on the market from brand new homes just finished being constructed to small starter houses and everything in between. Tisdale’s outlook is very much like that of the province, positive and growing. The social, cultural, recreational and economic environment is supported by a healthy infrastructure with solid roots and planned for potential growth.

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