Early deadline for January 3, 2012 paper is Tuesday, December 20 at 5 p.m.
Premier says short but productive fall sitting will keep Saskatchewan moving forward P r e m i e r B r a d Wa l l Thursday said the eightday fall sitting of the new Legislative Assembly was brief but very productive. “Our government laid out our vision for a growing, vibrant province in the Throne Speech and we introduced 36 pieces of legislation,” Wall said. “Most importantly, we have already kept a number of the promises we made in the recent election campaign, and most of the others will be completed in next year’s budget. We made some very clear commitments during the election and we have already kept many of those commitments.” During the short session, the government kept its promises to: • improve assistance for persons with disabilities by increasing benefits and expanding the number of people covered by the Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID) program; • improve services for persons with diabetes; • introduce the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit, effective January 1, 2012; • expand the Active
Families Benefit to cover all children under 18, effective January 1, 2012; • introduce legislation to standardize the start of the school year on the Tuesday following Labour Day each year; and • introduce legislation to extend the notice period for rent increases from six months to one year for property owners who choose not to participate in the tenant assistance initiative created by the Saskatchewan Rental Housing Industry Association. The legislative session will resume in the spring with further debate on the new legislation and the presentation of the 201213 provincial budget. “Saskatchewan is on the right track,” Wall said. “In the past few days, we have seen many independent forecasters say that Saskatchewan’s economy was strong in 2011 and will be again in 2012. “Our government will work hard to keep the Saskatchewan advantage and keep Saskatchewan moving forward.”
Whole lot of Heart . . . Raeann Gidluck tickles the ivory during the Heart of the City Christmas recital, December 12. The students of the program put everyone in the holiday mood, showing those who attended the
future Diana Krall’s, Norah Jones’, and Alice Coltrane’s - the heavyweight talent that will come from Biggar, all because of the Heart of the City program. (Independent Photo by Kevin Brautigam)
RBC predicts Saskatchewan will lead in economic growth 2011-2013 Saskatchewan will lead the nation in economic growth until 2013, according to the latest RBC Economics Provincial Outlook report released Monday. According to the report, GDP is expected to rise in the province by 4.5 per cent in 2011, 4.2 per cent in 2012 and 4.7 per cent in 2013. “This report reflects the amazing opportunities in
our province,” Enterprise Minister Jeremy Harrison said. “The strength of our resource base, new residents moving into the province and solid growth in manufacturing and trade are creating a tremendous increase in economic activity.” RBC has also raised its projection for new housing starts and project that in
2013 there will be 7,900 units built in the province, the highest annual levels since 1979. The unemployment rate in the province is forecast to be the lowest in the nation in 2012 and 2013. Net in-migration rates to the province in the second quarter of 2011 for interprovincial and international migrants were at levels Saskatchewan
has not experienced in 40 years. “What this means for Saskatchewan is that we will continue to see more investment and job creation in our province, more people choosing Saskatchewan as the best place to raise a family and a higher quality of life for people across the province,” Harrison said.
“Landis Shines” deemed an overwhelming success The students of Landis School proudly displayed their recent work at a showcase on November 30. A packed Landis’ Community Complex played host to over 30 elementary and high school students who
manned displays of their extracurricular activities or gave presentations of their work in school. Landis School recently moved to use projectbased learning in the way classes are taught. Project-based learning
Kayla Domashovitz, Steven Hirschfeld and Regan Sittler, right, present their proposal for Landis School’s garden. (Submitted Photo)
involves students learning content while solving a real-world problem, as opposed to conventional teaching where students complete activities after they’ve been taught the content. The school is also working to integrate leadership and entrepreneurship education into classes. “I knew the kids were b u s y, b u t I h a d n o idea that our students are so involved. It’s great!” commented one community member after the evening. Highlights of the evening include Grade 5 student Mitchell Harris’ explanation of how his class took over the school recycling program, Jesse Miller and Cody Garrett’s
lively presentation on their recent trip to the Canadian Student Leadership Conference in Newfoundland, and the Grade 9 and 10 class’s talk about their creation of a school garden and outdoor classroom. Harris, who also wrote a computer program to keep track of the class’s recycling, was a little nervous about presenting in front of such a large audience, but still enjoyed the opportunity. “I liked the head mic,” he later said. Grade 10 Science students Kayla Domashovitz, Regan S i t t l e r, a n d S t e v e n H i r s ch f e l d w e r e v e r y professional as they described both project-
based learning and their community garden project, which involves tying together three different courses (Science, Visual Arts, and PAA), managing a grant from the town, and actually building the garden. In the words of one classmate, “This project allows us to take ownership of our school and improve our school and community at the same time.” Brian McCrea was the guest speaker for the evening. McCrea recently rose to prominence after a successful appearance on CBC’s The Dragon’s Den, where he secured investment from S a s k a t ch e wa n n a t i v e B r e t t Wi l s o n t o f u n d their start-up, 3twenty
Solutions. McCrea was equally impressed by the Landis students’ work, later Tweeting “Entrepreneurship is live and well in rural Saskatchewan.” The evening also served to highlight future plans at Landis S ch o o l , i n cl u d i n g t h e launch of the Sun West L . E . A . D. P r o g r a m i n S e p t e m b e r, 2 0 1 2 . Students in the program will be given iPads to help them collaborate on projects while receiving special leadership and entrepreneurship e d u c a t i o n . L . E . A . D. (Leadership Exploration and Development) will be the first program of its kind in the province.