REGINA (Staff) — The Saskatchewan government is proposing the establishment of two new funds to assist the agriculture industry.
In the throne speech delivered Monday to start a new legislative session, the government announced intentions to create an agri-food equity fund to help form new value-added agricultural businesses. The second fund is for beef industry development. The speech said the fund is being established in response to requests from the industry after the National Cattle Tripartite Stabilization Program was ended.
Premier Roy Romanow said the release of Agriculture 2000, the government’s strategy paper, was just the beginning of an activist approach the province will take, just as it has in health-care reform.
Other initiatives planned are:
- Amendments to the Education Act to allow school divisions to amalgamate, if they so choose.
- The establishment of a children’s advocate with the ombudsman’s office.
- Amendments to the labor standards and trade union acts.
- Acts to foster tourism and develop export markets.
