Seager Wheeler site funded
Seager Wheeler’s historic farm site is getting a $44,500 facelift.The federal government announced it will provide up to $22,000 toward a $44,500 upgrade of the 17 acre farm site near Rosthern, Sask.The work will focus on restoring the original 1908 farm house.The remainder of the funding will come from private sources.The farmstead was established by Wheeler, a farmer, agronomist and pioneering seed breeder, in 1898.The area is designated as a national historic site and includes buildings, archeological resources and landscape features that depict a model farm of the period from 1898 to 1940.Wheeler operated the farm until 1947, conducting research and experiments important for the development of western agriculture.
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Sask. opens new lab
Saskatchewan has officially opened a new health laboratory in Regina, replacing an outdated 1958 facility.The $55.5 million Saskatchewan Disease Control Laboratory is located at Innovation Place research park, next to the University of Regina. Staff there will test environmental specimens such as water samples from wells, and for food-borne illnesses, communicable diseases and influenza.The new lab is awaiting certification for Level 3 containment status, which would enable it to handle dangerous organisms such as anthrax, compared to Level 2 labs that handle organisms such as E. coli.Canada’s only Level 4 lab is located in Winnipeg.
Switching rules before court
A dispute over the rules governing railway switching around Winnipeg is in the hands of the Federal Court of Appeals.The court heard arguments from Canadian National Railways and U.S.-based BNSF Railway in Ottawa May 11.The railways disagree on whether the exchange of rail cars at Portage Junction near Winnipeg constitutes interswitching under the Canada Transportation Act. If so, then it would continue to be governed by regulated rail rates. If not, the rates will be commercially negotiated.The Winnipeg interchange between the railways dates back to 1912 and is the only point on the Prairies from which grain cars can be shipped directly to the U.S.On Feb. 6, 2009, the CTA ruled in favour of BNSF that the movement is legally interswitching and the rates should remain regulated.Grain shippers such as Paterson Grain and the Canadian Wheat Board supported BNSF, saying interswitching is crucial to continued grain movement to the U.S. at reasonable rates.
