Diane Rogers

Alberta’s outstanding young farmer couple remains optimistic despite being heavily involved with cattle in a year when BSE has damaged the beef industry. “We have a large land base and you need cattle to work with that,” said Karilynn Marshall of Bowden, Alta. She said she and her husband Ian still plan to buy calves […] Read more

Finances are plaguing another branch of the women’s institutes organization as declining membership and government cuts take their toll. In a recent letter to members, Sharol Briere, the British Columbia Women’s Institute director in charge of finance, said the loss of an annual $25,000 grant from the provincial government was a serious blow. “We are […] Read more

CRAIK, Sask. – As the building beside Highway 11 moved from paper to wood, the doubters became convinced that the Town and Rural Municipality of Craik were onto something after all. A 6,000 sq. metre building, built with the environment in mind, opened July 3 east of the town of 450 in central Saskatchewan. Located […] Read more

Three months is not a long time to become proficient in a foreign language but 16 Chinese agriculture officials are trying. They are studying English and learning and debating agriculture while at the University of Saskatchewan until the end of August. This is the third year the university extension department’s Centre for Second Language Instruction […] Read more

The day after the federal election, rural child-care advocate Jane Wilson was ready to ask prime minister Paul Martin to make good on his promise of a national day-care system. “I’m going to go down trying,” said Wilson of the need to ensure rural child care gets federal government funding. “Hopefully we can make sure […] Read more

A bear rug, two-headed calves, a glass jar full of marbles and other oddities occupy half of the building that also houses a 1950s style diner in north-central Saskatchewan. The Blacktop Diner and Riverbend Antiques share the building on Highway 12 near Waldheim. Its location just south of the Petrofka bridge over the North Saskatchewan […] Read more

Ruth Dickie has a good idea. Now the New Brunswick woman needs people to help her out. Dickie is a member of her province’s women’s institutes and is chair of the national WI unity committee. She suggested WI members across Canada list their names with her if they are willing to host a fellow WI […] Read more

For the past three annual meetings, members of the Saskatchewan Women’s Institutes had spirit-dampening discussions about financing. “I decided we wouldn’t do that this year,” said SWI president Shirley Wenaas. “We had no money so we didn’t dwell on it.” Last year the SWI closed its office at the University of Saskatchewan, laid off its […] Read more

Women bear the load when it comes to looking after their elderly parents, spouses and friends, says a new book that investigates who in Canada is doing unpaid caregiving. The researchers said the largest group using paid and unpaid home care is seniors, 39 percent men and 61 percent women. The book, which was released […] Read more

The voices of women who live in rural and remote parts of Canada are reflected in a study of health policy re-leased June 9. Their universal complaint is that women are invisible and their health concerns disregarded by those in authority. There were many suggestions for change from the 200 women who participated in 28 […] Read more