Dr. Joe Schwarcz describes his job at Montreal’s McGill University as keeping people out of the “clutches of charlatans.” Schwarcz, who is director of the university’s Office for Science and Society as well as the author of 10 books on nutrition, said there is a lot of confusing information about food. Fish are a good […] Read more
Stories by Diane Rogers
Schools go green
hen the town of Clairmont welcomes 200 students to its new school this month, it will be a first for Alberta. This will be the first school to open since the province decided that all new government-funded public buildings must be energy efficient. Clairmont Community School meets the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) […] Read more
Fun under the sun
Heating the pool at the Bengough Regional Park cost $9,000 for two months each summer, said recreation director Deb Ashby. After putting solar panels on the nearby rink roof in 2004 and pumping water through hoses and the panels, she said the summer pool heating bill is now $2,000 to $2,500. A federal government green […] Read more
FCC Forum hits funny bone
There were plenty of laughs as Farm Credit Canada delivered three motivational speakers to cheer up clients at a Dec. 5 event in Saskatoon. This is the third year for the FCC Forum and it attracted 800 people. Larry Hayes, FCC district director for Saskatoon, said with agriculture getting more complex, farmers need more training. […] Read more
Type of child care has no effect on children
A postdoctoral student at the University of Saskatchewan has found no difference in the quality of child care whether it is delivered by a co-operative, nonprofit or for-profit centre. Catherine Leviten-Reid said it is because child care is a heavily regulated activity in Canada. Every province has detailed laws about staff training, staff-child numbers, space […] Read more
Doctor shortage may worsen
It may soon be more difficult for Saskatchewan to import doctors from other countries, Dr. Dennis Kendel warned delegates to the mid-term convention of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities. Kendel, registrar of the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons, said an agreement among premiers to free up labour mobility in Canada would make it […] Read more
Gardeners weigh in on giant pumpkins
Cool weather hampered the contenders for this year’s Saskatchewan pumpkin challenge. The winner, grown by Eric Jischke of Nokomis, weighed in Nov. 2 at 440.9 pounds. But a winner in a past year was a 607 lb. whopper from the Fairlight area. “Make sure you get that 0.9,” joked contest organizer Gerry Dahl. He and […] Read more
Health co-ops rare breed
Quebec has become the last bastion of health-care co-operatives in Canada. The province has 77 of Canada’s 117 health co-ops, although most are locally based home-care agencies. Saskatchewan has fallen from a high of 25 co-op medical clinics formed during the 1962 doctors’ strike to the four remaining in Wynyard, Prince Albert, Saskatoon and Regina. […] Read more
Private vs. public health-care debate called myth
People are too willing to accept the idea that health care’s future will be a tense pull between public versus private systems, says a University of Regina professor. Greg Marchildon, a former deputy minister in Saskatchewan who also worked on the federal health commission headed by former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, called the private versus […] Read more
Creativity often follows diversity
Hard times lead to innovation, says a University of Saskatchewan historian. Speaking to an international conference on the role of health co-operatives in health care, Brett Fairbairn said creativity accompanies adversity. For example, the doctors’ strike in Saskatchewan in 1962 led people to create health co-ops that worked with doctors who believed in offering nonprofit […] Read more
