Diane Rogers

GLASLYN, Sask. – Harvey Blanchette likes to joke that everything on his ranch is black – his cattle, his horses and his cats. But while his animals may be black, his outlook isn’t. His relaxed attitude toward life contrasts with his busy routine. He and his hired man of 10 years, Bill Hutchings, look after […] Read more

SASKATOON – If you ask Eldon Smith whether there are too many doctors, he’ll say you should be more worried about the number a decade from now. “In the Sixties we had a shortage. We made some corrections. Now we have an excess and are making corrections. What will the situation be in the future?” […] Read more

SASKATOON – Censorship is not as big an issue as the dangers of violence on television, say many groups appearing before the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. CRTC commissioner Garth Dawley said in an interview “censorship is a very ugly, dirty word but how far do we go in protecting children? A lot of people […] Read more

SASKATOON – The women’s movement received an invigorating breath of encouragement and congratulations at two recent world conferences in China, says a Saskatoon woman. “The way women networked with each other, at the grassroots, it was heartening. At times I was really excited by it. It was an enormous psychological boost,” said Nayyar Javed. She […] Read more

SASKATOON – Manitoba is joining the rest of the western provinces in reducing the number of boards responsible for health care, says health minister Jim McCrae. Manitoba has merged boundaries to create 10 regional health associations, the minister said in a news release. These will replace the boards that cover 65 rural hospitals and 70 […] Read more

SASKATOON – Four women who didn’t get a farm fuel rebate from the Saskatchewan government because they are married to farmers are getting a human rights hearing. The four, who laid complaints in 1993 and 1994 with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, will likely have their hearing and a resolution within a year, said chief […] Read more

SASKATOON – Male attitude is a big problem in Nicaragua, which is sliding into poverty despite the end of a civil war partially funded by the Americans against the previous socialist government. The past five years of free-enterprise government have not improved the economy, says Sandra Ramos. The former trade union organizer now runs the […] Read more

SASKATOON – Karen Pedersen is too tired from long days of meetings and slow transportation to think about protesting. The Cut Knife, Sask., farmer is one of about 500 Canadian women attending the non-governmental groups’ meeting in China that opened Aug. 30. This preceded the United Nations world conference on women that started in Beijing […] Read more

MACKLIN, Sask. – The Bast family’s hard work isn’t immediately obvious on a quick visit to their western Saskatchewan farm yard. There were no cows in the corral this muggy July afternoon and the nearest oil battery was out of sight a kilometre away. But the apparent calm is deceptive. The phone rings inside the […] Read more

BIRCH HILLS, Sask. – Marlyn Clary is a man with a mission. He wants to convince prairie people to look after themselves rather than rely on government. “If we don’t want to wake up in rural Saskatchewan … we won’t survive as individual towns. We’ve got to work together and get the government the hell […] Read more