Tracy Tjaden

SASKATOON – The Saskatchewan government is under fire this week amid allegations a $5 million forgivable loan it gave Intercontinental Packers is tied to the company’s decision to close its Vancouver plant and centralize operations in Saskatoon. Three hundred B.C. workers will lose their jobs when the meat packing plant closes next spring. Company vice-chair […] Read more

SASKATOON – Saskatchewan rural municipalities say they’ll take the federal government to court if necessary to compensate for losing a tax base when First Nations land claims are settled. The head of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities said rural governments could lose up to $10 million in tax revenue if all outstanding claims are […] Read more

The Saskatoon meat packing giant Intercontinental Packers will close its Vancouver plant this spring and centralize operations in Saskatoon to keep up with increasingly competitive North American and global trends. Three hundred British Columbia workers will be laid off in the move. Company vice-chair Fred Mitchell said the consolidation is necessary because of total restructuring […] Read more

Farmers in Saskatchewan are switching to direct seeding methods for more than just environmental reasons. The move toward farming methods that result in little or no soil disturbance has been on a steady climb in Saskatchewan in recent years. According to a Statistics Canada agriculture survey, 2.4 million acres of Saskatchewan cropland were seeded using […] Read more

SASKATOON – You pay your money, you take your chances. And if you’re entering Edward and Suzan Yawney’s literary lottery, you also sit down to write a 300-word essay. The winner of the Kamloops couple’s contest will lay claim to their two-bedroom lakeside home, situated on one acre of tree-lined waterfront property in the B.C. […] Read more

Rural politicians in Saskatchewan are at loggerheads with the provincial trucking association over new legislation that cracks down on both shippers and carriers who load overweight trucks. The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities passed a resolution at its annual convention Nov. 7 to oppose the practice of ticketing overweight trucks as the result of findings […] Read more

Two Manitoba men are dead following an accident Nov. 21 at CanAmera Foods’ canola crushing plant in Altona, Man. Police said three plant employees were preparing to load a tanker with canola oil when a hose spout fell into the tanker. One worker went in to retrieve the hose and never came out. “A second […] Read more

Some roads in rural Saskatchewan aren’t fit for a horse and buggy. The claims might be exaggerated, but the province’s rural municipalities say the grid road system is ready to crack under increased heavy truck traffic brought on by the loss of the Crow Benefit rail transportation subsidy and rail line abandonment. Municipalities in the […] Read more

SASKATOON – Residents of a small farming community on the outskirts of Saskatoon have some celebrating to do. Last week, they won a fight against urban sprawl, a beast that has prowled on southeast Corman Park residents frequently in recent years. An organized and vocal lobby group stormed a meeting of the municipal council and […] Read more

An economic development group in a west-central Saskatchewan community is checking the feasibility of starting a farmer-owned seed cleaning/seed coating plant. The idea is attracting rave reviews from farmers in the area, who now have to drive more than three hours either to Edmonton or North Battleford to reach the nearest plant. Preliminary research through […] Read more