Verna Thompson

I’ve had several people drop into my office in the past few days to ask if we are really in the midst of a federal election. If it weren’t for the preponderance of news about Jean ChrŽtien and Stockwell Day in the national press and on the television news, I would have to say no. […] Read more

This is a fall overloaded with elections. In Saskatchewan, we are just through a spate of school board, urban and rural municipal elections. There is a federal election ongoing, as anyone who is not blind, deaf or living in seclusion somewhere will know. Canadian Wheat Board elections are heating up. This should be democracy at […] Read more

It’s official. Whatever the calendar says, fall is here. By my reckoning, fall is here when it’s too cold to go out with just my fleece vest over a sweater. That happened last Friday. If a more prosaic reason is needed, a look at my current events calendar confirms what I already know: Fowl suppers, […] Read more

It is sometimes difficult to be current when writing a weekly column. A lot can happen between the writing of a column and its appearance in print. As an example, by the time this column is in readers’ hands, we could be into a federal election. I hope so. Those in the know are betting […] Read more

Saskatchewan legislative columnist Murray Mandryk in a recent column said that, while rural Saskatchewan may not have elected many government MLAs in the last provincial election, it will get attention from the NDP as it seeks a leader to replace Roy Romanow. It seems to me that, even without the leadership race, rural Saskatchewan is […] Read more

Anyone who listened to a CBC morning show last week – it seems like the whole province – knows I cried when Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow announced his retirement. The announcement wasn’t unexpected. I saw him in early August at the induction ceremony for the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame. He appeared tired and his […] Read more

If you ever get the chance to listen to Lynda Haverstock or Joanie McCusker, pay heed. Lynda Haverstock is lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan and Joan McCusker was a member of the women’s Olympic curling rink skipped by the late Sandra Schmirler. Both were on the same program last week when the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association, […] Read more

Ten or 15 years ago, you could hardly pick up a newspaper or magazine in Western Canada and not read about farm stress. The articles aren’t so prevalent these days, but farm stress is still with us. Just ask Nikki Gerrard. She’s a farm stress counselor from Saskatoon who has been meeting with farmers, health […] Read more

This is definitely not the column I had planned for this week. With so much going on – two crucial federal byelections at different ends of the country, job action by teachers in Saskatchewan, the first ministers meeting to talk about health care – another farm safety column didn’t seem that enticing. Then, driving home […] Read more