In today's Morning Brief, in the wake of the discovery of the bodies of 215 children found in Kamloops, B.C., we look at the calls for protection of sites of former residential schools in case more remains are found.
Posted: May 28, 2021 6:00 AM AT | Last Updated: May 28
Lyle Stewart, left, with Dino s Pizza Summerside owner Rami Ayoub, right, gave $100 to the pizzeria s suspended slice program, which allows people who can t pay to grab a slice of pizza for free. (Submitted by Dino s Pizza Summerside)
Photo by File Photo The Government of Saskatchewan supports the Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals Inc. (SMMI) project to significantly upgrade its sodium sulphate plant in Chaplin. SMMI s $220 million sulphate of potash (SOP) fertilizer production upgrade, once complete, is expected to result in a 50 per cent increase in jobs at the Chaplin facility and more than 360 construction jobs. The upgraded facility is expected to produce 150,000 metric tonnes of SOP per year, which will be sold to North American and international markets as a high quality fertilizer and plant nutrition product. Further expansion is planned to increase SOP tonnes and utilize reserves at Ingebrigt Lake.
The Municipalities of Saskatchewan (MOS) is stepping into the deep end of wetlands drainage and water quality on the Prairies. Previously called the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association, the lobby group representing cities, towns, villages and resort villages voted to approve the two matters during a resolution session at its annual convention Tuesday afternoon. For the wetlands policy item, delegates voted 170-46 to lobby the provincial government to “develop and adopt a wetland policy comparable to the policies currently in place in Alberta and Manitoba.” Thanks to the second resolution, which won with 192-23 votes, the MOS is to lobby the province to “direct (the Water Security Agency, WSA) to publish online quarterly” water quality test results from lakes and rivers, with comparisons to the WSA’s 2015 contaminant water levels.
Farmland board rules against investment group
by Sean Pratt
Saskatchewan’s Farm Land Security Board has issued its second decision on a case that could transform the way land is bought and sold in the province.
The decision reaffirms an earlier ruling that ordered Skyline Agriculture Financial Corp. to reduce its land holdings to the allowable 10 acre limit for foreign investors.
Skyline is attempting to use a complicated ownership structure involving mortgage agreements, swap agreements and derivative agreements to avoid being viewed as owner of the farmland.
The British Columbia company headed by Mark Reineking believes it can use the unique business structure to raise funds from outside Canada to buy Saskatchewan farmland because it wouldn’t actually own the land.