Moose Jaw hasn’t been spared from the seemingly endless rain this year, but the weather hasn’t dampened spirits. Our friendly city has been buzzing with events, most notably was sidewalks. Residents and families filled the streets ready to shop and enjoy some local food and entertainment. Special thanks to the Moose Jaw Art Guild and Cathy Sinclair who drew a caricature of me at Creative PhotoGraphics Art Gallery. I will be proud to hang the impressive drawing in my constituency office. Thanks to everyone who took part in Sidewalk Days – bringing community spirit and making it a huge success.

Congratulations to the Saskatchewan Stock Growers on their 97th Convention recently held in Moose Jaw. Our Minister of Agriculture, Bob Bjornerud took part in this year’s convention themed “Adding Value to Beef – Reality or Myth?” The convention focused on opportunities to add value to their product. There were very informative sessions throughout the convention for beef producers and for the beef industry.
The Wakamow Aboriginal Community Association held their “Moose Jaw Aboriginal Day Celebration” in Connor Park. I was pleased to attend the event and experience Aboriginal music, art, food and dance. The children attending enjoyed themselves and learnt about Aboriginal culture, games and activities. Thanks for the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in this celebration.
The St. George Masonic Lodge also deserves huge congratulations on their 100th anniversary. Thanks to all lodge members, past and present, for all of your service within the community over the past 100 years.

Your Saskatchewan Party government will continue to make building a strong and growing economy our top priority in the upcoming summer months. By growing the economy, we can continue to invest in services that are important to Saskatchewan families, such as education, health and social programming. Just as Premier Brad Wall has noticed a new confidence in our province, so have I. Many Moose Jaw residents have expressed that they think Saskatchewan is the best place in Canada to work, live and raise a family. Our government will take the necessary steps so that our province will continue moving in the right direction.

Saskatchewan is moving into the summer months with smaller debt, lower taxes, rebuilding infrastructure, record-high population, and shorter wait times. Our government is also upgrading medical facilities like the Moose Jaw Union Hospital Picture Archives Communication System. I was pleased to announce the implementation of the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) at the Union Hospital recently, on behalf of Health Minister Don McMorris. This new innovative system will store diagnostic images such as X-rays, ultrasounds and CT Scans, and improve the access to digital imaging services for all Saskatchewan hospital centres when it is fully implemented. Patients in the Five Hills Health Region will benefit from a reduction in wait times and improved access as result of a secure computer system for the storage, retrieval and display of diagnostic images. State of the art systems are also another recruitment tool to attract and keep more health care providers.

Summer is always a busy time for Moose Jaw and its energetic residents. The past few weeks were no exception. It was my pleasure to partake in a variety of events around the city.

A Snowbird Tutor jet now reaches for the sky as it stands alongside ‘Mac The Moose’ at the Tourism Moose Jaw Visitor Center, on Thatcher Drive E. The jet was mounted earlier this year thanks to an investment through a former Canada-Saskatchewan Western Economic Partnership Agreement (WEPA), in conjunction with the City of Moose Jaw, and the co-operation of 15 Wing. I was pleased to be a part of that announcement and the official unveiling of the CT-114 jet – the same model used for training by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. The Snowbirds Demonstration Team has called Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan home for almost 40 years. The Snowbird Tutor jet display will attract visitors from all over, and will be reminded our citizens of Moose Jaw of that proud history and the strong relationship of the City and the Arm Forces. It also reflects the economic opportunities that have been created in the past four decades.