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.
The deadline for paying your property taxes in Moose Jaw is June 30. Your Saskatchewan Party Government lowered property taxes for homeowners across the province in 2008. To put that in perspective, a $200,000 home in Moose Jaw receives an average tax reduction of $1,900 and a $300,000 home will receive an average tax reduction of $2,800.
Farmers across Saskatchewan are experiencing the wettest spring in recent history dealing with water-logged land they are unable to access. Our government understands farmers are frustrated – some producers have less than 20 per cent of their crops seeded. Premier Brad Wall, Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud, Crown Investments Corporation Minister June Draude and MLA Fred Bradshaw recently toured areas of Saskatchewan that have received excess amounts of moisture. They met with producers and rural municipality representatives witnessing wet conditions first hand to get a better grasp of the challenges facing producers.
Many rural municipalities have been declared “agriculture disaster area” due to the heavy rainfall, leaving up to 30 per cent of the crops unseeded across the province. Insured farmers can receive up to $50 per eligible acre on land that cannot be seeded through Saskatchewan Crop Insurance. In addition, Crop Insurance also provides coverage for seeded crops that fail to establish due to flooding. The provincial government is also looking at options for additional support.
Saskatchewan’s wet spring is also resulting in more mosquitoes. Our government recently provided $1.1 million in one-time funding to municipalities to help control the mosquitoes in their area. Preventative measures will be taken in communities identified for control of Culex tarsalis mosquito habitat – the mosquitoes that transmit the West Nile Virus. The high-risk period for West Nile Virus is typically mid-July through August. The West Nile Virus risk map is updated weekly and available online at www.health.gov.sk.ca/west-nile-risk.
Your best chance to avoid the West Nile Virus, includes:
• Wearing insect repellent containing DEET;
• Wearing protective clothing;
• Reducing your time outdoors at dawn and at dusk;
• Reducing mosquito habitat in your living area.
It is still not too late to take in the Annual Moose Jaw Hometown Fair and Rodeo this weekend. We had a wonderful kick-off at the parade on Thursday evening. It was great to see so many families out enjoying the time together.
Looking forward, I hope to see you at the Canada Day celebrations on July 1st at the Western Development Museum.