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Back to School, Building a Better Quality of Life

Aug 28, 2014 | 3:07 PM

The new school year can be an exciting time for parents, students, teachers and support staff. On behalf of the Government of Saskatchewan, I want to express my appreciation to all those who are helping prepare our children for the future.

It is a priority of our government to ensure schools are optimal learning environments in which students feel safe. Our Action Plan to Address Bullying and Cyberbullying (which can be found online at saskatchewan.ca) is one way we are working to achieve this.

In all the excitement the back to school season brings, please remember to watch out for exuberant children making their way to and from school. Over the summer our government introduced significant changes to traffic safety laws in an effort to keep all of us, including our children, safe. Please be careful and have a great start to the school year!

As our readers head out to a variety of events and errands on the last long weekend of the summer, I invite them to check out the Highway Hotline's latest available road conditions at saskatchewan.ca/highwayhotline. For road closures and travel not recommended alerts on Twitter, check out the Highway Hotline account @SKGovHwyHotline and, for general tips, visit the Highway Hotline on Facebook at facebook.com/SaskatchewanHighwayHotline.

In an effort to enhance Saskatchewan Highway Hotline information, six new roadside cameras have been installed across the province. One camera is located on Highway 2, near the new St. Louis Bridge.

Not long ago I had the privilege of joining elders, guests and colleagues in opening the First Nations and Métis Culture Centre at Pine Grove Correctional Centre in Prince Albert; the only correctional facility for women in the province.

This new Culture Centre will serve as a dedicated space for fostering the knowledge of traditional practices and a place for spiritual dialogue. A strong sense of culture and spirituality is an essential part of the rehabilitative process. It provides people with a better chance of successfully reintegrating back into their communities and helps to reduce the risk of re-offending.

One of our government’s priorities is ensuring affordable housing is available in communities across Saskatchewan – this includes Prince Albert. Since 2007, over $15.2 million has been provided to construct 190 new rental units in our community. In that time, entry-level homeownership opportunities have been provided to 27 households with provincial contributions of over $720,000. In addition, $13 million in provincial funding has been provided for 69 new homes that are currently under construction. The repairs of 89 homeowner units and 282 rental units are currently complete or under construction, with provincial funding of over $6.2 million.

Construction of 30 new family social housing units is also underway as part of the Government of Saskatchewan’s portfolio renewal initiative. Our government, through Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC), is investing $5.6 million in the development, designed to produce new, medium-density multiple unit housing in Prince Albert.

Tenants at Pineland Apartments also enjoy improved housing quality as a result of renovations completed to 23 one-bedroom suites. The total cost of the renovations is approximately $1 million, and consisted of improvements to plumbing, heating and electrical systems as well as structural repairs.

I am pleased to announce that Saskatchewan has signed a new agreement with the Government of Canada that will further help with access affordable housing in the province. Over the next five years, an additional $91.9 million will be delivered through an extension to the Investment in Affordable Housing (IAH) Agreement. You can read more about this agreement online at saskatchewan.ca.
Your voice matters – I want to know what is important and would like to hear your thoughts and ideas to keep our province moving forward in a way that is a benefit to all Saskatchewan residents. Please feel free to contact me or drop by my constituency office.

Prince Albert Northcote constituents are always welcome to contact me. Call 306-922-4220, visit my website at http://mlajurgens.ca or email mlajurgens@sasktel.net. My office is located at 5A 598 15 St. East across from Superstore.