Darryl Hickie’s MLA Report

It’s a big year for our provincial parks. Our government recently announced that July 10th to 16th is Saskatchewan Parks Week and this year marks the 80th Anniversary of our provincial parks system. These beautiful parks provide a unique, recreational and cultural experience for people not only from Saskatchewan, but also from Canada and around the world. Our government is committed to ensuring that remains so.

Since 2008, your Saskatchewan Party government has invested nearly $33 million to improve our provincial parks. Some of those improvements include new or upgraded service centres, change houses, boat launches, entry kiosks, picnic tables, barbeques and, by the fall of 2011, nearly 1,100 newly electrified campsites. One of our promises in the 2007 election campaign was to provide electrical service to 1,000 campsites – we have now kept and exceeded that promise. Other improvements include a new campground at Buffalo Pound Provincial Park. Our government has also announced consultations for two new provincial parks in the Emma and Anglin Lake region and in the Porcupine Hills area near Hudson Bay. It is interesting to note that our $33 million investment in parks is more than double the amount spent by the NDP in their last four years in government. For further information on Saskatchewan Parks Week events, please visit www.saskparks.net.

Last week, the special mediator presented his report on the teachers’ contract dispute to Labour Relations Minister Don Morgan. Both the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) and the Government-Trustee Bargaining Committee (GTBC) have agreed that the recommendations within the report will form the basis of a tentative agreement. The recommendations include an average salary increase of 8.84 per cent over three years, which also includes a general increase of 5.5 per cent plus recommended market adjustments based on the average salary of other Western Canadian teachers.