IN DEFENSE OF MY PROVINCE SASKATCHEWAN

You probably haven't seen this on the news because most of you are Americans. Saskatchewan is a beautiful Prairie farming province, in between Manitoba which is a mixture of Prairie and treed/Canadian Shield, and Alberta which is a mixture of Prairie, oil fields, and the start of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Saskatchewan is the "Bread Basket" of Canada, producing nearly 100% of our own and exported wheat, canola, and smaller crops of rye, and barley. Up north we have lakes, rivers, and forests for hunting that are so dense you have to fly in in bush planes in the fall. Up north it's big tourist country, where Canadians, Americans, and some rich Aussies etc. pay big bucks to fly up there for a couple of weeks to hunt enormous Elk, Bear, and Moose. Not to mention the incredible fishing.

The City of Saskatoon, one of our largest cities, is hosting the Junos this year. The Junos are the Canadian version of the Grammy's and have become a Very Big Deal. Saskatoon came up with a prize package for Two, including two nights stay at their best hotel (sorry, forget the name), all meals, flight, and tickets to the Juno. They asked a radio station in Vancouver BC to help promote the contest and all listeners had to do was send in the ending to the sentence: "You know you're in Saskatchewan when..."

They got answers such as: "You know you're in Saskatchewan when...

"your prenup has chickens in it."
"you can reason with a barnyard animal"
"when you fill up your pick-up with gas and it doubles in value"

The radio host who did the promotion in Vancouver said in an interview, "Well, in BC we have the Rockies, the valleys, the vineyards!" (in an indignant, we're-so-much-better-than-you-guys type of voice)

Well, that's geography, buddy. We have a booming economy with 10 consecutive months of increasing oil and gas revenues and job growth. And we know how to take a joke. As one person who called into a REGINA, Saskatchewan radio station put it: "You know you're in Saskatchewan when you live near a Co-op. You know you're in BC when you live near a grow-op."

Right on. And personally, I'd kill to win a trip for two to Saskatoon to see the Junos. Problem is, I already live in this wonderful Province!