Province Législature Session Type de discours Date du discours Locuteur Fonction du locuteur Parti politique Saskatchewan 13e 4e Discours du trône 11 février 1960 Frank Lindsay Bastedo Lieutenant Governor Co-operative Commonwealth Federation It is my privilege to welcome you to the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth Legislature of Saskatchewan. The visit to our Province of Her Gracious Majesty The Queen and his Royal Highness The Duke of Edimburgh last summer enabled us to demonstrate anew our affection for the Royal Family. Our Province has enjoyed a further year of gratifying economic progress even though the farm economy suffered a severe blow in production and harvesting, and continued to labour under the blight of depressed prices and markets. The gains in the non-agricultural industries maintained overall economic activity at a very high level. Capital investment remained at record peaks; manufacturing and mining forged ahead, and retail trade climbed to an all-time high. With broadened employment opportunities, our population continues to rise, and is now estimated at 907,000. Unusually heavy early fall rails and a general snowfall in October precipitated an emergent fodder shortage. As the unfavourable weather continued, a disastrous situation developed over a large part of the Province where crops could not be harvested. Emergency measures have been taken to assist farmers to meet these crises. Fodder reserves accumulated by the Government were made available to farmers and freight assistance was ordered on the movement of fodder and grain on July 1st and is still available. A special work and wages program has been put into effect and the application of The Municipalities Seed Grain and Supplies Act has been announced. A federal-provincial system of acreage payments on unthreshed grain was implemented through the excellent co-operation of municipal officials, and many farmers have now received these payments. It is estimated that payments made under this emergency program will exceed five million dollars. A variety of programs including community pasture development, forage crop promotion and livestock improvement has encouraged the further diversification of our agricultural economy. The Government has continued to invest in the improvement of agricultural lands in Northern Saskatchewan. Since the war more than five hundred thousand acres of leased Crown lands have been brought into agricultural production. The first year of work in planning the benefit phases of the multi-purpose South Saskatchewan River Development project has been completed. Engineering, economic and land use studies basic to planning the first stage of the irrigation development are in progress. Field and aerial surveys have been undertaken and facilities for further research in irrigation farming have been made available to the University of Saskatchewan. Engineering studies are also under way to determine the best method of utilizing the power potential of the project. The recreation possibilities of the reservoir are being assessed and plans for development studied. The South Saskatchewan River Development Commission has been appointed to co-ordinate and approve all necessary research and planning. My Government has been concerned for a number of years about the lack of modern facilities in many farm homes in the Province. The rural electrification program now nearing completion will have supplied power to some sixty thousand rural homes by the end of this year. Now a program to bring water and sewage disposal facilities to farm homes will be placed before you for approval. Legislation will be introduced that will authorize My Government, in co-operation with the Government of Canada, to make available program of crop insurance. The year 1959 saw mineral production in the Province reach a value of $214 000,000, an increase over the previous high of $210 000, 000. The bulk of this increase is accounted for by an increase in the production of crude oil. Production of uranium base metals and other minerals also was at or near record levels. During the year two minerals new to the Saskatchewan scene began to create some interest in their respective industries. Two companies which control mining claims on the iron ore deposits near Choiceland are considering the feasibility of development. The discovery of substantial quantities of helium in the south-western section of the Province has encouraged interested companies to secure exploration permits. The electrical generating capacity of the Province's public power utility was increased by more than one-third during the year. The Queen Elizabeth Power Station at Saskatoon the largest electrical generating plant in Saskatchewan, was officially commissioned by Her Majesty The Queen last summer. The first unit of the Boundary Dam Generating Station near Estevan became available for commercial service. Another major step was taken in the provision of further generating facilities with the start of the construction of the first publicly owned hydro-electric power development located at Squaw Rapids on the Saskatchewan River. Several major accomplishments were recorded in natural gas operations during the year. The extension of service to the City of Yorkton completed the program to bring gas to every city in Saskatchewan. Some sixty thousand customers in seventy communities are now using this fuel. During the coming year a substantial number of additional centres at various points in the province will be served with gas. During 1959 thirteen thousand additional telephones were installed. Long distance calls increased by nearly nine percent. Planning is now completed for the installation of dial equipment at Canora, Meadow Lake, Outlook Unity, Wilkie and Battleford. These towns, as well as North Battleford Humboldt and Kindersley, will be connected to the long distance dialling network. Additional microwave facilities added the television stations at Prince Albert, Moose Jaw and Yorkton to the television network. You will be asked to approve a program which will assist rural telephone companies to build new lines, rehabilitate existing lines and generally improve the standard of service. The report of the consultants engaged to survey Saskatchewan's economic potential has been received and will be made available to you. The growth of industrial activity which our Province has experienced in recent years together with encouraging views for the future contained in this report makes it desirable to consolidate into a single department the various agencies which promote and assist industrial development. To achieve this you will be asked to approve legislation which will convert the Department of Travel and Information into a Department of Industry and Information. In order to encourage and assist communities to participate more directly in attracting industries legislation permitting the establishment of Municipal Industrial Development Corporations will be introduced. Legislation which will enable the Government to assist towns and villages to install water and sewerage systems will be placed before you. An intensified program to provide additional recreational facilities will be undertaken in all provincial parks, along our highways and at a number of locations in forest areas. Lands purchased last year at Pike Lake, EchoPasqua Lakes, Jackfish Lake and Last Mountain Lake will provide additional provincial park sites. You will be asked to approve a measure which will provide technical and financial assistance to municipalities for the expansion and improvement of regional parks. Minimum wages will be increased and made uniform throughout the Province. Increased payments to widows whose husbands are killed in industrial accidents will be provided for in proposed amendments to The Workmen's Compensation (Accident Fund) Act. Amendments to The Annual Holidays Act will also be presented. In keeping with its intention to bring the benefits of advancing medical science to all citizens of the Province without financial barriers to the individual or his family My Government proposes to inaugurate a province wide, universal, contributor medical care program. Recognizing the need for informed study, the Government intends to appoint an Advisory Planning Committee on Medical Care which will include representatives of the public and the medical profession. This Committee will be asked to examine all aspects of a medical care program, including not only the problems of finance but also those measures which will provide medical care of the highest possible quality to all persons in Saskatchewan. Legislation establishing the framework for this program will be introduced for your consideration. On February First of this year the Humboldt-Wadena Health Region was established, bringing to eleven the number of Health Regions in the Province. You will be asked to provide funds for the establishment of one new Health Region during the coming year. Once this has been achieved, the entire Province will have been organized to provide modern, full-time public health services on a regional basis. Construction will be commenced on a regional mental hospital to augment the policy of providing mental health services on a community basis. The emphasis on prevention and early treatment of emotional disorders will be continued by the strengthening of mental health clinic facilities and services. You will be asked to make provision for increased grants to the AntiTuberculosis League. Local school authorities continue to provide steadily improving facilities and opportunities for elementary and secondary education. In consideration of the cost of these improving and expending educational services, the Government will propose a significant increase in the funds to be voted for grants to schools. Scholarship funds voted last year provided over three hundred awards to deserving Grade XII graduates proceeding to higher education. You will be requested to vote additional funds to extend this program. In the interests of providing a greater supply of adequately trained teachers for our high schools, you will be asked to provide special scholarships to enable a number of teachers to improve their qualifications. As an additional measure in the interests or the recruitment and retention of an adequate supply of teachers for Saskatchewan schools, legislation will be introduced to provide for the establishment of a plan of group insurance for teachers with the Government participating on a shared premium basis. Rapid industrialization in Saskatchewan created a need for a Provincial Technical Institute which was established in Moose Jaw during the past year. Construction and equipment of the building will be completed in 1960 and the opportunity for technical and trades training will be rapidly expanded. You will be asked to approve a proposal which will permit the Government to assume the responsibility for providing headquarters for Regional Libraries. The new Social Aid Act which became effective on April 1, 1959, has meant that people in need are now receiving help on a uniform basis throughout the Province. The services of the Bureau on Alcoholism have been expanded by providing a Counselling and Referral Centre in the City of Regina and it is planned to open a similar centre in Saskatoon in the coming year. This year world-wide efforts are being made in an attempt to solve the problem of relocating refugees. Refugees suffering from tuberculosis are already being cared for by the Provincial Government in sanatoria in Saskatchewan. In addition My Government has indicated willingness to co-operate with the Government of Canada in providing needed services to sponsored groups of refugees who come to Saskatchewan. The Government has continued to assist municipal and charitable organizations to construct self-contained housing units and hostels for senior citizens and those requiring nursing home care. At the end of 1959 such accommodation was available to three thousand, four hundred persons. Similar accommodation for an additional three hundred and twenty-six persons is presently under construction. A proposal to increase maintenance grants for non-profit nursing homes and hostels will be submitted for your approval. At the present time four Provincial Geriatric Centres provide nursing home care for more than six hundred patients. Construction will be commenced this year on a new one hundred bed Geriatric Centre at Swift Current to serve the south-western Portion o£ the Province. An enlarged program of highway improvement required to keep abreast of the traffic needs of the Province will be undertaken. Major traffic bridges, one over the North Saskatchewan River at Prince Albert and the other over the Churchill River on the La Ronge to Uranium City road, will be completed. Construction will be commenced on a traffic bridge over the North Saskatchewan River in the vicinity of the Petrofka Ferry. Further progress has been made toward the completion of important development roads in the north. Significant results are apparent at this stage in the Municipal Grid Road program. New, all-weather roads have been constructed in many rural areas. You will be asked to appropriate funds required to continue this program of assistance. You will also be asked to provide additional funds which will permit the Government to assist municipalities to re-gravel grid roads constructed in the early years of the program. The co-operative movement continued to make progress during the past year and experienced the largest amount of savings in its history. The decision to convert into co-operatives the fish marketing service and retail stores in Northern Saskatchewan formerly operated by the Government has met with encouraging response on the part of the people in the North. An increasing number of local co-operatives have been established in this area during the past year. You will be asked to revise and consolidate The Co-operative Association Act. Amendments to The Credit Unions Act will be submitted. You will be asked to approve amendments to The Saskatchewan Elections Act which will permit Treaty Indians in Saskatchewan to vote in provincial elections. The Law Reform Committee, appointed to give consideration to the reform of our statute laws, has made its second report and its recommendations for amendments to The Devolution of Real Property Act, The Trustee Act, The Dependants' Relief Act, The Intestate Succession Act, and The Coroners Act will be embodied in legislation. To give effect to a further recommendation of this Committee, legislation will be introduced making the rules of law and procedure contained in The Queen's Bench Act applicable in all courts. Amendments to The Limitations of Actions Act will be proposed extending the time within which legal proceedings may be taken with respect to mineral contracts alleged to have been obtained by fraud and misrepresentation. Amendments to the Mineral Contracts Re-negotiation Act, 1959, will also be placed before you. Legislation will be introduced amending The Court of Appeal Act to provide for sessions of the Court of Appeal in Saskatoon as well as in Regina. You will be asked to approve consolidations of The Queen's Bench Act, The District Courts Act, The Surrogate Courts Act and The Land Titles Act. You will also be asked to consider legislation which will amend The Infants Act, The Small Claims Enforcement Act, 1959, and The Homesteads Act. The leases of many tenant farmers will come to an end before the completion of threshing of the 1959 crop or before removal of the grain from the land. Legislation empowering the tenant to recover the 1959 crop after termination of the tenancy and protecting threshers' liens on such crops will be submitted. Legislation will be introduced consolidating and revising The Saskatchewan Insurance Act. Amendments to The Municipal Hail Insurance Act will be proposed. In view of the widespread interest in preventing questionable retail sales practices, legislation will be submitted to regulate such activities in the event the Criminal Code proves ineffective. The Government of Saskatchewan has taken every opportunity to urge the Government of Canada and the Board of Transport Commissioners to make freight rate policy decisions which remove the long-standing burden of discrimination against the people of the Prairie Provinces. Similar representations will be made to the Royal Commission on Transportation. During the public hearings which will be held by the Royal Commission, the Government of Saskatchewan will restate its unalterable opposition to any changes in the Crows Nest Pass Rates Agreement. The Public Accounts for the last fiscal year, together with the estimates for the year beginning April 1, 1960, will be submitted. I leave you now to the business of the Session with full confidence that you will favourably discharge your duties and responsibilities. May Divine Providence continue to bless our Province and guide the Legislature in all its deliberations.