Saskatchewan

I know I know weird topic...but here it is. I was born and raised in Saskatchewan and moved to BC almost 21 years ago. I thought I knew every place and every thing in that province. But I have been proven wrong. I have been known to be wrong from time to time.. not often and especially not when I want to be right but occasionally. One of the pavilions that we visited over the Olympic time was Saskatchewan. Keith has a great love for that province. Not me. I love my family and miss them every single day but I can not say I have a great love for it. BC yup yup yup. But I learned a lot in that pavilion and thought you might like to learn something new this Monday that has nothing to do with medals or 100ths of a second time frame.

-It has more then 2 million hectares of parkland, 2 National parks, 34 Provincial Parks and 95 Regional Parks
-100, 000 lakes... (really?)
-A Saskatchewan angler invented the now famous read and while spoon style fishhooks ( I have like 10 different ones in a variety of sizes)
-They have the world's biggest uranium mine. They are one of the world's top uranium producers
-it supplies about 4% of all electricity in the United States- enough to power New York City!! Glad to know Canada is good for something other then gold medals hehehe sorry I could not resist.. tomorrow I'll behave I promise
-The Dakota Dunes Golf Links was named Canada's best new course in 2005 by Golf Digest and in 2009 it was named the number one golf course in Saskatchewan and Manitoba by SCOREGolf Magazine.
-It has the most golf courses per capita in the world.. again really?
-The province's incredible Aboriginal heritage shines through in teh achievements of its First Nations people. Allen Sapp is a world renowned Cree artist. He has a gallery in North Battleford and shows around the world.
-Every summer thousands of people converge onto Wascana Park in Regina to hear the Regina Symphony orchestra perform Symphony Under the Sky. The RSO is the largest continously performing symphony orchestra in Canada.
-Saskatchewan has 5 of the 10 most entrepreneural cities in Canada
-It is the world's largest exporter of mustard. Seriously? huh
-Has the largest ptoatsh industry in the world - it is a key ingredient in the fertilizer that helps feed a hungry planet
-Has more then hlaf of the world's potash reserves. They are to potash what Saudi Arabia is to oil
-the RCMP(Royal Canadian Mounted Police) headquarters is situated in Regina. Did you know ALL RCMP officers are trained there.
-in southeastern Sask you'll find North America's hottest oil play, the Bakken Formation. It produces over 58,000 barrels of oil a day. It is Canada's 2nd largest oil producers. It also accounts for 1/3 of Canada's energy production with coal, oil, uranium, natural gas, hydro and wind
-the wheat fields make it the breadbasket of the world.It also produces more canola, flax and peas then anywhere in the world.
-it not only produces a lot of energy but Saskatchewan is leading the way in reducing greenhouse gases and carbon footprints. The Petroleum Technology Research Centre manages the world's largest monitored carbon storage project. By projects end it will be like taking 8 MILLION cars off the road for a year (well living in a huge metropolis city it would be nice if some of those would be removed permanently so it wouldn't take so long to get to where I am going)
-they have the best fans in Canadian Football League
-in 2009 it broke records for the 5th consecutive year in investment initiatives
-they have a record 9.7 billion in mineral production in 2008 and have over 10 billion of committed project expansions so the future in mining is tremendous
-is home to almost 1/4 of Canada's cattle herd
-International scientists are lining up to do research at the Canadian Light source in Saskatoon, one of the world's most advanced synchrotrons
-the lower cost and less stressful lifestyles associated with small centres make it a great place to call home. It is still cheaper to lve there then in most of Canada

So there you go.. your history AND geography lesson all rolled into one afternoon of light reading!! And if you want to still know more (other then where my mom lives) go to www.gov.sk.ca