LMT October 8th 2018

Last Mountain Times • Monday, October 8, 2018 • lmtimes.ca
Asset management, policing
on agenda for central region
SUMA meetings
Municipal leaders from 15 towns in central Saskatchewan
gathered at Dakota Dunes October 1 to
discuss the matters important to their communities.
The topics of asset management and policing
dominated the conversation at the Central Regional
Meeting hosted by the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities
Association (SUMA).
“Our town infrastructure delivers the services
that residents rely on every day, from providing
safe drinking water to offering spaces for sport and
recreation,” said Lee Finishen, Central Regional
Director and councillor for the Town of Fort Qu’Appelle.
“Asset management is essential to making the
most out of this infrastructure.”
On policing, municipal leaders discussed the cost
and level of services being received by Saskatchewan
towns. Representatives also received updates
on topics including cannabis legalization, vehicle for
hire regulations, and multi-material recycling.
The Central Regional Meeting is one of seven
regional meetings being hosted by SUMA from
September 26 – October 4.
“Regional meetings are an opportunity for municipal
officials to discuss challenges and share ideas
with fellow leaders from their region,” said SUMA
President Gordon Barnhart.
Community leaders from Lumsden, Buena Vista,
Regina Beach, Lanigan, Manitou Beach, Watrous,
and Cupar as well as several other communities,
attended the Central Regional Meetings.
-media release
Nokomis Fowl
Supper
Sunday, October 21 st
4:30-7:00 p.m.
Nokomis Centennial Hall
12 and over $15.00
11 and under $8.00
4 and under free
11
Canadians to spend more
Canadians will spend 3.7% more during the 2018 holiday season
Proceeds to Nokomis Recreation Centre
Eight out of ten Canadians plan to spend the same
or more this holiday season according to PwC Canada’s
2018 Holiday Outlook report. Consumers will
spend an average of $1,563, up from $1,507 in 2017,
and 60% will shop between Black Friday and December
25. Economic factors such as higher interest
rates, climbing debt levels and trade negotiations do
not appear to be barriers to Canadians increasing
their gift giving this upcoming season.
Despite higher interest rates and rising debt levels
among Canadians, more than 74% will use their
credit cards to purchase gifts and only 19% are concerned
about credit card debt. The report indicates
that more than half of Canadians (62%) believe the
economy will perform the same or better in the next
six months and are likely to spend more.
Travel continues to make up the largest part of
holiday spend (46%), followed by gifts (41%) and entertainment,
which includes dining out (13%). Gift
cards continue to be a popular gift option as they
are simple and convenient.
“This holiday season, we will see more people
shopping in-store, rather than online, to find
inspiration and compare prices,” Myles Gooding,
National Retail Leader, PwC Canada said. “Millennials,
on the other hand, prefer using Amazon and
Google for their shopping needs, citing convenience
as a major reason. In Canada, there is only a 23%
adoption of Amazon Prime compared to 55% in the
United States.”
Approximately one-third of Canadians plan to
shop in the US to access better deals and wider
product range. Most shoppers are focused on apparel
(49%) and electronics (48%).
-media release
Old genes
If you are a regular reader of this space, and
thanks to those who are, then you know I am a
believer in maintaining older genetics, whether they
are within a heritage breed of livestock, or in the
plants from which our current crops evolved.
The reasoning is simple enough, the world we live
in changes, and that means what we grow today
may not be well-suited for the world our children
live in, or our grandchildren.
For our scientists to be able to adapt crops and
livestock for differing conditions we may need to be
able to go back to the foundational building blocks
and essentially start over in developing something
that will fill those future needs.
So I was more than a little interested when a release
came via email from the Crop Science Society
of America (CSSA) dealing with the very topic.
The article related, “plant genetic resources are
any plant materials, such as seeds, fruits, cuttings,
pollen, and other organs and tissues from which
plants can be grown. The stewards are the breeders,
researchers, farmers, gene bank staff, and many
others who keep them safe and utilize them.”
It went on to note Peter Bretting, a National Program
Leader for the USDA’s Agricultural Research
Service, saying these plant genetic materials and
those who care for them are important for human
survival.
“These are the materials for crop breeding which
play a role in food security and plant research,” he
said in the article. “Crops make up the thin green
line standing between humanity and calamity. To
feed the growing world population, breeders must
develop new crop types that yield more on less land
with less material such as water and fertilizer.”
Interestingly, the article also noted, “an important
part of these plant genetic resources is crop
wild relatives. These are closely
related to crop species but have
not been domesticated by humans.
They are often related to
crops eaten today in some way
and provide useful material for
breeding, study, and preservation,
says Bretting.
“For example, breeders might
find they want a trait like
drought tolerance in a specific
AG NOTES
CALVIN DANIELS
crop. It may be a rare quality only found in an ancestor.
Luckily, breeders might be able to find what
they need thanks to the stewards who are conserving
the wild ancestors.”
This is fascinating in the sense it ties in with the
concept that every species of plant and animal is
worth preserving because science may find in the
future it contains some trait or gene which may
have a dramatically positive effect for humanity.
That vision dovetails with the recent recognition
by CSSA in celebrating Crop Wild Relative Week
Sept. 22-29. The week was created by the scientific
society to raise awareness of the valuable wild relatives
of familiar crops.
“The fruits, grains, and roots of crop wild relatives
are not as large as domesticated crops. Some
might be bitter or have poor texture. But these
hardy plants have a natural and useful diversity of
traits that helped them live in some harsh conditions.
These traits are useful to breeders in the fight
to create a sustainable and secure food supply,”
noted an article on the week.
So to be prepared for what might come tomorrow
we need to maintain the materials to develop the
crops we will need. Who knows a weed today may
tomorrow be a valued part of agriculture.
- Calvin Daniels
Disclaimer: opinions expressed are those of the writer.