Creation of the Province of Saskatchewan National Historic Event of Canada, Regina, Saskatchewan
Posted by: 
colincan
N 50° 26.854 W 104° 36.730
13U E 527535 N 5588467
Following a concerted campaign for the founding of a province in the Canadian West alongside Manitoba, in 1905 the federal government carved out of the Northwest Territories not one but two provinces, those of Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Waymark Code: WMJRZX
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Date Posted: 12/27/2013
Views: 12
The creation of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan by the federal government in 1905 was a key element in the national policy of development pursued by then Liberal Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Through his cabinet colleague Clifford Sifton, minister of the interior, Laurier implemented a strategy of western settlement and industrial and agricultural expansion. This after all was the beginning of the century tagged by many to be the one which would “belong” to Canada (and Argentina too, though that did not materialize). Filling up the west with new enterprises and organizing the Northwest Territories into a higher level of political sophistication, to match its burgeoning population and growing influence, seemed logical progressions. Territorial politicians Frederick Haultain, James Ross and Walter Scott lobbied Ottawa for favourable terms that might lead to the transformation of their territory into a province within Confederation. Haultain was a leader of the Provincial Rights movement which wished to see one large province carved out. Laurier feared the potential dominance of such a large entity and decided to create two provinces. Saskatchewan was proclaimed on 1st September with the promulgation of the Saskatchewan Act. The province however was not granted control over its own natural resources, in particular public lands, a legal situation that has since been reversed. Scott, a journalist who had initially been elected as a federal member of parliament, was appointed the first premier of the province, a post he held for a decade. The Creation of the Province of Saskatchewan was designated of national significance in 1939. The federal plaque was erected in 1952.
Credit: 1) John Archer, Saskatchewan: A History, Western Producer Prairie Books, 1980. 2) Edgar McInnis, Canada: A Political and Social History, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969.
Classification: National Historic Event
Province or Territory: Saskatchewan
Location - City name/Town name: Victoria Park, Victoria Avenue, Regina
Link to Parks Canada entry (must be on www.pc.gc.ca): [Web Link]
Link to HistoricPlaces.ca: Not listed
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