On March 7, 2008, the ASPA Presidents addressed the Board of Governors with the following message:

On September 26, 2008, at the Open Town Hall Meeting hosted by Provost Brett Fairbairn, ASPA President Trent Kolbe reiterated ASPA's support for the Second Integrated Plan:

• ASPA believes the U of S is able to achieve its ambitious aspirations if it engages the hearts and minds of every person who works here.

The release today of Consumer Price Index figures for the year ending August, 2008 by Statistics Canada prompted an analysis of price trends and wage increases by the Progressive Economics Forum. See the full story at:

http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2008/09/23/wage-price-squeeze/

Labour economist Erin Weir provided a region-by-region analysis of average wage increases versus price increases in the "basket" of goods and services needed by Canadians every day.

Wages, Inflation, and Real Wages by Province, August 2007 – August 2008
(From Statistics Canada: Labour Force Survey and Consumer Price Index)

Canada: 3.8% - 3.5% = 0.3%

• NL: 8.6% - 4.2% = 4.4%
• PEI: 9.4% - 4.8% = 4.6%
• NS: 3.5% - 4.4% = (0.9%)
  

The Saskatchewan Government reported Wednesday that Saskatchewan businesses remain very optimistic despite chaotic news in financial markets. The full story is at:

http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=dcb6bbe0-4529-42c3-8e95-ca516e183819

According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) in their quarterly report for September, Saskatchewan businesses were the most optimistic compared to those in any other province in the nation, scoring 113.9 on the survey index. Nation-wide, the Canadian average was at 101.8.

The Saskatchewan government reported Monday on the stellar growth in international exports by the province. New figures from Statistics Canada show that in the first seven months of 2008, Saskatchewan's international exports of goods increased by 49.5 per cent, to $17.5 billion, compared to the first seven months of 2007.

This was the highest rate of growth among all other provinces and more than 10 times the Canadian average growth rate for total exports in the first seven months of 2008. Total Canadian international exports were 4 per cent higher than during the first seven months of 2007.

The University reported on September 19 that, although the numbers are still preliminary, student enrolment at the University of Saskatchewan is up slightly compared to the same time last year. See the full story at:

http://www.usask.ca/communications/ocn/08-sept-19/1.php

David Hannah, Associate Vice-President of Student and Enrolment Services, said overall indications are that the final enrolment number should be "at or above last year's enrolment number, and that's a good sign in an environment where our primary market pool is diminishing."

Statistics Canada reported in September that the Saskatchewan non-board wheat price in July was $331.15 per metric tonne, up 7% from June and up 124% from July 2007 when the price was $147.87.

Meanwhile, supplies of wheat are down, way down, possibly because producers moved grain stored on farms to capitalize on advantageous prices...

Durum wheat supplies held on farms were down 83.3% from 300 000 tonnes in July 2007 to a very low level of 50 000 tonnes, and commercial supplies were down 15.1% to 792 000 tonnes. Wheat excluding durum supplies held on farms were down 60.9% compared with July 2007 to 656 000 tonnes, a value not seen since 1995. Supplies held in commercial positions were down just 14.7% to 3.3 million tonnes.

The Saskatchewan Government announced Thursday that wholesale trade in Saskatchewan increased in July 2008 by a remarkable 72.8 per cent to almost $2 billion, compared to $1.1 billion in July 2007. The complete story can be viewed at:

http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=6729ca6b-588a-47c8-b3a4-9d9888c62149

This increase was by far the highest percentage increase among other provinces, while on a nation-wide basis wholesale trade was up by 10.6 per cent over the same period. Statistics Canada reported that higher international demand for agricultural products such as fertilizers was behind much of the increase. The complete analysis can be seen at:

http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080918/d080918a.htm

In a press release Wednesday, Premier Wall reassured citizens of the province that our economy will remain strong. The complete story is at:

http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=377a727b-1054-4509-82c3-a01ec82fd4f8

"Saskatchewan is well-positioned to sustain our economic growth, even while other parts of Canada and the U.S. see a downturn in their economies," Wall said. "We have a strong resource sector, a growing population and plenty of job opportunities. Saskatchewan is now a ‘have' province and we intend to keep it that way."

ASPA and the University are just about to engage in a process of conciliation as part of their efforts to conclude a revision of their current Collective Agreement. To set the context, we describe conciliation as one of a number Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes, which are available under the general rubric of "collective bargaining". The following discussion is based on an article from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_Dispute_Resolution

Another Wikipedia article deals explicitly with the conciliation process:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conciliation

The Vancouver SUN reported Monday on the economic prospects for cities and metropolitan areas across the country. In short, western Canadian cities are HOT, especially Saskatoon. See the full story at:

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=23f4c1fa-0f4b-4d94...

Western Canadian cities take the top seven spots in the Conference Board of Canada's latest Metropolitan Outlook, released Monday. Saskatoon led the way, followed by Regina.

"Both Saskatoon and Regina are on track to post their strongest rates of economic growth since 1997, and Saskatoon will lead Canadian metropolitan areas in economic growth for the second consecutive year," said Mario Lefebvre, the Conference Board's director for municipal studies.