| Year | Price per Bushel* | Grade |
| 1919 | $2.63 | #1 |
| 1920 | $2.07 | #1 |
| $1.66 | #2 | |
| 1921 | $1.11 | #1 |
| $0.89 | #2 | |
| 1922 | $1.26 | #1 |
| $1.01 | #2 |
* Prices are based on historical records of wheat prices in Saskatchewan.
In the early years, settlers sold their wheat to elevator companies that operated along the railway lines. Often the practices of these companies were very questionable. Farmers often did not know what grade or price they would receive for their wheat. Sometimes an elevator agent would not accept a farmer's #1 wheat; rather, the agent would explain that the only bin space available was for #2. The agent would give the farmer only the #2 price. Prices varied daily.
There was an early tradition of protest among the early settlers. In 1902, the Territorial Grain Growers Association (later named the Saskatchewan Grain Grower's Association) was established to protest the treatment farmers were receiving at the hands of the elevator companies and the railway. The 1901 crop had been a bumper crop. There was a shortage of railway cars and elevator agents refused to take grain at the top grade. The grain would be accepted only at a lower grade. W.R. Motherwell was elected the first president of the Territorial Grain Growers Association. He later went on to become Saskatchewan's first Minister of Agriculture and the federal Minister of Agriculture.
The Canadian Wheat Board was first established shortly after World War I under the War Measures Act as means of controlling the price of wheat. Everyone received the same price for wheat. Farmers received an initial price of $2.15 per bushel, an interim payment of 30 cents, and a final payment of 18 cents when all the wheat had been sold. The board was disbanded when the government felt it could no longer force everyone to sell wheat through one agency. Wheat prices fell after the board was disbanded. Many farmers wanted a return to the orderly system of marketing that the board had brought. They had been convinced of the benefits of centralized marketing for their wheat. The issue of the Wheat Board contributed to the formation of a number of political parties that focused exclusively on farmers' issues.
There were many efforts to re-institute the Wheat Board, but by 1923 it was clear the Wheat Board would not return at this time. Many farmers felt that if the government would not market their wheat, they would have to do it themselves. They chose the cooperative model as the means to achieve the same economic benefits they had received through the Wheat Board.
A key person in the effort to convince farmers that cooperative marketing was the answer to their troubles was Aaron Sapiro, a fiery California lawyer. He was helping to organize marketing cooperatives of agricultural products across the United States. His moving speeches were the catalyst for many farmers choosing to sign up with the pools.
A.J. McPhail was in charge of organizing the membership drive. He travelled throughout the province and spoke at many meetings trying to persuade Saskatchewan farmers to contract to sell their wheat through the pool. One story goes that he even went so far as to send a letter to Saskatchewan clergy asking them to preach sermons in support of the pool. In August 1923 the newly formed Wheat Pool was incorporated under the province's Companies Act. The Pool had determined it would only operate if more than 50% of the wheat acreage had been pledged to the Pool. The first year of organizing fell far short of the 50%. Although this dampened the enthusiasm of the organizers, they were determined to persevere. By June the following year, the Pool had successfully contracted more than 50% of the wheat acreage in the province. On June 26, the Pool became operational. A.J. McPhail was elected the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool's first president.
In addition to the monetary benefits, the Pool sought to act as a collective voice for the social and economic concerns of its members. Throughout the thirties, the Pool lobbied for the reinstatement of a permanent Wheat Board. A voluntary Wheat Board was established in 1935 and in 1943 the board's jurisdiction was extended to cover the marketing of the entire Canadian wheat crop. Today wheat continues to be marketed through the Canadian Wheat Board.
From the very beginning, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool has seen itself as the voice of farmers, and a supporter of the family farm and the rural community. The Pool remains committed to bettering the quality of life for farmers through the implementation of rural development, environmental and community-minded policies.
One of the most significant changes to the province, as a whole, has been a general shift in where people live. Up until the 1950s, the majority of Saskatchewan people lived on farms and in rural areas. By 1991, only 16% of the population was living on farms. Over 60% of the entire population was living in urban centres. In a period of sixty years, average farm size has tripled, and correspondingly the number of farms has been cut approximately by one third.
The Pool - A Dynamic Organization
The Pool began as a marketing cooperative, collecting and moving member grain from elevator to market. Today it is not only Saskatchewan's largest cooperative; it is the largest business in the province. The Pool has approximately one-third of the farm supply market. It handles 40% of the cattle sold in the province and markets more than 50% of the province's grain. Today, along with agriculture, the Pool is changing.
Grain handling and marketing continue to be the Pool's core business. It markets grains and oil seeds, not covered by the Canadian Wheat Board, through XCAN Grain Pool Ltd. It is currently expanding its export and import capacity with the development of terminals in the United States, Poland and Mexico.
Saskatchewan farmers are diversifying by growing specialty crops, such as mustard, lentils, peas, canary seed, sunflower seeds, faba beans and buckwheat. The Pool has responded by developing expertise in handling and marketing these crops.
Democracy in Action
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool remains committed to democracy and the active participation of its members. The first level of involvement for members is participation in one of over 400 local committees. At committee meetings, members discuss Pool policy and operational issues. They provide input and advice to delegates, the Board of Directors and managers. The members in their district elect pool delegates. The delegates attend the Pool's annual meeting and elect the Board of Directors. Through this representative form of democracy, members have a direct say in the operations of the Pool.
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool has always seen itself as the voice of the farmer. It has been a leader in developing policy on agricultural and rural issues. The goal of Pool policies is always to promote the economic and social well-being of Saskatchewan farmers and their families.
In recent years significant changes have taken place in the Canadian and global agriculture marketplaces. These changes have fundamentally affected Saskatchewan farmers and the Pool's business activities. International trade agreements, deregulation, the closure of branch rail lines, increased competition and threats to the Canadian Wheat Board have all influenced changes at the Pool.
Remaining Competitive
In an effort to remain competitive, during 1996 the Pool altered its business structure. It changed from being exclusively a member-owned cooperative to being a publicly traded cooperative. Ownership in the Pool was structured to allow only active farmers to own voting shares. Non-voting shares were offered to the public through the Toronto Stock Exchange. This change has provided the Pool with the money to expand and diversify its operations.
To remain competitive in the grain handling business, the Pool is building
state-of-the-art facilities. It is making investments in such varied businesses
as flourmills, feedlot operations, grain processing plants, the donut business
and a meatpacking plant.
| 1924 | First year of operations for SWP. |
| 1925 | The first SWP elevator opens at Bulyea. |
| 1926 | SWP purchases 451 elevators and two terminals |
| 1935 | A permanent Canadian Wheat Board is established. Delivery of wheat to the board is voluntary, until 1943 when its powers are extended to cover the marketing of the entire wheat crop. |
| 1944 | Saskatchewan Cooperative Livestock Producers join with the Pool. |
| 1963 | Pool creates a farm supplies department. |
| 1975 | Pool joins with Manitoba Pool to form CSP Foods to process oil, seeds and manufacture oil seed products. |
| 1987 | Pool seeks opportunities to diversify and purchases shares in Robin's Donuts. |
| 1990s | Pool invests in a number of agriculture ventures, such as seed processing and food preparation businesses, that add value to agricultural products. |
| 1996 | The Pool becomes listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and for the first time in history non-farmers invest money in the Pool. |
Teacher Information Sheet #5: Oil Shortage Concept Map It might be necessary to give students some practice on some examples from something familiar and simple to them before having them try this example.
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Together with the students, write a summary of the information contained in the concept map.
Use the concept map to encourage students to predict the consequences of a scarce resource on society. To help students do this, give them a list of some other concepts to consider (see the list below). Have them discuss and decide how to add these "new" concepts to the maps the class created. Once students become familiar with the process, they may come up with concepts not on the list. This should be encouraged. Another possibility would be to achieve, through discussion, a whole-class understanding of the concepts already generated. In any case, students should be helped to see that they will be able to predict, using their common sense, the impact of a resource scarcity on other areas of society.
List of New Concepts
The new concept map might look something like this. It is important to explain to students that there is no one single correct map. It is possible to have a variety of interpretations, all of which could be valid. The test of validity is to determine whether the relationships between the concepts are logical and sensible.
With the completion of the five resource scenarios, one of the conclusions you may have made is that resources are essential to Canada's existence. Resources provide us with millions of jobs and billions of dollars for our economy. Therefore, the management of our resources in one form or another is vital to our future in Canada. Because you, the students of today, will be the managers of tomorrow, it is only fitting that you get a head start on understanding the issues behind resource management.
To get you thinking about resource management, to refresh your memory of how our political system operates, and to further your research skills, this activity will simulate a parliamentary session. To make the activity clear, the following steps should be followed:
Additional Points
| Teacher Note: The following assessment questions are samples only, and are intended to be used in conjunction with other assessment strategies used throughout the unit. Teachers are advised to select those questions that are appropriate and develop other questions based on the objectives chosen, as well as on students' needs and abilities |
1. Classify the following list of items into four categories and give each category an appropriate title.
| Rabbit | Flax | Owl | Chair | Dog |
| Table | Blue jay | Wheat | Sofa | Barley |
| Bed | Oats | Elephant | Robin | Skunk |
| Rice | Horse | Foot stool | Sparrow | Crow |
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2. Classify the following list of resources.
| Spruce Tree | People | Oil | Gold |
| Plastic | Grass | Potash | Fish |
| Coal | Wheat |
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Use the maps of Saskatchewan on pages 148 and 149 to answer questions 3 to 5.
3. Where is the population most dense?
 Southeast |
Southwest |
Northeast |
Northwest |
4. Give three reasons why there is a heavier population distribution in southern Saskatchewan than in northern Saskatchewan.
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5. State where the following workers can be found in Saskatchewan.
| A sawmill worker | |
| A coal miner | |
| A potash miner | |
| A grain farmer | |
| A fly-in fishing camp operator |
Choose one of the above workers and explain how this person depends
on the environment.
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Explain at least one way in which the worker you selected can practise resource management.
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| Renewable Resources
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| Non-renewable Resources
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7. Read the following information and write a summary, as instructed below.
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In 1992, Japan's population of 124 million was seventh highest in the world. Although Japan's population growth has slowed, it was estimated that by 2000 the population would be about 134 million. Japan is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with a population density of 320/km2 . When we compare Canada's population of 30 million people and its population density of 2.5/km2, we see that Japan has a population density over 100 times that of Canada. The population of Canada is about the same as the number of people living in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. With Canada's land area being 27 times greater than Japan's, imagine how crowded it is in Japan. Let's compare Saskatchewan's population with Japan's. Saskatchewan has a population of about one million people. If we multiply Saskatchewan's population by 124, we arrive at the population of Japan. Now, the 124 million people must live in only half of the area of Saskatchewan. Can you imagine Saskatoon having a population of about 12 million people? High mountains and hills in Japan make settlement, industrial development and transportation in some areas of Japan very difficult. The population cannot be evenly distributed. As a result, some of the main islands are more densely populated than others. For example, Honshu has a population density of 412/km2, Shikoku of 322/km2 and Hokkaido of 68/km2 . About 76% of the Japanese population lives in urban centres. But of that population, 63% lives in four metropolitan areas: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kitakyushu. This concentration of population creates problems for housing and transportation. Japan's high population density makes it necessary for the Japanese people to live in harmony with their neighbours. With limited space to live, they understand that they must cooperate, even if they must sacrifice some of their personal desires and privacy. |
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8. Read the information about Jinan and Regina on the following pages.
Jinan Regina. __________________________________________________________________________________________
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Jinan: Regina's Twin City
History and Location
Jinan is one of the largest cities of China. It is located in one of China's coastal zones opening up to world trade. Jinan covers an area of 8,257 square km and has a metropolitan population of 5.13 million, including 2.2 million urban residents.
Located in southern China, Jinan is close to one of the most famous mountains of the country, Taishan, which has been listed as a world heritage site. The Yellow River, the cradle of Chinese national culture, flows across the city's north. Built over 2,600 years ago, Jinan has been the political, economic and scientific centre of Shandong province since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Jinan's average annual temperature is above 14 degrees celsius. Its average annual precipitation is around 650-700 mm, a typical subtropical continent monsoon climate.
Natural Resources
Rich in natural resources, Jinan abounds in grain crops and medicinal plants. In addition, many kinds of minerals have been discovered and exploited: iron, cobalt, copper, coal, hard clay, limestone, dolomite and graphite. Jinan's blue granite has been sold to more than thirty countries and regions in America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Rich deposits of quality clay, limestone and dolomite have yet to be fully developed.
Industry
Jinan is one of the important industrial centres of China. It features machine building, paper making, and chemical, textile, metallurgical, foodstuff and electronic industries. It now boasts 1,750 industrial enterprises that manufacture 3,900 kinds of main industrial products. More than 80 main products have been listed in China's national plan, items such as transformers, dyed and printed fabrics, knit fabrics, washing machines and light motorcycles. Jinan also produces machine tools, heavy trucks, organic fluorine, organic silicon, high quality and special paper, vacuum flasks, canned vegetables, pencils, matches, quartz clocks, alcohol and beer. The Jinan automobile manufacturing factory is one of China's heavy duty truck production centres. In addition, its Shandong television factory is one of the country's designated television factories.
The Prospects of Foreign Economic and Technical Cooperation
Jinan has great potential for foreign economic and technical cooperation. Today, it processes imported raw material and spare parts for business people from many countries, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Foreign businesses are welcome to invest and start more foreign owned, joint venture and cooperative enterprises. The following areas have the most potential as business ventures:
Jinan will firmly continue to encourage foreign investment. For those foreign owned, joint venture and cooperative enterprises started by foreign business, preferential treatment is to be given in the supply of water, electric power, steam, gas and raw materials needed for production and operation, communication equipment, transport facilities, construction sites and labour. Many kinds of taxes and expenses are also reduced.
Traffic and Telecommunications
Jinan has good transportation facilities. It is the hub of communications for Shandong Province. The Bejing-Shanghai and Qindao-Jinan railways link the city with Beijing and Tianjin on the north; Shanghai, Nanjing and Fuzhou on the south; and the two port cities of Quingdao and Yantai on the east. The Yellow River is navigable. There are flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Guangzhou, Fushan, Fuzhou, Anyang, Zian and Quingdao. A large new international airport is being built in the city.
Jinan's telecommunications facilities are considered to have been improved in recent years. Cable and telex link the city with all parts of China and foreign countries. Every organization, university and college, scientific research institute, large enterprise and modern hotel can communicate with any country and region directly by means of international long distance cable and telephone services.
Regina: Queen City of the Plains
Population 186,800 (1996 census)
Location
Regina is in south central Saskatchewan, midway between Calgary, Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba. Saskatchewan borders the American states of Montana and North Dakota. The city of Regina covers an area of 110.9 square kilometres or 42.8 square miles. Latitude: 50_26' North. Longitude: 104_40' West. Elevation: 577 metres above sea level.
Climate
The City of Regina features a marked continental climate with cold, dry winters and warm summers. Regina averages about 398 millimetres of precipitation each year and has 109 frost-free summer days. The city is noted for its clear sunny days, recording an average of 2,331 sunshine hours each year.
Resources and Major Industries
Agriculture, oil and gas production and development, and telecommunications fuel Regina's resource-based economy. Located in the Regina area are three potash mines, four sodium sulphate operations, salt, sand and gravel deposits used primarily in construction, and a sodium bentonite plant.
Major industries include: telecommunications, insurance, financial services, primary steel plant, primary heavy oil upgrader and refinery, potash, electrical and electronic equipment, chemical products, machinery and transportation equipment, agricultural chemicals and government services.
Transportation
Regina's central location on the Trans Canada Highway is a contributing factor in its role as an established distribution point. Regularly scheduled airline carriers serve the city. Charter flights are available from local operators. On land, service is provided by Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway, scheduled motor coach lines and many trucking fleets.
Use the following maps to answer questions 3 to 5.
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