Stephen Harper, author Yann Martel to speak at Midwestern Legislative Conference in Saskatoon

Saskatchewan is getting the chance this week to host lawmakers and leaders from across midwestern North America as part of the Midwestern Legislative Conference.

The conference is being held in Saskatoon and even before it started on Sunday, was showing off the province with opportunities to tour the Cenovus operations in Lloydminster and the Mosaic mine in Colonsay on Saturday — both tours were fully booked.

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The point of the conference, according to the Council of State Governments, is to learn, collaborate and build relationships. The confernece is a nonpartisan association of all legislators representing 11 U.S. states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin) and Saskatchewan. The provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario are affiliate members.

Through the four-day talks, conversations and breakout sessions are set to range between a number of topics, from the future of health-care delivery, family-centred child welfare policies, and wetland policy development.

A number of the discussions are those top of mind in Saskatchewan — like mental health and addictions, and plans for the future use of nuclear energy, and that latter committee is set to consider a resolution on North American energy security.

Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to give the keynote address, talking about the importance and future of the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Local business leaders like Murad Al-Katib, president of AGT Foods, will be taking part, as well as provincial politicians from both sides of the aisle.

Premier Scott Moe will be taking part in a panel on North America’s energy future with the presidents of Cameco and Westinghouse, as well as business analyst Paul Martin.

Even internationally known author Yann Martel, who lives in Saskatoon, will be on the stage. He’ll be part of a panel called Fiction and the Politician with the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Peter Hoekstra.

A Prairie Lily boat experience is on the agenda, though the boat has been forced to stay docked this summer because of the levels of the South Saskatchewan River.

The whole event will wind down with a state dinner at Saskatoon’s Remai Modern Tuesday night.

Read more:

• Tariffs & Saskatchewan: What do Trump’s tariffs mean for you?
• Saskatchewan to join U.S. states, Alberta in energy security coalition
• Work on small modular reactors leads to the creation of SaskNuclear