Acknowledgements | Preface | Saskatchewan Before Provincehood l Saskatchewan Populations & Premiers
1905 | 1915 | 1925 | 1935 | 1945 | 1955 | 1965 | 1975 | 1985 | 1995

Workers at the Duval potash mine
near Saskatoon, 1976

Customer at ATM
location and date unknown

Canola field
near Humboldt, date unknown

Open pit uranium mine
Rabbit Lake, 1979

Elevator demolition
Herbert, 1979

Farmer greasing cultivator
location unknown, 1980

Degelman and Morris cultivators at Western Canada Farm Progress Show
Regina, 1982

1975

• In another of a long series of health care initiatives, Saskatchewan introduces a prescription drug plan.

1976

• The first automated teller machine (ATM) in Canada is pioneered by Sherwood Credit Union in Regina.
  
• The Weyburn Inland Terminal is the first farmer-owned and operated inland grain terminal in Canada. Large terminals like this will spell the end of hundreds of country elevators.

1977

• The Kinsmen host Telemiracle. The telethon, which raises money for people with special needs, is so successful that it will become an annual event with widespread grassroots support. Per capita giving by Saskatchewan people will set new records.
  
• Innovation Place opens in Saskatoon at the University of Saskatchewan. It is Western Canada’s first research park.
  
• Paper Wheat opens in Sintaluta. The play, written by a 25th St. Theatre collective in Saskatoon, tells the story of the formation of the Wheat Pool. Sintaluta was chosen for the debut performance because history was made there in 1901 when farmers came together to form the Territorial Grain Growers’ Association.

1978

• The Western Canada Farm Progress Show is held for the first time in Regina. It showcases the latest in farm machinery and agricultural technology, and will become one of the largest shows of its kind in North America.
  
• “Canola” is trademarked. Pioneering work in the development of canola was carried out at the University of Saskatchewan. The crop, with its bright yellow blossoms, will change the look of summertime fields in Saskatchewan.

1979

• Teletheatre debuts in Regina. It is the first known television movie service available to subscribers on cable in North America.
  
• Saskatchewan welcomes the first of 3000 “boat people,” refugees from southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Laos. Many are sponsored by church groups.

1980

• Saskatchewan celebrates its 75th anniversary. Communities across the province host parades and picnics and dozens of special events. History books are compiled by local historians.
  
• The Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research is incorporated for the study and preservation of Métis culture.

1981

• Harrington barley, a product of the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, becomes the worldwide standard for malting barley.

1982

• Premier Grant Devine appoints Saskatchewan’s first female cabinet ministers, Joan Duncan and Patricia Smith.
  
• Chiefs of Saskatchewan Indian bands reorganize to form the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, Canada’s first Indian legislative assembly.
  
• Regina hosts the World Assembly of First Nations. More than 20,000 attend, making the assembly the world’s largest gathering of indigenous people.

1983

• Key Lake Mine opens in northern Saskatchewan. It is one of the world’s largest uranium producers.
  
• Henry Taube, born in Neudorf, is the first Saskatchewan-born Nobel Prize winner. He wins the prize in chemistry.
  
• Saskatchewan’s population tops one million for the first time.

1984

• SaskTel completes installation of the world’s longest commercial fibre optic network.
  
• Prud’homme native Jeanne Sauvé is appointed Governor-General of Canada.
  
• With the Crow’s Nest Pass Agreement in 1899, the federal government fixed railway freight rates for hauling grain. In 1984, the government changes the “Crow” by paying a subsidy directly to the railways. The subsidy will in turn be abolished in 1995. Loss of the “Crow” will have a huge impact on Saskatchewan farmers as the cost of transporting grain increases dramatically. Railway branch line closures and the demolition of hundreds of country elevators also raise costs as farmers must truck their grain over longer distances.

Farmer signing "Crow" petition
location unknown, 1983

Pushing a bed for Telemiracle
Bethune, 1984