UNITY CONFERENCE THIS WEEKEND

Released on November 26, 1997

Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Berny Wiens today

announced details of the final phase of Saskatchewan's six-week public

consultation process on national unity.



"The support, interest and ideas generated by Saskatchewan people

throughout these consultations was impressive," Wiens said. "I

learned that Saskatchewan people have much to contribute to the

national unity discussion and have strong beliefs on what it means to

be Canadian."



The final tally for participation in the Finding Common Ground on

Canada's Future consultation includes 8,200 completed surveys and

attendance of more than 7,400 people at over 160 face-to-face

meetings.



"Saskatchewan MLAs and their citizen Co-chairs worked together to

ensure that the voices of Saskatchewan people on national unity were

heard," Wiens said. "I am looking forward to this weekend's televised

conference because it will give us an opportunity to report back on

what we heard Saskatchewan people say about national unity and the

Calgary Framework."



The weekend's events begin Friday, November 28th at 7:00 p.m.

with the release of an independent report on the results of the

public consultation process. The report was written by the

Canada West Foundation, a non-partisan, non-profit research

organization active in economic and public policy studies.



The Finding Common Ground Conference will be televised on SCN on

Saturday, November 29th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saskatchewan

viewers can join hosts Rosalie Woloski from CBC Radio One and

Kevin Hursh for coverage of MLAs, citizen Co-chairs and

independent experts discussing national unity.



The conference will be moderated by Murray Westby, President and

CEO of Westby Tractor & Equipment and Anne Lockie, Senior

Vice-President and General Manager for the Royal Bank in

Saskatchewan.

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For more information, contact:



Lynn Oliver

Public Consultation Coordination Office

Regina

Phone: (306)787-6575